Review #615: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Torna the Golden Country

 500 years ago before Xenoblade 2... it's almost like going back to the '90s!

 Torna - The Golden Country was the last piece of DLC released for Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and it was so big that it also received a physical release. You don't need to own the original game to play it, but it's better if you do, considering this release is pretty much a prequel, detailing what happened 500 years before Rex met Pyra. Originally supposed to be fit between chapters 7 and 8, The Golden Country is an excellent companion to the original game, and considering how much it spoils, it's better played after finishing the main game, at least on your first playthrough.

 Told through bits and pieces of flashbacks in the main game, Torna follows the story of Lorna and her Blade, Jin, as they get embroiled in Addam's quest to defeat Malos. Lora, Addam and Hugo are much more entertaining characters than the ones from the main game... even if they are still walking anime tropes. Jin, Brighid, Mythra, Minoth, Haze and Aureon are the only blades in the game, so they receive much more focus and development than they got on the first game(Well, except Jin and Mythra I guess) so they feel much more like characters rather than just tools. All in all, it's a fun cast of characters, and the story is a bit more interesting than the one in the original release. That said, it's a much shorter game, clocking around 20 hours or so, as opposed to the massive 100 hours of the first game. Character development isn't hampered by that, as they focused on more meaningful exchanges. As a whole? The story lacks the grandeur of the first game, but I felt it followed a more interesting cast of characters, so I'd put it a notch above XBC2.

 The game plays pretty much identical to the first game, but it received a few tweaks and additions that make it a much more fun experience. The lootbox-Blade mechanics have been scrapped entirely, now you get three Drivers with a set two blades each. Developing characters works just as it did: XP to level up, WP to strengthen your attacks and AP to upgrade your affinity charts in order to obtain passive abilities, while Blades' Affinity Charts are filled by fulfilling certain goals. Combat, however, is more dynamic and fun than it's ever been.

 At its core it's the same as it used to be, auto-attacks recharge special moves which in turn recharge super moves, you can inflict Break, Topple, Launch, etc on enemies and you can link together Super Moves in order to produce even stronger super moves. What has changed... is that now you can take direct control of your blades. When the Cooldown expires, you can swap between driver and blade, thus restoring lost 'red' health on your health bar, and tagged-in characters land with an special move and have their basic special moves completely cooled down. This way you are encouraged to switch between characters mid-battle... or you could just sacrifice your read health to use the new Talent Arts, which trade recoverable red health for buffs! What's more, all 9 characters now have 3 other special moves that they automatically use when they are in a support role. Combat is faster than ever, and requires more input, it's a blast! It's also a bit more strategic, in the previous game I just had Nia played by the AI constantly swapping between her three healing blades in order to heal the party, that won't work here. You are coaxed into performing the full Break-to-Smash cycle in order to make Health potions appear, and since I was playing as Team Lorna(Jin, Haze) I had to double as DPS with Jin and Lorna, but toggle to Haze in order to heal when it was required, which was a necessity since Haze is the only healing blade in the game. If you enjoyed battling in the main game, you'll love it here.

 The game's size has been understandably reduced, you'll only visit two Titans in this game: Gormoth and Torna. Gormoth is a bit smaller than it was in the main game, while Torna is as large as the largest Titan in the main game, like Uraya or Mor Ardain. Spread throughout the land are new Campfires, in these you can spend XP earned through sidequests, talk between party members, for character development, and craft various foods or accessories with the material you've gathered. These are a neat commodity, since they are more plentiful than inns, so that you can spend all the XP you've earned from quests and overlevel your party.

 The game lasts about 20 hours, but, sadly, it's due to a terrible design choice. You can't finish the game without completing over 50% of the sidequests in the game. Locking the main story behind optional content has been a deemed a poor design choice since times immemorial, this game released in 2018, they've no excuse. There's a lot of sidequests, and that's great, but not when you are forced to do it. The story moves swimmingly until you get to a point where everything is brought to a halt, end of the world be damned, and you have to 'calm the population' by fulfilling sidequests. I was having fun doing as many quests as I could as I went along, but this forceful stop to the plot is so jarring, putting a nasty blemish to a game that was proving itself to be such a nice addition.

 Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Torna the Golden Country is an excellent companion piece to the first release, but it also works great as a stand-alone release. The fact that it lasts 20 hours, as opposed to the 100+ of the original game makes it more replayable and manageable. I'm confident recommending the game, just be forewarned that you'll be forced to spend a few hours doing menial tasks if you plan to see the story all the way to the end.
8.0 out of 10