That’s not really a problem considering this is an expansion, and if you’ve played Xenoblade 2 you’ll know the sad places this story is bound to go.

While you theoretically could jump into Torna without having played the base game, the emotional weight behind the story really is meant for players that already have the knowledge of Xenoblade 2’s story. A bunch of familiar faces pop up in Torna like Brighid, Aegaeon, and Mythra, but the relationship between Lora and Jin, in particular, is heavily explored by this story. The expansion follows the hero Addam, and the band of allies that fought against the main villain of the main game, Malos, as he tried to destroy the world. Torna takes place 500 years before the start of Xenoblade 2 and focuses on a vital piece of history touched on here and there in the main story. There are a few issues that crop up during the experience, but as a whole the expansion manages to be a fitting, emotional end to the story told in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

All these elements are present in Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s new expansion, Torna – The Golden Age, but everything is simplified for a more succinct, streamlined experience. That was until Xenoblade Chronicles 2 released, providing a sweeping narrative, gorgeous anime art style, phenomenal soundtrack, and a delightfully complex combination of gameplay systems. When The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild launched in 2017, I thought it would absolutely be my favorite Switch game of the year.

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