Xenoblade Chronicles X

Xenoblade Chronicles X is now out all around the world and it's been met with generally positive reception all across the board. The open world RPG presents a staggeringly massive world for players to explore, packed out with dozens, if not hours, of gameplay potential. Fans of both traditional JRPGs and open world action games can find plenty to love within this game, and it'll no doubt be a wonderful title to experience over the winter.

Tatsuya Takahashi – the game's Senior Director and chief creative office – recently talked with Gamesreactor about the recent release and the series as a whole. Naturally, many questions were asked and you can find the full interview here, if you want all of the details.

One of the topics covered was how Xenoblade has become a major Nintendo franchise in recent years, and Takahashi was asked what might come next for the series if another game is produced. In so many words, Takahashi mentioned how Xenoblade X is more gameplay focused as opposed to its more story driven predecessor. If another Xenoblade happens, it'll supposedly be more like the first one:

While Xenoblade Chronicles was a true story-driven JRPG, we took a rather different approach with Xenoblade Chronicles X. You could say it doesn't really feel like a typical JRPG: what really sets it apart from other JRPGs is that the game world - the planet Mira - is really vast. I've heard that some Japanese users who played Xenoblade Chronicles X said they enjoyed a more story-driven type of game. So if we have the opportunity to make another game in the series, I'd like to made another typical JRPG-style game like Xenoblade Chronicles again.

Another subject covered was why the two Xenoblade games have been so popular on a more global scale. Takahashi believes that this is due both to how Xenoblade is the first open world JRPG and to how the series is anthological in nature, changing genres with each entry. If the series continues, he hopes they can switch up the setting once more.

I imagine a large part of the appeal is in this being the first open-world RPG from Japan. I also think it's really meaningful that this is a middle tier title, rather than a AAA title. The Xenoblade series has always had a different genre for each game, with the previous game being fantasy, and now turning to science fiction. I hope we will be able to continue the series like this, exploring lots of different settings, rather than being confined to a specific genre.

What do you think? What could the setting of a third game be? How are you liking Xenoblade X so far? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

[source gamereactor.eu]