I'm really feeling this port!
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/hands-on-preview/39410/hands-on-with-xenoblade-chronicles-3d
Considering that gamers had to practically beg Nintendo to bring Xenoblade Chronicles on Wii stateside, I was actually shocked when I learned that the 3DS port of the game was announced during the same presentation that we learned of the New Nintendo 3DS XL's North American release date. Not only that, but the game was also playable at Nintendo's press event yesterday, and I'm happy to report that the game is an extremely faithful version of the original game... mostly.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is just that: Xenoblade Chronicles in 3D. Aside from taking advantage of the 3D display and the New 3DS XL's C-Stick, It is the exact same game as it was on the Wii. The game looks about on-par with the Wii version, albeit at a lower resolution. The demo I played basically dumped me in the middle of one of the massive fields early on in the game, and just gave me free reign to explore and fight enemies. The gameplay felt pretty much the same as it did on the Wii, however there was one thing that annoyed me: selecting my attacks.
On the Wii, I felt like it was easy to move around, attack, and select attacks at the same time using the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, since the analog stick and D-Pad could be accessed via both my thumbs at the same time. On the New 3DS XL, the Circle Pad and D-Pad are on the same side, so I would have to choose between moving and selecting attacks, which left me extremely vulnerable to attack. I couldn't find a way to switch the method of selecting attacks, so hopefully it's an option that I overlooked in the demo, and will be included in the final release.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3D launches exclusively on the New 3DS XL in North America in April.