Xenoblade Chronicles 2 screenshots

Title screen.

An early game tutorial.

Battle scene against a miniboss of sorts. Here, as seen in the upper right corner, the party is in the middle of a combo move, but nobody has a Blade capable of completing it.

The party acquires new Blades by bonding with Core Crystals. Since the outcome is randomized, the game is saved beforehand.

This time, we ended up with a weak, generic Blade.

There are a limited number of rare Blades in the game, most of which can only be obtained as a random bonding result. They have unique designs and are more powerful than generic Blades.

Rare Blades also have unique sidequests, which explore their personalities and motivations.

A returning feature from past games, Heart-to-Hearts are optional conversations that strengthen bonds between party members and often provide new insights into their characters.

This menu shows the map. Major landmarks can be warped to at any time after the player discovers them, and markers for other points of interest can be enabled or disabled based on category.

Viewing details for a quest I have yet to complete.

Eventually the player will gain access to a different set of quests called mercenary missions, which run in the background and allow the party's Blades to work and grow stronger outside of battle.

Mòrag Ladair, Special Inquisitor of the Ardainian Empire, seeks to prevent Alrest's destruction at the hands of Pyra's fearsome power.

Obrona and Akhos are among those with less noble reasons for opposing the party.

The party can only have three active Drivers at a time. Once more members join, this menu can be used to select the active roster.

As in previous games, a skill point system is used to upgrade arts. Each character has four arts available per weapon type, but must choose only three to use.

Weapons, in turn, can be upgraded using Core Chips.

Both Blades and Drivers have a skill tree called the Affinity Chart. While Drivers upgrade their skills through a point system, Blades require various achievements to be completed.

Items such as food, board games, and cosmetics can be purchased and placed in a Driver's personal pouch. Each item lasts a certain amount of time and grants buffs in battle.

Rex can continue his salvaging career while traveling. The results are influenced by a quick time event.

Sometimes he brings back more than just treasure. The party will have to defeat the monster if they want that treasure chest.

A remarkable vista inside the Urayan Titan.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Nintendo Switch screenshots