Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Cleverly Connects To The Original

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is one of those games where people may look at it, then look at the original game, and wonder what the two may have in common. Some of the connections are obvious. Both games take place on the backs of titans, gigantic organisms. They have similar battle systems and other mechanics. But there may be a question as to how if and how the two connect. While it may take a while for things to become clear, it is incredibly satisfying to see how the two games relate to one another.

Editor’s note: spoilers for both Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will definitely follow.

Yes, this is a spoiler post for people who want to know how Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 directly relate to one another. Which all comes into play at the very end of the game. Once people actually find their way to the World Tree, things start to all tie together. That’s when we see the appearance of characters from the first game.

Elysium’s World Tree isn’t an actual tree. It is a space station. To be more specific, it is the same space station where Klaus and Meyneth resided in the original universe. The experiment conducted there destroyed that universe and created the universe of Xenoblade Chronicles. The journey Rex, Pyra, Mythra, and the gang are on is to reach the Architect, which is the part of Klaus that remains in this world. Unlike Zansa, the corrupted and evil portion of Klaus that is the antagonist in Xenoblade Chronicles, the Klaus existing here as the Architect and creator of Alrest, Malos, Pyra, Mythra, and everyone. To show his benevolence and regret, he admits his faults, explains what went wrong, and creates a new Elysium for people to inhabit.

What’s interesting is that Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 are occurring at the same time. When Rex and the party reach Klaus, he knows his time is at an end. We even see that half of him is in the other dimension and hear Shulk saying, “Today we use our power to fell a god, and seize our destiny!” in that final encounter with Klaus. We see the acknowledgement of multiple universes in the Xenoblade Chronicles series, thanks to the Conduit opening multiple gateways.

There’s one other clever nod to Xenoblade Chronicles here and suggestion of the existence of a powerful weapon across universes. Malos wields a Monado. Once you reach chapter seven, you will end up in a boss fight against him where he wields his own unique Monado, complete with its own Arts. When I fought against him, I heard him use Monado Armor, Buster, Cyclone, and Eater, all Arts that Shulk was able to use in the first game.

Once these little tidbits come through, it makes much of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 make sense. In fact, I would even say it helped me make more sense of the original Xenoblade Chronicles as well. Seeing the way in which this experiment impacted both worlds, how the two halves of Klaus reacted as both himself and Zansa, and the appearance of a Monado are all very satisfying.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is available for the Nintendo Switch.