This third title in Monolith Soft’s Xenoblade Chronicles series is the most Japanese-leaning to date, the developer having successfully fused design elements from western MMOs and JRPGs over the past eight years. The art direction has gone unashamedly full anime, discarding the sombre palettes and realistic proportions of past entries. The characters wear their emotions delightfully and this more emotive visual style ties neatly into the newfound focus on cinematic storytelling.

Though far more scripted, it’s still an experience driven by exploration, and as usual, delivers big on scale and spectacle, pushing its host hardware beyond expectations. The battle system is the zenith of the genre: intuitive, yet vastly complex and customisable. Every element in the game from economy to levelling and collecting combines work to form a perfect symbiosis. This is a lavish, beautiful, full-fat JRPG experience, and a perfect bookend to a phenomenal first year for Nintendo’s hybrid console.