As one of the final few titles trapped behind Wii U exclusivity, the announcement of Xenoblade Chronicles X's Switch port was a welcome surprise for fans. Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition marks the arrival of the entire Xenoblade saga under the Switch's umbrella, and it's also what's likely to be one of the last of many Wii U games to receive a port to Nintendo's hybrid console. But like other Wii U ports to the Switch, which have had to make some changes to their controls thanks to the Wii U's GamePad, Xenoblade Chronicles X will need to overcome some common pitfalls of other Wii U ports to earn its Definitive Edition title.

Some of the more prominent first-party titles to make their way from the Wii U to the Switch, such as Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze or Super Mario 3D World, are titles that successfully made the leap from one console generation to the next thanks to their mostly standard control schemes. But other Wii U titles that relied heavily on the Wii U's GamePad for their controls (particularly, games like Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker or The Wonderful 101) look and perform better on the Switch at the cost of losing some of their original functionality. Xenoblade Chronicles X will need to tread carefully to avoid similar pitfalls.

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Every Remaining Wii U Exclusive Missing from the Switch After Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Explained

Xenoblade Chronicles X is finally being freed from its Wii U prison, but a lot of games are still trapped on Nintendo's legacy console.

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How Xenoblade Chronicles X Utilized the Wii U's Unique Features

Like some of the other best Wii U exclusives, Xenoblade Chronicles X made great use of the Wii U's GamePad controller as a second screen for a variety of functions in both single and multiplayer. The most significant of these is the GamePad's function as an ongoing, dynamic map of the game's world, Mira, which includes being able to pull up and quickly teleport from one Fast Travel point to another. Players could also use the GamePad to adjust their characters' equipment and read through messages, which will presumably all need to be handled through in-game menus in the upcoming Definitive Edition release on Switch.

The early footage for Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition makes it immediately apparent how the game's visuals and performance are vastly improved in the Switch port, but without getting hands on a Switch running the game, it remains impossible to truly gauge how the Definitive Edition release will handle some of the GamePad-specific functions from the original Wii U release. Xenoblade Chronicles X is also far from the only Wii U title to utilize the GamePad as a second screen for menu and UI management, but there's yet to be a Switch port of a Wii U title that has figured out a way for that functionality to successfully translate to Nintendo's current-gen hardware.

Considerations the Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition Port Will Need to Bear In Mind

The arrival of Xenoblade Chronicles X on Switch is a net positive, especially considering Monolith Soft founder Tetsuya Takahashi's vocal interest in bringing the game to the console. In addition to its improved visuals and performance, Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition promises to include new story content and other quality-of-life additions, but it remains to be seen how the Switch port will handle the game's Wii U control scheme.

For every Wii U title ported to the Switch that improves over the original release, there are games like Pikmin 3, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, and Mario Maker that players prefer their original versions. Most of Xenoblade Chronicles X's GamePad functionality boils down to elements that can be handled by menus, but that didn't need to make playing the original Wii U version a more satisfying experience in terms of its pacing and efficiency.

One of the main considerations the Definitive Edition should make is assigning actions that were previously handled by the Wii U GamePad's touch screen to hotkeys, using either single or tandem button inputs. Overcoming common pitfalls of some other Wii U-to-Switch ports could justify Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition's title and make its long-awaited release a cause for celebration without caveat.