All the games in the Xeno meta series take place within a science fiction setting with some fantasy elements, with its stories frequently featuring psychological, philosophical, and religious themes.

The first title, Xenogears, was originally proposed as a storyline for Final Fantasy VII, as well as a sequel to the 1995 RPG Chrono Trigger, but was allowed to be developed as its own project.

After Square shifted its focus onto the Final Fantasy series, Takahashi and several other Xenogears staff founded Monolith Soft and began work on the Xenosaga games.

After the premature end of the Xenosaga series, Monolith Soft began developing Xenoblade Chronicles, initially intended to be an original title.

[1][2] Set in an alien world with warring rival human empires, the protagonist Fei Fong Wong is drawn into the battle against Deus, an ancient machine weapon worshiped as a god.

[21] The Xeno title has been repeated throughout the series: in an interview concerning Xenoblade Chronicles, director Tetsuya Takahashi said that the prefix had become a symbol referencing the previous works of Monolith Soft.

[20] All of the games in the series have made use of a science fiction premise, although this has sometimes been placed in the background within settings more common to the fantasy genre.

[28][29][30] The themes of Xenoblade Chronicles focused on the main characters overcoming a pre-determined fate and finding the meaning of human existence, along with what Takahashi described as "contrasting the realms of the micro and the macro".

[31][32] Xenoblade Chronicles X was a deliberate move away from this style of storytelling and the incorporation of philosophical themes: according to Takahashi, the concept was to create a solid gameplay foundation on which to base a future work which would feature a stronger story.

[19][33] Xenogears, the first entry in what would become the Xeno series, was first proposed to Square by Tetsuya Takahashi and his wife, known under the pseudonym Soraya Saga, as a potential storyline for Final Fantasy VII.

While it was considered too mature for the Final Fantasy series, Takahashi was allowed to create an original work based on the premise.

[24] After initially attempting to create a sequel to Chrono Trigger, Takahashi made the project entirely unique, beginning development approximately two years prior to its release.

[34][35] While a second Xenogears game was being planned, Square decided to focus on the Final Fantasy series, a decision that Takahashi did not agree with.

[38] During the development of Disaster: Day of Crisis, Takahashi was struck with the idea of setting a game on the bodies of two frozen gods.

[32][41] For Xenoblade Chronicles X, the developers focused on the gameplay aspect, in particular creating an open world and online elements within a new set of self-imposed restrictions.

This meant that Honeywood was under heavy pressure to render the game into English while both keeping it faithful to the original and stepping round some of the sensitive religious issues the title evoked.

Additionally, Shulk is available as a Mystery Mushroom costume in Super Mario Maker and as a color palette in Yoshi's Woolly World.

IGN described Xenogears as the "hands-down best RPG" of the year, praising the storyline, gameplay, graphics, presentation, and soundtrack.

[80][81] Xenosaga Episode III was met with divided feelings, as some such as Simon Parkin of Eurogamer, felt that the sheer number of philosophical and religious elements in the story both stifled any relatable narrative and robbed the characters of any personality; despite this he felt the ending successfully tied up remaining narrative threads from previous games.

[109] Nintendo Life praised the game's battle system, deep upgrade pathways, vast world size, and graphics, but criticized the occasional difficulty spike and fetch quest.

[110] GameSpot stated that, of "all the open-world games to come out this year, Xenoblade Chronicles X may be the most formidable" as a "truly enormous game, both in scale and scope," praising the landscapes, creature design, unlockables and quests, combat, and character progression and customization, but criticizing the inconsistent soundtrack, ambiguous systems, and disappointing story.

John Rairdin of Nintendo World Report, who gave a 9.5 rating out of 10 to the title, considered the game "one of the finest JRPGs of the generation and perhaps of all time" and highly praising the music, "diverse world", "fresh and engaging combat", and "thrilling storyline", stating: "Washing over any minor issues is one of the most engaging stories I’ve ever played, a vastly improved and fun combat system, and an out-of-this-world soundtrack.

"[112] IGN Japan gave a very positive review, stating that it "offers a timeless tale of adventure and an incredibly deep battle system."

[2] Xenoblade Chronicles met with strong sales in Japan despite being released near to the end of its console's life cycle, and was commercially successful in the UK and North America.