Xenoblade Chronicles (universe): Difference between revisions

''Xenoblade Chronicles'' received overwhelming critical acclaim across the board. It was lauded for revitalizing and reinventing the otherwise stagnant Japanese role-playing genre and bringing it into the twenty-first century, with a sense of freedom instilled by a massive open world that has been compared to the size of the real-world Japanese archipelago. The gameplay style of the combat closely resembles that of ''Final Fantasy XII'', but with an emphasis on chained group attacks and allowing some characters to strategically divert enemy attention away from other party members. Closely tied in with the game's theme is a "Visions" system where the lead character can see glimpses of critical or even fatal enemy attacks, which can allow the player to either avoid or prevent an incoming attack. Especially praised were the characters, both for their writing and voice performances and for the integration of their relationships into core aspects of the gameplay both inside and outside of battle. The game sold over 800,000 units globally and, as a first-party Nintendo property, its main character [[Shulk]] was included in the roster of ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'' in 2014.

''Xenoblade Chronicles'' is set on a world of endless ocean, with the world's terra firma being the standing, towering corpses of Bionis and Mechonis, two colossal gods who dueled long ago and have remained locked in their positions from the battle. Eons later, new life arose out of their bodies and formed civilizations and societies, such as the humanoid Homs and other organic lifeforms on the Bionis, and mechanical beings like the predatory Mechon on the Mechonis. When a Homs colony on Bionis is attacked by the Mechon, a young Homs named [[Shulk]] obtains a mystical sword called the Monado, which is capable of damaging the Mechon and gives its chosen wielder the gift of foresight. Shulk and his friends initially set out for a Mechon stronghold to exact revenge, but over the course of a journey filled with twists and turns, they are provided a deeper examination of the conflict between the two sides, and eventually, of the true workings of the world itself.

''Xenoblade Chronicles 3D'', a port of the original Wii title, was developed by Monster Games and released for the [[Nintendo 3DS|New Nintendo 3DS]] on April 2, 2015 in Japan, Europe, and Australia, and on April 10, 2015 in the Americas. The handheld port was lauded for preserving the scale and frame rate of the original game while also including additional side content such as a jukebox and character model viewer, but skepticism was cited for the port's considerably downgraded visuals. The original Wii version was made available for digital download much later on the Wii U eShop in Europe on August 5, 2015 and in the Americas on April 28, 2016.

''Xenoblade Chronicles 2'', a new game in the series, was revealed during the Nintendo Switch presentation in January 2017. Tetsuya Takahashi understood the criticisms that fans had about the previous entry on Wii U regarding the shift away from a rich story among other complaints, and thus he strove to address them in this title. The game features heavily anime-inspired character designs as opposed to the more realistic styles in ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' and ''Xenoblade Chronicles X''. Similarly to the former, the game takes place on the backs of gargantuan beings called Titans in a new world called Alrest. The story follows a young hot-blooded salvager named [[Rex]] as he sets out to take his friend Pyra home to Elysium, a paradise where humans lived in harmony with their divine father, the Architect, at the genesis of the world. The gameplay features a new party member dynamic where party members are either Drivers or Blades. Blades imbue Drivers with powers and weapons, while Drivers deploy said powers and weapons. Players can conjure new Blades by finding and touching Core Crystals, each with its own elemental and weapon typings. ''Xenoblade Chronicles 2'' was globally released for the Nintendo Switch on December 1, 2017. The game was lauded for bringing the focus back to a pure fantasy setting, a complex story filled with twists and turns, a return to the music score of the original game, a diverse voice cast, and a party of likable original characters along with the quality-of-life gameplay improvements to personalize the experience. An Expansion Pass would be developed and release its contents throughout 2018, including additional side quests, more options to customize the difficultly, familiar ''Xeno'' series characters as recruitable Blades, and an entire prequel campaign known as ''Torna ~ The Golden Country''. To commemorate the game’s launch, Rex’s Salvager Armor Set was also release as free equipment for Link in ''The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild''.