Monolith Soft
The development cycle of the "Xenosaga" games was troubled: after the first game commercially underperformed, the development staff was changed, the proposed six-part series was cut down by half, and the second installment shifted focus from its story to its gameplay. After outcry, the third game shifted again in an attempt to balance story and gameplay while bringing the "Xenosaga" story to a close. After the failure of "Xenosaga", staff at Monolith Soft were in a state of low morale. During the development of "", Takahashi was struck with the idea of setting a game on the bodies of two frozen gods. After constructing a concept model for it with another member of staff, Monolith Soft began development. While originally intended to be an original title called "Monado: The Beginning of the World", Nintendo's then-CEO Satoru Iwata had the title changed to reflect Takahashi's previous games and hard work on the title, bringing the new game into the "Xeno" series. Working within deliberate restrictions and moving away from the previous cutscene-heavy style of "Xenogears", Monolith Soft worked hard to make the game a balance between gameplay and story. For "Xenoblade Chronicles X", the developers focused on the gameplay aspect, in particular creating an open world and online elements within a new set of self-imposed restrictions.