Am I the only one who didn't find Riki annoying at all, and in fact used him frequently in battle and even found him kinda charming? (Tatsu on the other hand, though)

That scene with Shulk and Fiora by the beach still left an impression on me :)

"video music starts playing" ohhh the feels

And yet this game doesn't show up in your Top 30 games somehow...

how you dare to be hating on riki...

"Simple character animations" This is a problem I had with Xenoblade X. In the original Xenoblade, each character had their own idle animations, but now everybody does the same two. I'd post this on the Xenoblade X video but I'm just lazy.

I think you don't give the story and characters enough credit. We've over used the word cliche. In a sense, you could call anything a cliche if you thought about it. Good endings, bad endings, powerful active hero, cynical dark hero. If you take a story purely for what it is and not comparing it to others, you will truly appreciate it. Ps: Riki is more than comic relief. He has a lot more personality and you really love him towards the end.

Come on Riki is awesome! Though he is kind of out of place near the end, say for a few charming moments

I was nodding happily until you called riki a nuisance =-= I just love how everyone gets along, and later the conversation between riki and Dun-dun where so unbelievable touching to me...i just cant help to just love this furball

The convoluted ending sets up for the rest of Xenoblade and Xenosaga to fit into the story

I spent 180 hours on this game, and now I want to do it all over again. This game is fantastic.

Remaster on Switch!!

I would put Xenoblade along with Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid Prime 3 and Wind Waker when it comes to art design.

This is still one of the greatest JRPGs I've played to this day, and I'm really excited to experience it again on the Switch.

I like Riki. Why do people hate the little guy so much?

Well, with the HD release coming up, I can't wait to finally play this game.

Wow. This review was 9yrs ago. Still love how you guys did this video and appreciate your newest videos as well! Your voice has matured as well

I got the 3DS version and visually speaking, it's tolerable. The game still looks nice. The gameplay is awesome.

Most of the soundtrack, and nearly every great track in the game, were composed by ACE+, not Mitsuda or Shimonura

rikki is mega cute and serves as emotional support both in form of empathy and comedic relief. he is a crucial part of the gang

Just came back to this review as I start the Definitive Edition, hopefully it being handheld means I can get through this now

I finally bought this game after nearly two years of searching for it and I am so so glad I did. I've only put an hour into it so far, but hearing how good it was from the likes of you and other gamer reviews made me more encouraged to find it, and I'm damn glad I did.

I came to this game myself expecting little and was rewarded with one of the best JRPG experiences I've had since Chrono Trigger. 

You are correct, but that's why I said the game was composed by the "likes of" Yoko Shimomura and Yasunori Mitsuda. I do realize that there were a lot of other composers, but those were two names people would be able to recognize and associate with other games they've played. The point was to draw comparisons to the kinds of music you would find in old Square Soft games that people love so much.

It should be noted that Yasunori Mitsuda only composed a single track; the ending theme. While Yoko Shimomura did a fair share of the soundtrack (11 tracks), the majority was composed by Manami Kiyota and ACE+

I haven't yet. I may or may not do one for the Last Story, but Pandora's Tower comes out in just a few days!

Have you tried No no Kuni for the PS3? It's got problems, but it was great seeing an overworld in such a beautiful art style.

That game left a mark on me that will never leave. I don't think I will ever play it again because I don't have the time anymore. But still, sometime, I restart my wii, put the disc back inside, and leave the first screen on. Just to listen the music again, and remember every minute spent inside that piece of art. I think that game has impacted me as much as my first final fantasy. Cheers to everyone who discovered it on wii. ❤️

Being remade. I'm very busy with another really large project right now, but I'm in the midst of another playthrough of FF4 right now.

I liked what you said in this review so much I subscribed immediately. Very good review!

Dude your review was so full of passion, so moving that I went and bought this game, it was a bit overpriced but good. Thanks man!

Man, loved what you did for the genre, the wii, and xenoblade. I will be picking this up when I can find it. Great narrative review style, can't wait to subscribe and check out your other stuff on the channel! Thank you!

This is quite possibly the greatest review of any game that I have ever seen. Well done!

In order of appearance: Seiken Densetsu 3, Dark Souls, Skyrim, Last Remnant, Star Ocean: The Last Hope, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, White Knight Chronicles, Final Fantasy XIII-2

aaaand 10yrs later. Xenoblade as a brand is stronger than ever before. i pity those who drop the game because its "too mmo, too hard" or some other copium reason , or just salty fanboys because its exclusive to Nintendo. you guys are missing out, you have no idea lol

Thanks! Glad you're going to pick it up. It's freaking awesome!

Wow, this video is almost 10 years.

nice to see this once again

"Each character is well-developed" *Zooms in on bewbs*

Nice concise review. In 2 gameplay attempts, I never got past level 10 because I thought the gameplay was far too complicated (I watched my brother play instead until he stopped in Central Factory, and he didn't know or care about Mechonis Core, but I did know from watching the game here on KZfaq), but your review almost makes me want to revisit the game with that boiled-down gameplay perspective. Now if only I could play the game... My brother has it. With that unfinished save file. He refuses to play the game any further. Lol (I'm not the reason for that, though)

I feel like Hiroyuki Ito is the only guy left at Square who understands what good game design is.

The only part of this game I thought was exhausting was the need to communicate with all people at all times of the day to get all the quests and affinity... That said, did anyone else have issues playing on the Wii where the system would restart after getting overwhelmed by the sheer size of the game? I've had to play it via an emulator in order to stay sane because my Wii just resets at the worst moments.

Absolutely :) hopefully I'll get around to it one day.

Why can't more reviews be as thought provoking and insightful as this splendor of presentation? I've already been playing for some time, but this just might be what I needed to get right back to it since it more than deserves to be played! By the way, how would you describe your response on the news about Monolith Soft's new Wii U game known to bear that glorious 'X' marking?

Yasunori Mitsuda have only compose 1 song for Xenoblade 1 and Yoko Shimomura have compose 11 songs. The big composer was Manami Kiyota (50 songs) and ACE+ (29 songs).

Wow, that review might have been the best videogame review I've ever seen. Seriously, you were thorough, descriptive, and answered every question I had and more. You might have just sold me on spending $100 on a copy of this game.

the story and omg the soundtrack is amazing.

This rpg, THIS. FUCKING RPG, IS MY FAVORITE JRPG OF ALL TIME! It almost makes sounding like a weirdo to my parents when I told them what game I wanted for Christmas a few years back completely worth it. This game pretty much solidified what my favorite genre of video games are. Future JRPGs should really take notes from this game (and to some extent, XBC2 and X). Yes, even the ones that claim to harken back to the days of 90's JRPGs. This is also the game that sparked my interest into the Xeno series, I'm currently playing Xenogears on the PS Vita!

I just finished playing this game today . Here are my thoughts on it: the game is pretty polarized . what it does well it does really well, and on the other hand there's quite a few things it does , well, pretty bad. in a nutshell , this is my opinion: + music & voice acting - simply great, epic yet very lively, enjoyable, diverse and sometimes atmospheric. voice acting is great and makes the characters really believable + story & characters - I personally would give this segment a higher rating. although it may seem a bit cliche at certain times, when all was said and done, I was left really glad I played through all of it's unexpected twists and turns right to the, in my opinion, emotionally fulfilling end. the characters are interesting, and very likeable/hateable , respectively . also the philosophical under themes are interesting. + the world - massive world, pretty cool design. sadly, the graphics hold it back a lot else it would have been simply amazing. + mechanics - all the mechanics , from the combat system to the way characters interact with one another are pretty interesting and different. I feel there could be a lot more done with all of it, but the ideas are definitely promising. - graphics - they look like they're from an average looking PS2 game. horrible for 2010-2011. would probably instantly turn off anyone who doesn't have a deeper appreciation of video games as a medium. - content - yes there are many sidequests, but aside from the main story, it's all pretty generic and doesn't seem meaningful at all. there's no emotionally captivating side stories or really anything very interesting you could do aside from just exploring the areas & following the story. the hearts to hearts are a cool idea but are pretty hard to unlock so you'll probably be doing that post game. - items (mostly gear I'm talking about) there's no way to acquire some special gear, like for example go do an optional dungeon or sidequest that will reward you with a bad ass piece of gear. also, the fact that most of the gear shares a design with some other piece of gear. even worse, most of these gear designs are pretty bad. So in conclusion - I think the game is worth playing for any real gamer who's into this sort of thing. The story and the atmosphere keep the game going. The mechanics are ok, pretty interesting , but a lot of room for improvement. But don't expect to get lost in a boundless world full of intricacies such as hidden bosses and interesting sidequests, because aside from the main course it's all pretty generic and kinda empty. The game is flawed in many aspects, and a lot of what you'll get isn't anywhere near top-notch quality ,but I'm really glad Xenoblade got adopted by Nintendo as an AAA franchise , because with all their resources I really believe it will be possible for the creators of the series to make vast improvements on these promising concepts in the future. I actually wanted to play this one first and see how it compares to sequel that was just released in the west a few weeks ago. I wonder if there'll be significant improvements to all the downsides I mentioned here. Can't wait to see !

Just started playing this on the Wii U. Slow start but I will press on.

great review

Best review I've seen in a long time man. Well done!

Ur reviews r really good, I've enjoyed watching a bunch of ur FF reviews and now this one, it just makes me so hyped to play this again. R u planning on reviewing xenoblade chronicles X? It's killer u should think about reviewing it. Anyway man I look forward to see more reviews from ur channel.

Ps: wiiu is backwards compatible, for Wii

Best of that generation? ...must be your, YOUR best! By any chance do you play in that past generation: NinoKuni, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey?

Awesome review

Also, someone must have mentioned this already, Yoko Shimomura only composed like three or five songs (which includes the opening theme) and Yasunori Mitsuda only composed the ending song... ACE+ and Manami Kiyota composed pretty much the main bulk of the songs played throughout the game...

Hey, great review! And you have a nice voice :-) I will buy the game for the 3DS.

100% agree with everything in this review. Xenoblade Chronicles is the game that proved that JRPGs don't have to be boring corridors to tell a good story.

I love these developers. Xenogears is still on my top ten. I need to play this. Awesome review, man..:)

This is the only game where I can put over 100 hours into each play through and still never get tired. Even by the fourth play through I was still having a blast. Also I always liked the battle system but the 4th play through made me appreciate it even more when I decided to fight al the unique monsters, the difficulty made me rethink strategy, moves, party combination, equipment it was so exhilarating beating a giant mechon after planning ahead with a perfect strategy.

heart to heart MADE this game to me, it simply expanded the whole thing and game a extra purpose of exploring and fighting

very good review! Thanks.

Having completed this game years ago on original hardware, I have finally decided to start up a New Game+. Thanks to Dolphin and a HD texture pack, the problems of low-resolution graphics with muddy textures is negated. I even have the option of playing in stereoscopic 3D (yes, I am aware of the 3DS version but that has even muddier textures).

I played on Dolphin, which I think is the best version available technically. Battles are fun, but the world is too big for the sake of being big. Reminds me of a racing game called "Fuel" which developers claimed it had the biggest open world for a racing game at the time. Too bad they forgot to populate it with interesting things to do.

i hope you get to review the jrpgs of last gen like the star ocean or tales games. I think you would explain if they are worthy of purchase better than mainstream reviewers

really great review. thank you.

I think one of the most important fact about this game is that it almost got denied localisation in europe and America by Nintendo for obscure reasons and was it not for fan's input and restless asking for the game to be translated, it would have stayed a Japan-only game, only available through importation, on a region-locked console. This made me hate Nintendo even to this day.

And now it’s getting rebuilt from the ground up to the switch! I can’t wait to play this game for the first time!

Great review. Very well-spoken. I just finished the game myself yesterday and actually agree with just about everything you said.

Tears came. Xenoblade Chronicles has a special place in my heart. Thank you.

Haven't played this game and so looking forward for the NSW release.

Great review! Have you ever thought of reviewing the original Xenogears for the PS1?

This review is REALLY good, it perfectly lets the audience know that this game does have a few flaws but the overall excellent presentation and management of art design, story and gameplay make XBC a gem among modern JRPGs One thing I love about Xenoblade is that it truly encourages exploration of the vast world instead of just going where you need to go next by tangibly rewarding you for participating in extracurricular activities like sidequests, achievements and even rebuilding a colony

I just came to say that I am 19 hours into this game and loving every minute of it. All in preparation for X.

absolutely awesome introduction.

Sigh I wish this game had an hd port it would look amazing

can someone tell me the current price for this game on the wii?

Would you consider doing a review for Xenoblade Chronicles X?

I think when I started up this game for the first time I almost cried hahahahahaha I felt like i was dreaming and was sooooo happy that this game came out. When I played this I felt like I was playing an old school game with ne game mechanics. Love it.

Great review thx :).

And Now we are getting a remake for switch. Hopefully you will do a 2020 review xD

Your voice is amazing in a narration form like this video. The beginning of it made me feel sad for how games have changed and my enjoyment of knowing this game went back to how JRPGs were then after the video I was simply like, I have never played this game and don't really care to (mainly for personal distaste for the Wii) also I like how games have come, not Final Fantasy XIII but Final Fantasy VII Crsis Core. which I think you were talking down about. lol.

By far one of my favorite games of all time, and what is truly impressive is that it didn't have a massive budget. I would even venture to say that the combined world of this game, easily blows away Skyrim and many open world sizes. This game was pure fun. I played it on my wii, and it looked like crap since it was a 65 inch tv I played it on, but if you have a computer that is good enough to play it on Dolphin, upscaled, then you will see a game that is pretty beautiful.

Okay I haven't played it yet but you convinced me, I'm gonna buy it (when I have enough money)

I love your videos thank you so much ]

Yep, I'm saving up for this console!

Dark Pixel Gaming Hey, nice video! Loved it! Anyways, I'm just now starting a KZfaq channel, and I was wondering how you edit your videos. It was really cool to see you cute from one example to another, not just in Xenoblade, but other games. I'm also wondering how you use trailers in a video. Just wondering how you do this stuff. Sorry for asking.

Great review. I disagree about the visuals being a 3.5, however. They push the Wii to its limit, and ultimately without the Wii this game would have never been made. The developers simply wouldn't have had a big enough budget to make a game this big with modern-day graphics. What never ceases to amaze me about this game is how beautiful it is, far more so than almost any other modern game out there. The colors and art direction are so superb that it doesn't need tons of pixels to look good.

Awesome Review!

break, topple, daze, your best friend against strong monster, even a few bosses.

Great review!

That scene was really good, I'll admit. If Riki had more moments in the game like that to balance his silliness I would have liked him a lot more. He was a great combat character :)

Nice!! Are you going to be doing more reviews? :)

btw, there is a wii emulator called dolphin, u can play this game and every wii game in 1080p, even with wii remote and nunchuk, it looks totally awesome, only thing is that u need a very good cpu to emulate it in constant 25 to 30 fps.

Excellent review.

Great, and subscribed.

*waits for the review on the Switch remake*

i missed this game on wii but am buying a wii u just for X

Great review. I can't believe it was all the way back in 2006 that FFXII showed how modern JRPGs can be done. Xenoblade clearly took influence from XII, and in a lot of ways took it to the next level. Can't wait to see what Monolith do next (and Ito's team at Square, if they ever get around to making another game...)