The day has finally come, Xenoblade Chronicles X fans: the underrated Wii U classic is coming to Nintendo Switch.
Over the lifespan of the Switch’s existence, Nintendo has ported a plethora of titles from the not very popular Wii U over to its incredibly successful successor. Mario Kart 8 is obviously the one that’s done the best on Switch, but there’s also been Pokken, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, the Pikmin games, and a bunch more, including the original Xenoblade Chronicles. But there was one game even the most ardent of fans never thought would come to Switch, and that’s Xenoblade Chronicles X. Except, uh, Nintendo just announced today that the mecha game is in fact coming to the developer’s current console generation.
Absent of any Direct to announce it in, Nintendo shared the news across its various social media accounts earlier today, with this particular version being released under the name Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition. According to Nintendo, the Definitive Edition comes with enhanced visuals, and even some “brand-new story elements,” but as someone unfamiliar with the series, I can’t tell you if any of those story elements are visible in the port’s trailer, other than a brief teaser at the end which looks like something straight out of Kingdom Hearts.
Best of all, you don’t have to wait all that long for it, as the game is due out March 20, 2025, just a few months away. What’s potentially interesting about that is the fact that the Nintendo Switch was originally released in March (if we’re being specific, March 3, 2017). I’d be surprised if Nintendo then decided to release the Switch 2, or whatever the successor is called, right before or after they have a new game coming out for its previous platform, even if it is just a port. Essentially, we can probably expect the new console in April at the earliest, but right now Nintendo is busy selling alarm clocks, so who knows if we’ll ever actually get an official announcement.