Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s Torna – The Golden Country is a prequel to the main game that has become one of the best pieces of DLC ever created. It is a sprawling, game-sized piece of story content that does way more than anyone expected. Although it is a bite-sized slice of a delicious cake, it is a fantastic encapsulation of what a Xenoblade game is. It is much like The Witcher 3’s Blood and Wine and Hearts of Stone; it feels unfair to call it just DLC. It is at least 15 hours long, but if you get sucked into the world – and it’s a Xenoblade game, so you will – you’ll likely spend about 25 hours there. Not a moment of the story is wasted, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s Blade-based battle system is simplified but also tweaked so it still has its own identity. Add in a new Titan in Torna itself, and plenty of familiar faces, and you have a “game” packed full of lore for series fans.
An Emotional Thread Weaved into Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s Narrative
In Torna – The Golden Country, even though you know what’s going to happen, it’s hard not to choke up as you watch the Tornan Titan being torn asunder, or empathise with Jin as he loses what’s dearest to him. Torna – The Golden Country is an emotional thread weaved into Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s narrative and enhances the story of that game monumentally. It’s a snapshot of what is a hugely ambitious series and game, making what often looks impenetrable or inaccessible a little bit easier to jump into. The smaller scope of Torna – The Golden Country makes it less intimidating, then, and it’s no less ‘Xenoblade’ because of it.
What Could Future Redeemed Bring to the Xenoblade Series?
Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed, the story DLC to last year’s Xenoblade Chronicles 3, is coming soon, and it feels like we’re at a pretty momentous point in the Xenoblade series right now. Future Redeemed has the potential to be brilliant, but it has to live up to Torna’s reputation. It’s billed as a “completely original story [that] tells a yet untold tale connecting all three of the main games in the Xenoblade Chronicles series,” so it may need to establish a few more things than Torna did. But as long as it focuses on the characters, their interactions, and the emotional and human core that makes the Xenoblade series tick for many people, it could equally push Xenoblade Chronicles 3 to new heights.
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