When you think of Nintendo’s most innovative games, there’s likely a shortlist that comes to mind — Ocarina of Time, Super Metroid, Super Mario 64, and more. But over the last two decades, there’s been a lesser-known group of games that have been pivotal and utterly essential to games as a whole, and in the process became one of Nintendo’s most beloved franchises. Fifteen years ago, Xenoblade Chronicles released on the Nintendo Wii and revolutionized the way we interact with open worlds, while pushing RPGs forward in a bold new direction.
Perhaps the most incredible thing about Xenoblade Chronicles is how it managed to feel so utterly revolutionary on the Nintendo Wii, in the twilight of the console’s life. When you think of big and bold open-world games, the Wii likely isn’t the first thing that comes to mind, but Xenoblade Chronicles managed to harness the power of Nintendo’s system in a way no other game could.
Xenoblade feels like the true successor to the classic 90s RPGs that created what many consider the “Golden Age” — games like Final Fantasy 7 and Xenogears. It blurs the lines of what’s considered a traditional JRPG, fusing a thematic story about grief and a complex cast of characters with a vast, seamless open world to explore. Where the game truly succeeds is in fusing those two disparate elements and investing players in the world itself.
The first step of that is the unique structure of the world itself, something quite unlike anything else out there. In the distant past, two colossal titans, the Bionis and the Mechonis, did battle in an endless ocean. The two fought for an eternity until they literally couldn’t anymore, growing still and silent. In the centuries since, life has grown on the titans, with the human-like Homs on Bionis and the machine Mechon on Mechonis. The two races, like the titans, are locked in an endless war.
Centuries later, a young boy named Shulk discovers a mysterious sword called the Monado, and discovers it has the power to grant him glimpses of the future — and he subsequently gets wrapped up in a fight for the very existence of the world.
Xenoblade’s storytelling is absolutely superb, weaving a tale filled with intrigue, jaw-dropping twists, and fantastic characterization. This is a world that’s simply a joy to immerse yourself in, and characters who all have stakes in this story, and relationships that feel grounded and realistic. Every single character feels vibrant and wonderfully realized, from the immense growth that Shulk undergoes to become a leader, to the loud-mouthed Reyn, who’s always a shoulder to lean on. Xenoblade’s world is one of the most culturally vibrant you’ll find in any RPG, and genuinely some of the best voice performances ever seen in video games only make everything even better.
The narrative of Xenoblade raises some massive philosophical questions that it asks about how we deal with grief, the nature of the human condition, and the power we have to choose how our lives play out. Because Shulk can see the future, the game also has a fun way of toying with the idea of foreshadowing, trying some interesting storytelling experiments.
But all of these themes are reinforced by the way you learn about the world itself, through an emphasis on freeform exploration.
While the central story in Xenoblade is quite guided, the rest of the game opens up a massive world to run around in, filled to the brim with secrets, challenges, and discoveries. But the really important part is how Xenoblade liberally rewards you for that exploration, both in a tangible sense and a more conceptual one.
Xenoblade feels a lot like a single-player MMORPG, and through that, the game directly rewards you with experience for every location you discover. This gives you a tangible sense of your party learning and growing with the more they see of the world. But the game also liberally sprinkles little bits of story and development everywhere.
Simply talking to NPCs will give you a ton of context on the world and its history, but optional sidequests are everywhere to give you even more. Crucially, however, side quests are never forced on the player, but rather used to enhance the main narrative experience. Even more meaningful, though, are the Heart-to-Heart events found scattered throughout the world. Each of these events lets Shulk bond with a party member in some kind of meaningful, extremely personal conversation. Not only do these marvelously build the relationship between characters, but they also help explain how each character fits into and sees the world at large.
More than anything, the way Xenoblade ties its exploration to storytelling is what’s changed video games the most, and the way the game was most ahead of its time. In more than one way, Xenoblade Chronicles feels like the precursor to the likes of Breath of the Wild and The Witcher 3. The scrappy little RPG on the Wii has proven to be one of the most influential games of the last 20 years.
You don’t need to look any further for the impact of Xenoblade than seeing how the franchise has exploded. Remarkably, Xenoblade Chronicles has received more games on the Nintendo Switch than any other Nintendo franchise, outside of Mario — two sequels, two expansions, and two remakes. On top of that, the developer of Xenoblade, Monolith Soft, has become one of Nintendo’s most important studios, developing not only its own games but assisting on Breath of the Wild, Animal Crossing, Splatoon, and more.
When Xenoblade Chronicles was nearing release in Japan fifteen years ago, Nintendo wasn’t even sure it’d bring the game to America — it was, after all, a niche, unknown RPG. But a fan campaign called Operation Rainfall was launched as fans demanded Xenoblade’s release. It’s incredible to think that in the course of 15 years, we’ve gone from maybe never getting Xenoblade Chronicles to the last game having its own dedicated Nintendo Direct.
Monolith Soft created one of the most important RPGs of all time with Xenoblade Chronicles, and set the stage for so much of what would come later. The only thing more remarkable is that the studio has managed to one-up itself ever since.
