Nintendo Switch 2 Review | Xenoblade Chronicles X

With the release of the Switch 2 back in June 2025, and a slew of new games promised, I was looking forward to the revitalisation of original game ideas. The truth is, over the last few years every major studio has released, or is actively working on, a remake or remaster of some kind. There is a long list I could rattle off of games we’ve seen before, not all of them bad, but almost all of them overcomplicate and inflate what made them great in the first place. Nintendo is unfortunately not innocent in the process of weaponising nostalgia and monetising FOMO (fear of missing out). Monolith Soft has seemingly been working behind the scenes on releasing Xenoblade Chronicles X for a third time, the first being on the Wii U, with a Nintendo Switch version released not even a year ago. Now they are back with the promise of a higher resolution boost and a 60fps gameplay cap. But does it hold up to its promises?

Things I liked!

• The Combat | Combat in the Xenoblade Chronicles series has always been straightforward for such a large-scale JRPG. Once engaged in battle, simple attacks are carried out automatically against your enemies so that you can focus on performing special abilities and healing while, also still making sure you are dealing damage. AI partners will also carry out a wealth of different attacks unless commanded otherwise. In Xenoblade Chronicles X, it is largely the same, with additional options unlocked in circular runes at the bottom of your HUD. Using the shoulder buttons lets you select from additional equipped skills and abilities to carry out. For example, the main character mainly uses firearms, but can be equipped with a knife, allowing you to use up-close melee-based damage. You can also use weapon attachments such as the grenade launcher from this very same menu. Selecting healing abilities and buffs then allows you to select which character you wish to use it on, making you the de facto healer in the game. AI can heal you, but it is largely out of your control.

• 60fps Mode | The upgrade to the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Xenoblade Chronicles X brings a much-welcome 60fps mode for anyone who wishes to experience a much smoother gameplay experience. The great news here is that it is a constant 60fps presentation as well, with no dips or frame time issues throughout. Overall, this makes it a much more enjoyable, more stable game to play if it is your first time playing.
  
  
• The Story | Xenoblade Chronicles has always had very deep and engaging stories, and Xenoblade Chronicles X is no different. As the title indicates, it is a slight departure from the mainline numbered series but still holds its own when it comes to immersive storytelling. Your vessel crash lands on the Alien planet of Mira in 2054, and together with Lin and the BLADE organisation, you must find the last surviving remnants of humanity that also crashed landed onboard the lifehold, a small ship that aimed at bringing back humans to Earth. There is a real sense of urgency when it comes to fulfilling the story, and what it does well is also offer an interesting sub-plot about the character that you play as. There is an air of mystery to our unnamed hero, and spending the time digging into the game’s optional side quests results in another equally fascinating story that I won’t spoil here.
  
  
• Music & Sounds | Being a much grander title in sheer scale than the mainline series, the music is especially catered towards bigger set pieces, with a larger focus on cinematic orchestral sounds. They fit very well, and in some scenes have a hint of sci-fi mixed into them for some very unique-sounding music. UI sounds, voice acting, and sound effects are all used well and match the theme of the game. I always felt engaged during high-intensity battles when fighting, and loved watching the cutscenes.

Mixed & disliked!

• Paid Upgrade Path | Owners of the Switch 1 version can take Nintendo up on the offer of upgrading by paying £5 to get the additional benefits of improved visual quality, and better frame rates, but at time of writing, Nintendo are actively offering refunds to people who have bought it. The reason for this is because ultimately the visual quality is terrible. Digital Foundry have done a magnificent breakdown where they have established that the actual internal quality of the image being rendered is lower than the Switch 1 version. Not only this, the upscaled final output of 1080p is a blurry mess. More on this below. But the point is, we are paying for something that is just not worth it.

• Poor Visual Quality | As mentioned above, Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition uses an upscaled 1080p image from as little as 360p. The resulting image quality is blurry, and in some cases worse than the Switch 1 version. The game relies on Monolith Soft’s in-house TAAU solution, despite Switch 2 being capable of Nvidia’s much more robust DLSS method of upscaling. Xenoblade Chronicles X also suffers from extreme pop-in, something that has been made worse with the new higher resolution. It is very jarring, and takes you out of the game when you play. Some of it is so extreme that I have had instances of running around and then had enemies just pop into existence in front of me.
  
  
• Little to no Improvement | In my introduction I mentioned that the original Xenoblade Chronicles X launched on Wii U, a game that arguably for that time had no business running as well as it did. It ran at 720p at 30fps, but it was stable. The Switch 1 version was also 720p at 30fps, but did have much better load times, and better lighting, but also felt that it wasn’t much of a worthy upgrade, especially since that was also a full release title back in March 2025. The jump from Switch 1 to Switch 2 looks good on paper, but it is visually broken, and I’m not in favour of paying for an FPS, increase especially when 30fps works perfectly fine for a single player experience. This is why I mentioned that Nintendo is monetising FOMO, and given how there are fewer and fewer original titles releasing on Switch 2 currently, it feels disingenuous to charge for something that is inherently broken, and doesn’t offer much. Had this released as a free update, I could get onboard, but it still doesn’t feel good paying for broken goods.

CONCLUSION

Score: 60/100

With this being the third time Xenoblade Chronicles X has been released in modern times, I have to ask myself if Nintendo are starting to succumb to embracing releasing remasters to fill the gap in original releases. While Xenoblade Chronicles X offers a lot of content, it doesn’t offer enough to warrant the upgrade fee, let alone the fact it is broken with its poor visual quality, and a 60fps cap that ultimately makes no difference in a single player title. My hope is that Monolith Soft learn from these shortcomings and look at using much superior tech in the future when using upscalers to help sell the benefits of upgrading, such as DLSS. My advice to Nintendo fans who might be reading this: save your money if you own the Switch 1 version, it is as good as it is going to get.