The Best Nintendo Game Every Year 1983 - 2024

If the Switch is a machine for a single franchise, it’s Xenoblade. With the announcement of X coming to the console in 2025, it’ll mean every single entry is playable in one place.

And whilst Xenoblade has remained consistently well-received, the end of the trilogy sees things out with a bang. Across the board, Chronicles 3 represents the pinnacle of Monolith Soft’s work; the stylised graphics are gorgeous, its gameplay is constantly evolving and narratively it manages to smash the worlds of the two previous games together in a satisfying way that rewards long-term fans.

Best of all is how these come together, as the story’s themes of freedom and crafting your own future absolutely apply to both the endless possibilities of the battle system and of Xenoblade going its own path. Watching the earnest first entry almost not make its way out of Japan and pave the way for a series that has become a pillar of the Switch and reach its thus-far conclusion is incredibly gratifying. Streamlined combat allows for more overall depth, and a stronger script means darker and more touching moments.

Xenoblade Chronicles is unashamedly a JRPG for fans of the genre. Both huge and meticulous, it rewards players who imbed themselves in all that it has to offer.