I loved Xenoblade Chronicles X on the Wii U, and was a long time proponent of an eventual Switch port/remake. When we finally got it last year in the form of Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition along with an epilogue chapter, I still loved it, and hoped it would get even better on the then-upcoming Switch 2. Well, guess what happend yesterday? That's right, Nintendo released an upgrade pack for the game titled (deep breath) the Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition game for the Nintendo Switch 2 system. Ridiculous naming conventions aside, this upgrade pack costs $5 USD (or $65 if you need the game its upgrading) and ups the resolution to 4K in docked mode (1080p in handheld) and increases the framerate up to 60 in both docked and portable modes.
That's pretty much all the game needed after Definitive Edition, in my book, though it's a bit odd for this to cost $5 instead of being a free update. Animal Crossing: New Horizons got a ton of extra content and a resolution bump for free, though 4K and a few other additional features would run you $5. There might be a bit of extra texture work done here, as environments like Noctilum look a bit more detailed in places, but I can't tell if that's just a result of the resolution or not.
The game overall looks a lot cleaner... for the most part. The higher resolution has come with a big caveat in that there's a ton more shimmer in the game while in motion. This is typical without some heavy anti-aliasing, and is normally seen on geometry like stairs, fences, or anything with straight, sharp lines. Now, though, it seems to be happening on a lot more things like ground textures, which is very distracting and kinda hard to look at.
Additionally, while NPCs and terrain load in a lot faster, they still fade in fairly close. It's not too bad with NPCs, but flying around in a skell and seeing the landscape fade into more detail very clearly just in front of you isn't something I remember seeing in the Switch 1 version or even on Wii U. Again, that could just be a result of the higher resolution, but it's still jarring. Loading times overall (with a physical Switch 1 cartridge and a downloaded upgrade pack), don't feel much improved over the base game, though that could change with a downloaded version or the upcoming Switch 2 native cart.
The framerate is thankfully a better story. In my testing, there were some momentary dips, particularly when the loot menu is open, but those were only down by one or two fps. It's pretty solid and greatly benefits in responsiveness; I was able to take down two of the superbosses I was stuck on easily thanks to the higher framerate and a little bit of luck. For me, an insane Xenoblade superfan, this is enough to get me to finish 100%ing the game and possibly go for a full replay, but for others it may be more difficult to justify. It's a nice upgrade and worth it if you haven't played the game before, are in the middle of a playthrough, or are like me, but if you already finished the game last year it's not enough to entice most people back.
