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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

"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.

"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.

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.

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

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

4:28 Wii expected huge improvements

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Moving trees!

Only ten years to wait until playing Xenoblade Chronicles, Definitive Remaster in glorious 1080/60 HD.

Great video! Really appreciate someone going in on the tech specs of a game and explaining things. Keep it up.

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

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.

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.

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

It makes me sad that the other two didn’t get the same respect... they were also great.

I don't care if it's not improved much, since I never played the original, this works for me perfectly.

Played through all the xeno games and didn't realize 1 and 2 were 720p

Incredible work as always, John!

You know what time it is.... "It's Reyn Time"

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'm waiting for Chronicles X now!

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.

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.

I need a port of The Last Story so much... such a masterpiece

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.

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.

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've only played the 3DS version, and thought it looked great for a big 3D RPG on the platform....

The best analysis as usual, bravo guys

This will be the first time I play this game. Can't wait!!

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.

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 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 was waiting all day for this

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.

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.

It’s zee no blade....how do you pronounce xenophobia? It’s the same goddam prefix

The video everyone has been waiting for. On point as always!

Since I've never experienced the original, I won't be surprised nor upset - just looking forward to playing this.

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

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.

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!

I’m REALLY feeling it!

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

What are your thoughts on the colour grading changes? I noticed in a lot of the side-by-side shots, there's a blue or yellow cast to the definitive edition that I'm not sure how to feel about.

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.

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 ^^'

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.

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.

The only place where I noticed frame rate drops was Makna Forest, but those lost frames were present in the Wii version as well.

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.

Speaking of Pandora’s Tower, I just bought a copy on the Wii U eshop.

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 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.

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.

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.

Could you make a Tech Review for the dlc Future Connected? It's pretty interesting in terms of technical aspect

nice video john as always :)

I wish the Switch was more powerful

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.

can you compare switch version vs wii version on dolphin emu with hd texture pack ? :-D

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 !

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.

Actually shadows don't move cause the sun doesn't, it's a lore thing.

I got a question for you guys. Can a eye test differentiate 1440p 60fps of 2160p 60fps? Is it noticeable?

Currently playing the definitive edition, did they fix the resolution? Im playing on a 4k tv and looks really good, id swear it was at 1080p.

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.

I am curious as to how this rerelease compares to the game running on Dolphin with at 4k with the HD texture pack, the 60fps hack and the draw distance increase hack. I played the original via my Wii years ago but it looks stunning on Dolphin.

Can we please talk about how noisy those textures are as you pan at 2:00? Something to do with bad motion blur?

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.

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.

Hopefully this puts those discussions about whether it's a remaster or a remake to rest. I'm a little bit confused as to why animation quality is actually a bit worse than the original though, I wish they would've updated at least something like the jump animation which I always felt was kinda awkward and was fixed in the sequels. Still hyped tho, one of my favorite Nintendo games for sure.

Very excited to play this tonight

Any chance of an analysis on Last Story? Perhaps as a DF Retro video. Fantastic game and did some really cool technical stuff for the Wii, particularly in the real time cutscenes.

Time for Operation Rainfall part 2 so that we can get the Famicom Detective Club Remakes localized.

I still prefer the Vagrant Story style characters. The characters of the original looks a more unique conpared to the new version.

Another great video John. This version or the Wii version running on Dolphin?

I hope we can see a DF video for the new 2k Switch ports!

I’ve never heard anyone call Xenoblade x Xenoblade cross

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.

Is the reduced quality in portable mode done to improve battery duration? One would think that a game rendered on the same hardware in lower resolutions would perform the same or even better? Does the switch run on lower speeds and rates in portable mode for this reason?

to be fair, Makna Forest have more moving fauna and also trees.

THE TREES!

Yeah but the thing surprised me the most is the fact that Metalface voice actor (Timothy Watson) is the same as peppa pig's dad. MONADO BOI

How do you check the framerste in game like that? Which software may i ask? I am on CFW by the way

I think the only thing that'll bug me about this game is the noticeable foliage being drawn as you move. If I can ignore that (and the somewhat longer faces) then this is a beautiful game. Eryth Sea looks amazing!