I adore the Xenoblade Chronicles series. I started with Xenoblade Chronicles 2, a game that absolutely blew my mind and remains my all-time favorite game, before sinking 100 hours into multiple playthroughs of the original Xenoblade Chronicles and its Definitive Edition remaster. Of course, when the third game came out, I leaped at the opportunity to play it, and two playthroughs later - and after beating its DLC - I've put roughly 400 hours into the entire series. However, despite my endless iration for what is, in my opinion, the greatest gaming series of all time, I've never played Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Fortunately, XBCX is on Switch now, ending my Xenoblade Chronicles nightmare and never-ending desire to have every game on the same platform, finally giving me the opportunity to play it - I bought a Wii U to play the original Xenoblade Chronicles X but couldn't stand the English VA. Now that I've sunk a considerable amount of time into XBCX, I can safely say the wait was worth it. However, what really stood out to me is that, despite my vast experience with the series, I find myself constantly surprised while playing Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Xenoblade Chronicles X Is Nothing Like The Others

It Is A Sprawling Open-World

One of the most striking things about the groundbreaking Nintendo Switch experience that is Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is how radically different it is from its predecessors. While it shares the same name as the other entries, there's little connecting them in tone, style, or even gameplay - outside of combat. That's not outrageously surprising as, after all, each numbered Xenoblade entry is somewhat different from the others. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is more hopeful than 3, and the first game feels like it's just about finding its footing when it comes to exploration, at least compared to the final entry.

However, they all share some commonalities, from their open zone structure to their pacing, character archetypes, and even setting. The Xenoblade franchise has also always perfectly blended sci-fi and fantasy, with it skewering more towards the latter in every entry outside of 3, and even then it still retains the cat people and fantastical forest locales of its predecessors. X, on the other hand, while still undeniably being set in the same Xenoblade Chronicles timeline, abandons the DNA that both of the previous entries and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 were constructed with.

Xenoblade Chronicles X offers a more keenly sci-fi experience, with alien invasions, futuristic settings, and even giant mechs. It is no longer open area, but open world, something that is absolutely breathtaking to behold the first time you're truly let loose on Mira. It even completely reshapes how traversal works, with players unlocking access to the gorgeously designed box-art-worthy mech suits called Skells part-way through the game. This new mode of transport gave Monolith Soft the go-ahead to redefine its approach to world design, adding even more levels to the already incredibly vertical Xenoblade structure.

Xenoblade Chronicles X Feels More Like An MMO

It's Structured Differently From Other XBC Games

All of these changes - some minute, others truly gargantuan - make Xenoblade Chronicles X feel more akin to an MMO than a traditional RPG. Xenoblade Chronicles games have always felt somewhat MMOy - it is what drew me to them in the first place - balancing ability-heavy combat, gorgeously detailed environments, fun fetch quests, monsters with floating levels above their heads, and central hubs from which the player unlocks all of that region's content. None of these features are specifically MMO-exclusive, but when combined they certainly give the air of an MMO experience.

However, Xenoblade Chronicles X, with its plethora of open-world activities, customizable and silent protagonist, and endless cavalcade of fetch quests, feels far more like an MMO than any of its predecessors ever did. To be absolutely clear, I don't think that is a bad thing. Rather, it's exciting, a completely and utterly new direction for the franchise, and different from anything that Monolith has ever done before. While this hyperfixation on gameplay comes somewhat at the expense of Xenoblade Chronicles X's story, it nevertheless makes it a far more surprising and mechanically engaging game.

It Is Nice To Be Surprised By Xenoblade Chronicles X

It Is Meant To Be A Spin-Off

All of these changes mean that, after 400 hours of epic JRPG content, Xenoblade Chronicles X still manages to surprise me. There is rarely a comparable moment throughout all of Xenoblade Chronicles X, no point at which I can lament about how similar it is to XBC2 or how it has ripped off elements from the original Xenoblade Chronicles. It is in almost every way a completely original experience, one that at every turn pulls out some new feature or element that, for a fan of this series, is innovative rather than iterative.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition feels so wildly different, that, hit or miss, everything it has to offer feels brand-new.

That's not to say that the Xenoblade trilogy feels iterative, as, of course, each game expands upon the last in meaningful ways, with the final entry serving up one of the best RPG experiences ever made. Rather, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition feels so wildly different, that, hit or miss, everything it has to offer feels brand-new. Of course, some of it may feel derivative from other open-world RPGs outside this specific framework. However, even in those instances, it still manages to surprise, as one doesn't expect those kinds of influences within a Xenoblade Chronicles game.

Future Xenoblade Games Should Be Different Too

It Is Time For The Series To Move On

After beating Xenoblade Chronicles 3's phenomenal DLC, Future Redeemed, and realizing that it would be the final entry in the trilogy, all I could think about was how much I wanted Monolith Soft to keep this ride going. I wanted Xenoblade Chronicles 4 so badly, for Monolith to replicate the success and charm of its expertly crafted trilogy, to never stray too far from its winning formula. However, after having played a substantial amount of Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, I realized how restrictive and, frankly, incorrect that line of thinking is.

Xenoblade Chronicles X proves that Monolith Soft, whether it is creating a sprawling open world, gameplay-focused sci-fi adventure, or a heartbreakingly beautiful narrative journey across the backs of titans, knows what it is doing. I firmly trust that when it eventually strays from the Xenoblade experience - which, by all s, it will with its next game - it does so with aplomb. In fact, I am actively rooting for Monolith to create something new, to try its hand at a different style, structure, and setting, one that defies all tradition and rules.

It is clear that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a love letter to the world Monolith Soft has been slowly building across each entry as much as it is a farewell to the design philosophy, worldbuilding, and structure it has relied so heavily upon. Its defining theme is about stepping into the unknown, with its ending song, Where We Belong, serving as Monolith's last goodbye to Xenoblade Chronicles. As such, I hope that whatever Monolith Soft is creating next follows in the footsteps of Xenoblade Chronicles X and tries something completely new that surprises us all, rather than caters to us.