Description
Howdy Folks! There's never been a better time to be a fan of the Xenoblade Chronicles series. If you own a Nintendo Switch or a Nintendo Switch 2, you have access to not just the entire franchise, but the best version of every game in the franchise.
But if you're new to the series, you might not be sure where to start or what order to play the games through in, and that's pretty reasonable. At first glance, it might not seem that complicated.
I mean, a number of the games have numbers in the titles! Then you dig a little deeper and realize that two of the games are called Xenoblade Chronicles 2. And one of them doesn't even have a number. It's just got a letter in the title. What is that all about?
Well, don't worry because I'm here for you. And as someone who has played through all of the games, I think I know the best order to play them in.
Xenoblade Chronicles's definitive edition is the beginning of the series, and definitive edition on the Switch is the best version of that game. With definitive edition, there is a bonus story called Future Connected. Play the game, play the base game, and then play Future Connected.
Once you're finished with definitive edition and Future Connected, you move on to Xenoblade Chronicles 2 – my personal favorite in the series. Now, this game also has a DLC, and even though it is a prequel, you're going to want to play Torna the Golden Country after playing Zenoblade Chronicles 2.
Once you're finished with Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Torna the Golden Country, you move on to Xenoblade Chronicles 3. It also has a DLC. And, like Torna, it is a prequel. But, also like Torna, you want to play it after the base game.
Now we have what was, until very recently, the odd duck of the franchise. For the longest time, Xenoblade Chronicles X stood apart from the trilogy as its own story, kind of unconnected from everything else. But, with the release of Definitive Edition in 2025, Monolith Soft directly tied this game in to every game that came before it. I think that everything referenced in the new post-game chapter 13 really does work better if you're going in with a full understanding of the trilogy that preceded it.
So once again, in quick summary, you're going to want to start with Xenoblade Chronicles's Definitive Edition, and after finishing the base game, play through the Future Connected DLC, then you're going to want to move on to Xenoblade Chronicles 2, after which you can play the DLC Torna the Golden Country. After that, you can play Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and once you finish with its base story, go ahead and play through the DLC Future Redeemed, and then end on Xenoblade Chronicles X.
#howdyfolks #xenobladechronicles #xenoblade #nintendo #switch2 #monolithsoft