E3 2014: Xenoblade Chronicles X Preview

Through Nintendo’s Treehouse broadcast yesterday, we learned more about Xenoblade Chronicles X for the Wii U, the spiritual (but not actual) sequel to the Wii’s Xenoblade Chronicles.

The game opens with a vast space battle between two warring alien species, being waged above Earth. Thanks to the bombardment, Earth is on the verge of destruction and humanity is working on their escape plan to get as far away from the battle as possible. Nations have built ark ships to carry their populations through space but not all of them make it to their destinations. One US ship is shot down onto an alien planet named Mira and this is where the game takes place.

Xenoblade Chronicles has a huge range of character creation choices, which includes a gender option. You can even give yourself cybernetic eyes because SPACE FUTURE GAME.

In combat, you’re free to run around the arena, dodging attacks and sizing up the enemy. Battles happen in real time, so you need to pay attention to events. You’ll occasionally get giant QTE prompts on the screen. These are known as your “Soul Voice” in the Japanese version. Hit them in time and you’ll be able to heal your teammates, yourself, or gain other benefits.

Your abilities are called “arts”, as in the previous game, and you’ll only be able to buff yourself or attack your opponent. There are no skills to affect your party. Arts use technical points which are built up by certain attacks. Every character can also swap between melee and ranged attacks on the fly.

When you’re running around the world, you’ll notice symbols above the heads of creatures that you could fight. These indicate the creature’s behaviour – things like whether it will use sight or sound or both to notice you, or if fighting it will draw other creatures from the vicinity. Their behaviour will also be affected by the game’s day/night cycle and even the weather.

In the combat screenshot above, you’ll see a section marked “SIDE/MIDDLE”. This indicates where you are in relation to your opponent – in this case it’s to the side and “middle” refers to height, where we’re on the same level. You’ll also see FRONT/HIGH and BACK/LOW and so on. Your location gives advantages and disadvantages depending on the enemy you’re fighting. Many creatures have multiple areas that you can target, so positioning is key to winning battles.

Xenoblade Chronicles X will be coming to Wii U in 2015.