After our articles were voted by the Top 50 readers of the decade, Nintendo Life staff will be selecting their favorite Nintendo games between 2010 to 2009. Today, Mitch is debating the issue of the ultimate release of the Wii …
It was the year 2011. After a long and successful run, the Nintendo & # 39; s Wii concert finally turned its back on the ground and fans turned their eyes to hope, where as they rested on a promising new platform called the Wii U. Nintendo & # 39; s E3 2011 presentation received the -hype is huge thanks to the new computer reveal, but the company also has millions of fans to entertain what was not quite ready to retire on its Wii yet. Yes, they did Zelda: Sword of the Sky looking forward to the fall, but next to this here Kirby's return to the Land of Dreams, the upcoming Wii system looked disappointing considering that third-party support is gone and Nintendo itself is moving on. Nintendo fans in Europe, however, had one very significant release to look forward to later this summer: Xenoblade Chronicles.
After much doubt that it would ever leave the coast of Japan, a JRPG from Monolith Soft was confirmed in Europe in March, when Nintendo of Europe took over the publishing tab. Although it wasn't easy at the time, the universal announcement, ambition, and development talent around Xenoblade elevated it to almost mythical status in the game community, and pairing the idea with this year's light release program ensured that there were plenty of things around the game that – maybe a year before – would come and go. with great success.
The European fans were happy with the sound, but then there were the North American fans. They, too, were perplexed by the March news, because for sure it should have meant that Nintendo of America would make the same announcement. Nintendo had gone to all the trouble of translating this great RPG has been in English, so it was thought that the company would want to get back as much investment as possible.
And Nintendo's silence has been deafening. Any mention of Xenoblade may be overlooked or met by ol Not only did Nintendo of America seem completely indifferent to bringing Xenoblade, but it even went so far as to work diligently. pressure Awareness of the release, as evidenced by Nintendo's European sales manager noted that they wanted to show the game at E3, but were asked not to make Nintendo American.
At this point, fans had no choice: there was nothing they could do and allow their opportunity to pass, or they could try to do something about the decision made in the open. Enough of them went with the last option. Aiming at Nintendo's dismissal of their release and eager to play for themselves, North American fans came together in an attempt to gain the company's attention in an organization called Operation rainfall.
The organization consisted of three titles, the other two being The Final Story and Pandora's Tower, and it was well organized. Thousands of fans are out to take part in a series of book signing campaigns and shows – such as getting Xenoblade first place on Amazon's pre-order list – designed to do everything but impossible for Nintendo to simply ignore the problem. This went on for months. Even though the company has received some attention from gaming media, Nintendo has continued to swing in hopes that fans will give up. They did not. And even though it seemed unpleasant, Nintendo ended up in trouble for about six months after the launch of Operation Rainfall. Xenoblade then came to North America in early 2012 as a limited run, GameStop exclusive, and the rest is history.
And you know? The fans were there right to fight for this game. Even now, Xenoblade Chronicles still stands as one of my favorite RPGs, simply because it is properly executed by the JRPG formula while keeping things the same as traditional. You already have a selected food court & # 39; one, but the basis of everything that happens after two big, dead touches leads to a place of great character. The great The open world environments that encourage players to explore themselves and the hundreds of claims contained within have given it a MMO-like feel, but the tedium was greatly reduced by the minimal quality of life-enhancing features. The Final concept XIIA good battle plan has been challenging and profound, while Shulk's future visual skills add some interesting wrinkles to the setting.
And even though the artwork is a little off, ahem, simple if you take a closer look, it's hard that Xenoblade didn't have a few terrifying moments as his wide, wide open spaces were shown. Truth be told, I didn't become this amazing by the game world until I started getting my hands on it first The History of Zelda: Breathing in Wildlife which, in a surprising twist, owes its much larger topographic map to anything other than Monolith Soft.
Today, the Xenoblade franchise has actually become part of Nintendo's ongoing release program. Not only did First Xenoblade Chronicles get a re-release as New 3DS only, but it also gets it HD Reminder that should be due to Change this year. The series is important enough for Nintendo to decide to shine green and release a second game, Chronicles of Xenoblade X, on the Wii U in an attempt to turn the narrative around the rapidly diminishing platform at the time. It's important enough that Nintendo then decided to release it another respectively, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, after two years as a final release from the company's annual switchch company. It is important enough that Sakurai decides to give Shulk a place to make a roster Super Smash Bros., with the character from both Smash 4 and Finally.
What Nintendo's series thought no one would be interested in has now become something of a passion and, most importantly, to grow fanbase. Xenoblade 2nd Chronicles ended up selling 1.7 million copies since last June, making it the best-selling release to date, with the sale of these recently released Torna: The Golden Land DLC expansion also exceeded expectations by Monolith Soft. Of course, Xenoblade may not ship Mario Kart prices on sales charts, but it's more than proven that there is something to offer that fans around the world want more of. Apart from Splatoon, I argue that Xenoblade has introduced itself as the most important new IP from Nintendo in a decade.
The main thing to take away from all of this, however, is that it shows the power of a community of fans where everyone can agree on something. If Operation Rainfall had never been created and North American fans would never have made as much noise as they did, Xenoblade Chronicles would probably be nothing less than a footnote in Nintendo's long and glorious history. It wouldn't be forgotten, but it would always be the & # 39; gem & # 39; hidden & # 39; s certain people (Europeans) can talk about when they remember the Wii. It is because of that first fan campaign that the first Xenoblade has progressed into the powerful success it has made, and as a result, any subsequent wins in the series in the coming years will also be a direct result of that commitment. I think it's important to keep this in mind, because it's easy to get over the fact that fanbase words fall on deaf ears. Believe it or not, they have none.
I think that's what made Xenoblade Chronicles (arguably) my favorite game of the last 10 years. Not that it was the only thing stellar A game based on its automation, but the grass-roots watering campaign that just floated around was something I had never seen and never seen since. Xenoblade Chronicles has been an eighteen game for many reasons, so I asked if something like that would happen again in the next few years. At least, I know I'll be there the first day there Xenoblade Chronicles: Edible Edition is launching later this year, and I hope Molith Soft will continue to grow this series as the years pass.
