We were somewhere around 20 hours into Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, on the edge of thinking, 'This is all very familiar,' when the really feeling it began to take hold.

As fun as Xenoblade Chronicles X is in its opening six chapters — and it's up there with the rest of the series in this regard — things only really begin to truly click into place properly when the gigantic mechs show up to the party. You know, those big amazing transformers that they've put all over the box art and pre-release.

Well, Monolith Soft makes you wait — oh boy, does it! — but in playing this one through for a second time, we've realised just how beautifully paced and how masterfully executed the overarching plan here is. We finally get why it's stretched as far as it is before you're handed the keys to your very own robo-ride.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Xenoblade Chronicles X is a game in three epic parts, you see. Pre-Skell (that's the official name for those fancy transformers, by the way), you've got Xenoblade pretty much as you'll know and love it from the rest of the series, albeit with a much more immediate and easy-to-parse state of affairs for your unnamed, fully customisable protagonist.

Humanity has fled Earth in the wake of an alien invasion/extermination, and subsequently we find ourselves crashed out on the Planet Mira, where our extraterrestrial attackers give chase in an attempt to finish the job. Earth is no more, billions have died, but in the great Ark on which any remaining humans have travelled into space, hope for the future remains.

As it turns out, of course, there's a whole lot more going on than first meets the eye with the Ark, and it's imperative that our heroes find its all-important core unit before a great big neon timer runs out and humanity is obliterated! Oh, and there's also the small issue of a bunch of very angry, mechanised extraterrestrial enemies stood between you and your goal. So, just like your average Tuesday night in Glasgow, then.

It's a setup with plenty of surprising reveals that, much like the narrative found in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, gets you up for the fight almost straight away. It kicks into gear quickly, and there's zero meandering in terms of your purpose. It's do or die, in the best possible way, as the series' signature auto-attack-based action gets going. It's at this point, as you're unleashed on Mira for the first time properly, and especially if you haven't played this game before, that we reckon you should heed our best piece of advice for playing; in these early hours, and we can't state this firmly enough: Do not spend your time mourning the fact you don't have a Skell yet.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Don't push forward and rush things, or skip side quests and affinity stuff just to get your hands on a mech quickly. It's still gonna take a lot of time, and you're missing out on worldbuilding that's right up there with the best-in-class for its genre. This is a game you could easily spend 200+ hours in. Savour it.

Spend your time mastering Overdrive, getting to grips with your skills and combos, understanding the sweet fundamentals and gathering up as many excellent new party members as you can through Affinity quests. This way, you'll find yourself at the Skell driving exam before you know it, which is where the game kicks into its second phase of epic.

Once you do get a Skell, Mira opens up in a way that just doesn't seem like it should be possible on Switch, never mind on a Wii U. This enormous, lush planet, which has never looked or felt better to explore, comes alive in all-new ways once you've got your hands on a mecha, once you're able to bound across huge areas, scale mountains with ease, and explore those nooks and crannies that have been so tantalisingly out of reach until this point. Mira isn't just impressive for Switch, it's one of the most intoxicating game worlds we've ever set out to explore.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

The action, which is already top-notch on foot, is transformed by the arrival of robot power, too. Hard-hitting attacks and huge volleys of missiles replace dainty sword swipes and acrobatic flips through the air, but even in these moments of all-out assault, where a lesser dev might think, 'That'll do it, they love stuff blowing up,' Monolith Soft's approach remains incredibly considered in very clever ways. It continues to hold the reins just firmly enough as it lets you indulge in a little power fantasy, whilst also shackling you with fuel requirements and realities that mean you can't just blast everything ad nauseam, or forget the importance of on-foot assaults.

In this regard, we can take Elma as a good example. She's an Overdrive machine who, with the right setup, can enter and sustain a state of overdrive almost infinitely. There remains a necessity to switch out at times, to utilise your on-foot abilities in battles as a result, and this balance to the combat is what elevates Xenoblade Chronicles X to the position of best in the series. There, we said it.

The mix of flashy and wonderfully strategic action here, paired with the incredibly moreish exploration of Mira, already has us sitting at full marks, really, before the third stage of epic (we've committed to the bit) even arrives. Yes, once you add flight to the mix, once you've taken your flying exam with auld Vandham at the hangar, well, it beggars belief. Honestly, we mean that. How is this game running on this platform whilst looking and playing this fine?

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

Taking to the skies in this definitively remastered version of a ten-year-old game is as jaw-dropping a last hurrah for the Nintendo Switch as we can imagine. Finally hitting that big turbo boost and racing up into the sky to indulge in aerial battles or swoop down on some previously unreachable treasure feels like one of gaming's biggest and best rewards. It's that magical.

This remastered version makes what was already a fantastic experience an absolutely essential one, and it's not just because it looks very shiny now, or because it's got four new characters, new Skells, or even a brand-new ending. It's also because legacy design flaws have been fixed with due care and attention.

The parts of X that drove us crazy first time out are now nowhere to be seen. No more running to a character's location every time you want them on the team, no more finicky field skills or painfully executing every affinity link and backtracking just to get something done. This is Xenoblade Chronicles X streamlined and modernised, and it's a notably better game as a result.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Hardcore fans will delight in the knowledge that latent characters gain XP, a huge thing if you're returning and know the pain of having to go level an underutilised party member. You also now get to permanently unlock and keep all your fashion clothes, change the time of day whenever suits you, and you can even jump into the game's brand-new codex to check out in-depth tutorials and everything. How very modern. Even the follow-ball has been improved to make getting places easy-peasy, possibly for the first time ever.

The addition of a quick-recharge mechanic, which may not seem all that exciting, perhaps, changes up the flow and speed of scraps, it makes everything feel far more engaging. It's the original combat vision, fully unleashed for the first time, or at least that's how it comes across.

Add in improvements to the game's hexagonal grid-based world map, clearer icons, easily identified collectibles, hugely reduced loading times, a massively improved UI...yeah, we're really struggling to find anything to complain about this time out. We've never played any other open-world RPG that gives you this sort of free-wheeling fun, once you earn it. The mecha aspect still feels incredibly fresh and forward-thinking here, even 10 years on.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

With regards to the new story aspects that the faithful want to know about, and how the game now ties (or doesn't) into the series as a whole, well, we aren't allowed to speak on anything that happens after the original ending. But there are changes, narrative additions, and new aspects revealed through the course of the game, and through the four new characters, that then tie in to what we reckon is a well-judged finale.

Finally, and with regards to performance on Switch, in both handheld and docked, this is a seriously impressive revamp. The characters look much better, the world is more sumptuous and vibrant, the lighting is massively improved — all that good stuff — and it still manages to run at a pretty much solid 30fps. We did experience a drop here and there, the very odd stutter as we blasted around bigger battles in our Skells, but overall it's solid and much improved visually.

Conclusion

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is an expertly crafted revamp that gives us all the bells and whistles we could wish for in terms of graphical upgrades. However, it's actually Monolith Soft's attention to clever gameplay revisions that impresses most here. This is X streamlined and modernised, carefully recast and reset in order to play better than ever. Additional characters, a new ending, and all that snazzy stuff is all well and good, and fans will be excited by the fresh revelations that occur, but it's in how everything flows so much better now that we reckon the hardcore will find themselves most impressed. And for newcomers a recommendation is even easier; this is up there with the all-time great sci-fi RPGs and an absolute must-play.

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