In battle, though, the power of the Monado lets you see a devastating attack before it happens, giving you a stylish warning. For every time one of his visions enabled him to save the life of a valued friend, there's another occasion where nothing he can do makes a difference. In cutscenes, this is a great plot device young Shulk, our hero, spends much of the story struggling with his ability to see the future and his inability to change it.
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The Monado is an ancient weapon that gives its wielder, the aforementioned gifted orphan, the ability to see the future. But it's the weapon at the centre of Xenoblade Chronicles' story, the Monado, that really gives the battle system its edge. But dying in itself isn't really a problem you simply reappear at the last landmark you passed, all loot, health and stats intact. It's always possible to dash off and regroup if you find yourself in a tough skirmish (unless it's a boss battle). Work in harmony with teammates for long enough and you can unleash a chain attack, matching Talents from each character to devastating effect – the only way to cause significant damage to the biggest, baddest beasties. You're constantly working together with everyone else on the battlefield, watching to see what they do and reacting dynamically, guiding them on what to target and when to run away. It's fast-paced, tactical and really engaging. Occasionally, mini-QTEs let you cause a bit of extra damage, earning plaudits from your team-mates. Knock a monster off balance, and another party member will smash it to the floor with another appropriate move. Let the party tank draw all the monster aggro, and you can get behind them for a deadly backstab. Keeping control of one character in the party, you select from an ever-widening selection of Talents – special moves, essentially – that recharge over time. Once in a battle, basic attacks happen automatically, but those won't get you far. When you're not following the story, Xenoblade Chronicles is equal parts fighting and exploration. They give you an excuse for forays into the furthest corners of the map, letting you fully absorb the scale of this adventure. Side quests are totally optional, but you'd be a fool to pass them by. Everything, from exploration to item-collecting to battle victories, earns experience points that strengthen your team. Get in the way of a Level 74 troll on your way to an oasis and you'll be flattened in seconds, but you can practice your team combos on relatively docile animals and then strip their corpses for loot to sell or use later. The game world is littered with two things: shiny collectibles to nab for loot and questing, and wandering animals that can be either engaged in battle or safely ignored – unless they're particularly aggressive.
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There are no random battles and the combat system is brilliant, a mix of real-time and command-based fighting that feels like an updated Final Fantasy XII mixed with a splash of White Knight Chronicles' chain system. Its story, which initially seems a little predictable, is actually a deep and varied tale that spans some 60-odd hours without ever feeling painfully drawn out. It's impressively non-linear, letting you wander from the story to explore its gorgeous world, toddling off in search of side-quests and extra-mean monsters to kill and caves to loot. You see, although Xenoblade Chronicles honours many positive JRPG traditions, it's not afraid to dispense with other, more tedious ones. It feels more modern than anything else in its genre. But this is also one of the freshest and most innovative Japanese RPGs of the past decade. Yes, you wander a giant world in a party of three, following a story punctuated by enough cutscene to make the Godfather Trilogy look comparatively brisk. (He doesn't have amnesia, though, thankfully.) Yes, there is an ultimate weapon with untold power. So yes, in Xenoblade Chronicles, you play an orphaned young hero who, for reasons unexplained, is the only one capable of saving the world from a mysterious evil.
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Just because a game conforms in many respects to the conventions of its genre, that doesn't mean it can't do anything new, and it certainly doesn't mean that it can't be wonderful. Nintendo is traditionally the master of this art, secreting gems of novelty within game designs that are often a decade or two old, perfected through years of iteration. It's always possible to innovate within a comfortable and well-established template.