Coolest thing going on at our house right now. My youngest daughter is playing xenoblade chronicles definitive edition, my oldest daughter is playing xenoblade chronicles 2, and I'm playing through xenoblade chronicles 3.

One of the many reasons why I absolutely adore the Xeno series. Warms my heart to hear you enjoyed this peak fiction ❤

Xenoblade is my favorite video game franchise of all time. It's genuinely awe inspiring how good each game is. It's my favorite stories in all of video games. Idk if I can even rank them, all 3 are equally amazing.

Yasunori mitsuda only did the credits song for XC1. Minami Kiyota and ACE were the primary composers The music is god tier. Even my non-gamer girlfriend likes the music. Funny enough, my mom randomly heard the main theme on the radio and ended up buying the entire album. Lo and behold she asked me if i knew about xenoblade and i said, “hell yea, i have over 700 hours across the franchise. Its my favorite jrpg”

I just started playing Xenoblade Chronicles X yesterday! The orginal Xenoblade Chronicles on Wii was a life changing experience.

Hey Clayton Morris - here's something I bet you missed: The voice actress for Melia was Jenna Flippin Coleman! She actually did it before becoming one of Dr. Who's greatest companions Clara Osborne. I didn't realize it until when I finished XC3 and saw her name in the credits and it all came together for me!

The Xenoblade series is a masterclass in cohesive, thematic storytelling. It really opened my eyes to what stories can be, and I grew an appreciation for classic literature and ancient religion, from which the series takes heavy inspiration. It felt like Xenoblade was my first step into a wider world, and I will always love it for that. Small correction: Yasunori Mitsuda only did the end credits theme in Xenoblade Chronicles 1. He has a much larger role in future games, but XC1 was largely handled by a collaboration of the group ACE+, Manami Kiyota, and Yoko Shimomura, one of the most prolific composers in the industry.

IT'S A WILD RIDE, THIS XENOBLADE!!! YOU'RE LITERALLY JUST DIPPING YOUR TOE...HAVE FUN WITH XBC2, AND WELCOME TO A LIFE DEFINING ADVENTURE!!!

For me is the best one of the series. I also loved xenoblade 3 but the first one is so special.

Can’t wait to hear how you feel about XB2! It’s my favorite of the 3 main games! A lot of fans think it starts slow, but I really enjoyed it all the way through. Has some super silly wacky moments, but I think it’s hilarious, while the game still hit me the hardest emotionally. I really think the game has the best music of the games as well. The story is definitely more character-driven, rather than the more plot-driven XB1, and I love that. The writing of the main cast of characters and the villains is just spectacular. And the world building of every place you visit feels so real too. All 3 games are some of my top favourites of all time though, it’s not like the other 2 are very far behind on my favorites list haha

The Xenoblade games is on my backlog, but your final thoughts has pushed it to the top of my list to play.

Dixon is commonly referred to as "Budget Hulk Hogan."

I'm a big fan of the older Xenogears/Saga games from way back then but I only started to play XCDE recently after the last XB3 dlc dropped and I heard certain things :) Now I'm replaying the entire series again and also started the remake and I'm love with this series again.

My favourite series of all time. Thanks for giving it a try when so many won’t for some reason

Xenoblade is probably my favorite game trilogy now. Xenoblade 2 is definitely a bit different, but just be patient with it. I think that I had the best second half of the entire trilogy. The whole series is amazing and the music across all three games is absolutely beautiful.

I just bought it on the back of your earlier video and am starting it today after finishing Super Mario RPG during the week-then this video drops, great timing, I’m so primed for it now, and thanks for no spoilage!

Xenoblade Chronicles is a life change moment in your life 🔥🔥🔥

As a huge xenoblade fan, I am always happy to see new people getting into the series. It’s my favorite franchise of all time and be sure to play the other 2 if you love this game! You got my sub and gonna go check out your other channel! Also fun fact, the person who did the music for this and the whole numbered xenoblade series is the same guy who was the lead composer of Chrono trigger. Xenoblade music is the absolute best!

Watching your video reminded me of myself when I first started gaming, thanks for sharing your final thoughts on this game. I've never played any of the Xenoblade games for the switch, but you have convinced me to give the Xenoblade series a try.

Your dragon warrior experience is similar to my Xenoblade 1 experience; recently single as a college bachelor, looking forward, ready for new things, and it was summer break. Such a formative time to the man I became and this game takes me back to those beautiful times. So glad you loved it!

About half way through Xenoblade 3. Completely addicted, I'll definitely play 1 next

I’m such a fan of Xenoblade 1 and 3, it amazes me how much they appealed to me.

Welcome to the fanbase! I remember preordering the game for the Wii back in High School on a whim because i wanted to play an open world game and couldnt play Skyrim cuz the Wii was all I had. It took me 4 years of bouncing off the game a couple times and finally getting hooked in college to beat it. By the end i was doing all the side content i could post Mechonis Core because I didnt want it to end. I only finished it the week after Xenoblaxe Chronicles X came out because I didnt want to be playing both games at the same time. I really hope you Love Xenoblade 2 as well. It has a different flavor in the opening hours that attempt to cater to the Japanese market a bit more so be prepared for some of that. Also dont be afraid to look up a guide. Some things jn the opening hours arent explained super well and you can easily get into a situation where enemies feel way tankier than they should be if you havent been upgrading your party properly.

Unrelated to this channel, I just started Xenoblade 1 this past week. About 20 hours in and really enjoying my time with it! It’s my secondary game after Trails in the Sky SC at the moment but looking forward to it graduating to primary game after I’m done with SC. I always kind of wrote it off but I’m really enjoying myself.

Funny that you mentioned the world of BOTW, TOTK AS a reference point, because Monolith has been heavily involved in those Games too. I think you can clearly read their handwriting in world, game and Quest Design of those.

I’m playing this for the first time currently and up to chapter 8 (level 45 and 40 hours in)… mind blowing game, really incredible so far. The soundtrack is absolutely beautiful, the whole game is an experience and to be savoured!

I need to add this one to my list, along with the Y’s series. I’m currently playing through the Trails and Persona games.

This is one of my favorite series of all time. There is something so nostalgic and comforting

It sounds like you enjoyed it just as much as I did. I wish more people would play it because as you said, its such an incredible experience. I'm still listening to the ost. I also agree that Dickson is awesome. Such a great design and twist. Riki really grew on me as well. Especially that scene with him and dunban. I think you'll really like the 2nd and 3rd game. The 2nd game starts a little slow but the second half is REALLY good. I would argue even more philosophical than the 1st game. And I think because you discuss politics and complex topics like that, you'll appreciate xenoblade 2 a lot.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it, it's my favorite game of all time. I hope you'll enjoy all the other Xenoblade too!

Great review Clayton, thank you so much, very well thought out with great descriptions. I've just ordered this and I'm looking forward to using my Switch again as I've not turned it on since getting my Steam Deck OLED last December.

Glad to see you enjoyed your time with it! I first experienced this game on the 3DS version back in middle school. I never finished it because I was pretty dumb back then, not utilizing gems and afinity whatsoever, and got stuck on one of the boss fights. Thankfully I got to experience it fully when they ported the definitive edition onto the Switch. I just finished Xenoblade 2, so the timing was perfect for me to go back and actually finish this one. The music in the entire series is absolutely amazing, definitely with you on that. The scores played during the emotional and tense cutscenes are some of my favorites in any video game, particularly Engage the Enemy. And don't worry, Yasunori Mitsuda continued to comopose tracks in Xenoblade 2 and 3. The music is just as grandiose as the music in Xenoblade 1, so I hope you have fun with those games whenever you decide to try them!

Regarding your nostalgia comments, the xeno series creator Testsuya Takahashi worked on classic SNES Square Soft RPGs Final Fantasy (I think 4-6), and Chrono Trigger, and he brought some colleagues along with him when founding MonolithSoft.

This game is one of my favorite games of all time

I remember my first time playing Xenoblade. Reyn had to go through the Tephra cave to fetch batteries for the mobile artillery, and Shulk + Fiora tagged along. The first enemy was a giant caterpillar that wiped out my entire party. After that, I got tag-teamed by a bunny and his frog friends and the only thing that saved me was a cutscene. Then shortly afterwards, I entered a hallway where boss music started playing. That’s when I got jumped by a giant lizard and his entire family of misfits. By the time I reached the top of Tephra hill, there were 2 ancient machines waiting to ambush me, and of course they kicked my butt because I was under levelled. I put the controller down. This was the turning point in my Xenoblade journey. I didn’t want to run back in the cave because that lizard was still there, but I was also under levelled. I decided to change characters. I switched to Fiora and beat the machines on my first try. That’s when I noticed the AI performs much better with certain characters in certain situations. I consider this a turning point because prior to Xenoblade, I only felt comfortable sticking to 1 character in rpgs. But right after this, Mechons invaded the Colony where you get a chance to wield the Monado as Dunban whose 10 levels higher than the party. So I switched between 4 different characters in the span of 5 minutes. (Dunban vs mechons, Fiora vs machines, Reyn for his HP as I’m running away and Shulk as the starting default) The other Xenoblade games encourage this as well. X is all about changing classes, 2 is all about switching blades, and 3 is all about changing characters on the fly mid battle. This is just one of the things I love about Xenoblade, and especially this cast. Everyone feels like a star. I actually thought Dunban was the main character at first. Side characters like Melia have entire towns, backstories and dlc behind them, while Rikki is constantly reminding everyone that we’re just sidekicks on his journey. And it works. That speech he gave Dunban on the fallen arm about watching over his family is not the kind of wisdom you would expect to hear from a Nopon. And even a goofball like Reyn starts to open up about his insecurities. Every character played their role to a tee, and it’s hard for me to think of a cast that meant more to me than this one. I’m just so glad that other people feel the same way. Or at least enjoyed this game as much as I did when I first played it all the way back in 2012. There have been so many great games over the years, from Breath of Wild to Persona 4 which I’m playing right now. But I think Japanese games are a cut above western games, and a big part of that comes from the creative fantasy aspect. They are not trying to be overly realistic or political. Here’s the game. Here’s the world, and the story is integral to that world and everything in it. Now explore it to your heart’s content.

I love their worlds with day and night even music change dynamically. Such a blissful experience.

I'm late to the party on this video but I was so happy to see you completed XC! It's an amazing game. I can't WAIT to see how you like XC2! That one for me was probably the most emotionally impactful of the series, though XC3 is right up there too. Can't wait to see what you have to say about those in the future!

I’ve been gaming since my mom gifted me Zelda for the NES back in like 1990, and I’ve played a lot of great RPGs, and yet I still would consider Xenoblade Chronicles as my favorite RPG of all time. The series as a whole definitely triumphs over any trilogy or series I’ve ever played, but this game came out at the perfect time, when I was in my late 20’s and gaming started to become stale in my life. When I booted this game up on my Wii, I was transported back to my childhood, when I would spend hours leveling up my characters on FF4 or 6, or Chrono Trigger, or Secret of Mana. This just felt like an SNES RPG but in 3d. Awesome video, really explains why I loved it so much as well.

The developers, Monolith Soft, are the triple-distilled version of what Squaresoft and Enix were back in the SNES days. Absolute masters of the JRPG craft, so much so that they experimented with hybridizing JRPGs and WRPGs in Xenoblade, seemingly just to give themselves a challenge, and created something incredible that no other development studio has been able to. Anyone that could make an amazing exclusive for the Wii U is someone worth investing your time and attention in, and Monolith soft is it.

Gotta admit clayton. Ive watched you since morning invest. We are both the same age and yes im an rpg gamer as well. First fell in love with rps on final fantasy, dragon warrior/quest games. Xeno blade is a pinnacle game series. Glad you get the real art in these games.

What's crazy is, imo the story, music, characters, world building, etc get even better moving forward. I envy the fact you still get to play 2 & 3 for the first time ever 😭 2 is my favorite game of all time, but they all are so good it's almost impossible to rank them

I’m currently finishing DLC TORNA in XC2. I started at XC3 and I’m so in love with these games. I’m going to finally play XC1 and complete the games. And then NG+? Yes, please, NG+ on all 3. I’m playing them backwards.

13:50 this is literally me and many others with this whole series in general, actual peak fiction monolith soft be cooking 🔥

Amazing review for this amazing game! Xenoblade 1 is one of my favorite games ever and I'm gonna have to say... It only gets better from here! There may be some things you might prefer in 1 over 2, but 2 does a lot of things better imo like the characters and OST. Every Xenoblade game is a masterpiece in its own way though. 1 sometimes gets a lot of flack for having basic combat and exploration as well as plot twists you can see coming from miles away, but that doesn't change how it's still a great game overall with an impactful story and really unique premise and world. One thing though, is Mitsuda san only worked on 1 song for XC1 which is Beyond the Sky (the ending theme/one of the best songs in the game), most of the OST is done by Yoko Shimomura (KH, FF15, Mario + Luigi/Mario RPG), Manami Kiyota, and ACE. The latter two work extensively with Mitsuda on Xenoblade 2 and 3. Hope you enjoy the other games since this is definitely one of the best gaming franchises out there!

Xenoblade is hands down my favourite series, everything about it feels special. From the story, characters, open world and soundtrack. I also enjoy each games combat, even if it takes a while to understand. Wish I could play them all for the first time, glad you enjoyed it!

Xenoblade was the first time i was hooked by an ad on TV as a kid, and as I was a dumb kid, I was unaware of art upgrades, of skill sharing, and I didn't want to grind. so I was stuck on Xord for a while, then stuck on Makna Forest's Telethia, but.... even though I was stuck on those bosses and dropped the game for a while because of it each time, it was always on the back of my mind and I knew what I knew of the story by heart because it kept playing in my mind. I only finished Xenoblade 1 with DE, and even then it took me about a year and a half, because I wanted to gather the best possible conditions to play and enjoy the story the best I could as it was so important to me. It took me from January 2011 to december 2021 to finish it, so almost 10 years (but that includes the epilogue, Future Connected, which I played only after finally doing X and 2 + Torna in 2021 after finishing DE. Some people grew up with Dragon Ball, Naruto, or One Piece. to me, it was Xenoblade, and that's why I really don't wish to forget everything I know about it to re-experience it again, as I cannot possibly create better memories than I did already. Anyway, I'm always glad to see other people talk about their experience with the series, hope you'll play the other games in the series, too. Also, if you haven't, I'd suggest Playing XenoGears and XenoSaga (and learn a bit more about the story behind Monolith Soft and their production issues) to enjoy parts of Xenoblade 2 and 3 as best as possible, especially for 3's DLC, as it's straight up a love letter to the xeno metaseries.

Xenoblade is one of my favorite games of all time and my favorite game franchise. It's such a magical experience that I'm very happy more people is trying. 2 and 3 are also excellent. People usually don't like the start of 2 or at all but I think it's amazing as well, specially the second half. That said if you have troubles with 2's combat don't be afraid to ask for help online because 2's tutorials suck but the gameplay is very fun once you understand it. I hope you keep enjoying them as well as their expansions/DLCs because they are worth every cent! (Future Connected, Torna and Future Redeemed)

My only complaint is it wasn’t clear when the timed side quests would expire :(. While I love XBC2 more (ignoring it’s crude/ludeness, the world, music, story, characters and emotions are even better), whilst I was playing XBC1 I never wanted it to end, I hoped I could play it forever 😻

Thank you Clayton, this is my favorite game of all time❤

Thanks to your channel I have gotten back into playing jrpgs and during a time I’ve really needed this escape. Also on a side note I really enjoy your videos about our crime minister blackface.

My fav series of all time is the Xeno series. It mixes Philosophy, Theology, Science fiction. The trilogy is connected so play them in order for best results.

My favourite RPG series of all time. Glad you enjoyed - really hope you play the rest of them. The combat greatly improves with each entry and the stories get absolutely wild.

Xenoblade Chronicles is peak fiction. The series as a whole is just so special Fun fact I’m sure many already know… the Monolithsoft dev team who make xenoblade also did the heavy lifting in world design for breath of the wild and years of the kingdom. Makes sense

Wish Monolith could get back the rights to Xenogears, the best RPG story ever

Just subscribed! Love the way u talked about this! My fave game of all time

Wow, the graphics! My kids play role playing games, i just manage Hayday lol I need try some of these awesome looking games

Definitely one of my favorite games of all time. The music, story and graphics on Switch were all unreal. I also loved exploring the world and took my time with but I was also so motivated to finish the story because every chapter ends on a serious cliffhanger. I ended up enjoying but not loving the Future Connected story but it was a nice conclusion and wrapped up things regarding the future of Alcamoth. I recommend this game to anyone who has a switch and likes RPG's, I promise the combat is not as complex and confusing as it looks.

Thank you Clayton for your heartfelt videos and thoughts on these wonderful games as we live in the 2nd golden age of gaming! 😋 I appreciate all you do and love to listen to your insight. You are an inspiration to me as I grow my own retro gaming/perler beading KZfaq channel. I’ve played a bit of Xenoblade myself…gotta get back to it. Right now I’m playing Ni no Kuni…it’s so good, I think you’d love it! It has a great sense of adventure along with a storybook aesthetic and wonderfully crafted characters and story. By the way, love watching redacted! Thank you all for your tireless efforts in bringing truthful news to us! I appreciate it. - Ryan

Waooo didn't know you had a game channel. I'm a big fan of Redacted 😊 Cool to see you playing games. I love to play this game too soon. I have a huge backlog. You got a new subscriber 😊

I'm happy to hear how much you enjoy playing Xenoblade 1. I can't wait for you to play 2 and 3. I love them all truly.

I started with XC2 and then XC1 DE came out on the Switch and I played that next. Just a little warning for you, XC2 has the drama of XC1, but I think it has a lot more funny parts and some fan service. I finished XC3 last year just in time for the final DLC drop and when you put the entire series together you will be blown away! In the end I just kept running around because I didn't want it to be over!

There is just something addictive about the gameplay loop of xc series. Never a dull moment. Have fun with xc2 and xc3. Combat is different but in my opinion better

You will also love xenoblade chronicles 2 and 3. They are just as good as the first one

Most of the sidequests are just to help reward your exploration. It helps that many of them are automatically completed in the field

Just cos it always bothers me, Mitsuda had very little involvement in this soundtrack originally, just composed the end credits theme. His studio likely did record all the new arrangements for the DE but the composers were primarily Yoko Shimomura, ACE+ (ACE and Kenji Hiramatsu) and Manami Kiyota. Mitsuda was far more heavily involved with 2 and 3 though 😊

"TO ERASE MEMORY OF PLAYING XC1, SO WE CAN EXPERIENCE IT AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME" perfectly sums up the game !!! congratulation I acknowledge you as true fans of XC !!! welcome to the family

Hope you enjoy xenoblade 2 as much as one because the second games philosophy and characters have stuck with me for a long time ever since beating it. And listening to the music always evokes such emotion whenever a song that played during a sad scene came on. The only problem is that the tutorials are not your friend in the second one

First time coming across your channel. Great video, you’re a breath of fresh air. I have a huge Switch backlog and Xenoblade Chronicles is high on my list so you may have just locked it in for me as my next game 😅

Can't wait to hear your thoughts on XC3. I haven't played 2, but man did 3 make me cry. I agree 1 had a great story and fantastic music, but I finished it on casual mode because I just didn't want to grind anymore (I changed modes at the end of chapter 14 I think).

Just as a heads up about xenoblade 2 if you plan on playing it, the game has infamously bad tutorials, and the new features it adds to combat can be a bit overwhelming, so don’t be afraid to look up a combat guide if it’s not clicking. Once you know what you’re doing it’s the most satisfying combat system to pull off imo. Also, the game can have some questionable moments, from character designs or game mechanics, but if you stick with it, it has some of the series most emotional and impactful scenes.

Great video

That's exactly how i felt about shin megami tensei. The music, the story, the gameplay. It all hooked me so hard. I wish i could erase my memory of it so i could play it all over again. Xenoblade Chronicles 1 is very good too though

You mentioned being a BoTW and ToTK fan, Monolithsoft, the Xenoblade studio, played a big part in the development of that version of Hyrule

Glad you enjoyed Xenoblade this much! I mentioned before, that I finished it myself last year and was deeply impressed. The music, the setting, the story, the characters and their interactions. What impressed me the most was that the game throws a plot twist after a plot twist and they are all kind of shocking and they are all natural, nothing superficial or contrived. Contrary to your playthrough, I finished all of the side quests)). Looking forward to playing Xenoblade 2 some time later. Currently playing Link's Awakening on Switch (after finishing Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana).

I love this series. Glad you are enjoying it as much as I did. XC2 definitely is a little special (and weird) but overall it's no worse than the other two games and if you ask me I personally find XC2 to have the best gameplay in terms of exploration and combat. XC3 is just special. More than worthy to end off this first little saga. Can't wait to see what Takahashi is cooking up next.

You'll love the next games. Music gets even better and better.

I’ve been watching you on Redacted for a few years now. Didn’t know you have a separate channel ❤

Xenoblade Chronicles 1 is probably my favorite game on the switch so far. I didn't care too much for XC 2. I just couldnt get into it. I maybe only got about 20 hours in. XC 3 is excellent as well, but XC 1 is the one I always come back too. The first time I played it was on the Wii after it finally came to the US. I was completely blown away. It is one of these games that I just said "WOW" the first time playing it. Like u said, the gameplay, the scenery, the music, and the story are all top-notch. The voice acting is incredible, and you really build a connection with the characters. You can really feel their emotions. I highly recommend this game to anybody. It really is that good.

This game is perfect. There's nothing really bad about it. I love it

That is not even a switch game, that is a Wii game, thats how old that game is. But still it is beautiful

Can't wait to see your thoughts on the rest of the trilogy. Easily my new favorite game series after playing the original back around 2014.

This game is in my backlog too. Looking forward to getting around to it. Eventually 😆😆

Great game. Played it back on the Wii & it was easily one of the best games on that console. If I remember right, they almost didn't even bring this out in the west for some reason. You could only buy it at Gamestop. RPG's were going through a weird downturn during that time & this game was a big breath of fresh air. Hope they also bring back Xenoblade X at some point.

Thank you for your spoiler free thoughts on the game 👍

1:08 - looks like Rebirth’s Gold Saucer got inspired from this

I played through for the first time at the beginning of the year. I put it off because I really didn't think I would like it very much. It ended up being one of my all time favorite rpgs and I still really don't care for the combat. "Tell me a story." and it did just that.

XC1 is a top 10 game all time for me. When it 1st released on wii it was astonishingly good and the definitive edition is a dream remaster.

Still my favourite game of all time ❤ broke my brain (in a good way) when I played it on Wii back in the day, I hope you stick with 2 as it's also incredible despite a couple of fairly significant or divisive features 😅

Congrats 100+ hrs game, and an amazing jRPG, one of the best if not the best of the past decade. I have the Wii version which I finished and the 3DS and Switch versión which not. Xeno 2 and specially 3 are ones of my favorite jRPGs ever, at par with FF 6-12, Dragon Quest 8 &11. I think it's time for a port/remaster of Xenogears, Xenosaga 1-3 and Xenoblade X on Switch (or Switch 2)

Oh, you'll love xc2 definitely!! And xc3 too of course!

Honestly impressed you finished the game in a relatively short time! I'm a young dude and it takes me years to beat an RPG like Xenoblade. I started Chronicles 1 on Wii, then on 3DS, and I think I'm finally going to get through it on the Switch version. It's one of the most intimidating series since each entry is like 100 hours, that's more than most Fire Emblem, Pokemon, and similar to perhaps Persona games

I really liked that game...I couldn't get into it on the 3DS but I ended up finishing it on the Switch.

If you weren’t really feeling the character interactions/supports in Fire Emblem Engage, I’d recommend FE: Three Houses if you haven’t already played it. That game by far has the best written cast of characters in the FE series

Amazing game!

I played this game a few years ago but never beat it no was loving it, I just got caught up in other things. I got about 20 hours in. I really want to start it over now.

Monolithsoft helped with BotW, and probably also TotK. I found that interesting, as well.

xenobabe chronicles is life! 2 is my most fav game of all time :O these games aren't made for money. sure. making money is the objective. of course of course. though if you take but a single closer look you can't help but see the love put into every little corner of these games. they are made with love and care and them being kickass game devs with a clear vision certainly never hurt these games :D

Awesome take man thnx for the vid. Xenoblade bypassed me too - defo gonna buy after watching this. Would it run good on the Switch Lite?

Thanks Clayton

I couldn’t play it on Wii because of GameStops greed, and I refused to play it on 3DS. So I ended up playing in order of X, 2, 1, 3. As a fan of MMORPG’s I actually would love a Xenoblade Chronicle one if they fully supported it for at least 10 years. Either way I’m excited to see what monolith does next because they said 3 was the end of this series for now at least