The makers of “Xenoblade Chronicles” seem to have done the impossible. They’ve made a game, in a genre known for being stilted, that should appeal equally to fans of “Zelda” and “Skyrim.” If you’re a Wii owner looking for something deeper than Mario or minigames, here it is. This game, made in Japan and imported to the United States only after a grassroots fan petition, is a lot more user-friendly than the usual stilted role-playing games that come out of Japan, but makes time for beauty in a way that Western-made RPGs like “Skyrim” don’t.
Standing as a sort of un-JRPG, the game plays like it’s made in America — with a vast, open world, and fast-paced fighting — but carves out room for the elements without which Western-style RPGs often feel hollow.
“Xenoblade Chronicles” is puzzling at first. You take control of a guy with a sword who automatically attacks enemies when he’s near them. Meantime, two computer-controlled allies also attack, without your input. A far cry from the genre standard of slow combat where you and your enemies take turns making moves — think chess — this feels a bit mindless at first. Every couple hours, though, the game introduces a wrinkle that reframes the combat. What ultimately unfolds is a system that lets you switch on the fly among real-time combat, strategizing with unlimited time, and trying to prevent upcoming attacks that you have visions of in the middle of battle.
| ‘Xenoblade Chronicles’ |
| » System: Wii |
| » Price: $49.99 |
| » Rating: 5 out of 5 stars |
The variety in this system reveals new promise in a genre that hasn’t seen much innovation in a long time. What may serve as the most pleasant surprise for the “Skyrim” set, though, is that there’s a game that plays this way but places as much importance in telling a story as it does in gameplay. The narrative has a lot in common with the “Terminator” mythos: a war between humans and machines, time travel, and visions of a future that you might be able to change. Everywhere you go, piano and flute tunes act as geographic leitmotifs, adding character to each town, valley and cave you explore. They sound lovelier every time you hear them.
There’s one branch of aesthetics, though, where “Xenoblade Chronicles” falls short. This is not a good-looking game. Perhaps trying to make you forget that the Wii can’t handle high-definition graphics, the game puts a premium on draw distance — the ability to see mountains, and trees and enemies and such, from really far away. This contributes to the game’s sense of grandeur, sure, but things look fuzzy up close. The game, and players’ eyes, would have benefited from a simpler, cleaner visual style.
As evidence of how close Nintendo came to not importing “Xenoblade Chronicles,” it gives us the European version of the game rather than one localized specifically for North America. This means, among other things, British accents and idioms. These class up the proceedings, providing a sort of sci-fi “Downton Abbey” feel, and provide a welcome relief from the usual stable of anime voice actors that American gamers have heard a million times. Can we get the European versions of games from now on?
As further evidence of Nintendo’s reluctance to import this game — and suffer a financial loss if it didn’t sell well — “Xenoblade Chronicles” is available exclusively at GameStop, or through Nintendo’s online store. Those who seek out this gem won’t regret it.
