The script was worked on by Takahashi, anime writer Yuichiro Takeda, and Nintendo writer Yurie Hattori. Development began in 2007 under the title Monado: The Beginning of the World, though it was eventually rebranded with its current title in honor of Takahashi's previous work. The concept for Xenoblade Chronicles originated in June 2006 when the game's executive director and lead writer, Tetsuya Takahashi, visualized and then constructed a model of two giant titans frozen in place with people living on their bodies. During an attack on his colony, the main protagonist Shulk discovers his ability to wield the Monado and sets out on a quest for revenge with his best friend, Reyn, with others joining in as the game progresses. Key to the Homs' efforts in fighting against the Mechon army is the Monado, a sword that is said to have been wielded by the Bionis. The people of Bionis, including the human-like Homs, are in a perpetual war with the Mechon machine race of Mechonis. Xenoblade Chronicles takes place on the frozen bodies of two warring titans, the Bionis and the Mechonis. The game features navigation through an open world split into zones, side-quests tied to party members' affinity, and a real-time action-based battle system which incorporates the main character's ability to see brief glimpses of the future. Although no direct narrative connections exist to previous Xeno games, it incorporates aesthetic and narrative elements from both fantasy and science fiction.
Xenoblade Chronicles is the first entry in the Xenoblade Chronicles series, a subseries which forms part of the larger Xeno metaseries. A port for the New Nintendo 3DS was released in 2015, and a remake for the Nintendo Switch was released in May 2020. Initially released in Japan in 2010, it was later released in the PAL regions in 2011 and then in North America in 2012. Xenoblade Chronicles is an open world action role-playing game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for the Wii.