Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition – Switch 2 Edition is the best way to play this JRPG classic

Nintendo sure are treating us to a cavalcade of double-subtitled games at the moment, though slapping Switch 2 Edition on the end of many of them is more descriptive than thematic. The latest addition to this long-winded club is Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition – Switch 2 Edition, taking the beloved JRPG and sprinkling it with a bit of high-def fairy dust and a few new features to warrant charging people more money for it.

Let’s get this out of the way: the Switch 2 Edition of Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is the best that this game has ever looked. That’s even more evident if you’ve played your way through the Wii original, possibly with a detour to the New 3DS version on your way to the now six-year-old Definitive Edition on the original Switch. The strength of the game hasn’t always been the visuals, but here, with a draw distance that stretches away into the background, and some lovely crisp textures, this is now the best looking version of the game by a long way.

That’s tied to the 60fps refresh rate and an upscaled 4K resolution. The Definitive Edition was a much stronger performer than the earlier Switch entry Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but it still suffered from some dropped frames from its 30fps target and slowdown out in the open world areas. There’s still a small amount of that here, though its effect has been much lessened, and the new 60fps frame rate feels much, much smoother.

Definitive Edition was also quite a blurry-looking game on Switch, with resolutions below native output and coming out a couple years before temporal upscaling was added to the game engine for Xenoblade Chronicles 3. But this release has come in the wake of the Switch 2 version of Xenoblade Chronicles X, with the upscaling added to that game by Monolith Soft able to make the graphics feel smeary and unstable – something they haven’t even tried to fix with a patch, by the way. Thankfully, this Switch 2 upgrade comes across much better with much better image quality both docked and handheld.

Unlike the Xenoblade Chronicles X upgrade, there is more here than just a resolution bump, and comes with a bump in price from £4.19 to £8 as well. Perhaps the most obvious addition is the Ether Jet, a vehicle that allows you to whizz across Chronicles’ landscapes with ease. There’s a new quest to complete to unlock it, with a new character lurking at the Bionis’ Leg Refugee Camp who’ll give you the lowdown at Chapter 4. If you’re past this point, it’s an easy fast-travel hop back here, and the Ether Jet is well worth hopping on board, since it speeds up getting around Xenoblade Chronicles’ massive open areas.

The Nopon Engineer is hanging around just outside the refugee camp, up the rise on the way out, and they’ll give you the spiel about coming up with an excellent new method of transportation that they don’t have a power supply for. Guess who’s got to go fetch them one? That’s right, Shulk and co. have to venture back to Tephra Cave to procure some Ether Cylinders – I don’t know why it feels like Luke Skywalker having to go to Tashi Station to pick up some power converters, but that’s all I hear now in my brain.

Thanks to the wonder of fast travel, it’s not much of a time sink – just head for the Rear Entrance to Tephra Cave and then head back outside, rather than into the cave. This was also a great way to get a look at Colony 9 from way up on the mountainside, emphasising just how clear the upgraded visuals are in the Switch 2 version – it really does look stunning. There is a short battle to grab your cylinders, but if you’re above Level 15 it’s going to be an absolute walk in the park – or a brisk stroll in the Bionsis.

Once you’ve got the Ether Jet – ignoring its inventor’s muttering that it’s a total death trap – you also unlock the Nopon Grand Prix, which turns Xenoblade Chronicles into a kart racer, with a touch of Fast RMX/Kirby Air Ride about it. There’s Score Attack and Battle Race modes, both of which have a bunch of prizes available if you do well, including the brand new gear that’s mentioned in the Switch 2 edition’s blurb. Each character has their own racing stats, and it actually feels a lot more fully featured than I was expecting.

I’m not sure whether I like the look of the new gear, but there’s more to it than just its appearance. As you progress through the story, you’ll unlock more tracks too, which is a nice little addition of its own, and enough to keep you coming back. The only weird thing is how you access the Nopon Grand Prix, which is to head into the menu and press Y, a fact that isn’t obviously mentioned.

Monolith Soft have actually put some thought and effort into Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition – Switch 2 Edition. After the disappointment of Chronicles X Definitive Edition, this sets a good benchmark for the other two Xenoblade Chronicles upgrades as they arrive later this year. At £7.99 it feels like a reasonable asking price, and it’s now the best way to experience this JRPG classic.

Tags: Nintendo Switch 2, Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition