Xenoblade Chronicles is a series of action role-playing games made by Monolith Soft and released by Nintendo. It is part of a larger series of games called the Xeno metaseries, which gives the series its name. The games were created and directed by Tetsuya Takahashi.
The first game in the series, Xenoblade Chronicles, was released for the Wii in Japan in 2010. It was later released in Europe and Oceania in 2011. Nintendo did not originally plan to release the game in North America, but after a fan campaign called Operation Rainfall showed strong interest, the game was released there in 2012 and received good reviews. This was followed by Xenoblade Chronicles X in 2015 for the Wii U, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in 2017 and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in 2022 for the Nintendo Switch. Some games in the series have received downloadable content that adds new story elements, and remastered versions of the games have been released on newer platforms.
Xenoblade Chronicles has received positive reviews for its world design, music, stories, and themes. The series has sold more than 8.74 million copies worldwide. It has also appeared in other Nintendo games, such as the Super Smash Bros. and Project X Zone series.
Gameplay
The Xenoblade Chronicles series uses a real-time battle system where players control characters directly during fights. Other characters automatically attack enemies when they get close. Players can also perform special attacks called "Arts," but these can only be used after waiting for a short time called a "cool down." Some special attacks, called "Talent Arts," become available only after characters perform enough automatic attacks. Both players and enemies have a set number of health points, which decrease when attacked. A battle ends when all enemies lose their health points, but the game ends if the player’s character loses all health and cannot be healed. Health can be restored by using healing Arts during battles or by letting health recover outside of battles. Winning battles gives players experience points, which help characters grow stronger by leveling up and learning new Arts. Players must choose which Arts to use for each character before battles begin, using a setup called a "Battle Palette."
Exploration is an important part of the Xenoblade Chronicles games. Players can move freely through large, open worlds and discover new places and landmarks. Finding these locations gives players experience points. Once discovered, landmarks can be used to quickly travel to those spots later.
The Xenoblade Chronicles series is known for its diverse music. The main composers are Yoko Shimomura, Hiroyuki Sawano, and Yasunori Mitsuda. Other composers who contributed include Manami Kiyota, ACE (a musical duo made up of Tomori Kudo and Hiroyo "CHiCO" Yamanaka), Kenji Hiramatsu, and Mariam Abounnasr.
Plot
The Xenoblade Chronicles series includes games that are mostly independent, but they are connected through the origins of their fictional worlds. A scientist named Klaus was unhappy with Earth’s condition and wanted to restart the world and create a new universe. His coworker, Galea, tried to stop him from destroying the world. She could not change his mind, so he used the Conduit, an alien artifact that acted as an unlimited energy source and a gateway between dimensions. This process created the worlds of Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
Later, the worlds of Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 began to collide in an event called the Intersection. To save their universes, people from both worlds worked together to build Origin, a structure that stored the memories and souls of both worlds to help rebirth their people and restart the worlds safely. However, Origin’s artificial intelligence became corrupted by the fears of the souls inside, leading to the events of Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
In the series’ fictional timeline, Xenoblade Chronicles is the first game. Its epilogue, Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected, takes place one year after the main game. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 happens in a parallel universe at the same time as Xenoblade Chronicles. Its prequel, Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country, is set 500 years before the events of the game. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 occurs some time after the previous games and shows the future of the worlds from Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Its downloadable story, Future Redeemed, is a prequel that connects Xenoblade Chronicles 3 to earlier games, set centuries before it. According to Tetsuya Takahashi, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 concludes the story that began with Klaus’s experiment but does not end the series.
While the Xenoblade games do not share the same setting, their worlds are directly connected, except for Xenoblade Chronicles X, which is considered a spiritual successor to the first game. Xenoblade Chronicles takes place on two giant titans, the Bionis and the Mechonis, with the Future Connected epilogue set on the Bionis’s shoulder. Xenoblade Chronicles X is set on an alien planet called Mira. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and its prequel, Torna – The Golden Country, take place in the world of Alrest, which includes several titans that hold different nations. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is set in the world of Aionios, a large continent that includes areas from Bionis and Alrest.
Each game in the series introduces new characters to make the stories accessible to newcomers. Although the developers claim the games are standalone, some characters return as part of the larger story. Shulk, the main character of Xenoblade Chronicles, and Rex, the main character of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, both appear in the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC campaign, Future Redeemed. Similarly, Melia Antiqua and Nia return as the Queens of Keves and Agnus in Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
Some characters appear in multiple games but are not connected by the story. Like Cid in the Final Fantasy series, the name Vandham appears in every Xenoblade Chronicles game, even in earlier Xeno games. Jack Vandham, Vandham, and Guernica Vandham appear in Xenoblade Chronicles X, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3, respectively. In Xenoblade Chronicles, Vandham was renamed Colonel Vangarre in the English version.
The Nopon are small, winged creatures resembling hamsters that appear in every game. Though they look cute, many Nopon are clever or greedy. Each game usually includes a Nopon character who is either a playable party member or a travel companion. Another recurring theme is a gorilla-like creature named Territorial Rotbart, typically found at level 81. This creature, or a similar level 81 Unique Monster, is usually located in an early starting area and challenges players when encountered.
Development
After the Xenosaga series failed commercially, the team at Monolith Soft felt discouraged, which led to the series ending early. In July 2006, Tetsuya Takahashi had an idea about people living on giant titans. He wrote it down and created a 3D model. Monolith Soft then began developing what would become Xenoblade Chronicles, an action role-playing game for the Wii. The project was first called Monado: Beginning of the World, but the name was changed to Xenoblade in Japan to honor Takahashi’s previous work on the Xeno series and his efforts on the game. The game’s story follows Shulk and his friends as they seek revenge against the Mechon for attacking their home. As they travel on the backs of titans, they discover the secrets of a powerful weapon called the Monado.
Xenoblade Chronicles was released in Japan on June 10, 2010. Nintendo of Europe announced they would publish the game, adding “Chronicles” to the title. The game was released in Europe on August 19, 2011, and in Australia on September 1, 2011. At first, Nintendo did not plan to release the game in North America. In response, fans started a campaign called Operation Rainfall to persuade Nintendo to bring Xenoblade Chronicles to North America along with The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower. After months of no response, Nintendo of America confirmed the game would be released in North America in April 2012. It was sold exclusively at GameStop on April 6, 2012. Later, the game was ported to the New Nintendo 3DS as Xenoblade Chronicles 3D in 2015 and remastered as Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition on the Nintendo Switch in 2020.
After completing Xenoblade Chronicles, Takahashi’s team began developing a new game for Nintendo’s then-unreleased Wii U system. Initially called X in 2013, the game was renamed Xenoblade Chronicles X and released in 2015. Set in a different universe, the game follows humanity fleeing a destroyed Earth and racing to retrieve a structure called the Lifehold on the planet Mira.
Development of a new Xenoblade Chronicles game began in 2014 while working on Xenoblade Chronicles X. The game was released in 2017 for the Nintendo Switch. It takes place in a world of dying titans, where Rex meets a living weapon named Pyra and promises to help her reach a paradise called Elysium.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country is set 500 years before the events of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The story follows Lora and Jin as they fight Malos and his army to save their kingdom, Torna. It was released in 2018 on the Nintendo Switch as a standalone game and as an expansion for Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected takes place one year after the main story of Xenoblade Chronicles. It follows characters like Melia, Shulk, and their daughter Nene and adopted son Kino as they try to reclaim the city of Alcamoth on the Bionis’ Shoulder, an area not explored in the original game. It was released in 2020 as part of the Definitive Edition remaster.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is set in the world of Aionios, where two nations, Keves and Agnus, are at war. The story explores the futures of Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The main characters, Noah from Keves and Mio from Agnus, must work together to face a greater threat. It was released in 2022 for the Nintendo Switch.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed is a major story expansion for Xenoblade Chronicles 3, released in 2023. Its story takes place centuries before Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and connects the events of the game to earlier titles in the series. Monolith Soft compared the size of Future Redeemed to Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country.
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is a remastered version of the original Xenoblade Chronicles X, released for the Nintendo Switch in 2025. It includes improvements and a new story ending.
Regarding the future of the franchise, series director and producer Genki Yokota said the series will continue as long as possible. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 concludes the story arc of Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. However, Takahashi suggested the series is not over and encouraged players to imagine what might come next. Series director Koh Kojima expressed interest in creating Xenoblade Chronicles X2.
Reception
Xenoblade Chronicles sold nearly 200,000 copies in Japan by the end of 2013. Later, it was reported that the game sold more copies in the West than in Japan. By December 2015, Xenoblade Chronicles X sold about 377,000 copies in Japan, France, and the United States. As of June 2018, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 had sold 1.42 million copies, making it the best-selling game ever created by Monolith Soft. Sales numbers were higher than the company expected in Western countries. Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country also sold more copies than expected in Japan. By December 2022, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 had sold 1.86 million copies.
Legacy
The Xenoblade Chronicles series has been shown in many different forms. Shulk is a character that players can control in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Pyra and Mythra appear together as a single character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as downloadable content. Dunban from the first Xenoblade Chronicles game, and Rex and Nia from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, are available as Mii Fighter costumes in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. A Shulk amiibo figure was released in February 2015. This figure works as a non-playable character in Super Smash Bros. and unlocks special outfits for Shulk in Yoshi's Woolly World and Super Mario Maker. Fiora from the first Xenoblade Chronicles game is a playable character in Project X Zone 2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild includes an outfit worn by Rex from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Amiibo figures of Pyra and Mythra were released on July 21, 2023, and work like Shulk's amiibo in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as non-playable characters. Amiibo figures of Noah and Mio from Xenoblade Chronicles 3 were released on January 19, 2024. Good Smile Company has created figures of characters from the series, including Pyra, Mythra, KOS-MOS, Melia, and Nia.