For a while, it was unclear if Xenoblade Chronicles would genuinely thrive as a franchise. The original game only came to the West because of Operation Rainfall, which was a fan movement to get the game localized to the Wii. But while the campaign worked, the Wii couldn’t fully handle the expansive title. Nor was the 3DS port that came after it. Then, with the second title, Xenoblade Chronicles X, the game was on the Wii U and could not make a significant impact on the platform. However, everything changed when the Nintendo Switch arrived. Because five years ago today, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 came out.
The game was not only perfect for the Nintendo Switch in its launch year, but it was also an expansive and profound RPG that resonated with many people. As a result, it was the best-selling game in the series when it came out and prompted Nintendo to port the original game to the Switch via the “Definitive Edition” to showcase what it would look like on a proper console.
Five years may have passed since Xenoblade Chronicles 2 came out, but fans still love the game and its characters. That goes double for the dev team at Monolith Soft. First, they honored the game’s cast by dropping some free wallpapers for you to get on their official website. Plus, some of the team took to Twitter to drop some custom art for the game to highlight how much they love the game.
The impact of the game can’t be overstated. Not only did it help seal it as a franchise that Nintendo could count on for sales and critical acclaim, but fans loved the characters of Rex, Pyra, and Mythra so much that they were brought into Super Smash Bros Ultimate as DLC characters! Well, kind of, Rex wasn’t technically a playable character, but he was there, too, to support his ladies!
But easily, the most significant impact was that it gave Monolith Soft the push to go even bigger with the next entry to their franchise. Less than five years after the last release, we got Xenoblade Chronicles 3. The fourth game in the series not only easily eclipsed the previous game’s sales, but it got such critical acclaim that it was nominated for Game of the Year by The Game Awards!
The main three entries of the franchise are available for you to get on the Nintendo Switch. So if you haven’t tried out the series yet, you should do so now.
Source: Monolith Soft
