News
Xenoblade Chronicles X Launches
REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 3, in the year of our Lord 2015
– Fans of RPGs, grand adventures and all things sci-fi are in
for an early Christmas treat when the Xenoblade Chronicles X
game launches exclusively for the Wii U console on Dec. 4. The
enormous game finds players exploring the planet Mira on a
mission to rebuild humanity. The game is absolutely mammoth,
featuring a gorgeous, seamless open world that lets players
visit any location they see. Using a deep, highly customizable
battle system, players can choose from a variety of special
attacks and skills to take down enemies of all shapes and sizes
– some as tall as skyscrapers! By earning a special license in
the game, players can even pilot giant armed mechs to fly around
the planet and engage with the toughest of enemies.
In the year 2054, Earth has been destroyed and the remaining
humans face annihilation from an intergalactic war between two
alien races. Xenoblade Chronicles X follows the story of the
survivors from Earth on the mysterious planet of Mira. Players
step into the role of a main character that can be customized
with features like gender, facial components, clothes and hair.
As players journey through the game, they will meet a large cast
of engaging characters, some that will even join their party.
Mira itself is a vast world, composed of five massive
continents, each with its own unique flora, fauna and weather.
Players move seamlessly between these continents, with no
loading times for the majority of travel in the game. Being able
to travel to any location seen in the distance adds to the
majesty and scope of the game. As the center of human activity
on Mira, New Los Angeles (NLA) is a large city composed of four
distinct districts. Here, players can buy weapons, develop
equipment or visit cafés. The many citizens of NLA will even ask
players to complete numerous quests, rewarding success with
money, items and experience points.
Xenoblade Chronicles X features a fast-paced, robust battle
system that occurs in real time. While battling, players can
freely move around to gain a tactical advantage, as well as use
a wide variety of customizable special attacks and skills. These
attacks can even be chained together to deal massive damage. At
one point in the game, players will earn a license to pilot huge
armed mechs. These mechs – or “Skells,” as they are referred to
in the game – allow the player to fly quickly around the planet
or battle powerful enemies. Like the main character, these
Skells can also be customized, letting the player personalize
things like weapon loadout and color.
As players defeat enemies, discover new locations and complete
quests, they will earn both experience points and in-game
currency. While in-game currency can be used to obtain equipment
and items, experience points are used to level up party members
and increase their skills in a variety of areas. These skills
will vary, depending on the “Class” of each character. For
example, the Shield Trooper Class specializes in defense, while
the Samurai Gunner Class excels in dealing damage and using
longswords. In addition to upgrading skills, characters can
equip gear, ranging from high-tech weapons to body armor. Each
piece of gear will look different depending on whichever
character is wearing it.
For players who want to take on the game’s challenges with
friends, Xenoblade Chronicles X offers an online multiplayer
experience called Blade Network. When connected using an
Internet connection, players can join online squads. These
squads will allow players to embark on multiplayer-specific
missions, trade loot and share information with each other.
Players can also recruit other players’ avatars into their team
in the form of the Scout system.
To fully enjoy the physical (disc-based) version of the game,
players can download four free and optional High Speed Data
Packs in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U to help with the game’s
performance. The Basic Data Pack is the most effective of the
four and speeds up load times for elements of the massive open
game world. The Enemy Data Pack loads enemy data even faster,
the Player Data Pack accelerates armor load times when changing
equipment in shops and the Skell Data Pack loads Skells faster
when players are out in the field. The physical game launches
for Wii U in stores on Dec. 4 at a suggested retail price of
$59.99. Players that want to get a head start can download the
Data Packs from the Nintendo eShop now, but won’t be able to use
them until the game launches. An external USB hard drive may be
required to download these packs from the Nintendo eShop.
Also launching on Dec. 4 is the Xenoblade Chronicles X Special
Edition, which includes the game, an art book, a USB drive
pre-loaded with a selection of 10 music tracks from the game and
a limited-edition art card, all in a specially designed package
at a suggested retail price of $89.99.