I’ve never been in doubt that Xenoblade Chronicles is the best game Monolith Soft has ever produced. Between Xenogears and Xenosaga (although the former not technically developed by Monolith Soft), the franchise has had a rough ride. While I love their Baten Kaitos series on GameCube, it has its own hiccups that keep it from excelling.
I didn’t realize just how well Xenoblade Chronicles came together until a friend of mine played it last year. After he beat the game, he pointed out that the weapon the protagonist wields, the Monado, bleeds its way into every element of the experience.
The Monado gives the main character, Shulk, the ability to see into the future. It’s not a new idea, but almost every bit of the story and lore are wrapped around this blade. What takes this device a step further is that it also connects into major elements of gameplay. In combat, the player can foresee devastating attacks. They have time to react by either preventing the attack or buffing the character up to reduce damage.
The sword’s power reaches into some quality of life features as well, giving the player insight on potentially useful materials. If you pick up a new object that’s intended for a quest, Shulk will have a vision that highlights it as a key item.
Considering the sword’s importance, it’s fitting that the original name of the game was Monado: Beginning of the World. It was later rebranded as part of the Xeno franchise.
I’m not sure when I’ll have a chance to talk about this again, so I’ll do it here. When the game was revealed, the character models had a much different look to them. In the case of Shulk, he seemed slightly older and more in line with the character designs of the previous Xeno games.
From a technical perspective, the final models look worse. However, the more subdued color palette and rounded features gives them a unique look. I prefer the final models, but I think the reasoning behind the change probably had more to do with the aging Wii hardware rather than an artistic choice.
