The best video game I played in 2011!

1) Xenoblade Chronicles – Wii:

It was maybe e3 of 2009 when I spotted a game by the odd name of Monado: The Beginning of the World on Gamespot’s e3 page. I was very excited when I read the small preview of the Japanese version and saw the name Tetsuya Takahashi, the director of the awesome Xeno series for the PS1 and the PS2, and Monolith Soft, the dev company which made Xenosaga trilogy , at the helm of this new title. And the fact It was coming on the JRPG starved Wii was another reason for my excitement. But as the days and months wore (which brought a change of name: XenoBlade, which resulted in me throwing a tantrum) there was almost no news of an English version anywhere, while the game’s momentum was picking up Japan. When it got released in Japan to very high praise and sold really well, I seriously started to get worried that the game won't make it out in English.

I was expecting some sort of news to come out from the US for an English release, it took me by surprise that game was being localized by Nintendo of Europe, now dubbed Xenoblade Chronicles. Nintendo of Europe's website even had little video snippets highlighting the game world and the music. Slowly small bits of info started streaming out and it all made for awesome reading, and soon enough a concrete release was announced and what was more bizzare that the game was only coming Europe and not the US. Not that I cared that much as long as I could play this bad boy!!. August 19 was D-day and as soon as I got my copy from Amazon UK (via a family friend who was fortunately visiting Pakistan at the time) the game didn't pop out of the Wii for a good 2 months and this was the only game I was indulging in, without even bating an eye for the huge games during that time (Gears of War 3, Infamous 2 to name a few).

Was the game as good as they said it would be? HELLS YEAH!!!!. The game literally came from left field and has gone on to reinvent the JRPG genre which  considered to be stagnating for a while (its a conspiracy I tell you!!). Monlith Software once again proved that they have command over the genre, rivalling the JRPG giants of SquareEnix and Atlus and NIS.

Xenoblade Chronicles is the perfect example of how to meld two different sub-genres i.e WRPG and JRPG and concoct a game which eschews all the fault of both the genre to create something quite unique. For starters the world setting, the melodramatic plot with sci-fi trapping isn't too far from what you get in an traditional JRPG. The melodrama has been toned down quite a bit especially if you compare it with other recent games in the genre, but still have enough twists, turns and shocking revelations which makes for very intriguing viewing.

The characters, too adhere to the mould of JRPGs but the dev team has done a really good job in making all the characters stand out from the crowd of emo-filled, angst ridden young heroes. The characterization is pretty solid where every character can be sympathized with and each adding something to plate to the flow of the story. The best bit is that these are NOT cliched characters that you will find in any X,Y,Z RPGs but rather they have pretty distinct personalities and agendas. Tetusya Takahashi and his cohorts have once again pushed the limits on how to present characters in a JRPG.

So right off the bat the game is following the JRPG blue print quite nicely but as soon as the game goes into high gear the influences from the WRPG genre start kicking in. The game world is HUGE, I mean the game takes place on top of 2 titanic gods for crying out loud!. If recent JRPGs felt claustrophobic then Xenoblade Chronicles will inundate the gamers with a humongous world to explore and discover. Hell discovering new area rewards player with experience points which really takes the cake if you like exploring, which also does away with linear exploration native to JRPGs. Another feature taken from WRPGs is the INSANE amount of side quests to do. Every new area or town have LOADS of NPCs almost lining up for the heroes help, from hunting monsters to finding items to raw material gathering, they are all there.

But it’s the battle system though which fully combines the West and the East game designs. It’s a quasi-real-time/turn based battles system fought on the field (i.e. no more screen shattering battle arenas), with abilities to choose on the fly (coupled with a cool down mechanics). The battles become pretty hectic but its very easy to see a neat turn based mechanic is also at play. This is where I think that Monolith Soft has done an awesome job as Xenoblade's battle system works for both fans of JRPGs and WRPGs. I will even go on to say that this game may be a very rare kind of JRPGs that caters to any sort of RPG player, and this where the game really shines more than its peers. So yeah I consider the battle of game as one of the greatest in RPGs. That is a huge claim especially for a game on the Wii and how JRPGs have kinda lost their steam in the last few years, but the level of polish and genius present in the battle system makes a lasting impression and something which other RPG makers will do well to take a note of. What this also means that Monolith Soft didn't really chuck out the JRPGs mechanics out the window in order to make something new, but stuck to what makes a JRPG tick while incorporating the WRPGs mechanics and that is the real achievement of the developers and the game.

The customizations options are also similar to many of the great WRPGs where every character can be molded into however the player wants them. And that's not all, there is a really good loot system in place as well where the players can gather all sorts of equipment, weapons and trinkets. But these WRPG mechanics are once again balanced with the focus on progressing the story like in any JRPG of the past.

As I mentioned earlier how the battle system merges the JRPG and the WRPG, I will say that the entire game is like that. The perfect marriage of two pretty different genres is a sight to behold. Fans of both the genres have been at logger head for years now. Both set of parties have very convincing arguments, but XenoBlade Chronicles shows if developers are game enough to experiment with both the genres they can end up with something really special and the game is a true testament of that.

Now add all of this RPG goodness with some really fantastic production values, even though the Wii is not an HD enable console likes its competition and you get a game that exceeds all sorts of expectations and as well as silencing the naysayers. Technically the game isn't up to the mark with some of the high end Wii games like Super Mario Galaxy series or Metriod Other M but overcomes that technical deficiency with incredible art style and a grandiose scale unlike anything seen before in the JRPG genre. Though technically it maybe lacking but surprising the game rarely chugs or experiences a hiccup, even with so much happening on the screen. But for me it really is the art style of the game is really carries the game to upper echelon of the genre as it juggles sci-fi motifs with the more earthy aspect of the game world with aplomb.

Even the sound track is top notch with some of the biggest name in the industry in the shape of Yoko Shinumura and Yasonari Mitasuda and the 3-person band ACE+ who basically have produced one of the best sound track of the year!

I don’t know how many people in Pakistan have given Xenoblade Chronicles a look in especially as the Wii is usually considered a 'kiddie' console, its really a shame that this game will not get its fair due in the Pakistani gaming circles.

On a personal level I am of the small percentage of gamers who still revere the JRPG sub-genre and am confused at all the hoopla of the ‘decline’ of the genre. But even then Xenoblade Chronicles has done a great job in elevating itself in a pretty saturated field which is a HUGE accomplishment with the Wii on its last legs. Initially I was kind of worried that the story telling would take a hit considering the criticism Tetsuya Takahashi got for the Xenosaga trilogy, but already having put in more 40 hours in the game I am very satisfied at the balance of storytelling mechanics (i.e. cut-scenes) and game play. Sure its not on the epic level of the first XenoSaga game but its still a lot which is awesome!.

So in conclusion 2011 did have a lot of truly magnificent games across the board, more so on the PS3 and 360, but this unassuming title on a system which is way past its prime took most of my time. Although I still have not finished the game I have loved every minute of it!

Honorable Mentions:

Xenoblade Chronicles was indeed an awesome game, but 2011 was a phenomenal year for the video gaming industry and personally as a gamer there never has been a better time to indulge in medium of video games. Here some of the games I enjoyed last year:

1) Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception

2) Batman: Arkham Asylum

3) Radiant Historia

4) Infamous 2

5) Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky

6) Beyond Good and Evil HD

7) Super Mario 3D Land

8) de Blob 2

9) Tactic Ogre: Let us cling togather

10) Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword