The game features navigation through an open world split into zones, side-quests tied to party members' affinity, and a real-time action-based battle system which incorporates Shulk's ability to see brief glimpses of the future.

During an attack on his colony, the main protagonist Shulk discovers his ability to wield the Monado and sets out on a quest for revenge with his best friend, Reyn, with others joining in as the game progresses.

The concept for Xenoblade Chronicles originated in June 2006, when the game's executive director and lead writer, Tetsuya Takahashi, visualized and constructed a model of two giant titans frozen in place, with people living on their bodies.

"Location Affinity" tracks the interpersonal relationships between the game's named characters and how they get along with one another, as well as a town's general perception of the player's controllable party.

[18] The Vision system is tied to the "Party" gauge, which is filled by boosting team morale, using Arts with special effects, and avoiding or dealing critical hits.

[9] The setting of Xenoblade Chronicles originates from a world that was nothing but an endless ocean until two titans, the Bionis and the Mechonis,[f] came into existence and battled each other until only their frozen corpses remained.

The Monado – the namesake of Xenoblade – is a mystical ether-controlling sword that the Homs wield in the battle against the Mechonis, which grants visions of the future to its wielder when fully controlled.

During his journey, he is joined by Reyn, one of his childhood friends and a headstrong member of the Defence Force; Dunban, a former wielder of the Monado and the brother of Shulk's childhood friend and love interest Fiora, who also joins Shulk; Sharla, a medic and sniper from Colony 6; Melia Antiqua, a High Entia-Homs hybrid and princess of the High Entia; and Riki, a Nopon chosen as the hero of his village.

[21] Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition adds a new storyline, Future Connected, which is set one year after the events of the main story and takes place on the Bionis's Shoulder, an area not explored in the original game.

Future Connected follows Shulk, Melia, and Riki's daughter Nene and adopted son Kino as they seek to reclaim the High Entia city of Alcamoth.

Upon gaining entry to Prison Island, they encounter Zanza, a giant being who is the Monado's creator and offers to improve it so that Shulk can destroy the Face Mechon, who are revealed to have Homs inside.

Since the battle a year ago, Egil had been working to infuse the Mechon with people from the Bionis to create Face units who would be impervious to the Monado.

In the aftermath of the Mechonis' destruction, pure-blooded High Entia begin transforming into Telethia, beings who exist to purge Bionis of life.

[36] One year later, with the world's restoration underway, Shulk and Melia set out together to the remnant of Bionis's shoulder after reports that the High Entia capital Alcamoth has reappeared, with Riki's children Kino and Nene tagging along as stowaways.

Construction began in July: during this period, younger staff acted as models so that Takahashi could establish which parts of the gods' bodies could be used as habitable and navigable environments in various poses.

[40] Takahashi's previous experiences with the Xenosaga games and Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, which had been called out for being old-fashioned when compared to other RPGs of the day, influenced his work in this regard.

[41] In addition to this, the number and length of cutscenes was cut down significantly from those present in the Xenosaga games, with Takahashi considering such a development method as having become a "dead end".

[47] When the team ran into difficulties, Takahashi went to Nintendo in a "deflated" state to suggest numerous means of meeting the game's projected deadline.

Takeda found working on the project more difficult than he initially anticipated: his standard writing form was for the anime series format, which was limited to episodes of 20–25 minutes.

[37] One of the early concepts Takeda suggested was that one of the main protagonist's party would betray them and become the final boss, but Takahashi rejected this idea as he felt it would run counter to player expectation.

[43] The music team was led by Shimomura, who was initially very confused by the odd naming of tracks, along with getting the opportunity of using sounds not normally used in compositions in her other projects, such as electric guitars.

[52][53] Kiyota had only previously done superficial work on video game titles; she accepted Dog Ear Records' offer for her to compose music.

According to him, the translated script needed to be altered as some lines came out as longer or shorter than the Japanese originals, and he was told to give Shulk a neutral British-accented voice.

Their efforts resulted in Xenoblade Chronicles becoming #1 in the site's pre-order gaming charts, beating The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D and the PlayStation 3 bundle for Call of Duty: Black Ops.

[81][82] It includes enhanced visuals, remastered music, an updated user interface, and other quality-of-life improvements, such as utilizing an art style and graphics similar to Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Despite this, critics cited the graphical downgrade and lackluster implementation of 3D effects as detrimental factors, generally resulting in lower scores for the port when compared to the original game.

[166] Investment banking firm Piper Jaffray estimated it to be one of the best-selling games in the United States during the month of April 2012, along with Mass Effect 3 and Prototype 2.

[173] Shulk has been featured as a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. crossover fighting game series, appearing in its Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Ultimate installments.

[175] By using experience gained during development of Xenoblade Chronicles and listening to feedback on the game, Takahashi and the team began work on a spiritual successor for the Wii U.

[176][177][178] A parallel story for the Nintendo Switch, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, was released worldwide in December 2017,[179][180] and Shulk and Fiora can appear as optional Blades to recruit via the DLC expansion pass.