Nintendo have released new footage from their upcoming sci-fi RPG, Xenoblade Chronicles X. You can watch the video above.

It’s a look at planet Mirai itself, and the way that time and weather affect it. According to the official website, as the time of day changes, the people of NLA (New Los Angeles) will engage in different routines, and the creatures players will encounter out in the wilderness will change, too.

The following kinds of weather will be encountered in the game: sun, clouds, rain, thunderstorms, and more special weather phenomena like Aurora Borealis (not technically a weather phenomenon …), rainbows, heat waves, and dust storms.

Concepting and artwork

Also over on the website, new artwork has been uploaded of two characters that appear in the game, Lao and Doug. These men have been friends since their days in the United States Army. Since crash landing on Mirai, Lao has become a team leader in the private military organization, BLADE, and Doug is now one of his subordinates.

Lao has great combat ability and judgment. Although he doesn’t look it, he has a sensitive side, and is a passionate man. Doug has a good sense of humor, and excels at everything military but especially piloting the robot Dolls.

The artwork here is by an artist who goes by the moniker RARE Engine. (We did a bit of a Who’s Who on the people behind Xenoblade Chronicles X a while ago.) The pair of images above is them concepting the characters, and the rest are an example of Rare Engine’s workflow.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is coming to the Nintendo Wii U in Japan on April 23, and will arrive in the West later this year. Check our archives for more on the game.