Monolith Soft’s “X”: The Wii U’s Savior?

Where are the good games, Nintendo?

We know from news that the Wii U is struggling with sales because of its lack of available games and that Nintendo has not been able to keep up with its promise of a steady flow of first-party titles upon the Wii U’s launch. 

But that problem may soon be resolved.

Now, before you completely abandon the idea of ever wanting to own this crazy Nintendo console, I want to give you one last reason you may still consider picking one up in the future.

Presenting Monolith Soft

For those of you unfamiliar with this company, let me give you a little bit of insight.  Monolith Soft is a first-party Nintendo developer that was purchased by Nintendo in 2007. The company is famous for a number of its software titles, including the “Baiten Kaitos” and “Xenosaga” series.  Monolith Soft is also responsible for developing the critically acclaimed game, Xenoblade Chronicles. When you have a successful title that receives the “Best Game of the Year” award from several sources, I think it’s safe to say that Monolith Soft is a developer that knows what it’s doing.

The Newest Title, “X”

This unnamed title first made an appearance from the Nintendo Direct presentation back in January. Surfacing again from the latest broadcast during E3, this title has been creating a lot of hype around game forums even though very little is actually known about this game. What we do know is that X will be “an open-world role-playing game with a large scale map” and, as stated by Mr. Iwata in the presentation, “the player will ride in human shaped robots that appear in the trailer at certain points in the game” and even use them to “fly in the air and battle against enemies.”

You can read more about the details that are being speculated for the game in this Post Arcade article.

The minute long trailer is impressive; the game looks and sounds extremely appealing. In order to win over the hearts of many gamers disappointed with the Wii U, Monolith Soft need to make sure they don’t stray from these key points about the upcoming title..

1. Needs to have an open-world environment that isn’t stale.  The world needs to be life-like so players don’t feel like the experience is being dragged out for no reason.  We should feel compelled to explore the environment, otherwise, we will become bored and put the game down in a heartbeat.

2. Needs a good story. A good story + open world environment = the ultimate experience. Open worlds are attractive to people because they provide them with freedom, but they are unappealing to some because of the chances of feeling lost. An open world with a good story would solve this problem, because it would give players the freedom to explore under the condition of working towards a goal. This way, players can feel compelled to explore the environment knowing they have a purpose in the game without feeling like they’re running around aimlessly.

3. Needs to have the right amount of content. We want to see a map that’s appropriate to the content in the game.  Players shouldn’t feel overwhelmed by the size of the map or they may not be able to finish the game. Each area of the game should be created with a purpose, not because the developer has the technology to make them expansive. Exploration gives players a lot of options, so if they miss a key sidequest because they weren’t able to reach a portion of the map at the right time, it may be difficult to experience all the game has to offer.

4. Needs to have some co-op play. It’s difficult to tell from the trailers what the multiplayer options will be, but there’s definitely places in the gameplay where more than one player appears involved.  Let’s hope this means we can sit down with some friends and explore, battle, and fly around the environment in our mechs, because it’s always more fun when we can interact with others.

I’m excited to see what Monolith Soft has to offer, but we’re going to have to wait to find out! What do you hope to see in this new open-world RPG?