How to change the time of day and why in Xenoblade Chronicles
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Wibbley, wobbley, timey, wimey.
While plenty of games incorporate time of day visually into gameplay, the time of day makes a significant difference in Xenoblade Chronicles. You can just wait until a later time to accomplish things that aren't available during your current game's time, but you can also change the time within the game - and it's a lot easier than in Animal Crossing!
Why does time of day matter?
In the world of Bionis, the time of day has a couple of significant impacts on gameplay. The monsters you encounter, for example, will be much stronger at night time than during the day. Likewise, some species of monsters, like Vangs, are mostly nocturnal. If the quest you are trying to complete requires hunting specific monsters, you may find you cannot complete it at your current time. The NPCs you interact with will also have schedules. If you are trying to complete a quest that requires talking to a specific NPC, you can only do so during that NPC's active hours.
Changing the time
In Xenoblade Chronicles, one minute passes for every second in real time. This means your days go really fast - 24 minutes to be precise. However, if all of your current quests involve NPC's who aren't active, you may want to just skip ahead, rather than wait until the NPCs you need are active again.
Press X to open the Main Menu.
Using the left joystick or D-pad, scroll down to Change Time.
Press A to select Change Time.
Using the left joystick or the D-pad, move the clock to the target time.
Press A to confirm the change.
NPC's active hours can be as brief as several minutes or nearly all day, so it's not as simple as just changing to day or night, like you would for hunting specific monsters.
NPC active hours
Before you change time to find a specific NPC, it helps to know when that NPC is active. Fortunately, even if you don't remember when it was the last time you spoke to that NPC, the Affinity Chart keeps track of every NPC's location and active hours. To access the Affinity Chart, follow these steps:
Press X to open the Main Menu.
Using the left joystick or D-pad, scroll down to Affinity Chart.
Press A to select Affinity Chart.
Using the left joystick or D-pad, place the circle over the area you wish to check.
Press A to select the area.
Using the left joystick or D-pad, scroll down to the NPC you wish to know more about.
Press ZL for a character's profile.
Every named NPC you speak to will be added to the list, and will also appear on the Affinity Chart: Settlements. While the latter is useful for seeing connections between NPCs, the list is easier to navigate. In each character's profile, you will find their general location, more specific usual spot, and hours of activity, as well as less useful personal information.
Questions?
Do you have any questions about changing the time, or figuring out when NPCs are active? Drop us a comment below, and be sure to check out our other Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition guides so you can unlock the secrets of the Monado!