
Last week's big release, from the perspective of many enthusiasts browsing Nintendo websites, was Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The UK chart results are now out, however, giving us a sense of this one's mainstream appeal - with the usual proviso that they don't account for eShop sales.
The end results is that Monolith Soft's RPG entered the UK charts in 19th place, which is rather modest by Switch standards. It beat the equivalent Xenoblade Chronicles X Wii U launch by nine places, but this result is another small reminder that it's not a significantly mainstream series; that's not surprising, it must be said.
Moving on, there are two big-hitters in the all-format top 10 for the Switch, even if Call of Duty: WWII is predictably number one once again. In 6th place there's Super Mario Odyssey, so that's still going well, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe climbed 11 places to settle in 8th position. Perhaps as more Switch systems are bought as festive gifts these are the main games being picked to accompany them.
Next up for the Switch are Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in 27th and 28th places. 1-2-Switch is still hanging around, too, re-entering the top 40 to settle in 31st place.
Just two 3DS games (or one, depending on your perspective) made it into the all-format top 40 - Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon finished in 24th and 25th, with Ultra Sun holding a narrow lead.
So there you have it - Nintendo's big-hitters are consistently holding top 40 places, though we're doubtful that Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will have the evergreen staying power of games featuring Mario or Link.
[source chart-track.co.uk]
Comments 79
I snapped up a copy. Then I realised how embarrassing the old pile-of-shame was getting and gave it to my wife to give me for Christmas.
Getting my copy today in argos. Has been sold out here in Ireland as it's priced at €37.99 which is an unreal price for a game like this.
Think it's £29 in the UK Argos too.
No accounting for taste. Still Xenoblade is a niche game that appeals to more dedicated gamers. And I feel like JRPGs rarely get the respect they deserve in the west if they aren't titled "Final Fantasy XXIVQRUS-97".
It baffles my mind that COD is still going so strong. But to each their own I played several of the games for a years In high school and early in college. But eventually lost interest due to a very toxic fanbase. And a game built around it's multi-player isn't fun if the loudest players are the most rude.
I picked up a copy of the Collector's Edition for £32.99 with Very's £30 discount offer. It's hardly surprising that it only just scraped into the top 20, being a sequel of a game that didn't sell very well in the first place.
I really hope this sells a million at least. It's flipping fantastic
JRPG's are sadly very underappreciated in General, Persona 5 is arguably the best game I've played on the PS4 yet it's only just crept over 2 million copies sold but games like COD sell by the bucket load.
As for this I've only played for a couple of hours but it feels great to be playing a real RPG again and I don't see myself playing anything else for a while
@Heavyarms55 - Almost the entirety of my friends who were all for CoD back in college have all stopped buying into the series nowadays. Interestingly enough, that decline started around Ghosts. And I am the ONLY one who's been on the Nintendo wagon up until recently.
I skipped Xenoblade 2 because of my already gigantic backlog and that's not even counting the FE Warriors Fates DLC and BotW Champions Ballad which I've already paid for.
I received it from my girlfriend as a early christmas gift. Played 4 hours and so far, it's good. Not as good as the first one though.
@Grumblevolcano
I'm excited to play the Champions Ballad, but my wife has commandeered my Switch for the foreseeable future cause of Xenoblade, haha.
Is there some sort of rule that doesn’t allow you to post the full chart?
...where did my weekend go? "Xenoblade Chronicles 2" is the video game equivalent of a black hole: you get home on Friday back from the shop, sit down and start playing. Next thing you know it's Monday, you completed chapter 3 and have no recollection of anything else that happened in those 48 hours.
@Shiryu Agreed. I was playing on Friday at 8 pm. The next thing I know Sunday football is on then is time for work again. Time flies by when you are having fun.
I have a questiion. Why do you guys report on the UK charts at all when you don't on the charts of any other country that isn't JP or the US? No offense, but UK isn't particularly relevant when it comes to game sales.
@readyletsgo Argos Ireland? Would've snapped it up for £30, but Argos.co.uk have it for £50.
@Melkac Last time I checked UK was in the top 5 (game revenue). China, US, Japan, Germany & UK. China is mostly mobile & I don't know if Germany provide numbers.
@Melkac
You may not have noticed but Nintendo life is a British website based in the UK
They're reporting on home turf so to speak
@Melkac I think it's just the ease of availability of the chart (and it's a poor chart - not covering downloads or giving us any concrete numbers)
Disappointing but expected
Utter shame. I never got into previous xenoblade games, despite owning them. The 100+ hours aspect always put me off. I presume I’m missing out.
This time I thought, I’ll go for it, bought the collectors edition and played and finished episode I at the weekend..... absolutely awesome game and already looking forward to prequellig I and X once I finish this.
Cannot recommend it enough. The storyline, characters, worlds, action and graphics are second to none. I just think this type of game will always have accessibility issues when it comes to attracting the general market and will remain a niche style of game.
It's sold out in every Argos near me (Essex)
@Paraka Oh I have been a Nintendo guy for a long time. I often own other systems, but I always want the latest Nintendo gadget. I dropped out of the COD stuff around Modern Warfare 2. I played a lot of them, but burned out on it. The toxic community did little to make me want to continue playing as well.
@Sunanootoko
How many copies did they print of this game? I know Odyssey has sold out at a lot of shops but never expected Xenoblade to.
@readyletsgo I managed to pick up a copy from Argos at £29.99. Interestingly on their paperwork, it said "for Nintendo 3DS" I guess they got a little confused - it's gone back up to £49.99 now.
The series does much better in the US and Japan. Not really sure why it does poorly in the UK.
The charts in the UK never change from year to year, it's the same suspects all the time. FIFA/COD/GTA and very little else. There was very little chance of a Nintendo JRPG being anything more than a mere blip.
Update: It's amazing and I love it. I'm 36 hours in and just finished chapter 5 😜
@Heavyarms55 - I may be the lucky one on that front. Always had alternative gaming devices to compliment my Nintendo gadgets. However, I never got into COD at all. In fact, I stopped FPS gaming shortly after I left the Counter-strike professional scene back in the day (prior to Source). So I never got the toxic feedback it's known for now.
UK folks once again prove that they have horrible taste.
and btw I was surprised when Nintendo revealed that they actually had started development on the game (late 2014 at the latest) even before X came out in Japan (in early 2015)
@manu0 Everytime you say that I ask what the German charts look like this week and you never tell me
@kyleforrester87 i don't know if i have told YOU before but i've said this in the past:
1) i don't know what the german charts look like (and don't care)
2) having said that, they probably look pretty similar
I think I'll be passing on Xenoblade 2. The story isn't doing it for me, and I didn't care enough to finish X.
Lunch time and I do like my COD fish and chips. Smell that vinegar
Well not surprised - not mainstream. And as a jRPG it has some issues holding it back.
"Blah" Story, really clunky battle system - and the most mind numbing selection of fetch side quest I've seen in ages.
Glad I didn't go with the SE or season pass - this is a trade-in for sure.
Xenoblade X sold 10,500 copies at launch, so Xenoblade 2 sold more than that.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and GTAV saw really good sales boosts after Black Friday, presumably because other games that were on sale then are no longer on sale.
I dont know....I was tempted to try it, but when I heard about the unintuitive and overdesigned combat and interface and the trope-rich story and characters I didnt really feel like playing it anymore. Maybe when it gets cheaper. To be honest though: I thought the same about most JRPGs.
@Fight_Teza_Fight @Curlynob yup I was just in Argos in Dublin on my lunch and it's still listed as €37.99 here but it did say the same on the reservation txt an email and now the receipt that it was 3ds software (no idea). So it's still the low price here but out of stock.
https://m.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/7238789/Trail/searchtext>Xenoblade.htm
Did anybody expect it to be a huge hit? It's a JRPG. On the plus side it's another very good game by all accounts and another feather in the Switch's very feathery cap. From Nintendo's point of view the chart thing might be a bit misleading. Number 19 in December means more sales than number 19 in July.
@Heavyarms55 persona 5 shipped 2 million copies.
@Melkac
This is a UK based website, that's why.
Worldwide sales would be better obviously but it's a lot harder to get these figures. Also Chart Track only do physical sales as far as I know. Digital sales are not counted. So the actual sales figures listed here are not representative of every sale of the game.
@HalloHerrNoob
You heard people talking bullpoo about the game.
The game is easily a 9/10. It's not as as good as XCX by a long shot but it's still a fine game if you can handle a few of it's flaws. Totally worth the price and has lots of content. Easily one of the better Switch games so far.
The upside is that it's UK debut has been trending upward since the original. Xenoblade X launched better than the original, and Xenoblade 2 had a better launch than X. Problem is, JRPGs are a tough sell (as many have pointed out), and the UK is not Nintendo's strongest region by far. But it is still trending upward so that is a small amount of good news that should be of note.
XC 6000
XCX 10000
XCX2 14000
(as quoted on Nintendo Everything)
@the8thark
Hm, well..I dont know. As I said, I am not super into JRPGs anyway and after all the positive hype I heard it kinda sounds like the most typical (probably in the best way) JRPG now. Cool world, friendship speeches, long playtime, animal sidekicks and clunky combat interfaces with too many numbers and systems. I think Ill wait until it gets cheaper. Not to talk poo though...I am sure its great for those who love it!
@Fight_Teza_Fight XC2 was £29.99 at Argos in the UK on Friday, but guess NintendoLife were too busy with their Amazon affiliate links to report it. (I bought my copy from their Islington, London branch.)
I've just posted my £39.99 Amazon prime copy back to Amazon so at least one person will soon be able to buy it for £41.99 direct from Amazon rather than £48.XX via one of their third party scalpers.
@HalloHerrNoob Yeah, It is a 7.5/8 at best. Worth playing for sure - but not a classic.
That said, the world and Music are great. Stopped playing it hand held - and went to almost 100% TV and sound system over the weekend. They just dropped the ball on a few key mechanics.
It is a bit rushed. The map should be in a book of what not to do in a semi open world game.
@Curlynob Thanks again for the tip off!
@HalloHerrNoob @the8thark Hmm. I'm only 4 hours in but think XC1 is better. Feels like they've cut a few corners with XC2 to be able to release it in 2017, resulting in a clunkier UI (unhelpful map, lack of tutorials list, less clothing options, easier to get lost, etc).
For XCX didn't like the lack of plot and found some of the music very annoying. Then again, I don't understand what all the fuss is about with Minecraft. (I blame middle age!)
@Agramonte 100% agree! Definitely not a 9.
@manu0 can you link a source on that for the xc2 development?
@Oat https://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/xenoblade-chronicles-2-behind-yasunori-mitsudas-music
mitsuda was hired for the music in early december 2014, so the project must have been underway for some time already at that point.
@Agramonte
"Blah" Story, really clunky battle system
???
I don't know who's opinion that is, but I wouldn't trust them to save my life having played the game myself.
This is one of the best stories in any video game I have played in the last 30 years. That's how amazing it is. "Blah" story? That just boggles my mind. And the combat is incredible- it's the same type of combat that the first game was praised for and the second game was praised for. Now this might not be a game for everyone, but those are the two biggest appealing factors about the game.
@Sentinator
Don't have a clue, but my local Argos had like three copies of Skyrim and they ran out asap, so I guess not that many.
Interestingly is sold out on Amazon UK as well (not really but it's selling for 49 quid), I had to order at Tesco for paying it 42.
I think in overall is selling quite good
Hmmm... I live in the U.S. I just downloaded it last night on launch. Haven't played it yet due to Skyrim getting the majority of playtime. My Switch backlog is beginning to pile up🤔
So where is the pasted full chart?
@JaxonH If you played for 30 years, you seen this story 100 times. And unless you have a big attachment for Aussies the first big story climax of the game comes out flat. just a vehicle to introduce another half baked game mechanic (I can send a squad of monkeys and they complete the task)
Oh and the battle system. Not only is it a clunky mess of icons and bars - but I beat XX-XX doing the same stack I had been using for the past 2 hrs grinding. No need to care about buff or debuff (or anything they were doing in general) - just rinse and repeat... and after that the story really goes off the reservation. Who are you? what?.
Na, you just probably one of those people who really need to make whatever big game on console X be GREAT! (not even saying it is bad - just has issues) Regardless of what it is. The world and music saves this game - it needed another year in production for the rest of the game to catch up.
@Agramonte
Na, you just probably one of those people who really need to make whatever big game on console X be GREAT
That's such a lame cop out to deal with the fact a lot of people- including myself and reviewers- love this game. (And btw, I've been gaming for nearly 30 years myself, and I haven't "seen this before").
Xenoblade X is my favorite JRPG of all time. 600 hours played. But Xeno2 might just steal the crown.
@Shiryu OMG this happened to me too. HAHA! Bought the Collector's Edition and I'm so happy I did. The artbook is so beautiful but I didn't have much chance to peruse it because the game just sucks you in.
@DarthFoxMcCloud SAame here, but I wont read the artbook or listen to the CD because of spoilers.
XC2 is fantastic so far. Easily deserves GOTY. There are some annoyances--bad map UI, human enemies repeat their two lines WAY too frequently, too many shops (couldn't they have had a third as many shops with three times as many items each?)--but these are really minor in the scheme of things.
Probably not as good as XC1 but IMO XC1 is the best video game ever made for any platform, so it's asking a lot to top that.
If only this had the production budget Squeenix blew on FFXV ...
@JaxonH reviews mostly say the exact same thing. And hovering at 8.5. It really is a near 8 (depending if you like Anime art style or not)- it just gets the traditional Nintendo logo bump.
@Agramonte the story isn't terribly original so far but video game stories almost never are. There seems to be an enormous double standard for JRPG stories. I have never seen an English-language reviewer who complained that an American AAA developer has produced yet another game about space marines blowing up ugly aliens or yet another D&D/Tolkien ripoff, but almost every English-language JRPG review complains about the use of JRPG tropes.
@Agramonte
Pardon, but just because you say it gets a "traditional Nintendo bump" doesn't make it so. I've seen Nintendo games in the 60s and 50s. If anything the score is lower than it should be. Traditional "Nintendo standard" expecting every game to be as polished as Zelda. And niche games don't appeal to the mass market gaming reviewers. Game this complex and niche scoring an 85 is basically the equivalent of a 95.
But I don't give a crap what the reviews say. Xenoblade X is my favorite JRPG of all time. And this one is not far behind it and very well may exceed it. As in, there is no JRPG game in existence better than this game (assuming it exceeds XCX).
But above all that the story is phenomenal and I can't name one single game that had a more engaging story. Even the story in XCX, which was lambasted by fans, was better than 99% of other JRPG's I've played.
@riki_sidekicks Oh 100% agree on the double standard. Western AAA get away with murder. I think they also made differently - the main story is more subtle - or just a theme. Sometimes you like a western RPG just because of the side quest that happen inside the general structure and hate the main story.
I like jRPGs because of that focus on a driving narrative. But It really needs to make a person care of what is happening. I also really wish the side quests connected more to the world and situation each Titan is in.
Some of the most bashed jRPG stories run circles over western RPGs when it comes to story.
@JaxonH 100% agree on reviews - I was not the one who brought it into the conversation - you did. And now that they do not fall into your expectations you do not care for them anymore.
I never said it should not be your fav game. You posted on my comment because my outlook is not as "great" as yours on Story and Battle mechanics.
I have gone into detail why I think it is near an 8. That is not even a bad game... lol!
@Agramonte
That's fine! And I'm not saying you aren't entitled to your own opinion too, of course.
It just honestly shocked me when I heard you say the story wasn't good because... I just have a hard time fathoming how this is not one of the best stories of any video game to date. Even if someone were to say it's not the best it would certainly have to be one of the best. Like, if this story doesn't impress someone, I can't imagine any game would.
@JaxonH and you yours.
Well, not 100% sure where you at in the story (and this is a public forum) and would never want to ruin something for you (you seem to really like it) so not something we can have a debate on (Same as the battle - why I didn't mention the opponent above)
Look, we both bought the game and still playing it after 4 days. We literally debating on what level of "great" it is. A win for Monolith Soft/Nintendo either way.
@JaxonH I'm pretty sure no video game main plot will ever impress me. I like having a decent story (Nintendo is pretty egregious here since Zelda and Mario are still recycling "rescue the princess") but novels and movies are just fundamentally better-suited to telling a narrative.
Video games can tell other kinds of stories better than novels and movies though. I think the real heart of all three Xenoblade games is the parallel second story of the world and the relationships of the people in it. A movie can't capture that in the same way and it's hard for a novel to do it too. (This is why I'm disappointed that they got rid of the NPC affinity chart.)
@riki_sidekicks
There are alot of things I loved in XCX that are mia in this game.
But I kind of expected that when I buy a new Xenoblade game. They are not afraid to just throw away great mechanics and start from scratch with new ones and I really respect to that. In some cases maybe it doesn't work out for the better but it always keeps the series fresh and I love that about it.
@HalloHerrNoob watch the language...
@faint Fair enough. But that and FF are still only 2 out of a pretty large number of JRPGs.
@Heavyarms55 both nioh and nier automata broke a million. I think nier is at about 2 million now.
@Heavyarms55 COD is amazing year in and year out, WWII no different.
Also, it's called "Mute all players" and it takes 2 seconds to enable.
I’m so excited to get my copy!! How is everyone liking the game so far??
And here's why I'm happy to buy the DLC. Give the developers the money they need (and deserve) to help keep these titles coming...because I frankly just have little interest in the Mario stuff.
@JaxonH I wouldn't think too much of what he says. I looked at his comments, and he said on the XC2 Digital Foundry page:
" Just like big massive games on PS4. Playing it on a big TV with an audio system (as long as it is family room friendly) is the way to go for XC2.
It looks and sounds amazing!... a few slow downs? sure - but it takes nothing away. Game mechanics have problems but the world is stunning.
Mor Ardain is where you start to see tons of jaggies - and gets a bit ugly and distracting."
and yet here he said previously to that comment
"It is a bit rushed. The map should be in a book of what not to do in a semi open world game."
so it seems he has changed his mind in less than a day to thinking the overworld is good again…
Yeah, I wish people liked XCX more despite it's rushed story. I absolutely love the battle system, where you have a lot of flexibility in the battle options you have, and you decide if you want to go into a fight with being over-powerd or weak.
Hopefully what this guy says is false, which I imagine would be the case. I mean, if he thinks it's that easy, then why doesn't he fight the unique monsters in the field that are at the high 70s? I loved how in XC1, if you were good enough, by lv 50ish you have all the skills you needed to kill an enemy 20 levels above you; in a game where unique enemies only 2 levels above you earlier on would wipe your party.
@Shiryu This was literally my weekend as well. Not bad for a first true JRPG experience in my case.
@Ponyfox You picked a good one to start!
@Marios-love-child Of course I know it's UK based, but at this point it's not really...shown. It looks more like a regular nintendo fansite than "a nintendo fansite for the UK".
@Melkac
I didn't say it was "a nintendo fan site for the UK". Nice way to twist my words by the way.
I simply pointed out that they're based in the UK so it's only natural that they report on the goings on in that country that may relate to Nintendo.
If you don't find the articles about the UK interesting then it's simple, scroll past them and read something else
@Marios-love-child ...I never said you did.
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