Nintendo Switch: 10 Third-Party Franchises We Need To See

7. Xeno

xenoblade chronicles X
Nintendo

Contrary to popular belief, there's more to developer Monolith Soft's Xeno series than the astounding Xenoblade Chronicles X, which graced the Wii U in 2015. Obviously the Wii had the original Xenoblade Chronicles, but the series actually got its start in 1998 with Xenogears on the original PlayStation. Back then it was just Squaresoft; Monolith only came into the picture in the early 2000s with the Xenosaga PS2 games, all of which have ludicrous names and tangled canon which I won't trouble you with.

My point is, there's a lot of Xeno to work with, and if Xenoblade is anything to go by, a lot of good can still come from the series. Xenoblade Chronicles X, in particular, was a stunner. It's in a similar vein as Monster Hunter - big world with big monsters - but with the welcome addition of big mechs. More impressive was its intoxicatingly organic world, replete with special monsters and secrets to hunt. And that touch integration stuff we talked about earlier? Yep, plenty relevant here.

So, Xenoblade Chronicles XYZ in 2018, yeah? Square, Monolith, somebody: make it happen.

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Contributor
Contributor

A freelance games writer, you say? Typically battling his current RPG addiction and ceaseless perfectionism? A fan of horror but too big a sissy to play for more than a couple of hours? Spends far too much time on JRPGs and gets way too angry with card games? Well that doesn't sound anything like me.