Title: Xenoblade Chronicles X
Platform: Wii U
Genre: RPG
Language: English
Company: Monolith Soft
Summary: When there’s an entire subreddit dedicated to emulating this specific game, there’s a reason for it.
Story:
Characters: None of the other Xenoblade game characters interested me in the slightest bit tbh… The first game Shulk is just “REALLY FEELING IT”, and any attempts at the JP version were all just as dull. The 2nd game is nothing but giant bazongas and other overdone anime tropes for me–Nia was probably the one I was fine with the most. But the ones in this game were pretty comfy… the dub was fine, jokes were fine, and they all have a good amount of down-to-earth humility.
Graphics: Emulation unlocks 1080p and 60fps, and the difference is HUGE compared to what everything is locked to on Wii U. Brightness was also turned up, as the original game used a lot of dark colors… the usual fallacy of games trying to appeal to “Western” tastes, ugh. When seen on a large screen, the comparisons are super obvious when the occasional pre-rendered cutscene comes in.
Sound: I’ve always really liked Sawano Hiroyuki’s music, and his work on this soundtrack is amazing once again. The way the music is implemented in the game itself is a bit awkward however and could use some improvements. Since most of the music has lyrics, it tends to distract from the dramatic cut rendered cut-scenes when all they’re doing is standing around in the control room talking or such. And the “peaceful/heartwarming” soundtracks that would play in just about every character scenario tend to get repetitive quickly, although they are still very good tracks.
Gameplay: Because this was played on PC emulator, mods to improve graphics and other QoL things were added to make the gameplay VERY different from how it was originally intended. We used moonjumping and something like 3x running speed to get through areas that would otherwise take extra hours to get through. The graphics improvement made a HUGE difference, as everything looked so much more gorgeous that way, way better than anything that I’d seen in XBC2. XP, drop, enemy stat, dmg mods were also applied to take away the grind for time reasons. :V
Replay Value:
Overall: This may be one of the only reviews where I would give multiple scores, but the reason is very apparent:

As is on the Wii U, I’m inclined to give this a 7/10 at BEST. The game would have many factors I would personally consider to be flaws that would deter me from giving it a better score. Maybe some people with too much time on their hands would consider those factors the appeal of the game (the grind, the extra time needed to accomplish any one thing in the game).

However, emulated with mods to make the gameplay experience SIGNIFICANTLY nicer, this score gets easily bumped to 9/10.

I’m actually a decent fan of open-ended endings depending on how they’re implemented, and this one hit the right bones for me. Wouldn’t mind seeing a sequel for this one… at least way more interested than I was for the original Xenoblade.

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