Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Digital File Size Seemingly Reduced

Yes… I am so ready for this game. An epic start to the 2025 year!

Cool they managed to get the file size down. Planning to pick it up at some point but even though I have a voucher sitting don't plan for it to be at launch; it's always kind of been the Xenoblade game I'm least interested in and I've had an on-and-off replay of 2 I want to finish before I get to it. Might also try and force myself through Torna before then as well.

I just fired it up recently on my WiiU and it still looks absolutely amazing. even after 10 years.
The level of detail, image quality, sheer size of the world itself and superb texture work is just bonkers.
especially when you consider that it's truely 'one' seamless world (no loading between the different regions) and everything has to have a fully rendered "top" as well

I'm so excited to play this again! Especially the new content and the new Skell "Hraesvelg".

Though I'm conflicted whether I should play this at launch or wait to play it when I get my hands on a Switch 2. I have a feeling they'd add improvement patches on the system like better performance or textures. Either way it would be a joy to play the game on a bigger screen.

Still no word on disabling the vocals on the battle theme?
I really don’t want to mute the entire score.

Eh...screw it. I'm gonna buy it down the road. I should've bought it on WiiU when I had the dang console...BUUUUUT...I was too caught up in my dissatisfaction with the WiiU, that I just gave up.

Does them giving away a free 14 days of Switch Online suggest there is going to be online content for Xenoblade X that will require Switch Online membership, or is it often given away just with digital purchases?

@PinderSchloss If they do (that would be nice), they could also let you disable the flying song, or let you change it for another one, whatever. I HATED that song, really. I finished going everywhere on foot only to not hear it again.

What a fantastic and terrible OST had this game... Some of the songs are incredible (the region themes are simply amazing) while some of them are a pain in the ass.

The only job they had was to get it running at 60fps….

@Coversnail There is online content in Wii U original, so I assume they're also in Switch version.

@Coversnail Xenoblade X has an online multiplayer component, it was also a thing in the Wii U version.

Can't wait to download some data packs.

Does it include the japanese voices? Can see them shrinking the file size with newer compression. But can also see them ripping out the voice packs for other languages. Now if we can download the missing ones then that's fine.

And yeah, would love to be able to disable some music tracks. Really loathe the night music in the city. Dunno how that track was added because it doesn't fit any of the other music and feels so damn forced into the game.

15GB was already insane and now it's even smaller!? That considering it will look better than its Wii U counterpart and will have even more content. This is insane!

I adore this game. I'm so glad it will get a second chance. And I'm glad it will be ported to Switch, so now, all 4 games will be on one platform. Porting this to Switch was an absolute necessity.
But, between us, I would have killed to see this game on Switch 2.

OG Switch cart will probably look better on Switch 2. Upscaled, maybe, better frame rate, less popups...
Can't wait.

Last year I did a large trade with someone that included the Wii U version of XCX game back when it was worth around ~$100, and now it's gone way down. Lately it seems like Nintendo is more willing than ever to remake or port forward even modest successes, and I think going forward I'm going to assume any expensive old game can drop in price at any moment due to a remake and not even consider then when I am buying and selling, and just focus on what I want to play.

Whether you like the game or not, it's got fantastic cover art.

One thing that I don't like about the Switch ports, full price aside, is that some of them have compressed audio and music compared to the Wii U version.

@Gelantious @the_beaver And the worst thing is that the reason is that one of the developers went to USA and heard something or got some cool vibes and translated them to... that. But yeah, some songs are great, especially those that are toned down. I remember turning the volume up and down.

@Austrian In my opinion, it's the best original Wii U game, Breath of the Wild included, and the most impressive visually. It was possible because they baked the lighting.

@the_beaver so basically just like Splatoon.

Not surprising considering the original carried two graphic packs. One low res, the other high res. This does cement it being all on one cartridge tho, so really happy for that!

Wow, the MonolithSoft team never fails to impress. Rescuing the file size further?! That's insane! They really are masters of their craft, and we're all lucky to live at the same time that Nintendo owns MonolithSoft.
That said, there's no incentive they could offer me that would make me buy digital. I want to own my games, and be able to loan them to friends and family, and trade or resell if I wish. My daughter is having to borrow my wife's Switch right now to play Goat Simulator because we don't have it physically (if it even exists physically) so she can't just let her borrow the game. Nope, physical is its own bonus, and digital will never match it.

@Xbox_Dashboard There were not low-res and high-res packs, but high-speed data loading packs for the physical version, designed to speed up load times by installing parts of the game onto the Wii U or USB storage device.

@Debo626 You could add ones account to multiple Switches in your circle and play their library of games they own digitally. I do that with my friends account without owning the games myself.

@AlexanderDaniels Thanks for the suggestion, and you're not wrong. But there are a few reasons why that still doesn't appeal to me as much as owning physically.
-preference of having only my player profile on my Switch, so I don't have to select one (additional button click) when starting a gamei suspect I'm not alone on this;
-ease of handing someone a cart far exceeds that of all the time and clicks to set up and confirm another players profile.
-points about trading in or selling remain.
Cool if thay works for you, not knocking it at all. I just still prefer a physical thing I own that they can't shut how one day to save server space or whatever. 😎

Even though I have one voucher still sitting on my account, I will get this physically. I want the game case.

For whatever reason it was really fun to download all the map files ahead of time back on the Wii U. They definitely pulled off some magic not just making the game but now compressing it.

And I love that the game's soundtrack is such a pleb filter. I can't wait to get back into a battle and sing out those cheesy lines again.

Stuck on a whole different pla-net

@Coversnail
Even the WiiU had an online component.
It was good, non-invasive for the most part, however, some side-quests were available only online

But the online aspect of creature hunting and rewards were great

@the_beaver
"...Over the rainbow..."

Physical all the way! Hopefully this news bodes well for them being able to fit the entire, playable version of the game on the cartridge. We’ll find out in March!

Upgrading to a 1TB memory card was the best thing I ever did xD

I am curious if this will effect load times.
Either way, I am so excited.

Pre-ordered it with a 2-game voucher! Saving the other one for Metroid Prime 4 Beyond. All's good.

Hey ever considered the possibility of you know numerous possibilities other than working to compress it further, for a small game size compression is hardly that complex. Besides why would they go off and further compress to reduce from 15 to 13.x

For me it seems more likely they put 15gb as a rounded figure provided by the devs, now closer to release and possibly with the game going gold (if it has) we now have an exact file size.

Summary most likely was always 13.4gb

@Manguy888A I doubt this is a modest success example and rather they have release 3 Xenoblade games on switch and know the fans cannot wait to try out X.

Seems like a no brained over a random act of willingness. Dont forget X’s low sale are due to the system (Wii u) rather than game quality, most Wii u games if realise first on switch would have sold very well.

@Ironcore It’s not a hack and slash game, though. 60 would be nice but it’s ultimately cosmetic because combat is more about targeting, activating arts while managing TP, and the QTE’s. Besides, it’s got more technical issues that I’m concerned with yet hopeful they have already been ironed out. Top of the list for me is quicker texture and geometry loading followed by pop-in because even with the optional download packs, the WiiU struggled keeping up the data streaming when fast traveling. That made for a lot of blobby looking Skells and creatures for several seconds, even right next to you, when you loaded back in or traveling quickly along the ground. Both issues should have been fixed by the Switch itself and it’s faster access. Speaking of load times, hopefully the game will be snappier overall with the initial load from start or resuming a save.

I would actually go for the vouchers if I had the space, but I don't, so physical it is.

@masterLEON It’s my most played wii u game and it’s also the last 30fps game I tolerated. A smooth fps is not a cosmetic one, 30fps causes unnecessary eye strain and fatigue.

I really hope the NL review will address the soundtrack issues guys

Nintendo compression magic at its finest, considering how massive this game truly is!

X soundtrack is a love it or hate it. It’s not like a traditional Xenoblade soundtrack for better or worse. Personally I’m fine with vocals, but some people act like it’s sacrilege for Xenoblade to have vocals.

@Ironcore My bad, poor choice of word. Instead of cosmetic (which the combat is) I meant that 60FPS is a personal preference. I prefer 60 on fast action with solid frame times because player input is tied to FPS. But I’m fine with 30 with less demanding games like RPGs like XCX because I’m paying attention to the overall HUD and other things rather than the fight animations. Winning a fight usually does not hinge on frame perfect inputs when activating your Arts since all enemy attacks have startup time that is usually enough to react to. When it comes to traveling, XCX is pretty smooth on foot and flying since the scale of the world’s features are huge, so everything scales slowly. Even on the WiiU the slow, gradual traversal through the world allowed Monolith Soft to blend the geometry and texture loading almost seamlessly, even at 30FPS. The downsides that can destroy the immersion are what I mentioned before with creature and Skell textures and geometry popping-in. Driving around in the Skell’s vehicle mode is a good way to expose these flaws. Again, I hope this is all fixed by running the game on the Switch.