So I just got my import copy of Xenoblade Chronicles yesterday and have been playing through it, and let me tell you – Nintendo of America's plan at first seemed kind of strange, considering that this game has already been localized for an English speaking audience, but now it just seems downright insulting. The game might be a new IP, it might not star Mario or Zelda or a collection of Miis, but it seems depressing to me that a game of this quality can't sell itself – that delivering something that people haven't seen in almost a decade in terms of quality for this once-dominant genre isn't an economic boon.
And boy, this game has everything going for it. I don't think I've ever seen a game take traditions as ingrained as the JRPG's and reevaluate them so thoroughly. Every single element has been poured over to an unbelievable degree, making the game streamlined and fun, and forcing the player to reconsider every JRPG stereotype that has come before. Add in a great voice cast (the all-British cast is outstanding and really fun to listen to), a very good story which I won't talk about too much here (it takes some conventions – not cliches – and examines them in really fascinating detail), and most of all, an unbelievably expansive world that is one of the very best and only games to make 3D matter, and you have a game that should become legendary. Tetsuya Takahashi and Monolith Soft deserve better than this, and the game they made is everything that Nintendo of America is not – confident, innovative, and risky.
(This is a very, very expansive and long game, so my full review will be awhile coming.)