Just finished... I don't know where to start with this... I loved it. There are some frustrating elements, such as the random nature of the blades, but those weren't enough to detract from my experience. The story is great, the music is great (That credits theme... I love it more than Beyond The Sky...), the combat system is loads of fun, and the ending makes it all worth it. I wasn't sure how this game was going to turn out, but in the end, I prefer this to Xenoblade 1... I'm looking forward to seeing the post game and the dlc.
Lastly, I present my English Voice Actor Tier List (I'll try to avoid spoilers):
S Tier (Great Performance):
Poppi - I have never felt more emotion from a robot before.
Pyra - Her voice suits her so well... What really sells it is how it cracks in all the right places
Vandham - One certain scene involving him had me in awe. His actor really killed it...
Party Member #5 - Whether its comedy or wisdom, The delivery is always on-point.
Nia - The accent really suits her and the actress does a great job conveying Nia's personality. However, her performance really takes off as you approach the endgame, with one scene being outstanding.
A Tier (Good Performance):
Party Member #4 - A solid performance, but I do think there were a few problems with emotional expression. That being said, there was one scene where I absolutely loved her performance.
Party Member #4's Blade - Another solid performance. I kinda wish this character got more lines to work with so I could hear them more.
Party Memeber #5's Blade - Her voice was somewhat annoying to me, but I still acknowledge she did a fine job in terms of acting.
Bana - While his style of speaking was wierd at first, it quickly grew on me. Every word is brimming with greed and enthusiasm. I espicially love how he rolls his R's
Malos - He does a really good job expressing that raw rage. My only problem is that he doesn't do much else other than rage.
Akhos - Not much I can say. He did a great job enunciating certain words to give it a grandiose style.
Jin - I'm not gonna say much to avoid spoilers, but while not as impressive as Metal Face, he still did a fine job.
B Tier (Mostly Good Performance, but with some bad aspects dragging it down):
Rex - He does a good job with normal conversations, and I particularly like his accent. He just can't do battle cries. It's especially disappointing compared to Shulk.
Tora - His voice actor does a great job with the lines he is given, but the meh-mehs got annoying fairly quickly.
Mythra - She does a fine job expressing her smug attitude, but she could use more direction. Sometimes her lines just feel off.
Mikhail - Half of his lines come out awkward, but he gets better as the story progresses.
C Tier (Average Performance):
Gramps - Not a memorable performance, but not a bad one either.
Patroka - Same as Gramps really... However, I also think she suffered the most from trying to match the lip sync. Her timing just felt off half the time.
Overall, I really enjoyed the English Dub. It has some problems, but the benefits largely outweighed them in my opinion.
