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.
theyre just being fanboys. DF are always known to have point out even little problems about performance. They're basically known for it. They do it on PS and XB as well but no one bats an eye.
There isn’t that much subjectivity while doing technical reviews and this games isn’t great in that aspect. It’s such a shame for a game with a beautiful art direction like this one
I've noticed that Xenoblade fans are particularly zealous and don't take constructive criticism well, regardless of whether its on the technical or gameplay side.
@@damnyousalazar It's not just Xenoblade fans, it's Nintendo fans in general. The mere suggestion that a first-party Nintendo game could be anything other than a flawless masterpiece sends them frothing at the mouth.
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.
"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.
The Last Story was my favorite out of the 3, hell, The Last Story was one of my favorite games from Wii. It was so great, a lot of fun, and not overbearing. Battle System was on point!
out of the three i have only played and finished the 3ds version and despite its limitations i think it offers a very immersive experience. now i'm really looking forward to occasionally drop a few hours into the definitive edition. also it baffles me that a lot of devs resort to cloud-versions on the switch, when monster games were able to port xc to the n3ds.
"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.
@@tobiasarevalo9929 that's a genuine critique, I play a lot of JRPGS, a lot of them look similar, also the switch has way too many cell shaded games, it's obvious a cope for the lower end hardware. I like cell shaded games but when almost first party game is celshaded it's kind of visually boring. Edit: I can see almost all the stuff on your account is anime related, so really who's the one who is buttblasted?
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.
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.
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
@@yzois It does not. I played it for around 15 hours now and the resolution stays @ 540p almost all the time. Also there still is a big overhaul in vegetation, polygons, lightning etc.
@@yzois dude you are so far beyond wrong. I played the original until I got the Definitive Edition and I was playing it on my Wii U while running it through an mClassic, even when enhanced with all the post processing of the Mclassic it doesn't look close to as good as it does on the Switch in hand held and that's a fact.
No doubt about it Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is the much prettier game over all and doesn't have the painfully obvious short draw distance problem which is by far my biggest issue with the Definitive Edition. That being said I like it alot and I am thankful to have it, it's just really distracting. Although it can't fix the draw distance an mClassic makes the game look a good bit better an renders it in 1440p and fixes any aliasing which makes the image look much cleaner overall, it also enhances the color and image depth as well which is another plus. Overall I think the best we are ever gonna get out of this game at least for many years is running it in 720p mode docked on the Switch and running it through the mClassic to clean it up and render it in a high resolution, that is to say on a console anyways.
it stays at 540p handheld only the first hours. once u arrive to the valley it gets much uglier. xb2 looks better handheld than this remake I also played on tv the same areas and it doesnt look any better at all. More colors but textures are also more foggy and it has the exact same resolution drops at the exact same time. It is just not a good job from monolith both on tv and handheld. Xenoblade 2 looks almost twice better.
_t-d_ FF7 Remake’s combat difficulty settings basically stole from The Last Story(ironic considered both were sakaguchi) so I wouldn’t mind that, but I feel that game might be too outdated by comparison. A better frame rate for it would be nice though
sadly those are not up to nintendo to port, xenoblade was able come out because it was published by nintendo, in order for the other 2 "operation rainfall" to make a come back on the switch you need: 1.- the publishers wanting to release the game on the switch at all, not just in america, but in japan 2.- nintendo wanting to relaese the titles on the switch 3.- nintendo wanting to release the titles in america. so as you can see it's a somewhat complicated issue, and sadly the odds of that happening are fairly low, but who knows, maybe someday.
These videos are almost therapeutic. I may not play many of the games covered here, but still enjoy watching their graphical breakdown and comparisons.
One thing to consider though is that this could still look dramatically better than the Wii version for most TVs out there. Most TVs kind of make 480p a mess IMO.
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.
@@MrAshar101 I bought Skyward Sword on the Wii and didn’t know you needed a Wii motion plus to play it. Hope it comes to the Switch so you don’t need something stupid like that that prevents you from playing if you don’t have one.
I wonder if they don’t move or if it’s just them being clueless about the game. In Xenoblade, there are different weathers, and different wind speeds, which are random in this cutscene. So perhaps it’s just a case of no wind in this capture on Switch, and mild wind on Wii. I’ll check it when I get the game, but I doubt they removed the wind mechanic.
I’m about 10 hours into the game and have played an equal amount in Handheld, Docked on a TV, and Docked on a monitor. I honestly have no issues with the resolution, and it’s probably thanks to the improved anti aliasing. Sure, if I look closely the flaws become visible, but the end result of the image is a clear improvement over Xenoblade 2, and I don’t have any issues with it.
There are so many good Wii games that will need to be ported to Switch and get the same treatment as Xenoblade Chrincles Definitive Edition some examples: Pandora's Tower, The Last Story, MadWorld, Fragile Dreams, Arc Rise Fantasia .. without mentioning Mario and Zelda
Visually, the definitive edition is far superior. Yet it's clear that the core graphical design and structure are exactly the same throughout all three versions. It's somewhat like one of those Unreal Engine games with a wide set of graphical settings options, where the Switch version is like the experience with all the graphical settings set to high and very high -- all the particle effects, shader show boating, high resolution assets, etc. -- while the 3DS version is with everything at very low, and many of the particles and post-processing magic completely turned off, and the Wii version is a mixture of low and very low with some of the assets being a step above the 3DS. The disparity here between the Switch and the Wii/3DS is that of a high end computer versus a very old system being made to run things on a super low custom configuration, so it looks generations apart, yet it's essentially the same structure. The Definitive Edition sits in another league, but given that the game is still the full experience across all three, getting it running and looking the way it did on the 3DS is a feat in its own regard.
@@Drilbit It's not a patch per se, it's just a copy of the most used files from the optical disc onto the harddrive to reduce the load time / pop in. Something that a lot of Xbox360 games did as well.
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.
@@melxb My bad for not being clear enough. They're flat, but not sprites. There's a difference. A sprite is a flat texture that always faces the camera; you can never see it from the side; they have a position in the 3d space, but are still rendered as 2d objects, incapable of rotating like a normal model. In the remaster, the flat textures are fully rendered; they're basically invisible polygons, each with "leaves.png" attached as their textures; you do that a few times and you have a tree. So the former is less resource-intensive since you don't have to render the polygons, just the textures.
I really liked Jhon's take (Sorry if I wrote wrong the name), he showed the flaws and improvements of the game but at the same time he encourages the viewer to give it a chance and enjoy of this amazing for the Switch. Great job!
I too have only played the 3DS version. While it's true that the textures are very smudgy there, on big plus is that the game even runs in stereoscopical 3D throughout the board with very little perceivable impact on performance. IMO just the addition of visual depth makes every 3DS game look much better on the system than on a 2D video of the game (As long as the game supports it... I'm looking at you, Pokémon Sun/Moon).
Ok, I have to ask at this point cause it's bugging me after two straight analyses missing this: is there a reason why you don't point out the shift from billboards to meshes in grass and leaf planes? Billboards being single plane meshes that always face the player. I should think that's a pretty significant leap as it doubles or even tripples the geometric detail of each tuft of grass. Taken in conjunction with greater density of grass meshes in this version (and in 2), that's 4 or 5 times greater geometric density vs 1 or even X (which used the same technique). Similarly, trees in 1 use (actually rather large) billboards a la Oblivion while DE uses a pretty large number of proper leaf planes per tree. I would think taken together these constitute a pretty big upgrade both visually and technically. Also, was hoping you would discuss the frequency of resolution adjustment. In 2 you said that the game never slipped from 720p in docked in your testing so is that also true here? Was that incorrect before? Also, you said it maintains a higher resolution than 2 in handheld most often. How much more often? Does it hit that low end frequently? Almost never? There's not much detail given here. And all this also makes me wish you had done a detailed analysis of Torna since that would be imo the point of comparison with regards to Monolith's best technical work. Edit: Also, I feel the geometric improvements to environments are undersold in general. There's actually quite a lot, it just adheres to the overall forms of the original so it's not a dramatically different looking game, just a lot smoother.
you are absolutely right. also I don't understand how saints row is a bigger effort ? it doesn't add any content, nor where the models or the geometry redone/imcreased... they just added lightning and post processing effects, enhanced the textures and foliage and added a framerate cap.
unfortunately they always just one-and-done games unless they REALLY care, so none of this will ever be addressed and they're gonna drop all talk of this game from here on
@@HermesderWetterbote Man I was so annoyed he said that saint row was a bigger effort, so much models remade in the definitive edition and that takes a lot of effort in a game this big, I think the work monolith soft did is tremendous.
clearly they also miss the font change more seriously sometime DF really miss some thing, or just BS other, special mention for minecraft RTX where they mention it was instantaneous when at the same time showing light was "lagging" (adujusting to the change) 2s+ after the block was mine ... yeah i know they are enthusiast about big daddy nvidia but sometime that quite a lot to take seriously
Hey John, do you think we can expect a direct comparison with Xenoblade 2, however brief it may be? I think a lot of people would be interested in seeing one.
Yeah, I'm one of the people that kind of dislike the new "anime" models. But it's not a deal breaker. I'm still excited to play this again on the switch.
What makes DE truly the DE is that the game tells you what to do a lot more clearer and they fixed the shitty menus somewhat. I was so confused figuring everything out on Wii but it's been a breeze so far on DE and I'm half way through.
Thanks for this great tech review! Even if it's not perfect, it's still a pretty good remaster. I 've been playing the game for about 4 hours now and I haven't experienced any major issues yet. Seems like they simply forgot to bring a little movement to the trees ^^'
As far as i know, when the game was created the looks and designs of the art were chosen to work great within the limitations of the console hardware. And as far as i can see it worked incredibly well and still looks stylish and great to this day on either of the three platforms.
The only problem imo with the original release and the 3DS release was the insanely short texturing filtering range. Everything except the ground directly in front of your character is blurry, and it almost looks like the ground is changing beneath your feet. That's massively improved in this new release and really ties together the visuals, far less jarring.
Honestly the one thing that really keeps this game from becoming a truly great remaster IMO are the animations in both cutscenes and gameplay. They look weirdly stiff and unnatural just like the game from the Wii era. Kinda wish they'd atleast tweaked some of the cutscenes to have more fluid animation.
They used the completed engine they used for Xeno X and Xeno 2. It just has all the full Twiks that Torna the gold country made to the engine. They wanted to be faithful to the origional and not make drastic changes like a lot of remakes are making resently
Actually the trees do move, they just do it more subtly. Seemingly as if they reduced the wind that blows around colony 9. It would seem a bit hard to believe much wind would be blowing around a cup taped to your calf now.
I'm extremely happy coming from XC2. That game on docked and handheld mode had the most horrendous frame drops. What you mentioned around the 11 minute mark was what I encountered throughout the vast majority of XC2. It was so bad, I couldn't finish the game. I'm definitely more a fps guy myself. PC is my native platform and there I'm running 1080p resolution in order to achieve 100+ fps on all my titles. So when I come to switch Im ok sacrificing resolution as long my fps is constant. Overall, I'm truly enjoying the game. Thank you so much for a more analytical review of the game. This is the kind of stuff I like knowing before I play a game, not it's 1-10 vague reviewer score. You got a sub from me.
I really wish they would wait for a more powerful machine for those remasters. Seems like a waste to design them for a device limited to running around 720p and with such a small geometry count. My hope is that they will scale well to the Switch 2. And well beyond the docked version as well since even the docked version just isn’t excusable for modern audiences. Maybe they have versions of the games scaling well both in resolution and LoD (maybe even framerate) but knowing Nintendo I somehow doubt that.
ben r I didn’t say it looks terrible. But the definition of a generational jump seems to have been lost on Nintendo. I am all for better haptics, new controls, a portable form factor and all. But their philosophy on skimping out on the processors they use doesn’t do them any favors. The Wii U was somewhat of an upgrade over the Wii but missed any chance to offer AAA games because it was both still underpowered AND unsuccessful in sales. Look at how much the Switch has sold. There would be a gigantic market for so many developers, yet the number of current gen AAA games is basically limited to whatever Bathesda is doing. Don’t you think Nintendo would profit from real AAA third party games (from which they could collect money) in the store and being able to design their own exclusives with better visuals. I am aware of the limitations of a mobile form factor, especially for a portable that costs about as much as an entry level iPad. But by this point I wouldn’t recommend the current switch to anybody but hardcore Nintendo fans (who have already bought theirs) and people who appreciate the type of indie games that are exclusive to switch.
the polygon count in the definitive edition has increased dramatically. also the textures, post processing etc. are on the same level as Xenoblade 2. so since it's the same engine it makes sense that it runs about the same...
You can buy Xenoblade on Wii, WiiU, 3ds and Switch, so it's basically on every nintendo platform since Wii. They can just remake it again at some point, if they want to.
Thank you for this video. As someone who never played the original Xenoblade, and as someone who loves using the original tech when available, I had reservations about purchasing it for the switch. Now though, I am much more excited to buy the Definitive Edition, as all it seems I'll miss out on is moving trees.
Great analysis of course but man that scene at 8:13 makes me sad. It's little touches like the gently swaying foliage and light beams that make all the difference in vibe and immersion. I have to wonder if all the trees everywhere are completely stiff all the time or if there's any sort of dynamically changing weather and hence wind system... one can only hope? I swear it's made even more obvious with extra grass that's constantly in motion and with all the extra graphical sharpness, it's like the grass and the trees exist in different realities, lol.
I think that this is impressive if only just for the so many things that were static and baked in to textures in the original now being dynamic in this remake, really makes the world look so much more cohesive. So cool to see a home console game from less than a decade ago running at a higher resolution and with around-the-board graphical improvements on a portable console now. The massive improvements to foliage can't be ignored either, I am so happy to see them leaving behind the 2d images in favour of actual 3d models
I think they should disable that Anti-aliasing for portable mode, I think it just makes low resolution images a lot worse. With a screen as small as the switch, it does not need it. Note: disabling the Sharpening from XC:DE breaks the visuals unlike XC2, it makes the game look more worse than the Wii version.
also disabling anti aliasing would increase the resolution because it's quite a taxing feature. even docked i would prefer 810p or something than 720p with anti aliasing. But probably it would have been too much work to change the engine for a port.
Absolutely. The Witcher 3 looks 10 times better without AA, that should be a standard, I dont understand how they always go for blurry image vs some aliasing but clear...
awwwww.. incredible moment to be a part of operation rainfall. Out of all the three, pandoras tower was an amazing experience. I hope itll get a remaster on the switch using motion controls.
There are so many good Wii games that will need to be ported to Switch and get the same treatment as Xenoblade Chrincles Definitive Edition some examples: Pandora's Tower, The Last Story, MadWorld, Fragile Dreams, Arc Rise Fantasia .. without mentioning Mario and Zelda
I can’t complain about Xenoblade DE. I’m just happy they fixed the character models and UI. Not to mention the fact that it’s on switch which is just really nice to have.
After playing the game myself I can say that the lower resolution wasn't as bad as people were making it out to be when the raw resolution numbers were announced.
6:40 shit, DF nailed it. That's it! The new models felt off to me because they lost a certain je ne sais quois in the transition to HD. I couldn't quite place it but there it is! It was the similarity of the original character models to the Vagrant Story aesthetic that made them stand out as characters. Sure, they look better than ever now, but the new models look quite generic.
Thank you for this video, I'm a big JRPG fan but mostly play on my pc, I've been wanting to play xenoblade and finally decided to buy a switch over the weekend and bought the trilogy, I was genuinely surprised about the game's graphics, I was ready for 720p and 30 FPS but I never expected the game to be blurry. Its hard coming from playing PC games to my switch now, still love the game but sometimes its just frustrating to think what they could have done with a much better hardware.
Recently tried it on switch, and it doesnt look bad at all. Infact it looks great at night where the ligthing really shines. Highly reccomed to pick it up. Fps isnt bad either had slowdown twice in few hours. Graphics wise in portable oddly looks much better than in docked maybe cause its on a small screen
There's definitely things to love and miss about both versions. The textures are better but it feels like it came at the cost of some of the best aspects of what made the world feel alive. At least to me. I'm not one to care about graphics both look fine to me. (Though I do immensely prefer the new character models.) But there's lots of things I noticed since I saw chuggaaconroy's LP of the original (Well part of it I still need to finish it) and I very distinctly remembered things from the LP but when I saw how different it looked in definitive version. I just couldn't get it off my mind. And this was by far the best video i've seen talking about it.
Honestly Im still amazed they managed to make a game this scale for the original Wii without the Wii bursting into flames, and pretty much seamless as well per large area.
I hear that they are using the lowest possible frequency for graphics which is mind boggling since even one above that would make the resolution stay higher and wouldn't drain to much mattery
Man, I remember the first time I loaded up XC2 and thought my game was glitched. It was just disgusting resolution and sharpening. But the game was enjoyable enough that I powered through. If the baseline resolution and everage resolution is up I'll give this one a go. It's games like these that I wish we could run docked power spec in portable mode, at least while it's charging.
Man, I know right! That sharpening filter was god awful... the kind of sharpening you get by slapping a sharpen effect to the max on Photoshop. Kudos to powering through it haha!
thats possible via homebrew... aktually increasing the system clocks from 307 to 460mhz it's already 540p native - if you enable docked and disable anti-aliasing while portable you can get up to 720p portable without needing the charger
I am playing it for the first time now, and even though the battle system took some time to learn / enjoy, I am having a blast. I never expect too much of any game as I don't play on other, more powerful platforms so for me, this DE is awesome. Great video, by the way.
Since Xenoblade 3 came out, I decided to give the Definitive edition a second chance. The first time I played it I found there was too many fiddly bits going on and about 10 hours in I moved on. Now that I'm playing it again, and find myself in a different head space I've been enjoying the combat.
Excellent video, insightful comparisons. You messed up some of the comparison shots, where the docked version is under “portable” and vice versa. Otherwise, awesome stuff, subbed!
If you haven't gotten The Last Story buy it. I don't remember if it's on the Wii U eShop. I happen to own all Operation Rainfall games in physical form.
It looks pretty cool, but I already have the 3DS version, so I'll continue playing through it there. Besides, I'm a sucker for stereoscopic 3D when you get a big world like this or a few places in Kingdom Hearts 3D.
Aouch. I bought this game on the wii Day 1 edition, but i never beat it. But i haven't given up on it either i play it for 5-10 hours once in a while, and i now have a 70+ hours save file. Now i don't know whether i should start all over again or try to finally get through once and for all. This new edition seems really worth it and improved on almost every level but that sees like a lot of work !
The Switch is good as is, but this game kind of needs a more powerful system to do it justice. Portability seems to have created a few too many sacrifices.
@@flameshana9 a game from 2 generations and 10 years ago needs a more powerful system, really?? After the work that has been made with games as the witcher 3 and doom on switch this one needs a more powerful system???
I love these videos. People can complain about nitpicks, but that’s why I’m here, for the nitty gritty details. One thing to point out, Future Connected has more consistent issues with frame rate for some reason. In my 80 hours in the main game, I noticed a frame drop maybe twice (keyword being noticed), but in my 9 hours of Future Connected, it’s easily in the double digits. It’s very noticeable and with that issue, and some sloppy design in places, it gives the impression that Future Connected was slapped together haphazardly. It clearly was a labor of love with how well the environment is designed, even compared to the originals great locations, but it probably could have used more time in the oven.
Pleeeaaaase do Persona 5 Royal! It’s a good pick, because the original release is PS3 and early PS4, and Royal is effectively a remaster with Pro support. Supposedly, the Pro version of P5R runs at Native 4K! You guys would have fun!
Would like the grass pushed out more, pop-in is noticable. Seemed like it was pushed out farther on the wii, and moving trees are always a plus to make the world feel more alive. I am also a fan of the original characters too.
It's just your stupid prejudices. There's no "old" and "new" faces. Original version looks trashy because of trashy hardware. These characters were designed like this since very beginning (and original Japanese artbooks are only confirming it).
6:50 Actually, there's a reason for that. There's no sun. Natural light in the world of Xenoblade is produced by a massive ball of Ether that dims and brightens as time passes.
They say not significant, but it looks significant to me. Not super level but that would be expensive and I doubt they expect to sell 5 million copies. Plus they load so much into memory at once with giant levels being pre-loaded from what I can tell. It is incredible really. I cant wait to play it.
That remaster isn't super great but its the best version we have sadly. Tbh, this, XCX and XC2 all suffer from the same problems basically. This switch can do so much more, maybe their game engine is not up to the task
Honestly I dont belive at all it has to do with the system But Monolith soft and the developers themselves, PS4 hardware wouldnt really fix it that much. Their biggest game they are known for was Xenosaga, and those games are not too teir PS2 games on a technical and graphical level back then either.
Aaron They’re probably having more of the Monolith team working on the BOTW sequel than the amount on XC DE. Same could be said for XC2, but the whole virus thing going on may have affected the work put into this game.
Nice stuff DF. I really didn't have a problem with XBC2 in Handheld/Table Top, maybe cuz i was just enjoying the game so much, i would prefer Portable was a Fixed 720p and Docked was 1080p but if XBC:DE is slightly better than XBC2, then i am gonna be just fine Playing it in any Mode. The Visual style of XBC:DE, makes it look much better than the Original for me, i don't think you will have too worry guys cuz the game is top notch and the Definitive version should be better overall.
Don't be afraid of playing the 3DS version, just because we've had the "definitive edition" on switch for years now. The 3DS port plays great, you're still getting the same awesome story, and I personally LIKE the way it looks. 🤷♂️
I bow down to you 🙌🏼 Thank you for making this gorgeous video telling our story with Xenoblade and give deserved justice to the game. I hoe this will make people appreciate the game even more. As I hope to get a The Last Story sequel one day 😭 hahah
I'm in the boat of people who think the art style change done to the character faces was not a positive change. It's definitely not as bad as Xenoblade Chronicles X, but I still preferred how they looked less anime-ish in the Wii version. Sure, some of the female characters look cuter now, but other characters like Reyn who were clearly not supposed to be cute just ended up looking too pretty and smooth-looking now. And all the colors in the environments of the Definitive Edition look much more saturated than in the Wii version. I don't know which one looks better tbh, but I'm used to the Wii version. Overall, the Switch version still looks pretty great and is an INSANE improvement over the 3DS version, lol. I'm still getting it day one, can't wait to experience this game again! Anyone who hasn't played it or only knows about Shulk from Smash Bros definitely owes it to themselves to try out this masterpiece!
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.
theyre just being fanboys. DF are always known to have point out even little problems about performance. They're basically known for it. They do it on PS and XB as well but no one bats an eye.
There isn’t that much subjectivity while doing technical reviews and this games isn’t great in that aspect. It’s such a shame for a game with a beautiful art direction like this one
Factz my brother 💪🏿
I've noticed that Xenoblade fans are particularly zealous and don't take constructive criticism well, regardless of whether its on the technical or gameplay side.
@@damnyousalazar It's not just Xenoblade fans, it's Nintendo fans in general. The mere suggestion that a first-party Nintendo game could be anything other than a flawless masterpiece sends them frothing at the mouth.
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.
Nice to hear from you Luxin. Can't wait to see your videos regarding this game.
@@TheBandoBandito ikr same here.
Huh, that's very interesting. Maybe the writer actually took into account the shadows not moving in the original and wrote that into the story?
Flat earth?
@@UltimateAlgorithm Flat universe. There are no other planets or stars in Xenoblade. At least, that's the implication anyway.
"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.
Keep in mind that it didn't release in America until 2012, but that still doesn't change that it feels like the time disappeared somewhere...
Yeah this doesn't sound like 10 years but more like 5. Wow.
Amazing how time flies, eh?
Moogle Midgar Sir this is an Arby’s and I’m 33.
Damn, I remember hearing the word "operation Rainfall"
OMG The Last Story and Pandora's Tower for Switch... GIMME!
I'm right with ya there, especially the last story
The Last Story was my favorite out of the 3, hell, The Last Story was one of my favorite games from Wii. It was so great, a lot of fun, and not overbearing. Battle System was on point!
The last story was pretty good up until the princess showed up in it became a love story
Yeah, they should rerelease the creator of “final fantasy” last console game.
I kinda hope because I will double dip.
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.
out of the three i have only played and finished the 3ds version and despite its limitations i think it offers a very immersive experience. now i'm really looking forward to occasionally drop a few hours into the definitive edition.
also it baffles me that a lot of devs resort to cloud-versions on the switch, when monster games were able to port xc to the n3ds.
The 3DS version also has a jukebox and model viewer as well. A pity SC2 and XC:DE didn't have them.
@@gehtdinichtsan309 the reason devs love to resort to cloud releases is laziness
@@shadowlugia0011There are no lazy devs, only greedy publishers
@@Fulgore2005 in a way xb:de has it, it has a cosmetic section that remembers all acquired armors
"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.
This. Now they have Kardashian's face and trees doesn't move. WTF Nintendo?
I still prefer the original faces, they went too far with the anime style this time, like XC2.
@@franciscobutte "boo anime bad" grow up
@@tobiasarevalo9929 that's a genuine critique, I play a lot of JRPGS, a lot of them look similar, also the switch has way too many cell shaded games, it's obvious a cope for the lower end hardware. I like cell shaded games but when almost first party game is celshaded it's kind of visually boring. Edit: I can see almost all the stuff on your account is anime related, so really who's the one who is buttblasted?
Yeah, at least save some polys and create something like ff12 instead
The only performance analysis I was waiting for on this game.
I know, right!? I've reach a point where only DF reviews are my go to for information.
They should take another look at this game because it's a WAY bigger improvement than what saint's row the third delivers.
Last story desperately needs a remaster. Pandora’s tower would be nice as well but definitely last story.
yeah especially with does framerate drops and when it drops it REALLY drops
A remaster only on a Pro switch please . I dont want a remaster that looks like this one
@@Joaaaaaaaaaaa they could have left the game like it was just upscaled ^^ then it could run @ 1080p 60fps docked 😅
@@HermesderWetterbote Yeah but it would have run sure at 720p 60 , maybe 900p too but not full 1080p/60 😁
@@HermesderWetterbote 1080p/30 could have been really good
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.
Only trust DF!
actually, this video was pretty weak by John's standards
Seemed fine to me
VG Tech is another good resource for performance.
@MultiTarded So play the game again to see those ultra frequently unplayable framedrops on 0,1% of the game
the Xenoblade Chronicles intro always gives me the chills, when the camera pulls out on Dunban and shows the Mechonis and Bionis
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.
PCMag are biased wankers
@@briannawong9034 Definitely with that name..
It's PCMag, clearly they reviewed the original version on Dolphin, duh!
@@briannawong9034 bigger wankers are morons paying full price for this.
@@Unregistered007 it's worth it though
4:28 Wii expected huge improvements
4:54 Missed opportunity to say. “Wii-Worked entirely”. 😢
I didn't remember the wii being portable back in 2010 though
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
Xenoblade 2 level performance is about what I expected, not really disappointed since I already thought the original game looked great
Well the performance is certainly better than Xenoblade 2, just not a huge improvement.
@@yzois It does not. I played it for around 15 hours now and the resolution stays @ 540p almost all the time. Also there still is a big overhaul in vegetation, polygons, lightning etc.
@@yzois dude you are so far beyond wrong. I played the original until I got the Definitive Edition and I was playing it on my Wii U while running it through an mClassic, even when enhanced with all the post processing of the Mclassic it doesn't look close to as good as it does on the Switch in hand held and that's a fact.
No doubt about it Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is the much prettier game over all and doesn't have the painfully obvious short draw distance problem which is by far my biggest issue with the Definitive Edition. That being said I like it alot and I am thankful to have it, it's just really distracting. Although it can't fix the draw distance an mClassic makes the game look a good bit better an renders it in 1440p and fixes any aliasing which makes the image look much cleaner overall, it also enhances the color and image depth as well which is another plus. Overall I think the best we are ever gonna get out of this game at least for many years is running it in 720p mode docked on the Switch and running it through the mClassic to clean it up and render it in a high resolution, that is to say on a console anyways.
it stays at 540p handheld only the first hours. once u arrive to the valley it gets much uglier.
xb2 looks better handheld than this remake
I also played on tv the same areas and it doesnt look any better at all. More colors but textures are also more foggy and it has the exact same resolution drops at the exact same time. It is just not a good job from monolith both on tv and handheld. Xenoblade 2 looks almost twice better.
I played this game for the first time on new 3ds. In 3d. I loved it. I believe I'm going to enjoy the switch version.
Man you mentioned Pandora’s Tower and now I’m craving a switch port of that.
Operation: Rainfall for Switch now. The Last Story was great, too.
I'd probably cry my heart out if they do that.
Not even a remake, just a remastered with improved controls.
_t-d_ FF7 Remake’s combat difficulty settings basically stole from The Last Story(ironic considered both were sakaguchi) so I wouldn’t mind that, but I feel that game might be too outdated by comparison. A better frame rate for it would be nice though
sadly those are not up to nintendo to port, xenoblade was able come out because it was published by nintendo, in order for the other 2 "operation rainfall" to make a come back on the switch you need:
1.- the publishers wanting to release the game on the switch at all, not just in america, but in japan
2.- nintendo wanting to relaese the titles on the switch
3.- nintendo wanting to release the titles in america.
so as you can see it's a somewhat complicated issue, and sadly the odds of that happening are fairly low, but who knows, maybe someday.
Preordered XC DefEdit. I am craving a Switch port of The Last Story. Can’t wait to see it and play it in HD and in handheld mode.
These videos are almost therapeutic. I may not play many of the games covered here, but still enjoy watching their graphical breakdown and comparisons.
My morning brain thought you were actually placing those cases in a puddle and it truly stresses me out for a second.
Same here
A fantastic analisys as always, was looking forward to it almost as much as the game itself!
One thing to consider though is that this could still look dramatically better than the Wii version for most TVs out there. Most TVs kind of make 480p a mess IMO.
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.
Samination I would love to see Skyward Sword.
I need videos like your dbd parodies!
Well you got 64 all right...now lets hope for skyward.
Happy knowing you probably went nuts when they brought Mario 64 to the Switch like I did lolol
@@MrAshar101 I bought Skyward Sword on the Wii and didn’t know you needed a Wii motion plus to play it. Hope it comes to the Switch so you don’t need something stupid like that that prevents you from playing if you don’t have one.
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.
lol even the 3ds has them
Hope it might be patched in?
It's probably because of the shadow maps. Wouldn't make sense for the tree branches to move when the shadows are going to be static.
Ya it seems alot more subtle
I wonder if they don’t move or if it’s just them being clueless about the game. In Xenoblade, there are different weathers, and different wind speeds, which are random in this cutscene. So perhaps it’s just a case of no wind in this capture on Switch, and mild wind on Wii. I’ll check it when I get the game, but I doubt they removed the wind mechanic.
Moving trees!
@@Coldsilfur4 Isn't that because of the lighting that moves?
I don't care if it's not improved much, since I never played the original, this works for me perfectly.
and honestly, it doesn't take away from how awesome this game is.
And others DO CARE so this is a great video.
@@uniqhnd23 Nobody Said something else here :D
Same here!
I’m about 10 hours into the game and have played an equal amount in Handheld, Docked on a TV, and Docked on a monitor. I honestly have no issues with the resolution, and it’s probably thanks to the improved anti aliasing. Sure, if I look closely the flaws become visible, but the end result of the image is a clear improvement over Xenoblade 2, and I don’t have any issues with it.
It makes me sad that the other two didn’t get the same respect... they were also great.
ITMeCE maybe one day.
not as great
There are so many good Wii games that will need to be ported to Switch and get the same treatment as Xenoblade Chrincles Definitive Edition
some examples: Pandora's Tower, The Last Story, MadWorld, Fragile Dreams, Arc Rise Fantasia ..
without mentioning Mario and Zelda
I wasn't a big fan of XCX, and while XC2 is great too, it can't hold a candle to the original.
@@mistressbayonetta no more heroes 1, 2 and sin and punishment 2 also need switch releases
Visually, the definitive edition is far superior. Yet it's clear that the core graphical design and structure are exactly the same throughout all three versions. It's somewhat like one of those Unreal Engine games with a wide set of graphical settings options, where the Switch version is like the experience with all the graphical settings set to high and very high -- all the particle effects, shader show boating, high resolution assets, etc. -- while the 3DS version is with everything at very low, and many of the particles and post-processing magic completely turned off, and the Wii version is a mixture of low and very low with some of the assets being a step above the 3DS. The disparity here between the Switch and the Wii/3DS is that of a high end computer versus a very old system being made to run things on a super low custom configuration, so it looks generations apart, yet it's essentially the same structure.
The Definitive Edition sits in another league, but given that the game is still the full experience across all three, getting it running and looking the way it did on the 3DS is a feat in its own regard.
Thanks for making this video. I just started the game on Wii. It's nice to know that I'm not really missing out and there's no reason to upgrade.
Since I've never experienced the original, I won't be surprised nor upset - just looking forward to playing this.
This will be the first time I play this game. Can't wait!!
same
I'm waiting for Chronicles X now!
To get ported or an analysis? They did the analysis years ago and honesty it's more impressive on a technical level than two and definitive edition.
... I need a bigger guuuuun
@@alexmo9299 Didnt it need like a 10gb patch in order to avoid having load times and pop in?
@@Drilbit it was to shorten load times/ faster reloading textures.
@@Drilbit It's not a patch per se, it's just a copy of the most used files from the optical disc onto the harddrive to reduce the load time / pop in. Something that a lot of Xbox360 games did as well.
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.
no the leafs are also flat on the new version and what u are pointing out is zoomed in resolution pixels not sprites, esp 3ds too smh
Still, it looks better animated than it does flat.
Is calling someone a dummy and moron really required here?
@@melxb My bad for not being clear enough. They're flat, but not sprites. There's a difference.
A sprite is a flat texture that always faces the camera; you can never see it from the side; they have a position in the 3d space, but are still rendered as 2d objects, incapable of rotating like a normal model.
In the remaster, the flat textures are fully rendered; they're basically invisible polygons, each with "leaves.png" attached as their textures; you do that a few times and you have a tree.
So the former is less resource-intensive since you don't have to render the polygons, just the textures.
@@melxb wow. Someone is a little upset about them calling it the wrong thing
I really liked Jhon's take (Sorry if I wrote wrong the name), he showed the flaws and improvements of the game but at the same time he encourages the viewer to give it a chance and enjoy of this amazing for the Switch. Great job!
I've only played the 3DS version, and thought it looked great for a big 3D RPG on the platform....
well yeah it's a Wii game brought to a handheld the fact it runs as well as it does is amazing.
It does! And the open environments are insanely impressive on the 3DS.
The 3ds version is actually a amazing, its one of those games that will be looked at as a game that pushed the hardware to its limits.
I too have only played the 3DS version. While it's true that the textures are very smudgy there, on big plus is that the game even runs in stereoscopical 3D throughout the board with very little perceivable impact on performance. IMO just the addition of visual depth makes every 3DS game look much better on the system than on a 2D video of the game (As long as the game supports it... I'm looking at you, Pokémon Sun/Moon).
@referral madness If you factor in 3D, almost every 3DS game looks much better on the 3DS than on video.
Ok, I have to ask at this point cause it's bugging me after two straight analyses missing this: is there a reason why you don't point out the shift from billboards to meshes in grass and leaf planes? Billboards being single plane meshes that always face the player. I should think that's a pretty significant leap as it doubles or even tripples the geometric detail of each tuft of grass. Taken in conjunction with greater density of grass meshes in this version (and in 2), that's 4 or 5 times greater geometric density vs 1 or even X (which used the same technique). Similarly, trees in 1 use (actually rather large) billboards a la Oblivion while DE uses a pretty large number of proper leaf planes per tree. I would think taken together these constitute a pretty big upgrade both visually and technically.
Also, was hoping you would discuss the frequency of resolution adjustment. In 2 you said that the game never slipped from 720p in docked in your testing so is that also true here? Was that incorrect before? Also, you said it maintains a higher resolution than 2 in handheld most often. How much more often? Does it hit that low end frequently? Almost never? There's not much detail given here.
And all this also makes me wish you had done a detailed analysis of Torna since that would be imo the point of comparison with regards to Monolith's best technical work.
Edit: Also, I feel the geometric improvements to environments are undersold in general. There's actually quite a lot, it just adheres to the overall forms of the original so it's not a dramatically different looking game, just a lot smoother.
you are absolutely right. also I don't understand how saints row is a bigger effort ? it doesn't add any content, nor where the models or the geometry redone/imcreased... they just added lightning and post processing effects, enhanced the textures and foliage and added a framerate cap.
unfortunately they always just one-and-done games unless they REALLY care, so none of this will ever be addressed and they're gonna drop all talk of this game from here on
@@HermesderWetterbote Man I was so annoyed he said that saint row was a bigger effort, so much models remade in the definitive edition and that takes a lot of effort in a game this big, I think the work monolith soft did is tremendous.
clearly they also miss the font change
more seriously sometime DF really miss some thing, or just BS other, special mention for minecraft RTX where they mention it was instantaneous when at the same time showing light was "lagging" (adujusting to the change) 2s+ after the block was mine ...
yeah i know they are enthusiast about big daddy nvidia but sometime that quite a lot to take seriously
@@zblurth855 that's also not logic because the switch and thereby Xenoblade runs on a nvidia gpu... 😅
Only ten years to wait until playing Xenoblade Chronicles, Definitive Remaster in glorious 1080/60 HD.
You can already do it on Dolphin Emulator.
@@DaGlitchMaster yeah but thats the original game though, graphics dont look as good as DE
@@RallyLeAce Switch emulator -Yuzu is already in good shape. Check it out.
@@MrUtherellus i saw someone emulate DE and it looked very broken so i think its gonna be a while
@@RallyLeAce Yup it's broken, yet. But maybe 1-2 months till devs get it playable given how unbelievably fast emulator is progressing.
You know what time it is.... "It's Reyn Time"
All right baby you know what time it is Put your hands up yeah, put your hands up
Limp bizkit
"It's Rain time" - IGN
@@mi2-c035 "you can't have a rainbow without rain" - IGN
I was really hoping for a comparison of the infamous Makna Forest pop-in between all the versions
Hey John, do you think we can expect a direct comparison with Xenoblade 2, however brief it may be? I think a lot of people would be interested in seeing one.
Great idea!
Great video! Really appreciate someone going in on the tech specs of a game and explaining things. Keep it up.
Yeah, I'm one of the people that kind of dislike the new "anime" models. But it's not a deal breaker. I'm still excited to play this again on the switch.
What makes DE truly the DE is that the game tells you what to do a lot more clearer and they fixed the shitty menus somewhat. I was so confused figuring everything out on Wii but it's been a breeze so far on DE and I'm half way through.
Thanks for this great tech review! Even if it's not perfect, it's still a pretty good remaster. I 've been playing the game for about 4 hours now and I haven't experienced any major issues yet.
Seems like they simply forgot to bring a little movement to the trees ^^'
As far as i know, when the game was created the looks and designs of the art were chosen to work great within the limitations of the console hardware. And as far as i can see it worked incredibly well and still looks stylish and great to this day on either of the three platforms.
The only problem imo with the original release and the 3DS release was the insanely short texturing filtering range. Everything except the ground directly in front of your character is blurry, and it almost looks like the ground is changing beneath your feet. That's massively improved in this new release and really ties together the visuals, far less jarring.
Honestly the one thing that really keeps this game from becoming a truly great remaster IMO are the animations in both cutscenes and gameplay. They look weirdly stiff and unnatural just like the game from the Wii era. Kinda wish they'd atleast tweaked some of the cutscenes to have more fluid animation.
Eh kinda adds to the charm imo
@@benr8071 A gameplay overhaul would've been good too. At that point, I wouldn't have to give the game slack for it's original release date.
@@shadow10r43 yeah same, this remake could have been so much more
Yup It's a huge downgrade from Xenoblade 2.
It's probably because they used original Wii game engine.
They used the completed engine they used for Xeno X and Xeno 2. It just has all the full Twiks that Torna the gold country made to the engine. They wanted to be faithful to the origional and not make drastic changes like a lot of remakes are making resently
Actually the trees do move, they just do it more subtly. Seemingly as if they reduced the wind that blows around colony 9. It would seem a bit hard to believe much wind would be blowing around a cup taped to your calf now.
But it blows harder in December
I'm extremely happy coming from XC2. That game on docked and handheld mode had the most horrendous frame drops. What you mentioned around the 11 minute mark was what I encountered throughout the vast majority of XC2. It was so bad, I couldn't finish the game. I'm definitely more a fps guy myself. PC is my native platform and there I'm running 1080p resolution in order to achieve 100+ fps on all my titles. So when I come to switch Im ok sacrificing resolution as long my fps is constant. Overall, I'm truly enjoying the game. Thank you so much for a more analytical review of the game. This is the kind of stuff I like knowing before I play a game, not it's 1-10 vague reviewer score. You got a sub from me.
I really wish they would wait for a more powerful machine for those remasters. Seems like a waste to design them for a device limited to running around 720p and with such a small geometry count. My hope is that they will scale well to the Switch 2. And well beyond the docked version as well since even the docked version just isn’t excusable for modern audiences. Maybe they have versions of the games scaling well both in resolution and LoD (maybe even framerate) but knowing Nintendo I somehow doubt that.
I mean it isnt a terrible looking game. It's a little blurry but it ain't a pixelated mess.Just look at some games on the Switch.
ben r I didn’t say it looks terrible. But the definition of a generational jump seems to have been lost on Nintendo. I am all for better haptics, new controls, a portable form factor and all. But their philosophy on skimping out on the processors they use doesn’t do them any favors. The Wii U was somewhat of an upgrade over the Wii but missed any chance to offer AAA games because it was both still underpowered AND unsuccessful in sales. Look at how much the Switch has sold. There would be a gigantic market for so many developers, yet the number of current gen AAA games is basically limited to whatever Bathesda is doing. Don’t you think Nintendo would profit from real AAA third party games (from which they could collect money) in the store and being able to design their own exclusives with better visuals. I am aware of the limitations of a mobile form factor, especially for a portable that costs about as much as an entry level iPad. But by this point I wouldn’t recommend the current switch to anybody but hardcore Nintendo fans (who have already bought theirs) and people who appreciate the type of indie games that are exclusive to switch.
the polygon count in the definitive edition has increased dramatically. also the textures, post processing etc. are on the same level as Xenoblade 2. so since it's the same engine it makes sense that it runs about the same...
switch pro anyone?
You can buy Xenoblade on Wii, WiiU, 3ds and Switch, so it's basically on every nintendo platform since Wii. They can just remake it again at some point, if they want to.
Thank you for this video. As someone who never played the original Xenoblade, and as someone who loves using the original tech when available, I had reservations about purchasing it for the switch. Now though, I am much more excited to buy the Definitive Edition, as all it seems I'll miss out on is moving trees.
Great analysis of course but man that scene at 8:13 makes me sad. It's little touches like the gently swaying foliage and light beams that make all the difference in vibe and immersion. I have to wonder if all the trees everywhere are completely stiff all the time or if there's any sort of dynamically changing weather and hence wind system... one can only hope? I swear it's made even more obvious with extra grass that's constantly in motion and with all the extra graphical sharpness, it's like the grass and the trees exist in different realities, lol.
The trees move, videos online show it, they just dont move to the exagerated degree they did in the wii and 3ds does.
I think that this is impressive if only just for the so many things that were static and baked in to textures in the original now being dynamic in this remake, really makes the world look so much more cohesive. So cool to see a home console game from less than a decade ago running at a higher resolution and with around-the-board graphical improvements on a portable console now. The massive improvements to foliage can't be ignored either, I am so happy to see them leaving behind the 2d images in favour of actual 3d models
I think they should disable that Anti-aliasing for portable mode, I think it just makes low resolution images a lot worse. With a screen as small as the switch, it does not need it.
Note: disabling the Sharpening from XC:DE breaks the visuals unlike XC2, it makes the game look more worse than the Wii version.
yet they also add sharpening, weird
also disabling anti aliasing would increase the resolution because it's quite a taxing feature. even docked i would prefer 810p or something than 720p with anti aliasing. But probably it would have been too much work to change the engine for a port.
@@michaelgallagher9534 I prefer pixelation vs anti aliasing, so a toggle to turn that off would be amazing
I think a toned down AA but not completely removed would do the trick. It would also run at a slightly higher resolution because of it
Absolutely. The Witcher 3 looks 10 times better without AA, that should be a standard, I dont understand how they always go for blurry image vs some aliasing but clear...
awwwww.. incredible moment to be a part of operation rainfall. Out of all the three, pandoras tower was an amazing experience.
I hope itll get a remaster on the switch using motion controls.
I need a port of The Last Story so much... such a masterpiece
There are so many good Wii games that will need to be ported to Switch and get the same treatment as Xenoblade Chrincles Definitive Edition
some examples: Pandora's Tower, The Last Story, MadWorld, Fragile Dreams, Arc Rise Fantasia ..
without mentioning Mario and Zelda
I love Xenoblade Chronicles but The Last Story is my favorite of the three
Mistwalker only works on mobile gacha games now. So don't get your hopes up
I can’t complain about Xenoblade DE. I’m just happy they fixed the character models and UI. Not to mention the fact that it’s on switch which is just really nice to have.
The best analysis as usual, bravo guys
Incredible work as always, John!
After playing the game myself I can say that the lower resolution wasn't as bad as people were making it out to be when the raw resolution numbers were announced.
6:40 shit, DF nailed it. That's it! The new models felt off to me because they lost a certain je ne sais quois in the transition to HD. I couldn't quite place it but there it is! It was the similarity of the original character models to the Vagrant Story aesthetic that made them stand out as characters. Sure, they look better than ever now, but the new models look quite generic.
Played through all the xeno games and didn't realize 1 and 2 were 720p
Thank you for this video, I'm a big JRPG fan but mostly play on my pc, I've been wanting to play xenoblade and finally decided to buy a switch over the weekend and bought the trilogy, I was genuinely surprised about the game's graphics, I was ready for 720p and 30 FPS but I never expected the game to be blurry. Its hard coming from playing PC games to my switch now, still love the game but sometimes its just frustrating to think what they could have done with a much better hardware.
Recently tried it on switch, and it doesnt look bad at all. Infact it looks great at night where the ligthing really shines. Highly reccomed to pick it up. Fps isnt bad either had slowdown twice in few hours. Graphics wise in portable oddly looks much better than in docked maybe cause its on a small screen
There's definitely things to love and miss about both versions. The textures are better but it feels like it came at the cost of some of the best aspects of what made the world feel alive. At least to me. I'm not one to care about graphics both look fine to me. (Though I do immensely prefer the new character models.) But there's lots of things I noticed since I saw chuggaaconroy's LP of the original (Well part of it I still need to finish it) and I very distinctly remembered things from the LP but when I saw how different it looked in definitive version. I just couldn't get it off my mind. And this was by far the best video i've seen talking about it.
Honestly Im still amazed they managed to make a game this scale for the original Wii without the Wii bursting into flames, and pretty much seamless as well per large area.
Don't forget really short loading times and only one DVD. The game has over 10 hours fully voiced cutscenes.
I hear that they are using the lowest possible frequency for graphics which is mind boggling since even one above that would make the resolution stay higher and wouldn't drain to much mattery
Probably a battery life issue?
Man, I remember the first time I loaded up XC2 and thought my game was glitched. It was just disgusting resolution and sharpening. But the game was enjoyable enough that I powered through. If the baseline resolution and everage resolution is up I'll give this one a go.
It's games like these that I wish we could run docked power spec in portable mode, at least while it's charging.
Man, I know right! That sharpening filter was god awful... the kind of sharpening you get by slapping a sharpen effect to the max on Photoshop. Kudos to powering through it haha!
@@Daniel-yz3zf I found that If i played while forcing myself to go cross eyed, it looked better.
thats possible via homebrew... aktually increasing the system clocks from 307 to 460mhz it's already 540p native - if you enable docked and disable anti-aliasing while portable you can get up to 720p portable without needing the charger
I am playing it for the first time now, and even though the battle system took some time to learn / enjoy, I am having a blast. I never expect too much of any game as I don't play on other, more powerful platforms so for me, this DE is awesome. Great video, by the way.
Since Xenoblade 3 came out, I decided to give the Definitive edition a second chance. The first time I played it I found there was too many fiddly bits going on and about 10 hours in I moved on. Now that I'm playing it again, and find myself in a different head space I've been enjoying the combat.
Excellent video, insightful comparisons. You messed up some of the comparison shots, where the docked version is under “portable” and vice versa. Otherwise, awesome stuff, subbed!
Speaking of Pandora’s Tower, I just bought a copy on the Wii U eshop.
If you haven't gotten The Last Story buy it. I don't remember if it's on the Wii U eShop. I happen to own all Operation Rainfall games in physical form.
Link200767 Last Story is not there. It’s the only one of the three that’s not on the eshop.
It's only one game which have problems with Wii U backwards compatible. One which know to me overall. Better play on original wii or dolphin.
I still prefer the Vagrant Story style characters. The characters of the original looks a more unique conpared to the new version.
Well John made it very clear in the video that he agrees with you on this lol.
Yeah, I'd have to agree. The original style had more personality.
It looks pretty cool, but I already have the 3DS version, so I'll continue playing through it there. Besides, I'm a sucker for stereoscopic 3D when you get a big world like this or a few places in Kingdom Hearts 3D.
Aouch. I bought this game on the wii Day 1 edition, but i never beat it.
But i haven't given up on it either i play it for 5-10 hours once in a while, and i now have a 70+ hours save file.
Now i don't know whether i should start all over again or try to finally get through once and for all. This new edition seems really worth it and improved on almost every level but that sees like a lot of work !
i get that it's only 720p, and that it can oftentimes go lower than that, but i'm coming from the 3DS version. anything is an improvement over 240p.
I played and completed the 3ds version. The magic was to carry such a nice and immense world in your pocket.
And you still can if you have huge ass pockets!
I know! It was such a weird lil' novelty on the 3DS to me. Really enjoyed cracking it open on the go for a quick few quests.
I wish the Switch was more powerful
I'm waiting for the switch 2
The Switch is good as is, but this game kind of needs a more powerful system to do it justice. Portability seems to have created a few too many sacrifices.
@@flameshana9 a game from 2 generations and 10 years ago needs a more powerful system, really?? After the work that has been made with games as the witcher 3 and doom on switch this one needs a more powerful system???
Me too, botw also drops frames in a lot of areas.
I love these videos. People can complain about nitpicks, but that’s why I’m here, for the nitty gritty details.
One thing to point out, Future Connected has more consistent issues with frame rate for some reason. In my 80 hours in the main game, I noticed a frame drop maybe twice (keyword being noticed), but in my 9 hours of Future Connected, it’s easily in the double digits. It’s very noticeable and with that issue, and some sloppy design in places, it gives the impression that Future Connected was slapped together haphazardly. It clearly was a labor of love with how well the environment is designed, even compared to the originals great locations, but it probably could have used more time in the oven.
I finally have both games and I must say definitive edition looks a lot better in portable mode than xc2
If anything this is the best possible time to pick up this game for newcomers like me, excellent review guys
Pleeeaaaase do Persona 5 Royal! It’s a good pick, because the original release is PS3 and early PS4, and Royal is effectively a remaster with Pro support. Supposedly, the Pro version of P5R runs at Native 4K! You guys would have fun!
I was waiting all day for this
Would like the grass pushed out more, pop-in is noticable. Seemed like it was pushed out farther on the wii, and moving trees are always a plus to make the world feel more alive. I am also a fan of the original characters too.
60 bucks saved, in other words 😁 good for you
Well I'm gonna get the Switch version despite the visuals. I need to beat this game eventually. Never did back in 2012 when I picked it up on Wii
Time for Operation Rainfall part 2 so that we can get the Famicom Detective Club Remakes localized.
The video everyone has been waiting for. On point as always!
Man, I really like the art style in the Wii so much more. It has so much more character and looks almost timeless.
100% agree, obviously the switch looks much better, but the artstyle on Wii is so much more unique and memorable than generic cell shaded anime.
It's just your stupid prejudices. There's no "old" and "new" faces. Original version looks trashy because of trashy hardware. These characters were designed like this since very beginning (and original Japanese artbooks are only confirming it).
6:50 Actually, there's a reason for that. There's no sun. Natural light in the world of Xenoblade is produced by a massive ball of Ether that dims and brightens as time passes.
Maxim Tomato Xenoblade 2 had the same issue
Actually shadows don't move cause the sun doesn't, it's a lore thing.
Our sun doesn’t either
Stephen Ryan if we’re being pedantic, yes it does.
@@OtsoCafe
If we're being pedantic, yes it does. It only doesn't move if your frame of reference is our solar system.
@@drwang4884 The world doesn't move, the sun doesn't move, the shadows don't move.
lol, in X and 2 it's a lore thing too?
They say not significant, but it looks significant to me. Not super level but that would be expensive and I doubt they expect to sell 5 million copies. Plus they load so much into memory at once with giant levels being pre-loaded from what I can tell. It is incredible really. I cant wait to play it.
That remaster isn't super great but its the best version we have sadly. Tbh, this, XCX and XC2 all suffer from the same problems basically. This switch can do so much more, maybe their game engine is not up to the task
Well the engine was designed for Wii U so...
Honestly I dont belive at all it has to do with the system But Monolith soft and the developers themselves, PS4 hardware wouldnt really fix it that much. Their biggest game they are known for was Xenosaga, and those games are not too teir PS2 games on a technical and graphical level back then either.
@@robertwallen1582 I disagree, the majority know Monolith for BOTW and XC nowadays
Aaron They’re probably having more of the Monolith team working on the BOTW sequel than the amount on XC DE. Same could be said for XC2, but the whole virus thing going on may have affected the work put into this game.
Nice stuff DF.
I really didn't have a problem with XBC2 in Handheld/Table Top, maybe cuz i was just enjoying the game so much, i would prefer Portable was a Fixed 720p and Docked was 1080p but if XBC:DE is slightly better than XBC2, then i am gonna be just fine Playing it in any Mode.
The Visual style of XBC:DE, makes it look much better than the Original for me, i don't think you will have too worry guys cuz the game is top notch and the Definitive version should be better overall.
If people skip XC2 handheld mode, they are skipping the best way to play it: anywhere.
Not going to lie, for a minute I thought he actually put The Last Story in water and got mad as a motherfucker.
Don't be afraid of playing the 3DS version, just because we've had the "definitive edition" on switch for years now.
The 3DS port plays great, you're still getting the same awesome story, and I personally LIKE the way it looks. 🤷♂️
Cmon Linneman, we want to see the Switch version versus the modded HD textured Dolphin version
Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii had an artstyle that reminded me of FFXII, and honestly even the combat to a degree.
I’ve never heard anyone call Xenoblade x Xenoblade cross
That's how it's officially called in Japan.
I bow down to you 🙌🏼
Thank you for making this gorgeous video telling our story with Xenoblade and give deserved justice to the game.
I hoe this will make people appreciate the game even more. As I hope to get a The Last Story sequel one day 😭 hahah
Remember, Monolithsoft could have just ported the wii game as it is and had it run 1080p but they went above and beyond in my opinion
Wow, what a high bar to hold.
@@AwakeTheFall ikr :')
I'm in the boat of people who think the art style change done to the character faces was not a positive change. It's definitely not as bad as Xenoblade Chronicles X, but I still preferred how they looked less anime-ish in the Wii version. Sure, some of the female characters look cuter now, but other characters like Reyn who were clearly not supposed to be cute just ended up looking too pretty and smooth-looking now. And all the colors in the environments of the Definitive Edition look much more saturated than in the Wii version. I don't know which one looks better tbh, but I'm used to the Wii version.
Overall, the Switch version still looks pretty great and is an INSANE improvement over the 3DS version, lol. I'm still getting it day one, can't wait to experience this game again! Anyone who hasn't played it or only knows about Shulk from Smash Bros definitely owes it to themselves to try out this masterpiece!