We're really feeling it! Less than a month away from release, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 seems to be a beautiful open-world game, but with some confusing game mechanics. Here is everything we now know about this upcoming game thanks to today's Nintendo Direct.

Japanese voiceover available on day-one

Today's Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Direct had a lot packed in its roughly 15-minute presentation. It can be easy to be overwhelmed by all of the information presented in such a short time, but we're here to go step-by-step, taking you through each new thing we have learned from this presentation.

Nintendo has recently become more aware to the fact that many gamers prefer to play games with voices from one language and text from their own. Breath of the Wild did not ship with this feature, but later incorporated it in a free update. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will be the first Xenoblade Chronicles game to feature Japanese voiceover for those who prefer it, but the game will still include English dubs for others who prefer to hear their own language spoken.

new character trailer

We were given a new story trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 with Japanese voiceover and English subtitles. While the anime-style animation isn't for everybody, the characters seem to emote well with the stunning animation now expected from Monolith Soft. The character designs are completely ridiculous, for good or for ill. Costumes vary from being elaborately ornate to being almost nonexistent.

blades

The trailer begins with Rex, our main character, finding Pyra, a special kind of blade (a blade is a weapon that can seemingly transform into an animal or humanoid) entrapped within some kind of special cage. Jin, one of the apparent antagonists of the game, finds Rex and immediately stabs him through the heart. Pyra gives away half of her life force for Rex to be revived, and requests that she take him to Elysium at the top of the World Tree. A grand total of 20 characters were shown in the trailer, some of them for the first time. Most of them look very interesting, and if the previous two games are anything to go by, the story will be completely over-the-top in the best possible way. It also seems that the character initially shown in the game's reveal trailer in January is named Mythra, and seems to be a form of Pyra.

Multiple blades can be used by a driver, with one driver being able to obtain multiple blades. Some of these blades are called "rare blades." We don't know much more about them at this time, but we would guess that they are hard to find or obtain, and that they are more powerful than standard blades. There are also ways to bond with blades to improve abilities in battle.

alrest

The world of Alrest is composed of multiple Titans on whose backs both people and animals live, not too much unlike the original Xenoblade Chronicles. There are many gorgeous locations to explore, and the way to engage in combat with the beasts who live here has not differed much. Some are nonaggressive, only fighting you if you engage in combat with them. Others will fight you the second they see you, and others will pop out of nowhere. There are "unique monsters" whom seem to disappear if you defeat them, unless you call on them again by interacting with their tombstone. One of the most challenging and rewarding parts of the Xenoblade Chronicles series post-game has been besting these monsters, and it seems like Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will continue that trend. There are also humanoids in the overworld who will engage you in combat.

blade abilities

Blades have abilities that they can use within the overworld outside of battle, such as increasing the amount of items you find or opening up new paths. Within battle, blades can use "blade arts" to buff stats of their drivers. They also have special moves that they can pull off to cause damage to the enemy. There are three ways to strengthen blades: Aux cores are accessories that you can attach to a blade to enhance their abilities, while Core chips serve as different weapons for the blades to use. There is also an affinity chart for each blade. The more time you spend with your blade, the more affinity will be gained, unlocking more abilities for that blade. Heart-to-hearts are also back, now with new cinematic angles, which greatly increase your characters' affinity and give insight into their personalities and backstories. You can send blades that you aren't currently using into mercenary groups. After waiting a certain amount of time, they will come back with increased experience and affinity, as well as bring treasure with them.

exploration

There are certain areas that can only be accessed during certain parts of the in-game day. Collection and Salvage points are areas where you can find treasure, possibly replacing the glowy orbs that you walked through to gain resources in the previous two installments. When you travel to a new landmark, you can fast-travel to quickly get back to them. There are also secret areas that offer stunning views of the overworld. You might also be able to change the time of day at any point, although it is a little unclear. There are towns that you can discover which offer shops to buy, sell, and trade at, as well as side-quests to complete.

Noppon trade guild

There is a trade guild entirely consisting of Noppon (cute round creatures that are in every Xenoblade Chronicles game, much like Chocobos in Final Fantasy) where you can buy accessories for your party. There is also a way to temporarily enhance abilities of different held items. You can also play a retro-styled mini-game called "Tiger! Tiger!" to enhance the stats of Poppi, the only blade who can change her elemental type.

combat

The amount of people in your party has been decreased from four down to three, but this is most likely because of the addition of blades, three of which are assigned to each driver. However, Rex's blade, Pyra, can transform into Mythra at any time, essentially giving him access to four blades at once. There are four arts that the driver can use, with the fourth being a special art that fills up over time. There are four levels for this special art, so you will have to decide if you want to immediately use it or wait for it to become even more powerful. Once your allies build up their specials, they will wait for you to command them to use them.

The three types of blades are healers, attackers, and tanks. The blades you choose will determine your class, which will in turn determine your driver's four available arts, of which you can choose three. Because each blade can have three arts of their own, each driver has nine arts, and because there are three drivers who each have their blades, plus Mythra for Rex, that means that one party will have 30 arts! Of course, there's no way to humanly manage all of that, so you will only be in charge of one driver's arts and blades in battle while the others are managed by AI, but still, that is an incredible amount of customization that is certainly not unfamiliar for Xenoblade Chronicles fans.

Through leveling up, you can teach drivers new skills and level up their arts.

combos

There are three types of combos. Driver combos are similar to combos from previous installments, where you can topple an enemy to make them temporarily unable to attack, more susceptible to certain arts, et cetera. Blade combos work by matching specials by elemental type to do extra damage and also block certain arts from the enemy. Finally, fusion combos are triggered by launching a driver combo while a blade combo is in effect for even more damage and all of the over-the-top anime action your heart desires.

Expansion pass

Returning from the original Xenoblade Chronicles, if you fill up the Party Gauge to three bars, you can use a chain attack. Time will become still as you use specials. If you burst elemental orbs, you can use more than the usual three specials and just go crazy.

The legend of zelda: Breath of the wild

Available for purchase, this expansion pass will earn you support items starting at launch, new quests starting in January 2018, a new rare blade in Spring, a new challenge battle mode in Summer, and finally a new campaign in Autumn.

overview

In perhaps the most surprising news of the Direct, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is getting a new side-quest in which you can obtain Rex's costume via free DLC on November 9th, just two days from today!

It was a lot, but this is all that was shown from today's Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Direct. Xenoblade Chronicles has always been a very complicated and expansive series, and this sequel seems to harken back to the structure of the original, in particular. While everything shown here might seem a little overwhelming, remember that Xenoblade Chronicles games are absolutely massive, with the main story alone taking upwards of 100 hours to complete in both previous games, so there will be plenty of time to slowly master these mechanics.

We hope this has shed a little light on all that has been shown today, and we look forward to covering this game in the future, when it releases worldwide on December 1st, 2017, exclusively on Nintendo Switch.