What’s in a name? Specifically, what’s in the name Xenoblade Chronicles? Is this video game series about a sword or some other sort of blade? Are Xenoblade games related to the broader Xeno universe created by Tetsuya Takahashi? As the word 'chronicle' implies, does each new entry in the series chronologically follow the last, with temporal progression being the prevailing through-line rather than recurring characters or settings?
RelatedXenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition - Beginner Tips
These are some things you really, really, really, ought to bear in mind before diving too far into Xenoblade Chronicles X.
PostsThe answer to all of these questions is basically yes, although you don’t need to know anything about the others to enjoy any given entry in the series. While Xenoblade is often confusing, one thing is not: these games are good. But which one is the best? Let’s find out if some are a little bit meatier than the rest.
Updated on March 30, 2025 by Quinton O'Connor: With the arrival of its Definitive Edition for the Switch, Xenoblade Chronicles X can finally break out of its little-played, Wii-U-blamed, shell to find the wider audience of Xenoblade enthusiasts. We're celebrating with an update to this list!
4 Xenoblade Chronicles 2
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Like Follow FollowedXenoblade Chronicles 2
RPG Systems OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 83/100 Critics Rec: 80% Released December 1, 2017 ESRB T For Teen due to Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence Developer(s) Monolith Soft Publisher(s) NintendoWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALXenoblade Chronicles 2 is a fantastic installment in the Xeno series, and it follows Rex and Pyra as they seek to save their world from destruction. The engaging characters, gorgeous world, and compelling RPG mechanics make this an adventure worth playing.
How Long To Beat 63 Hours Metascore 83 Powered by Expand CollapseXenoblade Chronicles 2 caught a break coming out when it did in 2017 for the Nintendo Switch. The hybrid console was less than a year old, and there was a dearth of JRPGs at the time. But you know what Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is — a JRPG, and an especially big and ambitious one at that.
While the game did well at the time both critically and commercially, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 can occasionally get in its own way. The combat system is an improvement over its numbered predecessor, but its complexity can often be cumbersome and overwhelming. Field Skills and the gacha-esque Blade acquisition system are both highly polarizing, and for some players, the cutscenes are all just a touch over-the-top.
That said, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is by no means a bad game. In fact, it's a darn good one, with fantastic antagonists and arguably the best climactic act in the series. It just happens to be - as far as we're concerned - the weakest link in a terrific chain.
Torna — The Golden Country
For many, Torna — The Golden Country was a vast improvement on what the base game of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 offered. Taking place almost 500 years before the events of the base game, it follows Lora and her Blade, Jin, who you'll recognise as an antagonist from the main scenario.
Alongside a new story expanding on the mysteries of Jin's past and how he became the despondent figure seen during Rex's time, the DLC also had lots of gameplay enhancements that addressed many of the issues seen in the base game. Not only was the side quest system overhauled into a more digestible Community system, but there were other small changes that made a big difference to the overall experience.
3 Xenoblade Chronicles X
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Like Follow FollowedXenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition
RPG Action Systems Released March 20, 2025 ESRB Teen // Animated Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence Developer(s) Monolith Soft Publisher(s) Nintendo Multiplayer Online Co-OpWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALThere are three major things that set Xenoblade Chronicles X apart from the rest of the series. First, there are way more mechs. Differentiating itself from its numbered compatriots, Xenoblade Chronicles X leans heavily on the sci-fi genre and is all the better for it. Mechs are awesome, and they bolster the combat system well. They do, however, take nearly half the game to unlock.
RelatedXenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition - The Mad Monk Mission Walkthrough
Bozé is quite the individual in Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, and someone you'll need to disagree with for the best outcome.
PostsSecond, Xenoblade Chronicles X, quite obviously, doesn't have a number in its title. While this is a superficial difference, it does seem to go hand-in-hand with the game’s focus on gameplay. It's also set in a separate universe from the other titles, which gradually develop some surprising connections. And third, with a soundtrack fully crafted by legendary anime composer Hiroyuki Sawano, the atmosphere in X is not at all akin to the more orchestral scores of other entries.
Unlike the rest of the series, Xenoblade Chronicles X is not as narratively driven. It's sparse on higher-budget cutscenes, and heftier on massively-scaled exploration than even its brethren. Indeed, in a franchise known for vast landscapes, there's nothing like X's alien world of Mira. Xenoblade Chronicles X is complex, multifaceted, and it can easily overwhelm players; thankfully, some of these rougher edges have been sanded off with Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, a recent enhanced remaster for Nintendo Switch.
Definitive Edition also does something that fans from the game's Wii U origin days will greatly appreciate: Loose plot threads are finally resolved!
2 Xenoblade Chronicles
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LikeXenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
RPG Systems OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 89/100 Critics Rec: 97% Released May 29, 2020 ESRB T For Teen Due To Blood, Mild Language, Partial Nudity, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence Developer(s) Monolith Soft Publisher(s) NintendoWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALFor many, it will always be impossible to top the original Xenoblade Chronicles. Originally launched in 2010 for the Nintendo Wii, Xenoblade Chronicles was the first new Xeno game since developer Monolith Soft was bought by Nintendo. Like all the games to come, it was ambitious and in many ways unique from other JRPGs. It was an expensive game to make, and a big risk, but Monolith Soft knocked it out of the park.
Xenoblade Chronicles features a beautiful and huge world to explore, as well as a plethora of engaging characters. Despite evidence to the contrary, Shulk has a lot more to say than simply that he’s “really feeling it!” and the narrative amounts to something genuinely worth paying attention to. Compared to some of the more juvenile aspects of its numbered sequel, Xenoblade Chronicles tells a moving story that is significantly bolstered by hours of absolute bangers on the soundtrack. Story aside, the setting alone — the game taking place on the ossified bodies of giants — was compelling and original in its time.
But even without the nostalgia factor, the game still holds up today. 2020’s Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, which was launched on the Nintendo Switch, proves it. The game’s combat system might still be the wonkiest of the series, but that doesn’t detract from what the game does so well or from its historical importance for JRPGs.
Future Connected
Alongside the launch of the Definitive Edition for the Nintendo Switch came the DLC epilogue, Future Connected. Around a year after the final events of the main story, Shulk and Melia head out to investigate the Bionis' shoulder, but their ship crashes, and they discover two stowaways — Kino and Nene, children of Riki — who join them as they explore the area and take on the Fog King.
While no major changes were made to the gameplay, as was the case with Torna — The Golden Country, continuing where the narrative left off is enough reason to play through the story scenario. You get to traverse a previously unexplored area of the Bionis, and the environments are just as breathtaking as in the main game.
If you're a fan of Melia's character, it's also exciting to see her take on a larger role as the group learns more about the Fog King and offers aid to the High Entia. You even get to witness Melia to reconcile with Tyrea, who was her adversary in the main story.
1 Xenoblade Chronicles 3
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Like Follow FollowedXenoblade Chronicles 3
RPG Systems OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 88/100 Critics Rec: 94% Released July 29, 2022 ESRB T For Teen due to Language, Mild Blood, Suggestive Themes, Violence Developer(s) Monolith Publisher(s) NintendoWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALIt cannot be understated how exceptional Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is. The game pushes its hardware, yet Monolith Soft’s technical mastery is on full display in their third numbered entry in the series. Artistically, the game is a sight to behold, and it improves on the Xenoblade formula in nearly every way. The combat, borrowing the best aspects from previous entries, is as complex as ever, but it’s explained clearly (for once) and doled out at a pace that is much more player-friendly.
Xenoblade has always had stories that mix ambition and originality with tropes, but here, more than in any of the previous titles, the right balance is struck. There’s an urgency to the narrative from the get-go, with a well-paced adventure that still manages to make space for character exploration and development. While the dialogue (at least in its English language localization) can sometimes be unnecessarily repetitive, the main characters are all both interesting and charming.
Perhaps most remarkably, the game explores important themes that have recurred throughout the series — identity, responsibility, ethics, morality, mortality, and obviously xenophobia, too — and it does so with maturity and nuance. Sure, it still has Nopon — it is still Xenoblade Chronicles — but even if you didn’t love any of the previous games in the series, you might still find something quite special in Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
Future Redeemed
Xenoblade Chronicles 3's fourth wave of DLC brought a separate story scenario titled Future Redeemed, which takes place a number of years before Noah, Mio, and the rest of the party begin their journey across Aionios. You begin the journey as Matthew, a City survivor looking for his missing sister Na'el, as he travels alongside A.
Featuring older versions of both Shulk and Rex, Future Redeemed could easily have been an extra piece of fan service made to please existing fans of the series, but it does a whole lot more than that. Somehow, it manages to bring together the three numbered titles in a way that's understandable and not convoluted, though it may take a little while for it all to sink in.
Shulk and Rex are, of course, highlights of the DLC, and seeing how they've grown and matured as characters is a pleasure, but the entire party's dynamic is on par with that of the main game. It works well as a standalone narrative too, as you finally get to see how the City was founded, and the events that lead up to it. Future Redeemed is the final piece of the Xenoblade Chronicles puzzle, and it slots right in perfectly.
NextXenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed - How To Fully Upgrade Weapons
Need help getting all the materials to upgrade your weapons in XC3: Future Redeemed? Learn the locations and check everything you need here.
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