Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
European box art
Developer	Monolith Soft
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform	Nintendo Switch
Release date	WW: 29 May 2020
Units sold	1,520,000 (as of March 2021)

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is a remaster of Xenoblade Chronicles on the Nintendo Switch. It features improved graphics, a new time trial mode and a new epilogue story, Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected. The additions from Xenoblade Chronicles 3D are missing in this version.

List of changes

While the core game is the same and the story is unchanged, there are many changes both major and minor compared to the original Wii version. Listed here are changes that are not simply minor bug fixes.

Additional content

• Future Connected is a "bonus chapter" that takes place after the main game and reuses most (but not all) gameplay mechanics.
• Time Attack is a set of "defeat the enemies as fast as possible" challenges that provide new outfits as rewards.
• The Event Theatre allows re-watching of any cutscene and Heart-to-Heart, with controllable equipment, time of day, and weather.
• Casual Mode drastically decreases the difficulty of combat for players that wish to enjoy the story with minimal effort.
• Expert Mode allows players to store experience points and control exact party member levels both up and down, adding potential for challenge runs and allowing players to do many quests without becoming overlevelled.
• Having a Xenoblade Chronicles 2 save file gives the option to start a new game with an extra 100,000 G on top of the default 3,000 G.
• Localisations are now available for Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.

Aesthetics

• All playable characters and major NPCs have new, higher-resolution face models closer to the style used in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Many also have higher-resolution hands, and party members' default outfits have several touch-ups (e.g. the hem of Shulk's vest is now a model with depth rather than a flat transparent texture).
• All heavy armour has altered designs, mostly slimming down bulky parts and replacing the helmet with one that does not obscure the character's head as much. The original designs are still available as Time Attack rewards.
• All maps are significantly more detailed.
• Most if not all models have extra material textures, such as improved glow and specularity effects.
• Many pieces of music are remade, with the option to use the "original" or "arranged" versions.
• Chapters are now labelled as "Chapter 1" and similar in save files, rather than being mostly invisible.
• Several cutscenes have altered character expressions and musical timings, while a few have significant animation changes (e.g. the radio soldier in the prologue not turning towards the Mechon behind him).
• Characters pause for longer at the end of each phrase during spoken dialogue scenes, making such scenes slightly slower.
• The "mouth flapping" animation in dialogue scenes is now based on the volume of the sound file, rather than playing at a constant amplitude.
• The Mechonis' hands are redesigned to better match the appearance of the Fallen Arm.
• The key on Alvis' necklace is replaced with a gold-trimmed red gem in the shape of a cross.
• NPCs that did not previously have voice clips when talked to now do, including party members when used as NPCs.

Battle

• The tag of the targeted enemy is fixed at the top of the screen, rather than above their head. This moves vision tags to the top right corner, hiding the map and clock.
• Enemy tags within the player's level are now brown instead of white. Other tag colours are unchanged.
• The damage range glitch is fixed; weapons can now reach any number within their minimum and maximum range.
• Auto-attacks that rebound (from being blocked or hitting a Mechon) do not incur the typical delay before the next auto-attack can be used.
• Arts with a conditional bonus effect are highlighted with a blue "!" during moments when their condition is met: for example, Back Slash is marked when Shulk is behind the enemy, Wild Down is marked when the enemy is afflicted with Break, and Monado Shield is marked if it can protect against the current vision. These are labelled as "Chance Arts".
• Positional conditions are now checked when an attack lands, rather than when its animation begins. All other conditions remain checked when the animation begins.
• The Mechon immunity to damage is factored earlier in the damage formula, so damage multipliers and debuff damage now come afterward (e.g. Back Slash deals 2 damage instead of 1, and bleeding does 0 per tick instead of 1). In addition, gems that add additional damage to auto-attacks no longer trigger against Mechon armour.
• Attacking a vulnerable target no longer allows the attack to damage other targets in range that are supposed to be immune to the weapon. For example, attacking a normal Mechon with Monado Buster no longer deals normal damage to the Face Mechon that happens to also be in range.
• Attacking a Mechon when it's using an art now properly causes the attack to rebound, rather than allowing it to continue.
• The Arts Seal debuff now appears as purple chains above the victim's head (similar to Bind), rather than a sprite of a crossed-out circle.
• The Confuse debuff now also applies a movement speed penalty (approximately -50%), making it harder for a confused character to escape help or move into a bad position.
• Blow-down no longer has a horizontal component; characters are knocked straight up instead of up and away. This almost eliminates the risk of being blasted off cliffs or into dangerous terrain.
• The damage bonus of Monado Enchant now applies to arts as well as auto-attacks.
• Elemental Discharge now only triggers on-hit effects such as Arts Heal once, rather than twice. (The first "hit" is when the elemental leaves Melia's possession, and the second is when it deals damage - the first one no longer counts as a "hit" for these effects.)
• Defeated party members are marked with a large white beacon of light so they can be easier located.
• The animation of reviving a party member can no longer be interrupted, making it much more sluggish.
• Visions are executed faster.
• When warned of a vision, party members are not immediately interrupted, but instead finish what they are doing before acting on the warning.
• Enemies with spikes now show a purple spiky effect on their name tag while the spike is active.
• Chain attacks are executed faster and do not show the total damage until the end.
• When holding the button that shows the list of party commands, the active (most recently-used) command is highlighted.
• The player does not have to get as close to enemy spawn points for them to activate, meaning more enemies appear on the map at once, and they are visible from farther away.
• Chests that fall into a pit teleport directly onto the player.
• Post-battle banter continues even if the player opens a chest or enters the menu.

Gem crafting

• Dunban's shooter ability is buffed so his streak starts at 2%, rather than 1%.
• Riki's shooter ability is buffed so his two turns count as one turn, rather than two.
• Crafted gems are entirely random in strength, rather than corresponding to the final heat.

Quality-of-life improvements

• The design of certain talent gauge meters is slightly different from other party members and includes additional visual effects to better imply how they function: Sharla's has a red fill bar and steams while Cool Off is in progress, while Melia's has a rainbow fill bar and sparkles while full.
• The up/down arrows around the talent art icon now identify which option the arrow will scroll to.
• Up to four buffs and debuffs are visible at once, rather than just one.
• The status effects (Break, Topple, Daze, and Sleep) now display a bar showing when they expire.
• Seven joins the party with 15,000 AP instead of zero.
• There is an option (enabled by default) for all menus to show a red dot on new elements (e.g. a recently-learned art or skill).
• The inventory limit for most items is increased to 450; for crystals, it is 500. As this is higher than the number of collectables and materials in the game, no limit is displayed.
• Party members can equip equipment and appearance independently. Possessing a piece of equipment permanently unlocks its appearance as an option for all currently-available characters across all save files.
• Gems can be bulk exchanged between pieces of equipment.
• Art books are used automatically when the art screen is opened, rather than having to select and use them manually.
• Duplicate art books (ones that have already been used) have a star added to their icon.
• Gifting is done from the party affinity chart. When an item is gifted, the affinity gained (or lost) is recorded.
• The affinity chart lists each NPC's current list of tradeable items.
• One NPC at a time can be tracked, which draws a magnifying glass on the map at their current location.
• Visiting a landmark triggers an auto-save into a fourth save slot. This includes being returned to a landmark when incapacitated.
• A line is drawn on the map leading the player towards the next plot point, rather than there being a compass arrow on the screen. This can be disabled.
• All quests place red "!" marks on the map at their next/nearest objective when the player has the correct map loaded. One quest at a time can be tracked, which either turns its "!" marks blue and gives the option to draw a line on the map towards it, or notifies the player that the target is not currently active (e.g. the target enemy does not spawn at this time of day).
• The requirements for Colony 6 reconstruction can be viewed at any time from the quest menu, though none of them can be tracked like quests. In addition, all necessary items can be obtained from Time Attack near the end of the story.
• New Game Plus automatically carries over all inventory, rather than asking to fill a quota.

Other changes

• When Shulk first uses the Monado, the player is forced to play as him for the remainder of the plot segment, rather than being allowed to set any party formation.
• Some positions of key items, locations and landmarks have slightly changed. One of the most notable changes is the Rear Door Key in Satorl Marsh.
• Some enemy stats were changed, for example Demon King Dragonia is vulnerable to Instant Death in the original, but is immune to it in the Definitive Edition.
• The map is completed in a radius around the player, rather than in a predefined grid in which the player must step into a segment to be filled in.
• Jump physics have been tweaked (overall nerfed) in order to prevent a movement exploit in Tephra Cave.

Development

Development for Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition was planned shortly after the release of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but production could not begin immediately as Monolith Soft was still focused on developing Torna ~ The Golden Country.

In May 2018, Tetsuya Takahashi met with Nintendo to discuss his vision for the future of the series, proposing both a remaster of Xenoblade Chronicles and the development of an entirely new game, Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Nintendo approved both projects, and development began in August 2018, immediately after Torna ~ The Golden Country became golden. At that time, Monolith Soft was divided into three teams: one dedicated to the Definitive Edition, another focused on Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and a third group that supported both productions. Takahashi deliberately avoided calling the project a "Deluxe Edition," as that term implied merely adding bonus content. He instead chose the title "Definitive Edition," believing it better conveyed respect for the original game.

The development team first decided what aspects of the original game still held up and what needed improvement. According to Takahashi, they "meticulously planned all specifications for this project." Ultimately, their focus centered on three core elements: ease of play, clarity, and appearance.

Ease of play referred to making the gameplay more accessible and user-friendly. Clarity focused on improving the user interface and ensuring on-screen information was easy to interpret. Finally, appearance dealt primarily with enhancing character models and graphics—an area the team had long considered a regret in the original version due to hardware limitations. Although the Definitive Edition still faced restrictions in time and budget, they decided to break those past limits and upgrade them.

Takahashi explained that, given the constraints of cost and schedule, it was impossible to rebuild the entire game from scratch. Instead, the team differentiated between elements that required "updating" and those deserving a full "upgrade." Assets such as weapons, equipment, and minor environmental details primarily received texture updates. In contrast, the faces and hands of playable characters and key NPCs, as well as the Monado and newly designed equipment, were completely upgraded. Scripted cutscenes and facial animations were also recreated to match the new visual standard. Originally, enemy and map models were only intended to receive minor updates. However, due to the dedication and enthusiasm of the staff, these elements were ultimately given full upgrades as well.

According to producer Shigekazu Yamada, the art style was designed to match that of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. This decision was made not only because the graphics engine was based on the one used in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 but also to create a visual sense of continuity between the titles. Having already developed the rendering engine for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Torna ~ The Golden Country, the team could directly import assets, convert them to HD through a semi-automated process, and then refine them manually to achieve the desired quality. Nevertheless, due to the game's complexity, this process was challenging. The developers continually encountered different issues within the source code—some of which even the original staff members had either forgotten about or were unaware of.

The team drew on all the technical and optimization expertise gained from Xenoblade Chronicles X and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 to achieve the level of refinement expected from the Definitive Edition.

A major design goal for the remaster was to make the game more guided and intuitive for modern players. Features such as the Travel Guidance system—which indicates the precise direction of the next objective—were introduced because players have become accustomed to playing modern smartphone games, which are very detailed in guiding players.

Partway through development, the team began questioning whether visual and mechanical improvements alone would be enough to justify another re-release of the game, as this marked the third re-release of Xenoblade Chronicles. To add meaningful new content, they decided to create an additional story: Future Connected.

Takahashi stated that Future Connected was conceived for three main reasons. First, the team felt a lingering sense of pity for Melia and wanted to give her story a more satisfying conclusion. Second, they aimed to extend the narrative toward the future of the series. Third, they finally wanted to show off the Bionis' Shoulder—a large area that had not fit into the original game but perfectly suited this new scenario.

Takahashi also noted that while the scale of a paid DLC can be expanded as much as needed, including a large extra story like Future Connected as part of the base game without extra cost was considerably more expensive. Allocating too many resources to it, he explained, would have negatively impacted the development of Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

The game was announced on a Nintendo Direct on September 5th, 2019. It was released worlwide on May 29th, 2020.

Music

Main article: Music of Xenoblade Chronicles § Changes in Definitive Edition

A total of 54 out of 99 tracks were newly re-recorded for the Definitive Edition, along with 8 entirely new compositions created exclusively for Future Connected. According to Tetsuya Takahashi, the team decided to re-record only field and battle themes, as altering the tempo of event tracks would require adjusting the timing and pacing of the corresponding cutscenes. However, Engage the Enemy was also re-recorded due to its immense popularity and its status as the main theme of the new production effort.

Takahashi explained that the remastered music was recorded at 96 kHz and later compressed to 48 kHz in order to save storage space, since the Nintendo Switch's built-in speakers can reproduce audio frequencies close to 96 kHz. By comparison, the original Wii version had the music encoded at 32 kHz.

Update history

Ver. 1.1.0 (released May 28, 2020)

General Issues

• Fixed lockups that sometimes occurred on skip-travel and event-scene transition screens.
• Fixed an issue with the quest Finding Happiness where the incorrect speaker name was being displayed.
• Fixed an issue that prevented Status and Item details from displaying when the cursor was moved quickly between Cosmetic Equipment and Equipment on the Change Equipment screen.
• The buff icon now updates with the physical and ether defense buffs received and lost when the Monado Art “Armour” is activated and expires.
• Fixed the following issues with the enemy party of Leg Volffs when Napping Volffen moved toward the waterfall by the Volff Lair:
  • Leg Volffs would continually move around and respawn in a small area, with an additional Leg Volff suddenly appearing.
  • The Leg Volffs would stop at the watering hole instead of moving with Napping Volffen when it appeared.
  • Battling any remaining Leg Volffs would cause the battle to end abruptly, and battles would start and stop as soon as you entered their line of sight.
• Fixed an issue where sound effects would continue into the subsequent scene when event skip was used during a scene where the future is shown.
• Fixed an issue where continuing to use the debuff skill “Lock-on” on an enemy would cause it to target only the first user of the skill.
• Fixed a lockup that occurred in the Central Pit when boarding the elevator with your controlled character at a certain time during its descent.

Ver. 1.1.1 (released May 28, 2020)

General Issues

• Fixed an issue that prevented the Arts Palette from closing when no selectable arts were available during a Chain Attack.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the Arts Palette from closing when no selectable arts were available during a Chain Attack and the Junk Sword was equipped.

Ver. 1.1.2 (released July 8, 2020)

Feature Changes

• Changing the Tutorial notifications in Notification Settings to Don’t Notify will now cause recommendations to try Casual Mode to not appear.
  • This can be set through Options → Notification Settings and setting Tutorials to Don’t Notify.
• Some of the “!” icons appearing on the area map and in the field while using Travel Guidance can now be disabled. Disabling them will remove them from enemies and collectibles concerning the quest, however they will still appear above the quest-giving NPC as usual.
  • This can be set through Options → Display Settings and setting Travel Guidance to Hide.

Spec Adjustments

• Starting a New Game Plus after lowering character levels in the New Game Plus Settings could cause the number of Affinity Coins held to decrease. If this has occurred, loading save data will apply the correct amount.
• Starting a New Game Plus after lowering character levels in the New Game + Settings would result in more Skill Links being active than Affinity Coins available for them. If this has occurred, removing Skill Links so that they are lower than the number of Affinity Coins will cause them to function as usual. Additionally, Skill Links can be removed with the + Button.
• Fixed the attack-interval value during battle for some characters (Shulk, Reyn, and Nene are unaffected). The attack intervals while affected by Slow will slow down and quicken while affected by Haste—making it easier to sense when affected by Haste/Slow.
• Fixed an issue after a boss fight in Chapter 16 where three-slot weapons would become two-slot weapons.

(Updated 7/14/2020) We initially wrote that we fixed the issue of all equipped gems being removed, but unfortunately we had not fixed the issue in the case that equipped gems were removed when the maximum number of items was being carried. Our apologies for the correction.

• Fixed an issue where switching the BGM between Arranged and Original in the options during certain event scenes wouldn’t affect the song “Engage the Enemy.”
  • "Engage the Enemy" can be changed with Toggle Field BGM in the Options.

Lockups

• Fixed a lockup that occurred when closing the quest-clear dialogue during the quest Clearing Obstructions after Reyn’s level rose to 16 after beating three Zealous Arachnos.
• Fixed a lockup that sometimes occurred when battling Nero Andos.
• Fixed an issue that caused the player to become uncontrollable when attempting to trade with an NPC who disappeared due to the passage of time.
• Fixed an issue that caused the player to become uncontrollable when falling off a ledge just before seeing a vision from a collectible.
• Fixed an issue that caused the player to become uncontrollable after finishing a battle while unconscious.
• Fixed a lockup that occurred when changing gems or the time on the main menu during the interval in the last battle.
• Fixed a lockup that occurred when bringing up information dialogue while pressing the – Button to call up Help at the same time.
• Fixed an issue that caused characters to be in the topple status when an event scene and a vision prompted by a collectible item would occur at the same time.

Other Fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused the quest to become unacceptable when changing to a different event or changing the time while talking to a quest-giving NPC.
• Fixed an issue where if the controlled character were cheered up and HP were restored at the same time they lost consciousness, they would lose consciousness with that amount of HP remaining.
• Fixed an issue where Travel Guidance wouldn’t display correctly during the quest Monado Replica 5.
• Fixed an issue where selecting Arts simultaneously with being dazed would cause the character to be stuck in the fainting motion.
• Fixed an issue where accepting a quest with the Weapon Development Lab as its destination would cause the Travel Guidance route not to appear.
• Fixed an issue where loading an autosave file after hearing a quest-acceptance conversation would cause quest progress already seen to return to that before having heard the conversation.
• Fixed an issue that caused battles with Gentle Mother Armu, Baby Armus, and Deluded Ignas to be disengaged too easily.
• Fixed an issue where changing the controlled character while climbing a wall would cause the character to fall through the wall.
• Fixed an issue where the BGM wouldn’t play during certain event scenes.
• Fixed an issue where in Chapter Nine, while the Mechon soldiers do battle with the Laias on * Prison Island, viewing Prison Island from Eryth Sea would show the battle effects, but they weren’t visible from Imperial Capitol Alcamoth.
• Fixed an issue that caused leveling up after defeating an enemy with a Chain Attack to cause the numeric display of the level to appear strange.
• Although the added damage would function properly, fixed an issue that caused the damage displayed on screen to appear 256 points lower than the actual value when the additional damage value of added attack gems would surpass 256.

Unlisted Fixes

• Fixed Sharla's Metal Blast and Heat Bullet playing the wrong voice lines in English.
• Fixed Fiora's Power Smash and Double Wind playing the wrong voice lines in English.
• Several English subtitles are fixed to match the English voice clips used within the game.
• Changed the name of the Old ID Card to Faded ID Tag.

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
English	Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
Japanese	ゼノブレイド ディフィニティブ・エディション	Xenoblade Definitive Edition
German	Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition	—
Spanish	Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition	—
Chinese (simplified)	异度神剑 终极版
Chinese (traditional)	異度神劍 終極版
Korean	제노블레이드 크로니클스 디피니티브 에디션	Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition

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Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition

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Artwork

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  An illustration celebrating the Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition release date by Masatsugu Saito