Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition - Switch vs Wii vs 3DS - The Digital Foundry Tech Review

A classic Wii title gets ported across to Switch and remastered in the process! John Linneman assesses the quality of the new conversion, stacks it up against the original Wii and New 3DS versions and answers the question... is this *really* the definitive version of the game?

[owmypinkytoe]

I find it hilarious when people complain about Digital Foundry being nitpicky or whatever, even though the point of these videos is to analyze graphics and performance.

[Luxin_Xeno]

Really minor clarification: the environmental shadows not moving with in-game time might not be an oversight or concession for performance due to how the game's world works: the "planet" is actually a flat plane and the sun doesn't actually move, it just turns on and off, so the shadows probably shouldn't be moving in the first place.

[mitsurugi]

OMG The Last Story and Pandora's Tower for Switch... GIMME!

[Matthew_Murray]

Out of the three, I think the 3DS version is still the most impressive, the fact they got Xenoblade to run on a 3DS is a huge feat.

[nickblomgren]

"Xenoblade is a decade old."
Stop the video, when did that happen? Holy crap I hate time. Wasn't operation Rainfall and me hacking my Wii to play an European import something that happened just a couple years ago? Holy crap.

[LLJVBass]

My worries are eased. DF is pretty much the only place I can get a thorough performance analysis.

Other places will just say, "There are FPS drops."

DF actually shows an example and highlights that it's not a big deal, just that it's present.

Both sources probably agree, but only one is informational enough.

[AriaLaurel]

The only performance analysis I was waiting for on this game.

[stealthriot]

"the original characters have an almost Vagrant Story-like aesthetic" -- I absolutely agree there! That was something I felt back when I originally played it on Wii and I do enjoy that appearance for the characters.

[Edmundostudios]

Last story desperately needs a remaster. Pandora’s tower would be nice as well but definitely last story.

[punkpop]

Wait I read a review from PCMag that said the game had the same graphics as the Wii just with a higher resolution what are all those changes you mention here? Reviewers have lost it. Keep up the great work DF. Digital Foundry is more credible than most pro reviewers these days.

[servancastillo]

the Xenoblade Chronicles intro always gives me the chills, when the camera pulls out on Dunban and shows the Mechonis and Bionis

[ThoughTMusic]

I am actually really bummed by the lack of animated trees. I don’t know why it bothers me so much but it really does.

[GuyLogen]

These videos are almost therapeutic. I may not play many of the games covered here, but still enjoy watching their graphical breakdown and comparisons.

[ThePolistiren]

8:10 Look at the trees on the Wii. They're clearly sprite-based, hence their animation was just some flat textures moving about. In the remaster, we have a full model, hence requiring a different technique.

[cambienvenu]

My morning brain thought you were actually placing those cases in a puddle and it truly stresses me out for a second.

[Samination]

No matter what I'm getting this as it's my favorite game ever. I can't believe it's actually coming to Switch. My only wish now is Mario 64 and Skyward Sword (as it could work on Switch). I'm pretty sure a resolution update will come as they did for Breath of the Wild... that is if it sells well of course.

[jaritsu]

Man you mentioned Pandora’s Tower and now I’m craving a switch port of that.

[andrews]

A fantastic analisys as always, was looking forward to it almost as much as the game itself!

[RadDudeX]

Xenoblade 2 level performance is about what I expected, not really disappointed since I already thought the original game looked great

[jaredkhan]

I played through the 3DS version so I'm happy with it 😂 XCX is still my favorite looking xenoblade game. I hope to God that XCX gets either a sequel or a port/remaster to switch cuz its phenomenal