Update []: Over the weekend, there were reports of fans asking for refunds for the Switch 2 Edition of Xenoblade Chronicles X, with many disappointed with the "improved visuals", particularly in handheld mode.
I've spent more time with the game since writing this piece, and I do see some of the problems a little more clearly now, especially in busier areas. While I was running through New L.A., for example, there was a lot of shimmering around objects, making everything look a little wobbly. And in Noctilum, as I darted my way through the thickets, the monsters and the foliage appear to have the same effect.
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The textures, too, are inconsistent. In one cutscene, as the camera zoomed in on a character on the floor, the gravel ground was fuzzy and blurry, in an almost-distracting way. Building windows have a weird plasticky look to them, and some of the rock faces look a little too smooth from a distance.
Admittedly, once I start fighting alien creatures and doing sidequests, a lot of this washes over me. Plus, the game does look fabulous when docked. The 60fps boost does a heck of a lot of work drawing my eyes away from the bigger issues, and I'm not exactly standing still a lot of the time and taking in every single detail.
Still, I hope Nintendo irons out the issues sooner rather than later, because handheld players deserve the same level of magnificence as docked.
Original Story: Sometimes, I don't realise how much I'm missing out on something until it's right in front of me.
That's not to say I never wanted or expected a 60fps upgrade for Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition — it was apparently right there in the code, after all — but I've already put the time in. 120 hours of wondrous exploration, sci-fi storytelling, and mech flying, all wrapped up and put to one side. It's easy to forgive Xenoblade Chronicles X being just 30fps and 720p (handheld, which is how I played almost the entire game) on Switch 1 when it's so huge in scope and so easy to get lost in its lush environments and dangerous wilds.
But then I sat down with Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and the difference was staggering. No more blips when it's raining, no more stuttering when the camera pans as Elma shows your character the world of Mira for the first time. This is the Mira we deserve to see and explore.
Admittedly, this is the smallest paid Switch 2 Edition yet from Nintendo, providing only a resolution bump (1080p handheld, 4K docked) and performance boost (a steady 60fps both handheld and docked). But it's hard not to be impressed when you see Monolith Soft's vision fully realised on-screen. It's amazing we've never had a Xenoblade game at 60fps before this, and it's a real showcase of just how much more beautiful and smooth these worlds can look.
Mira is already incredible, quite possibly the best video game environment to explore ever, so I did what any self-respecting Xenoblade fan would do when first booting up the Switch 2 Edition — get myself murdered, and my Skells destroyed, by some oversized creature in Noctilum. Death and explosions in 60fps are much better than at 30fps, let me tell you.
Besides engaging with things way beyond my skill set, I spent most of my time zipping in and out of combat, scrambling around the flatlands of Oblivia, and diving off cliffs in Primordia into the ocean. The Switch version already gave me a whole new appreciation for Mira, but seeing these glorious, alien creatures wander around the Rising Energy Mist phenomenon of Sylvalum, or gigantic dinosaur-esque monsters stomping around amidst the Oblivia thunderstorms.
I also spent way too much time flying around each of the maps in my Skell this time around, impressed with just how stable things were as I glided between biomes and swarmed through groups of flying enemies. It didn't matter whether I was in combat, swamped by six or seven enemies in mid-air, falling from great heights, or in cutscenes; I didn't notice a single dip.
I was actually surprised at how snappy the combat felt now, too. In some classes, especially on foot, I always felt there was a slight input delay when trying to combo skills together. That feels like it's been lessened a bit, because I can connect Side Slash and Stream Edge almost instantaneously. I don't feel like I'm waiting an extra half a second for the animations to play out anymore.
The near-perfect frame rate boost does most of the heavy lifting in both handheld and docked, here, but the visual boost is nothing to sneeze at, either. The jump from 720p (on Switch 1) to 1080p (on Switch 2) is a real boon, with landscapes less blurry and draw distances a little clearer. There are still plenty of fuzzy textures and noticeably flat, dull surfaces on some cliffs and creatures, but it's a significantly better experience now.
In terms of docked, the 4K bump actually felt a lot less significant to my untrained eye. The boost is most noticeable around characters' faces and eyes, and the lighting appears to be improved — the difference in the character creator between backdrops was more apparent this time around, for example — but again, some of those flat tree leaves and blades of grass are a little hard to ignore.
These are nitpicks, however, when Xenoblade Chronicles X is such a huge game. Are you really going to be quibbling over a single blade of grass when you can fly sky-high and glide across the starry sky, moon shining in the background? Or when you can see the flames of Cauldros in the distance as you stand high in the trees of Noctilum?
I think there's a separate conversation to be had over what a Switch 2 Edition is, especially when plenty of other games are getting free performance boosts on the console. Many were having the same discussions about Animal Crossing: New Horizons' upgrade last month, but at least that added Mouse Mode and additional multiplayer capabilities on top of a resolution bump.
But I do know a lot of people who were holding off on Xenoblade Chronicles X until it got a boost on Switch 2, so if that applies to you, this release is a no-brainer in my eyes. If you stopped playing on Switch 1, too, now is the time to dive in. Just don't come for the story — stay instead for the incredible landscapes and sense of discovery, now looking the best it ever will.
And, at the very least, this Nintendo Switch 2 Edition gets me excited about the potential of future upgrades for the rest of the Xenoblade series. I'm itching to replay Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and a performance and resolution boost would be more than enough to get me to return to Alrest.
Are you excited to return to Mira on Switch 2? Or will this be your first time playing Xenoblade Chronicles X? Let us know in the comments and vote in our poll below to let us know your thoughts.