This article originally appeared on the sadly defunct gamepro.com.

Although Gamepro still kinda lives as part of another network, most of its articles were not carried over. Apparently, this is one of those. Having put a ton of work into this and seeing how the game is on its way to the States (April 2012, baby!), I felt re-publishing it here was a good idea. I hope I didn’t break any laws!

Telling stories is not a easy task.

Finding an audience interested in listening is perhaps even harder.

As stories have transformed to fit the needs of a new generation of players like a glove, the slower and bulkier Role Playing Game genre has started to lose its grip on the home console market.

Big names and small alike have tried experimenting with the evolution of the genre without bringing the expected results, and ultimately failing to broaden their public - or almost even reach it at all.

With fans starving to death, it’s almost a crime that Nintendo decided – at least so far – not to bring Monolith Soft’s next project to the States [Ed. note: Since this article was originally written, Nintendo has decided to release the game Stateside next April].

The game, known as Xenoblade Chronicles, was initially called Monado: the Beginning of the World.

And playing it, it indeed feels like the beginning of a new world. The new world of the JRPG.

Putting the depths of space to the side for a moment, Monolith set their new adventure in a very unusual world: Xenoblade Chronicles’ life literally developed and flourished on the inert bodies of two gigantic gods who once mortally wounded one another in battle. 

The god Bionis gave birth to biological creatures such as humans and lizardmen, while his nemesis Mechonis has become home to a race of enigmatic sentient machines, the Mechons. Since the dawn of their history, just like the divinities they inhabit, these two civilizations are locked in an endless conflict.

The main character is Shulk, a young engineer who sets out from his homeland seeking revenge against the Mechons. On his way he will find the truth behind his sworn enemies and the Monado, a sword only he seems to be capable of wielding. Said to once belong to Bionis itself, it’s capable of tearing the very fabric of reality apart.

Xeno-series father (and Monolith co-founder and president) Tetsuya Takahashi has written an immersive scenario that develops through the introduction of a cast of convincing, mature characters who are trying survive a hostile world - and at the same time coping with painful losses.

Shulk, thanks to the Monado, has the ability to predict the future, and this feature will be often used against the player: more than once it brilliantly played with my feelings with unexpected and courageous plot twists.

Much to my surprise, unlike recent similar titles, Xenoblade is not afraid of keeping firm grasp on the roots, themes and stereotypes of old-school Japanese RPG stories. It winks repeatedly at its spiritual Xeno-predecessors and other masterpieces such as Grandia, with which it shares the same wanderlust, making good use of its original setting to tell a tale of war, treason and love, without even trying to live to today’s supposed content standards.

Perhaps this is what makes Xenoblade Chronicles so enjoyable – especially for die-hard RPG fans.

From the very beginning, Xenoblade moves in a brave direction, facing head-on the fears that have put RPGs in shackles in the current generation.

As opposed to games that obsessively take player by hand,  Monolith takes its cue from Final Fantasy XII or White Knight Chronicles and opens its doors on a vast world created with the sole purpose of quenching the player’s thirst for adventure.

Xenoblade is, first and foremost, about exploring this beautiful, vast landscape. There are no loading times or invisible boundaries hindering the player’s curiosity. Everything in sight can actually be reached and investigated, no matter how far the horizon.

The sense of discovery is unprecedented, and it’s all thanks to superb level design: there is a hidden chest, a new lurking monster or a forgotten monument to be discovered behind every corner.

But, sometimes, the greatest reward is a beautiful, inspiring view.

Xenoblade has plenty of those, and I found myself amazed at how pretty the sunsets in the game are, especially when you can see the silhouette of one of the two giant gods shrouded by the clouds of the distant sky, making you feel just a tiny little thing in a huge world.

While trekking the fields it’s easy to to forgive the game for outdated textures or its few awkward animations or collisions. Xenoblade is a game I wouldn’t describe short of “beautiful”, but unlike many, its beauty doesn’t lie merely in raw graphic power.

The art direction and attention to detail are top-notch: for instance, characters change appearance based on the equipment they’re wearing, and monsters of the same kind differ in size in relation to their level.

Each new location is simply breathtaking.

Grey swamps turn into an orgy of colored vapors at night; a tropical forest’s busy fauna makes it convincingly lush and vivid.

The night and day cycle is often interrupted by natural events like thunderstorms or shooting stars, giving each day spent in this world truly unique feel, as weather and time even influence the behavior of monsters and villagers.

Through interaction with citizens and party members, the player will be able to access quests that not only will provide additional challenges, but also mutate the relationship between the characters and the world they live in.

Xenoblade almost behaves like a social sim – going as far as putting the player in charge of actually rebuilding a whole town and populating it - enforcing the feeling of being part of living, bustling world.

With so much to do, I felt somewhat lost at first - but after a couple of hours, once I had gotten the hang of the game mechanics and learned how to use the game’s instruments to keep track of my progress, it became literally impossible to turn off the console. This was not because of the story, but simply because I wanted to keep exploring the maps and complete one task after the other.

The battle system has been designed to be immediate and accessible, and it’s undoubtedly one the most innovative aspects of Monolith’s RPG. Any creature outside of “town areas” can be freely targeted and assaulted. Of course, the game’s ecosystem has a tendency towards realism and each monster will behave and react to the party’s presence - and sometimes even to other creatures - in a different way.

The player can only control one character at a time, moving in real time on the battlefield and managing special abilities, while regular attacks occur automatically. The key to victory is paying attention to the enemy’s position: some monsters are vulnerable on the sides, or able to protect their backs using spikes, while special moves will often have enhanced effects that are activated depending on where the character is hitting and, if chained correctly, can stun the opponent or pound it to the ground. Fighting requires strategy and planning, and feels fresh and unpredictable because monsters become more aggressive towards stronger hitters. If all else fails, to protect his allies from getting killed, Shulk can also predict the future and take countermeasures.

Of course, Xenoblade Chronicles wouldn’t be an RPG without a robust party customization section. The characters level up by slaying enemies, exploring the world and completing achievements, obtaining points used to power up special attacks and passive skill trees. To further level each character’s shortcomings, equippable gems can be forged and placed in slotted items to provide bonuses and special traits.

Xenoblade allows the player to instantly warp between maps’ landmarks and change the time of the day to facilitate quest completion: this completely removes backtracking, and yet it’s impressive how beating the game easily clocks almost a hundred hours, which can be at least doubled if you want to complete all the extras.

The game doesn’t rely as much on cutscenes as other Xeno titles, but the in-game cinematics are directed faultlessly, and the characters are surprisingly expressive. While the english dub is well-acted with a charming British accent, purists are given the choice to switch to Japanese from the options menu at any time.

It’s not just that Xenoblade Chronicles does so much right and so little wrong. 

What makes Monolith’s game nothing less than a masterpiece, is the fact that everything it does dramatically improves and innovates the RPG genre, steering it towards a bright new future: Xenoblade gives the player a whole world to interact with and explore, removing boundaries and convenient game design choices for the sake of fun and immersion.

It’s not just the best RPG of this generation, but one of the best games I’ve ever played.