TL;DR

This game includes the DLC post-story, however this review does not go into the post-story DLC
This game sets the tone for how a Xenoblade game works mechanically as well as in story narratives, but falls short of the mark of a complete RPG
This RPG is lacking in interesting side-stories/quests, and can be very repetitive in nature
Unrefined level/stat system, making it so you must be a few levels higher to beat enemies and generally you only overwhelm enemies or even bosses.

[Played on a Nintendo Switch Lite]

I love old-school games from Squaresoft, and Xenogears is a fan favorite for a lot of us. Some people might also be aware of the Xenosagas games that succeed those. The Xenoblade Chronicles games are the new MonolithSoft/Nintendo games to succeed the Xeno sagas. While this new chronicle does not really touch heavy on space-travel, androids, mechs, military-futurism or really much of the themes that center in Xenogears or Xeno sagas, there is some aspects of that remaining in the Xenoblade Chronicles games. This game originally was on Wii, and now is ported in a definitive edition for Switch. I'm very impressed at the remaster and port for Switch, and the control mapping as well as UI are very seamless. This possibly is a better and more comfortable way to play Xenoblade Chronicles.

Putting all the wow factors aside that we get to experience a game that had limited attention in its original Western introduction, there is a lot of concern for how lacking this JRPG is among other JRPGs and even just the RPG genre in general. There is a lot of rinse-and-repeat. Oh wow! a new biome! I bet I'll find some more fetch quests and hunt X amount of this new monster. There really are not many quests with actual substance, and there is a lack of intrigue to the world of Xenoblade Chronicles. In a game where humanity or the "Homs" struggles the Mechs "Mechons" and have to find a way forward in their world, there really is a lack of civilization. Yet, in a lot of post-apocalypse stories, there is usually a deeper appreciation for the remnants of humanity that you can find in a story in a world where humanity is on its last limb. In Xenoblade Chronicles, that desperation and emotion isn't really captured in its overworld but it is in its emotional and evocative main story-telling.

The worst of the worst is that there is a whole lot of redundancy in its system. You have gem-making, and these gems go onto your characters' weapons/blades and that's all fine and dandy except for one thing: there really is no purpose in 99% of these gems. In fact, I went many parts of the game without upgrading the gems and even when I did I found 0 reason to use a lot of gems except for gems increasing my crit rate. There are gems for X element damage that don't do anything or there are gems for going up against high level enemies that don't make any impact on your strategy whatsoever. That's the downfall of the battle system in Xenoblade Chronicles -- if you are above the enemies' level, you overwhelm them and if they are above your level, they overwhelm you! There are very few reasons to even want to go back and battle enemies that are extreme high-level in this game anyway, as there is such a lack of side-content.

There is a collection system that seems cool at first, but then you realize it is just for the sake of collection. You can skip side-quests and just grind it up a bit, and then you just let the auto-attack battle system take over and don't worry much about using your skills. Just let it go on auto-pilot, eat some popcorn, and you win. Sounds like fun? No, not really. That isn't why I play games. There is no challenge mode in New Game+ to be honest, and there is really no reason to explore and no encouraging nature to want to delve deep into this game past its main story. The highlight for me was going to Nopon village, which had so much life and then after that back to being a barren "on-the-run" type game with predictable "twists."

Okay, now I will give Xenoblade Chronicles credit for setting a good tone in story-narrative for its time and it did set up a good foundation for the other Xenoblade Chronicles games, which are a lot better (and I will review 2 and 3 shortly after this review is posted)... Xenoblade's auto-attack system with cooldowns for "Arts" skills is pretty fun and reminds me of some old school action games or old multiplayer games (like Runescape) yet more refined and stylish. I am happy I completed Shulk and friends' adventure in Xenoblade 1 because the series does coincide with the other games' themes and moral perspective. This story is a bit direct in its story theme of two forces in conflict and overcoming a Good Vs Evil paradigm to find a greater picture. The Xenoblade (in this game called the Monado) is the blade that manifests what you imagine and carves a path to the future. (woah deep) I am thankful that I played this game, but I would say it is my least favorite Xenoblade and it really doesn't do the other games justice.