Unconditional Love

Unconditional love – can such a thing really exist? And if it exists, how could this feeling be described? Can we find words for it? Explaining just love seems impossible. It is irrational and it doesn’t follow any logic. Much has been philosophized about it and yet there is no universal answer. The world formula for love remains an equation with many unknowns – and its result is always inaccurate.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 still tries it in spite of the gloomy outlook. And although it collects a lot of kitsch aka sob stuff, Monolith Soft succeeds in making the inaccurate description more precise. It starts with an unconditional love between a blade and its master. However, it is a very unequal love. While blades awaken from their crystalline state through contact with a human being, serving him alone and having no doubts about his actions, humans are free in their love. Some people also fall in love with their blades and regard them as equal partners. Others see in them only a tool.

This theme of unconditional love runs like a red thread through the whole game. But a very special love ignites between a hero with a childlike heart and an extraordinary blade with the power to destroy all life on earth. His unspoiled purity and her own will make them the untypical exception in the balance of power between humans and blades.

When he is murdered behind his back right at the beginning of the game, she shares her life with him because she feels that he is different. And without actually being aware of her power, he promises to take her to a legendary place – Elysium – at her request. He too does this without imposing any conditions. But he is aware of the chance to save his dying world so that no one has to live in fear anymore. And he is willing to give everything for this. It is an exchange of roles between human and blade, which here symbolically also takes place between the male hero and the female blade or the childlike and the adult character.

It’s a very special encounter quite at the beginning, but its real meaning only becomes clear many, many hours later. Then, however, this message can be seen quite clearly. It shows itself in so many ways and through so many facets that Xenoblade Chronicles can almost be understood as a compendium about love. I was deeply moved by it. Love is possible. And true love is always unconditional.

However, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 still leaves us with one question. Nature knows instincts, but in which garden does love grow?


Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a role-playing game from Monolith Soft for Nintendo Switch from 2017. It is more inspired by the acclaimed Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Switch) than by its direct predecessor Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U). All three role-playing games share a fantastic, open world and complex game mechanics.

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