History VideoGame / XenobladeChronicles1

* TheBeautifulElite: Rather downplayed. Shulk, Fiora, Sharla, and Melia would be top model material in the real world (especially in a swimsuit). But Dunban, while still physically attractive, is within levels reachable by the average person; and Reyn would be unthinkable in most Japanese fantasy media. The [=NPCs=]' attractiveness varies a lot throughout the game, too.

* SkillGateCharacter: Skill Gate Team, in this case. Shulk/Reyn/Sharla is the first "real" team you have, and you have an entire dungeon to learn how to utilise them. The team provides the classic DamagerHealerTank trio which is very well-grounded and reliable. It is not unusual for players to stick with them throughout the story. However, players who are willing to experiment and complete side quests will find that other teams are much stronger, can combo much better with each other, and abuse the Topple mechanic much better.

* LighterAndSofter: While ''Xenoblade'' has its share of dark moments, it pales in comparison to the complex psycho-drama and violence of ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}''.

* LighterAndSofter: While ''Xenoblade'' has its share of dark moments, it pales in comparison to ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}''. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools This is just the way the story was told, and it doesn't make the plot any less enjoyable]].

** Fiora also has a few arts that rely on taking advantage of enemies that're suffering from conditions like Topple. Naturally, her AI is actually pretty good at saving these arts.

** The AI does not handle positional abilities to well. This leads to the AIs of Riki, Fiora, and Shulk (who all have abilities that are stronger if they're to the side or behind enemies) misusing their attacks when they're facing enemies or never making the effort to try flanking them. Usually they rely a ''lot'' on Reyn or Dunban to pull them off properly. It's one reason to ditch such arts for Riki and Fiora in favor of other arts their AI might be more effective with.
** Melia's AI is generally a bit too hard for a simple AI to handle. She almost always summons elementals for the status buffs - which is good, but what isn't good is when she walks right up to the enemy and summons them, despite being a SquishyWizard. Moreover, while a player can notice (and use) the fact that you can summon one/two buffs, then continuously use the third buff as an attack, the AI will summon three in any random order before discharging them.

** [[DirtyCoward Mumkhar]]. The guy is a complete {{Gonk}} with a {{Guttural Growl|er}} who runs away from battle to save his own skin ''within the first two minutes of play time''. Dunban may be GenreBlind, but the player needs only to look at [[Creator/NorioWakamoto his Japanese voice actor]] to get a clue that he's a bad egg. The only surprise is in ''how bad'' he turns out to be.

Shulk, [[ScienceHero one of the Homs researchers]], [[TheChosenOne discovers he is the Monado's destined wielder]] when he takes up the sword and [[{{Seers}} starts to see]] [[CombatClairvoyance visions of the future]]. He is initially content to live a happy life with his best friends since childhood, Reyn and Fiora, on the peaceful Colony 9. [[DoomedHometown That is, until it gets ravaged by the Mechon]], led by the mysterious Metal Face, who proceeds to kill Fiora in front of Shulk. When the Mechon retreat, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge Shulk swears to get revenge for what they've done]] and leaves to pursue them. Along the way, he gains many more allies, including Sharla, a rifle-wielding medic looking for her brother Juju and fiancée Galdolt; Dunban, Fiora's grieving brother who fought in the Battle of Sword Valley and wants to finish what he started; Melia Antiqua, the princess and heir of the High Entia Empire who wants to protect her people; and Riki, the Heropon of the [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Nopon]] of Frontier Village who wants to clear up his debts. Together, they must explore the massive bodies of the fallen titans and fight against Metal Face and his fellow Face Mechon, a strange group of new Mechon who are immune to the Monado, and eventually Egil himself.

''Xenoblade Chronicles''[[note]] simply ''Xenoblade'' [[MarketBasedTitle in Japan]][[/note]] is an [[ActionRPG action]] [[EasternRPG Japanese role playing game]] for the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} console, developed by Creator/MonolithSoft and published and produced by Creator/{{Nintendo}}. While Tetsuya Takahashi originally did not intend the game to be related to his previous creations, beginning its life as a totally unrelated story called ''Monado: Beginning of the World'', it became the SpiritualSuccessor to the ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' series of Eastern [=RPGs=] for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, which itself was a spiritual successor to Creator/SquareSoft's ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'', after Creator/SatoruIwata suggested the Xeno title be added late into production to [[TroubledProduction honor Takahashi's history and struggles in the industry]]. After the game's success, more traditional Xeno elements would be retroactively added into the sequels, seemingly resurrecting the Perfect Works storyline from ''Xenogears'' and ''Xenosaga'' [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants in a form even its creator couldn't have predicted]].

On August 29th, 2014, a port for the New UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS system was announced, after Shulk's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUTU4OZrjzY reveal trailer]] for the [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU fourth]] ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' game. It was released April 10th, 2015. A Shulk Toys/{{amiibo}} was released in the Wave 3 of ''Super Smash Bros.'' amiibo and unlocks [[AndYourRewardIsClothes bonus costumes]] in specific games[[note]]more specifically ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'', ''VideoGame/YoshisWoollyWorld'', and ''VideoGame/ChibiRobo! Zip Lash''. Using it in ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'' gives the [[PsychicPowers ESP ability]] to Kirby. It can also be used to train a "Figure Player" in ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U'' and gives coins for the [[GottaCatchThemAll collectibles shop]] in ''Xenoblade Chronicles 3DS''. Additionally, scanning Shulk's amiibo into ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' unlocks a Monado cosmetic for the Swordfighter class.[[/note]]. The original Wii version also came out on the Wii U Virtual Console in Europe on August 5, 2015, and later in North America on April 28, 2016. Also, Fiora appeared as a Nintendo GuestFighter in the crossover video game ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone 2'' alongside her SpiritualPredecessor KOS-MOS from ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}''; several Mechon, including the dreaded Metal Face, also appear as enemy units.

The success of this game gave rise to an entire ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'' series: A thematic SpinOff, ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'', was released for the UsefulNotes/WiiU in 2015, and in 2017 a more direct sequel, ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'', released for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch.

* BeyondTheImpossible: Shulk's still able to have visions even when the Bionis Monado was taken away from him, electing this response from Disciple Dickson. It is later revealed it's because he had a third Monado tucked away in his heart which he eventually managed to manifest during the fight against Zanza, effectively making him a god as well.

** Near the beginning of the game, after Fiora dies, Shulk remarks how he feels part of him is telling him to be rational, while another part of him is crying out for revenge. Even Reyn remarks on how that doesn't sound like something Shulk would say at all...
** A small one in Tephra Cave. When Shulk and Reyn come across the bodies of dead Homs, Shulk is the first one to suggest returning them to the Bionis. It seems innocent enough, but once you find out TheReveal involving Shulk and the nature of the beings on Bionis, plus the fact that Shulk was shown to not be a religious person beforehand, this scene becomes yet more ''incredibly'' subtle foreshadowing to the major PlotTwist late game.

** When Sharla asks Othoron if Gadolt's alright, he replies that while Gadolt has disappeared, he can feel that Gadolt's still alive simply due to Othoron seeing Gadolt like his own son. While he is indeed right about him still being alive, he didn't know that Gadolt's ultimate fate was to be turned into a Faced Mechon.