Xenoblade Chronicles X releases in Japan tomorrow. Ahead of the release, Iwata Asks interviewed some of the developers behind the game, and got some info on the game’s multiplayer.
In an Iwata Asks interview, the question of why online features were added to Xenoblade Chronicles X was brought up. Nintendo’s Genki Yokota answers: “I believe that RPGs in general are made to play alone. But this time, we felt that playing all alone in an open-world environment might feel a bit lonely…So, to make the atmosphere of the world livelier, we thought that it would be better to add an online mode so players can feel connected.” He continues: “So we decided to focus on creating an online RPG where players will be ‘loosely connected,’ and not feel afraid to play.”
Xenoblade Chronicles X director Koh Kojima then explains what “loosely connected” means: “So, we focused on creating an online experience where players won’t directly interact with each other, but can feel the presence of other people playing the same game.” Yokota continues: “If the Wii U console is connected to the Internet, the game will automatically connect online…Each game connects with up to 32 players randomly, including the main player. Most of the time, you will not see other players or what they are doing, even if they’re in the same field… if a player defeats an enemy and gets an item they don’t want, they can offer to give that item to another player who is connected with them.”
Yokota then continues: “And sometimes, there are random missions assigned to the 32 players who are connected, such as ‘Go defeat 10 bugs!’ and ‘Go gather 10 pieces of fruit!’…And if the mission is completed, a reward goes out to everyone connected…If players clear missions like these, sometimes a special mission like a boss battle is activated. This is the only time when up to four players can actually connect and complete a mission together…Connecting loosely with other players isn’t troublesome, but feeling the presence of other players online won’t make you lonely. So I hope players won’t be afraid to try this feature out.”
Xenoblade Chronicles X will release in Japan on April 29th, and around the globe sometime in 2015. The game will release on the Wii U. You can check out the rest of the interview here.
What do you think of Xenoblade Chronicles X’s multiplayer? Let us know below.