Definitive Edition in an interview

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is one of the most anticipated games in the coming months on Nintendo Switch. East Wii game remaster It brings us the version of the game with improved graphics, but also with more content in the plot and changes in the gameplay. We have already known details such as the duration of the playable epilogue, which will certainly bring more chicha to what we already knew about the game. But Takahashi Tetsuya, president of Monolith Soft, brings us a fair amount of what’s new in this version of the game.

In an interview with Famitsu, who since nintendolife They have been in charge of translating in full, Tetsuya gives us a handful of news about the game. One of the first details Tetsuya reveals is about the start of development for Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition:

«I remember that we launched the project in late 2017, immediately after the launch of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. At that time, the development of Torna – The Golden Country was underway, so the production of both projects was simultaneous. A planning document was created while the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC was being produced, which was completed around May 2018 ».

«We officially started development in August 2018, after the development of Torna – The Golden Country finished. I think in that sense, it could be said that both projects had been progressing side by side, but the staff was divided in three ways – staff working on a new title, staff for Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, and staff working on both ».

When asked about the reason for calling it “Definitive Edition”, Tetsuya clarified that there were several options on the table, but that they opted for that after consulting with Nintendo. “The title was decided after consulting with Nintendo. Since the game has been improved in several ways, it was difficult to decide; It is not like a »Deluxe Edition», which gives the impression of having additional content, but we decided on the «Definitive Edition», which is the final version that respects the original »he comments.

Changes in Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition

Speaking about the important part of this edition, the news, Takahashi explained that they focused on improving the appearance and refining the gameplay, since they considered that the content was left over. “First off, if you look at the gameplay, for example, if you’ve lost a number of times during a particular boss battle, or if you’ve died a certain number of times, the pop-up window ‘Can’t beat to the boss »and the strategy to beat the boss will be given through the tutorial. When you return to the game, you will get a boost through effects like completely filling the group meter ».

“Next, for convenience, we focus primarily on the user interface. We thoroughly review elements ranging from element display and transitions and we take every opportunity to make clear what is shown and how to maneuver ».

Finally, the appearance. We have mainly focused on improving the graphics of the characters, which was one of our regrets in the original game. Originally, one of the trade-offs we had to make due to hardware limitations was the sharpness of the character graphics. In the final edition, although there are still restrictions such as production cost and time, we decided to break those past limits and improve ».

“In short, this is a theme for producer Yamada Nariwa and director Inaba Michihiko, but overall, we wanted to clearly define what was good and what needed to be improved. We meticulously plan all the specifications for this project. ”

The graphical improvements in Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition

“It is not surprising that production costs and development time are a limitation. There was no way to recreate everything from scratch. Therefore, first what we would create again and not. In particular, weapons and equipment, enemies, and map models, among other assets, were limited to texture upgrades and there were texture enhancements for shaders, faces, and hands of key characters and new equipment and the Monado. We recreate the cinematic scenes and facial animations for the plot scenes », comments the president of Monolith on the most important graphic changes.

“Although a line was drawn, the staff demonstrated their commitment to the project, and assets such as enemies and map models that were not originally planned to be upgraded received improvements here and there. Although these updates are not built from scratch, we would be delighted if you could tell the difference ».

“As for the user interface, in addition to being easy to understand, there was an additional concept «User interface for a perfect experience». For this, users would not be inhibited by the large amount of content thrown at them. Naviroute shows you the way to the mission locations. Chance Arts tells you the arts that meet special icon attack conditions, so players can enhance their battle experiences. We’ve added these elements to “remaster content to convey the charm of the original game,” including filters and favorite features that allow players to choose and rank their gear. “, Add.

The other changes in Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition

Finally, Takahashi Tetsuya also commented on other aspects of this remaster that have been modified, such as music. Several songs from the soundtrack have been re-recorded. As I said earlier, there were several restrictions because this is a remaster. The same applies to music, and it was simply not possible to re-record them all with an orchestra. Therefore, we prioritize the song list first, and then record the highest ranking field and battle songs with live recordings with an orchestra ».

“We also had to take into account the budget and We improved the quality of other songs that could not be recorded live through digital media. We’ve improved the sound quality by relaxing the data compression, in contrast to Xenoblade Chronicles 2. For event songs, changing the tempo or scale of the song takes a lot of work to edit the original scene. The original version remains the same, but “Engage the Enemy” is used as-is, with virtually no new changes. As it is a very popular song, it became the main theme of the new production album ».

“I believe that it is very important not to alter the content of the game like the story and the battles, and as such, remains unchanged from the original. That said, new mechanisms were added. Autosave, casual mode, accumulated EXP bonuses for missions and milestones, advanced level adjustments that allow players to level down at any time, attack on the spot, event room, design team and much more »he says to conclude.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is coming next May 29, 2020.