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Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition (Switch 2) – Review

What a week it has been for Switch 2 owners, even without major new releases. Skyrim got a much-needed performance patch, and owners of both Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero received free upgrades from the original Switch to Switch 2 versions of those games. The biggest surprise perhaps though, was the arrival of the Switch 2 version of Xenoblade Chronicles X. The announcement for this upgrade mirrored that of the Switch 1 version of the game: no bells, whistles or much fanfare. Nintendo and Monolith just casually dropped the news that, yes, Xenoblade Chronicles X got a Switch 2 update… and that it was already available. Any excuse to board our Skell again is a good one, so we happily returned to see whether or not this is an upgrade worth getting. Since the OG Switch version was released less than a year ago, and our opinions about the base game haven’t changed, we’ll refer you to our original review first though, before diving into whether it’s worth upgrading or not. We’ll start by addressing the elephant in the room: the upgrade doesn’t add any new content to Xenoblade Chronicles X. The improvements you’re getting here are purely visual. X now runs at a buttery smooth 60 FPS and supports up to 4K resolution. Now, X was released on the original Switch as one of the final major releases before the Switch 2 launched. Back then, we were thoroughly impressed at just how well it ran on the ageing and underpowered hardware, even at 30 FPS. Even so, it was clear that Monolith was pushing the hardware to its limits. The Switch 2 version gives the game a lot of breathing room that we didn’t even realise it needed. Ironically enough, the upgrade does highlight some of X’s shortcomings that weren’t particularly notable on the OG Switch. Or perhaps we were just more forgiving because we were so impressed by the magic that Monolith worked. Draw distance in particular seemingly hasn’t been touched, and there is a noticeable amount of pop-in as a result, particularly when you’re running around in the city of NLA. It’s less noticeable elsewhere on the planet Mira, unless you really pay attention to it. Fortunately, there is enough going on to distract you from this relatively minor issue. In our original review, we remarked that Mira is a character in its own right. This feeling is only emphasised further here, as the improved resolution adds depth and realism where textures were occasionally blurry in the original. We’d like to take this opportunity to address something we weren’t able to fully touch on in our original review, and that is X’s post-game content. Don’t worry; we won’t go into spoiler territory here. The original Wii U version of X ended on a major cliffhanger, and the Switch port finally resolved those lingering story threads. While X’s story now feels more complete, we’re not entirely sure whether or not we like how everything was resolved, however. The new ending feels tacked on rather than something that was planned from the beginning. Perhaps the biggest issue we had with X’s new content comes from the voice work, however. While the majority of the cast made their welcome return to X, a decade has passed since their dialogue was originally recorded, and there are some noticeable differences. The main offender is Commander Vandham, whose voice actor did not, in fact, return, and the new voice doesn’t even sound remotely similar. This adds to the feeling of disconnect between the original game and the post-game content. Even if X’s post-game content couldn’t entirely convince us though, the base game remains one of the best titles currently available on Switch 2. Given that the main campaign will run you 70+ hours, the upgrade may just be the call to action you needed to return to Mira if you didn’t finish the game just yet. Upgrading from the original game will only set you back €4.99. While we wouldn’t necessarily say the changes warrant an immediate return (and a new run) if you’ve already completed X, it’s probably worth upgrading at some point in the future too. Admittedly, it does sting a little that you’re paying for a visual and performance bump when so many other games are getting their Switch 2 upgrade for free, but once you feel the difference between the two versions, you’ll realise that you didn’t know you needed this. Conclusion On paper, Xenoblade Chronicles X’s Switch 2 upgrade doesn’t bring a lot to the table. The fundamentals of the game haven’t changed after all. This is, by all means, a luxury upgrade. That said, it does help with making the game feel that tad more definitive. If you’ve never finished X, this may just be the perfect excuse to return to it. If you have though, then there isn’t enough here to drop everything and set out on another 70+ hour journey, unless you really want to… Not that we’d blame you, because X remains one of the best Switch (well, now Switch 2) titles out there. As a final aside, if you simply haven’t picked up X yet, then it’s also worth considering that the Switch 2 version of the game will get a physical release on the 16th of April. Now, can we please get upgrades for the other games in the series, Monolith?