How Nintendo came to adore Xenoblade thanks to a fan movement
There has always been something intriguing about Xenoblade Chronicles. Thanks to director Tetsuya Takahashi's prior work on Xenogears, Chrono Trigger, and a few Final Fantasy titles, it has an unquestionable pedigree. Additionally, it only ever managed to carve out a little niche for itself among western audiences, mostly as a result of its Wii debut during Nintendo's family-friendly game wave.
However, it seems obvious today that Xenoblade is a popular Nintendo franchise. The fourth game is not just one of Nintendo's most anticipated single-player releases of the year, but it's also a high-end, console-exclusive RPG in a year lacking many of them. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 + Torna: The Golden Country, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition + Future Connected, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 all released after The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild but before its sequel, making it an essential component of the Switch library.
With XC2 and XCDE selling over four million copies combined, it is evident that the game is filling a need for Nintendo, and it seems to be effective. (Yes, those are not outrageous numbers—especially considering Nintendo (check out the 51 Clubhouse Games sales figures for a good laugh—I'm kidding, you can find them here; it's the 21st best-selling Switch game—but it is a testament to the success of the game, particularly since it adheres fairly closely to classic JRPG themes and mechanics).
How did we get here, though? What is the history of the Xenoblade franchise, and how has it altered and evolved? That's my purpose for being here. I had an opportunity to speak with a few members of Operation Rainfall, a fan movement that aimed to get the game released in America in the early 2010s. I asked them about the series, how it developed, and how much they believed they actually had in the original campaign to get it brought over.
Thunderstorm Operation
A group of fans on the IGN message boards started Operation Rainfall in 2011 with the goal of securing the American releases of Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower. Small forum discussions turned into social media sites, which then developed into a blog called Oprainfall.
A few months after the movement's founding, Oprainfall's longtime co-owner Richard Ross joined. "One thing led to another and suddenly I was part of the staff, and then one of three leaders," he adds, explaining his involvement in The Last Story. But why these games? What first drew this gang together?
Richard said that Xenoblade and The Last Story had a history of success ("how can you not release a game by the creator of Final Fantasy?"), and that Pandora's Tower "looked interesting, cool, and different," quoting one of Operation Rainfall's initial creators. Additionally, he perfectly summed up the significance of such games by saying that they "looked real good [sic] on a console starved for RPG content."
They had selected the games, but why did they believe they would be successful? Was it just emotional? Alright, no. These games were considerably more likely to succeed in the first place since they had previously been translated into English for a European release. People weren't asking Nintendo to translate a hundred-hour role-playing game from scratch—they had already done the job.
It's a bit more difficult to understand why Nintendo of America didn't want the game to be released; they even went so far as to prevent Nintendo of Europe from displaying the game at E3. Operation Rainfall's name came from their desire to put a stop to the lack of RPGs available on the system, but NoA never appeared to want to give up.
I believe it all boils back to the company's perception of its current position, which was to concentrate on producing user-friendly, family-friendly video games. Whose grandmother will like spending countless hours listening to "now it's Reyn time"? I can appreciate the choice that was made.
Operation Rainfall, on the other hand, continued unabated after departing from the IGN discussion boards and gained momentum gradually. Then, according to Steve Baltimore, a co-owner of the Oprainfall website today, things kind of "exploded." Baltimore joined the movement after it left the IGN forums and the Facebook page began to get some momentum "when the media started to pick the campaign up in articles."
The game was released online under the name Monado: Beginning of the World, and as a result, "we had wild growth when the gaming media was publishing articles about this Amazon pre-order page." Up until it was revealed, they "organized a customer service call-in and letter-writing campaigns for this game," and things only appeared to grow better and better from there. Sending cocktail swords to Nintendo in an envelope that resembled Shulk's Monado was another part of this letter-writing effort ("and I know that in fact, people did that"). Additionally, they encouraged customers to pre-order the game on Amazon, which helped it to top the rankings there. Subsequently, it continued to accumulate.
The people who joined the movement all shared a passion for Nintendo and role-playing games, leading Operation Rainfall to ensure that their methods were reasonable. "When the game was finally announced, we got a huge influx of new supporters," Steve said. "These new people were very helpful in helping us push to get The Last Story and Pandora's Tower subsequently released in North America by XSeed Games."
"We adhered to specific guidelines, like maintaining a positive image and refraining from discussing the campaign on posts where Nintendo highlights its charitable endeavors," Rich said. "It helped maintain the perception that we were merely Nintendo enthusiasts who wished to purchase games from them, rather than a fervent following that would boycott Nintendo until they obtained their demands."
Still, Rich claims that things weren't always simple. Actually, before Xenoblade was revealed, we were in the midst of ending the campaign. None of us wanted to continue working for as long as we were because we were all becoming exhausted and burned out. We were really motivated to continue when Xenoblade was shown, and it must have taken a lot of effort to coordinate a campaign like this while maintaining good relations between all parties (I can't picture it happening anymore).
Maintaining a positive attitude most likely also contributed to Nintendo's support during. Even though none of the people I spoke with at the time had any direct contact with Nintendo, according to Rich, there was one representative from Nintendo of Europe who basically told us to keep trying because we were getting recognized and they were rooting for us. I think I saw them once in the IRC saying "good job" when Xenoblade was unveiled. them's comforting to think that Nintendo of Europe is supporting them while Nintendo of America is ostensibly ignoring them.
Operation Rainfall was, according to all accounts, a good initiative that maintained optimism in the name of fantastic video games. However, to what extent did they really help bring the game to North America? Was Nintendo just hesitant at the time, avoiding an unproven IP until they saw how it was received in other areas? Or did they just want to wait until Operation Rainfall caused a stir before taking any action? That's when things start to get a little more contentious.
Rich said, "This is a contentious topic depending on who you ask. My personal opinion changes over time, but it stays the same that I don't think we had a major influence on its release in the US." "We provided the element of fan demand in the equation, but Nintendo decided whether or not it made financial sense to distribute the games.
To add to the controversy, I believe Xenoblade was always going to be released; they were simply trying to figure out how best to market it given that the Wii wasn't seen as a "hardcore" gaming system. Of the three games, Pandora's Tower is the one that, I believe, would not have been launched in the US without our help. I may be totally wrong, but I believe XSeed held off on purchasing The Last Story until after it released.
It was a bit different for Steve. Nintendo only knows if Operation Rainfall had any influence, but one thing is certain: it did contribute to the development of an extremely fervent community. "I would like to think Nintendo saw how many people were interested in having more core RPG titles on the Wii at a time when there wasn't a whole lot of them on the console, and so they decided to take a chance on releasing Xenoblade Chronicles in North America."
Additionally, Xenoblade Chronicles was a huge hit when it was released. The game debuted at number four in the UK charts in its first week, and although it's difficult to emphasize the positive reviews and numerous perfect ratings (it has a Metacritic rating of 92/100), the sales were equally strong. Unfortunately, there is no clear sales data available for the US. Their perseverance had paid off; they were able to get the game, and it was excellent. However, the narrative does not finish there.
Alrest and Mira
Many series suffered as a result of the Wii U's relative failure. While critical praise is wonderful and all, financial success can only be mediocre if you're saddled with a platform that only sold thirteen million copies over its existence. Additionally, Xenoblade Chronicles X, the series' following game, was relatively successful. Although it didn't show up on Nintendo's million-seller list at the time, it did sell 200k copies in the US, which was a great performance for a platform that not many people purchased.
However, a tiny player base makes it difficult to maintain a series, therefore Nintendo's successful system launch was crucial in encouraging Monolith Soft to develop another role-playing game for it. And they succeeded in doing so with the Nintendo Switch, which has now sold over 100 million copies.
Everyone knows that games on the Switch are a big seller. The discrepancy is striking when comparing the 26.55 million copies of Breath of the Wild that were sold to the ten million copies of The Last of Us Part II, for example. There are a ton of games that people purchase for this platform. And Xenoblade was in dire need of it. (And sure, it is a fair comparison: two platforms that have sold over 100 million copies each have each produced ten out of ten exclusive games).
In December 2017, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was released, precisely matching the Nintendo Switch's triumphant debut. It transports you to the realm of Alrest, where humans live on the backs of enormous animals that traverse the sea of clouds. Despite the fact that Xenoblade fans may find it to be something of a polarizing game, 2.17 million copies were sold in its first year of release.
It is not just the best-selling game ever made by Monolith Soft, but it also demonstrated the value of the Xenoblade series. Unlike Final Fantasy games, which transport us back to the realm of the original game, XC2 is a sequel. It's an entirely different universe, with brand new characters, as Tetsuya Takahashi said to IGN. The game is different.
Thus, on its own, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 significantly advanced the franchise, as Takahashi explicitly said in an interview with USgamer in 2018: "Xenoblade Chronicles 2 exceeded my expectations." The number of players that picked up and played the game in North America and Europe was actually more than we anticipated. Additionally, the sales of the Torna DLC are surpassing our projections.
Rich and Steve agree that the series has improved as well. Rich said, "I still adore it and I attribute the game's help in giving me confidence in my endeavors, so they hold a special place in my heart." Steve, on the other hand, believes that "the Xenoblade Chronicles franchise just gets better with every entry."
Not only did these individuals play a pivotal role in creating a fandom for this series, but they have also stuck with it through thick and thin. "Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and the Torna: The Golden Country DLC improved the combat from the first game, and I loved how all of the various blades had their own stories to tell."
However, a lot of players were turned off by the sequel. They complained about the excessive amount of lessons (I know that even after 20 hours of play, there are still pop-up tutorials), the challenging fighting, and the occasionally obvious plot. If you approach the game in a certain manner, these complaints are reasonable since the game is clearly not meant for everyone.
Therefore, even if I believe that XC2 and Torna represent the pinnacle of the series, many others disagree. Even a quick search on Twitter reveals a plethora of debates on which book in the series is the greatest, indicating that the series still has a sizable following. However, it also shows that the series hasn't achieved its pinnacle and hasn't had its ideal moment. Not at least not yet.
Aionios now
On July 29, 2022, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will be released. That is not too far off, and based on our Xenoblade Chronicles 3 review, it seems that it may do what the series hasn't yet accomplished—it may be flawless. It's simply too difficult to describe, but it is very nice.
The primary difference is that every indication from Nintendo now looks completely different from what it did when Operation Rainfall was limited to message boards. It has devoted whole directs to the last two games in the series, allowed the reveal of XC3 to serve as the "one more thing" in a mainstream direct, and shown a significant level of devotion for the franchise.
Can it expand beyond its current state, is the question. The series hasn't fared as well as similarly specialized Nintendo games like Fire Emblem: Three Houses, but it has sold more than other conventional RPGs like Shin Megami Tensei V so far. This kind of ambition in a game seems like it should be able to do much more. Will it achieve a Breath of the Wild-like effect and propel the franchise into the exclusive Nintendo territory?
This is the finest shot in the series thus far, but it's difficult to anticipate. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 aims to blend everything that fans missed about the first game—such as the more subdued character designs and the absence of gacha mechanics—with everything that was unquestionably excellent about the prior game, namely combat and exploration.
However, it isn't exactly the primary lesson I learned from Nintendo's preview of the newest game. The series' progress is what most surprises me, and it speaks volumes about Nintendo's transformation. Nintendo has evolved during the last 10 years. Previously, the corporation had said that it would not release a Xenoblade game in North America. Now, however, one is allowed to be the top title in its catalog.
I like to believe that Operation Rainfall shouldn't be necessary again. Do you recall when Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light was localized by Nintendo? That was unexpected, which Nintendo aficionados found rather amusing. It demonstrates how Nintendo has evolved into a business that recognizes the diversity of its customer base from a corporation that was so fixated on family-friendly games that it opted to overlook others. This corporation has the capacity to simultaneously sell millions of copies of 51 Clubhouse Games and a very complex role-playing game.
For anybody participating in the early days of Operation Rainfall, it would have seemed unthinkable that Xenoblade would have such a large following as it does now. It doesn't really matter whether they're the reason the series is available in North America; they play a significant role in the narrative of how Xenoblade Chronicles grew to be a beloved title on Nintendo's library. Simply said, I'm relieved that the show seems to be here to stay.