Xenoblade Chronicles

I'm a member of the fan movement Operation Rainfall, which convinced Nintendo to bring this game over to the Americas, and with the recent release of Xenoblade, perhaps the best Wii game ever, our efforts of contacting Nintendo and bringing the demand have definitely not been in vain. Although our friends in Europe had this game since last August, it's finally here, and definitely worth a look, whether you're into JRPGs or not. The game centers on the human inhabitants of the Bionis, which was forever locked into battle with the other titan, the Mechonis. The Mechonis' inhabitants are, as you might've guessed, machines. However, the Mechon are evil machines that have a tendency to kill the Homs (humans) and Nopons (the infamous "cute animal" race in JRPGs). You play as Shulk, the 18-year-old human protagonist, who sets out with his friends for revenge against the Mechon. However, there are many plot intricacies to be found, and it's a great story, especially for a genre as cliche-ridden as the JRPG (I love them anyway, but some people don't really think highly of them just for that). Alongside the amazing story and believable characters is one of the biggest and most beautiful open worlds I've ever seen in a video game. Who knew a system such as the Wii could pull this off? Why, Monolith Soft, of course! The studio behind Xenoblade Chronicles also worked on the two other unrelated series with the Xeno name (Xenogears and Xenosaga), which were intricate JRPGs that had sci-fi elements and a cult following. Xenoblade is a worthy successor to them, in that regard. The open-world nature of the game means there's very little grinding, and for the most part you can choose who to fight and how to do it. I really like the battle system, where you automatically attack the enemy as you move towards it, but have to combine special arts and powers in succession in order to fully win. It's not just about the combat, however, as there are well over 500 sidequests for you to do. Not only is the game itself great, its presentation is equally so, with lush graphics (especially by Wii standards), beautiful music (from well-known RPG composers who have worked on Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana and many other games in the past) and great English voice acting (since the game was released in Europe first, it has British actors, and it's a nice change of pace). This is definitely a five-star game. As for age appropriateness, this game's got a T rating for several reasons. Not only are the themes mature (changing the future, getting revenge), they're also unlikely to be picked up by anyone other than older preteens and up. Violence is pretty rampant, with quite a bit of combat featuring sparks, light flashes and other things, mainly against fantastical enemies. There's some more realistic violence every now and again: in one cutscene, a character coughs up blood, and you can see blood on the claws of a Mechon. There's also a bit of sexual content, mainly in the form of scantily clad women, and the very fact that you can buy a bikini for your female characters can be a bit off-putting. Language is limited to "d*mn" and "h*ll", not bad at all, and some characters smoke cigars and drink (not the main protagonists, however). But, overall, I'm glad to have helped bring this game over. Xenoblade Chronicles will be hailed as the Holy Grail of modern RPGs for years to come, as even with its complicated release history and convoluted release scheme (only available at GameStop and Nintendo's online store, for the time being), it's a dazzling world well worth your while.

This game is visually breathtaking, the combat is barely gory. Although some clothing can be a bit revealing, it's not too serious though. I have to say I even enjoyed watching my kid playing this game. She fell in love with the characters and the story line. This is a must have game.