Ranking the Xenoblade Chronicles games, from best to worst

We’ve ranked plenty of Nintendo franchises in the past, but today we’re ranking a particularly difficult one: Xenoblade Chronicles. Just about all of its games are of top-notch quality, and even the lowest-ranking titles in the franchise are still well worth your time. So today, we’re taking on the difficult challenge of ranking every single game in the Xenoblade Chronicles series from “least best” to best.

If you’ve got your own personal rankings of each game, we’d also encourage you to share that with us in the comments down below. We’ll be mentioning some light spoilers here and there, so keep that in mind in case you’re trying to avoid spoilers for any of the Xenoblade games. We’re also only going to rank the definitive version of each game, which means Xenoblade Chronicles 3D and the original Xenoblade Chronicles X won’t be on the list.

7. Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected

At the very bottom of our list is Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected, the epilogue story included with Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. To be clear, even though it’s at the bottom of the list, Future Connected isn’t bad. At the end of the day, it’s a free-ish add-on that came with a full remaster of the original game. It takes place a little while after the base game, and focuses on Shulk and Melia fighting against Fogbeasts, a new threat to the world of the Bionis. It’s much shorter than your average Xenoblade title, and the combat lacks Chain Attacks, unlike the base game. Some players mention that the villains are exceedingly weak or forgettable, and we’d be inclined to agree – Fogbeasts eventually tied into Xenoblade Chronicles 3 to a small extent, but no one was really able to make sense of what they were when Future Connected first released. It’s a nice little wrap-up to Xenoblade Chronicles’ story, but as far as Xenoblade games go it ultimately isn’t anything too special.

6. Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is a fantastic and in-depth remaster of the original game. It adds a huge number of quality-of-life changes to the original experience, which makes it feel refreshingly playable in the modern day. That said, the game is much different than any of the numbered Xenoblade Chronicles titles. Whereas those titles are story-driven, that’s not the case at all for Xenoblade Chronicles X. You’ll get some cutscenes now and then, but for the most part you’ll be completing side quests and basic missions. Xenoblade X is focused on exploration, and it has an absolutely massive open world to explore in the form of planet Mira. At first, you’ll have to explore it on foot – but eventually, you gain access to Skells, giant robots that let you traverse the land much faster. You can eventually unlock flight for your Skell, which completely opens up the game and lets you fly around freely. The occasional lack of direction is a definite negative, plus the fact that many early quests are littered with extremely high-leveled monsters that will squash you in an instant. Moreover, many players love Xenoblade for its stories, and X’s plot is definitely the weakest in the whole franchise (other than Future Connected). Still, Xenoblade Chronicles X is a good game for anyone who likes Xenoblade or Monster Hunter or anything of a similar genre.

5. Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Many players would rank Xenoblade Chronicles 2 at the very top of their list, and that’s completely understandable. Xenoblade 2’s story starts out slow, but when it gets going, it really gets going. By the end of the game, you’ve got an absolutely fantastic story full of great characters and character moments. The combat is tough to understand without YouTube guides, which is a definite failing of the game’s tutorial system, but when you get a handle on how it works, battling powerful opponents becomes incredibly satisfying. There’s a huge amount of side content, plenty of DLC, difficulty options, and some of the best music in all of gaming.

However, it was also Monolith Soft’s first Nintendo Switch game. As a result, it’s extremely blurry and low-quality on handheld, and the performance occasionally chugs as well. That being said, a Nintendo Switch 2 remake of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 would absolutely shoot it up to the very top of the list. Slightly enhanced graphics, a big resolution boost, and a frame rate increase would all make this game much more playable. And while we’re at it, why not remove or rework field skills? Some players also took issue with the Merc Missions, the lack of proper tutorials, and the Blade gacha system, but all of these could easily be adjusted or reworked for a remake. A Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 likely wouldn’t address all of these flaws – but imagine a full remake that also includes a postgame story kind of like Future Connected, possibly explaining how Nia becomes queen by the time the third game happens. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a great game, and it has the potential to be the best game in the series – it just needs a little touch-up to give it that last push. I can’t understate here, by the way – Future Connected and Xenoblade Chronicles X are, in my opinion, the only games in the franchise that falter a bit. Every other Xenoblade game is absolutely excellent, and this one is no exception.

4. Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country

Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s DLC campaign is a prequel to the main story, and it fixes a good number of issues present in the base game. Generally speaking, the voice acting has a better sense of direction, the performance is a little better, and there are much better tutorials. It’s also a lot shorter, but sometimes a shorter Xenoblade game can be a refreshing change of pace – especially given how long base Xenoblade 2 is! As usual, the characters here are excellent, and you grow to like them very quickly – which is a shame, because if you played the base game first, you know what happens to them in the end. The whole thing winds up feeling bittersweet, then, but it’s still a solid gameplay experience with refined combat and better visuals. A definite must-play for fans of the series, but not an essential one – most of the events that happen in this DLC are covered in short form in the base game, so if you skip it you won’t be missing too much in terms of story.

3. Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is an excellent remaster of the original Wii title. It gives the game a much-needed graphical facelift – the characters have received a lot more detail and expressiveness, which itself goes a long way in making the game look modern. Just about all of the already-excellent music was redone, too, but you can go back to the original soundtrack if you happen to prefer it. Remake changes aside, the original Xenoblade Chronicles still has a fantastic story and great characterization. It’s the best place to start if you’re looking to get into the series for the first time, and given that the remake released in 2020, you should be able to get it for under MSRP if you check second-hand resale sites. The Definitive Edition comes with Future Connected, which is ranked last on our list – like we said, that doesn’t mean it’s bad! If anything, it should be seen as more of a free bonus of sorts.

2. Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a huge adventure that ties the worlds of the Bionis and Alrest together for the first time ever (we don’t count the Nopon Archsage in Xenoblade Chronicles 2). The game’s combat, story, and graphical performance are all top-notch, marking an extremely impressive technical feat for Monolith Soft. Xenoblade 3’s fifth chapter is an incredible turning point for the story, serving as one of the most memorable Nintendo moments in recent history. The voice acting is great, the characters are great – just about everything is, really. This is absolutely one of the greatest JRPGs of all time, and it’s cemented the Xenoblade series as an absolute must-play among Nintendo fans. While you can technically play Xenoblade 3 first, you’ll be a bit confused later on in the game. It’s best to play them in numbered order if at all possible.

1. Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed

And then we have Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s DLC, Future Redeemed – which is absolutely one of the best DLCs Nintendo has ever put out, if not the best one outright. The Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Expansion Pack costs around $30, and includes a bunch of new quests and characters for the base game. It also comes with a 40-hour love letter to Xenoblade that includes plenty of returning characters while beautifully wrapping up the story of the trilogy. Some players felt like the ending and villains of the base game were a bit weak, but Future Redeemed fills in all of those gaps and creates one of the greatest stories in JRPG history. It’s got solid combat, plenty of content, and a few big areas to explore within Aionios that weren’t in the base game. With all of that said, it’s extremely important that Future Redeemed is the last game you play in the Xenoblade saga. It contains major spoilers for the first three games, so you’ll be very confused if this is the first one you play!

What do you think is the best Xenoblade Chronicles game? Do you agree with our list, or do you have an entirely different ranking? Feel free to share in the comments down below. If you’re interested in playing the series for the first time, we’d recommend starting with Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (not X, which is almost entirely separate from the numbered trilogy).