Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is an open world action role-playing game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. Released worldwide on December 1, 2017, it is the third installment in Xenoblade Chronicles and the seventh main entry in the Xeno series. Plans for the game began shortly before the launch of Xenoblade Chronicles X in 2014. Key developers from previous games returned, including franchise creator Tetsuya Takahashi, and directors Koh Kojima and Genki Yokota. The team wanted to develop a story-driven game in the style of the original Xenoblade Chronicles. The game was announced in 2017 with a worldwide release date planned for the same year. As with Xenoblade Chronicles, the game was localized by Nintendo of Europe.
In gameplay, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is similar to previous entries, but with an added summoning mechanic. It features a different setting and characters than the first Xenoblade Chronicles, and it marks the series' return to being story-driven, unlike the previous installment Xenoblade Chronicles X, which was focused on gameplay and open world exploration. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 takes place in Alrest, a world covered in a sea of clouds. Humans live on top of and inside large living creatures known as Titans. Some people known as Drivers can summon powerful beings known as Blades from crystals. After he is hired for a salvaging mission, a young salvager named Rex comes into contact with a legendary Blade named Pyra, indirectly becoming her Driver, and promises to take her to a fabled paradise called Elysium. Throughout their journey, Rex and his party are pursued by Torna, an organization set to take the power of Pyra for their own means.
