This Year in RPGs: April

Xenoblade Chronicles (released 4/06/2012)

Xenoblade Chronicles is an exclusive JRPG made for the Wii by Monolith Soft. It almost wasn't released here. It wasn't until a mob of internet denizens started  petitioning Nintendo for its release (called Operation Rainfall) that Nintendo finally agreed. At that point it had already been released in Japan and Europe. Operation Rainfall was part of a three-pronged petition that sought for games that weren't being released here in America to be localized. To add insult to injury, the games were already translated into English and released in Europe, but Nintendo didn't think they would be profitable here. Along with Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story and Pandora's Tower were the other titles RPG fans were clamoring for. Of the three, both Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story eventually found their way west.

Xenoblade Chronicles tells the story of Shulk, a young man who wields the titular Xenoblade, a blade comprised of energy. Along with his friends, he must defend his home of Colony 9 from the attacking Mechon, the robotic beings that serve as the games' antagonists. Xenoblade is in essence the spiritual successor to the Xenosaga, which was started on PS1 with Xenogears and carried over to the PS2 with the three Xenosaga games.

The environments are expansive and breathtaking. They are more open-ended than most games on the Wii, which allows for greater player freedom in exploring. One of the developers of the game compared it to an MMO, which gives you greater freedom than most games from the beginning.

Xenoblade Chronicles was released at a time when Wii sales were drying up and 1st party support had all but vanished. If it is to be the consoles swan song, it couldn't ask for a nicer title to go out on. At least for me, it made my Wii worth turning on one last time.