Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Review: Is It Good and Worth Your Time?
Read our Xenoblade Chronicles 2 review to find out if this JRPG is worth playing, how its combat works, and how to manage your Blades.
Quick answer
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a deep JRPG with a beautiful world, outstanding music, and an emotional story.
- Yes, it is highly worth playing for JRPG fans, earning a 4.5 out of 5 stars rating from Source Gaming.
- Major drawbacks include a highly frustrating navigation minimap and docked resolution drops below 720p.
- Combat relies on the symbiotic relationship between Drivers and Blades, using a gacha-like crystal mechanic.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Review
Watch this detailed review of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 to see its beautiful world design, combat mechanics, and technical performance on the Nintendo Switch.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Review: Is It Good and Worth Your Time?
When evaluating whether Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is it good or if Xenoblade Chronicles 2 worth it, the answer largely depends on your appreciation for deep, complex Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs). Released for the Nintendo Switch, this massive title offers an incredibly rewarding experience for fans of the genre, though it comes with some notable technical and design caveats.
The game is set in the breathtaking world of Alrest, a vast sea of clouds where the remnants of humanity live on the backs of giant, lumbering beasts known as Titans. These Titans orbit the massive World Tree, which stands at the center of the world. The story follows Rex, a young scavenger, and Pyra, a powerful living weapon known as a Blade. Together, they embark on an emotional journey to reach Elysium, a rumored paradise atop the World Tree.
While the narrative and world-building are outstanding, the game is held back by a highly frustrating navigation system and noticeable technical performance drops. However, for players willing to overlook these flaws, the sheer depth of content makes it a highly satisfying adventure.
The Symbiotic Combat System: Drivers and Blades
The core gameplay of Xenoblade 2 revolves around the symbiotic relationship between Drivers (human hosts) and Blades (immortal weapons with elemental powers). Players control a Driver who auto-attacks, which charges up special abilities called Arts.
Drivers can equip up to three Blades at a time, switching between them mid-battle to adapt to changing combat situations, trigger elemental combos, or swap combat classes (such as attackers, healers, or defenders).
To maximize your combat efficiency and build affinity with your Blades quickly, you must master the timing of your abilities:
Blades are obtained through a Gacha-like crystal unlocking mechanic. Players collect special crystals throughout their journey and bond them to Drivers to unlock random Blades. Some of these are generic, common Blades, while others are rare, uniquely designed characters with specialized skill trees.
Managing Your Roster: The Merc Guild System
Because the Gacha-like crystal mechanic will inevitably leave you with an abundance of unused Blades, the game introduces a management system to ensure these extra weapons do not go to waste.
Starting in Chapter 4, players gain access to the Merc Guild. This feature allows you to send your extra, unused Blades on background missions to perform various tasks across Alrest, earning you valuable rewards and making unused Blades useful without requiring them to be in your active party.
Technical Performance and Navigation Hurdles
While the artistic design of Alrest is visually stunning, the technical execution on the Nintendo Switch is inconsistent. The game suffers from noticeable technical issues, including resolution drops that fall below 720p even when the console is docked. Players will also encounter occasional framerate drops during chaotic battles and poor lip-syncing in the English version.
Furthermore, the English voice acting has proven to be highly polarizing. While some reviewers praised the voice acting as excellent for Rex and the majority of the cast, others found the English dubbing inconsistent, citing awkward dialogue deliveries and pointing to characters like Nia as having a poorly fitting voice cast.
The most universal complaint, however, is the game's navigation system. The minimap and compass marker are notoriously frustrating, frequently leading to players getting lost or wandering around in circles trying to find objectives hidden behind vertical terrain or complex pathways.