Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition

Play it on: Switch

Current goal: Find Nelson and his missing squad

Spring always gets me in the mood for a good JRPG and the Xenoblade series, with its focus on vast bucolic landscapes and massive wildlife, always feels like an especially good fit this time of year. I picked up Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition last week and instantly got into the MMO-lite groove of exploring its sprawling alien planet. Things have been slow going, however, due in part to all the games coming out this month (including but not limited to The Last Berserker: Khazan, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and Cataclysmo).

So I’m excited to dive back into it more deeply this weekend. I’m still less than a third of the way through, but man, it holds up surprisingly well. There’s very little that I miss coming from Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and I think it looks great and runs exceptionally well on Switch despite the aging hardware and lack of a major technical leap from the Wii U where the game was previously trapped. It’s Jurassic World meets mech-infused “go slay god” anime sci-fi vibes and I have a feeling I’ll be slowly chipping away at it for the rest of the year, especially if it secretly runs at 60fps on Switch 2 as currently seems to be the case. — Ethan Gach