I recently finished Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition for the second time on Switch 2.
My first playthrough took around 65 hours. This time, instead of using New Game Plus, I started over from scratch and tried to experience as much of the game as possible, including most of the side quests and optional content.
My total playtime is now over 150 hours. I only have one or two quests left, along with a few final Colony 6 reconstruction tasks.
When I finished the game for the first time, I actually applauded during the ending credits.
I did not know much about Monolith Soft at the time, so I was genuinely surprised that the original Xenoblade Chronicles was the first game in the series. The scale and ambition of the game felt far beyond what I expected from a first entry.
The strongest feeling I had after finishing it was not simply that it was fun, but that it was satisfying.
It was absolutely fun, but what stayed with me more was the sense that I had completed a long and meaningful journey.
One of the most impressive things about Xenoblade Chronicles is the scale of its world, both in terms of space and time.
The world does not feel large simply because the maps are big. The idea that people live on the bodies of two enormous titans makes exploration feel like more than just traveling across different areas.
As I moved from one region to another, I naturally found myself imagining where I was on the Bionis. Each location felt like an actual part of the world rather than just another game level.
The story also has a huge sense of history.
At first, the immediate events and Shulk’s desire for revenge seem like the main focus. As the story progresses, however, those events become connected to the history and origins of the entire world.
What begins as a personal journey gradually expands into something much larger.
However, the reason I found the game so satisfying was not simply that its world was large or that its lore was complicated.
What impressed me more was how well the game separates what the player needs to understand from what does not need to be explained in detail.
The history, structure, and origins of the world are clearly well thought out, but the game does not stop every few minutes to explain every detail or expect the player to memorize a huge amount of lore.
At the same time, it does not leave the player completely confused or require them to read a mountain of optional documents just to understand the main story.
It gives you the information you need when you need it, while keeping the focus on the characters, their emotions, and the choices they make.
Because of this, the story never became overwhelming for me, even when its scale became much larger near the end.
The world itself is enormous, but the emotional core of the story remains easy to follow.
You understand what Shulk and his friends have lost, what they are trying to protect, what choices they are facing, and what kind of future they want to create.
The scale of the setting does not bury the characters. Instead, it makes their decisions feel even more meaningful.
During my second playthrough, I also paid much more attention to the side quests, the relationships between NPCs, and the smaller stories in each area.
There are definitely parts of the game that feel old by modern standards. Many of the side quests are repetitive, the character animations can look stiff, and the combat does not always have the same visual impact or responsiveness as more recent games.
Still, I kept wondering what made me want to spend more than 150 hours in this world and complete the game twice.
There are many games that look different from one another. Like most people, I usually choose games that fit my tastes and seem likely to be enjoyable.
But for me, being fun is not always enough.
I also want a game to give me the feeling that it offers something different from the games I have already played. I want it to feel fresh and worth experiencing.
Xenoblade Chronicles was originally released 16 years ago, yet the way it designs and presents its world, characters, and story still felt fresh to me today.
Its world is huge, its characters and cultures are varied, and its setting is filled with details.
However, it never dumps all of that complexity onto the player.
You can understand the main story simply by following the main path. At the same time, players who spend more time exploring and completing side content can gain a deeper understanding of the people and places within the world.
The game does a good job of separating what is necessary to understand the story from what is there for players who want to explore further.
The main message I took away from the ending was that we should continue living our own lives and moving toward our goals, even when the future is uncertain.
The game deals with gods, fate, and the origins of the world, but its final message is not that some all-powerful being will solve everything.
It is about people living their own lives, moving forward together, and choosing their own future.
Another message that stayed with me was the rejection of absolute authority.
The game does not present a world controlled by someone who knows everything, decides every future, and guides everyone as an ideal.
Instead, it values a world where people are free to make their own choices, even if those choices are imperfect and the future remains uncertain.
Xenoblade Chronicles contains enormous landscapes, ancient history, and major secrets about the nature of its world.
But it does not constantly show off its lore or force the player to understand every detail.
It shows you what you need to see, and when the important moments arrive, it brings the focus back to the characters and the choices they make.
That is why, after finishing the game, I did not simply feel that I had seen a huge world.
I felt that I had followed and understood the journey of the people living within it.
That is probably why I was willing to spend more than 150 hours with a game that clearly shows its age, start over from the beginning, and watch the ending for a second time.
Now I am looking forward to playing the Switch 2 Edition of Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
