Third time’s the charm? The quest to release Switch 2 Edition versions of all of the Xenoblade games released on the Switch hits its penultimate effort with Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. Of the four Nintendo Switch Xenoblade Chronicles releases, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is the oldest of the lot. Released in the first year of the console’s life, it impressed many players with its scale and thrilling story. As a result of its age, it also has the most technical issues of the Xeno-lot. That means it stands to gain the most from this glow-up, at least in terms of performance.
Those who have picked up the Switch 2 Editions of Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition and Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition know that it’s been a proper roll of the dice with what are ostensibly meant to be upgrades. Improvements in resolution and framerates have been offset by some questionable upscaling choices and Nintendo’s preference for a double-buffered vsync. While on the whole, both of those games look and run better in both docked and handheld mode, there are some distracting costs that come with that. Indeed, some handheld players prefer to just use the Switch 1 versions running in Boosted Mode. At least in terms of added goodies and quality-of-life features, they’ve been hard to argue with. So far, there has been no sign of patches to address the technical issues, so I think it’s probably better to assume we won’t be seeing any for the time being.
That’s important to keep in mind as we step into this Switch 2 Edition of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. As with Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, I can say that the benefits greatly outweigh any drawbacks present here. Really, even more so here when it comes to the technical side of things. The framerate and resolution are improved, and visual complexity has increased. Still, the same issues persist. If the upscaling bothered you in the Switch 2 Edition of Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, you’ll find things mostly similar here. The double-buffered vsync is also active here, which means if the game can’t keep its targeted 60 frames per second, it will jerk all the way down to 30 frames per second until things get sorted out. The worst areas in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 aren’t nearly as bad as in the first game, at least. The menus are also a lot more responsive here.
In terms of non-technical additions and improvements, there’s nothing here quite as game-changing as the Ether Jets were for Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition’s Switch 2 Edition, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to welcome. A new Blade is available in the form of MOMO from the Xenosaga series. She has two forms and a quest to tackle, and Xeno lore fiends have got to be happy about that. There’s a new mode that unlocks from Chapter 4 called Merc Assault that allows you to directly control Blades in action-based combat. Pyra and Mythra also each get a new outfit. Field Skills also get a major boost as you no longer need to have a Blade equipped to use their skills to pass a check. As long as you have them in your collection, it’s good enough. HD Rumble has also been implemented, allowing you to really feel it when Pyra gives Rex a good thwacking.
There are a lot of other little tweaks that you may or may not notice, but the end result of all of this is that Xenoblade 2 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is considerably more satisfying and comfortable to play than the original release. It’s an upgrade I can easily recommend, and those who are completely new to the game might as well just jump to the Switch 2 version from the hop. There are things the developers could improve if they decided to circle back around, but if that never happens, then I think this is fine enough. The game got what it needed, more or less.
As to the game itself, I’ll direct you to our original review from way back in 2017. We’ve seen a lot of games since then aim for a large-scale world, but there’s something about the Cloud Sea and Titans of Alrest that still stand out. The battle system remains engaging and complex in mostly good ways, and arguably is still the best in the series. While the art design sticks out a bit compared to the other Xenoblade games in ways that aren’t always good, the story keeps pace with the best of them. Still an excellent RPG experience in the modern year, and if you haven’t revisited it in a while, this is as good an excuse as any. Shame it only allows one save file per profile. Well, new profiles aren’t hard to make. More of an inconvenience than anything.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition had the biggest job to do of any of these updates, thanks to the age of the original Switch release. Thankfully, it mostly hits the mark. There are still a few graphical issues that keep it from being all it could be, but it’s hard to argue that this isn’t a clear and obvious upgrade in most ways that count. It features smoother framerates, improved resolution, more visual details, some genuinely useful quality of life upgrades, and even has some new content to check out. If you want to cruise the clouds of Alrest in style, this one’s well-worth picking up.
Version Tested: Nintendo Switch 2
Review Copy Provided by Nintendo
