Before we proceed, I would like to request that everyone who participates in this thread be sensitive to spoilers. Please mark all spoilers, and label them with the appropriate chapter number, so someone doesn't unwittingly click on story content ahead of where they are. Thank you.
Whereas I really liked the original Xenoblade a lot, I wasn't feeling Xenoblade 2 when they announced it. Something seemed to be off, from the artstyle to the overly elaborate character designs; the subsequent showings at E3 and during the Nintendo Directs didn't do the game any favors, and made it look like an utterly complicated, unappealing mess, and I decided to check out of it. Nonetheless, I did end up pre-loading it once the reviews came in, because they seemed positive enough- albeit I still wasn't sold on it.
Honestly, Xenoblade 2 doesn't make it easy for you to like it. The introduction is a fucking slog, tutorials continue for well over a dozen hours, the trickle drip of new mechanics isn't satisfying or compelling, the story lows down interminably after an explosive start, and minor things about the game, from its menus to its useless and baffling UI, just get in the way of you trying to enjoy the game. I got somewhere into Chapter 2 before I decided to just quit the game, and diverted my attention to the Zelda DLC instead.
Thankfully, that wasn't the end of that, and three weeks ago, I did go back to Xenoblade Chronicles 2- and I am glad I did. Starting Chapter 3, the game really comes into its own, with the battle system finally opening up, the story getting some dramatic developments that instantly capture your attention
Vandham's death and Pyra/Mythra's awakening is a fantastic moment, and one of the best scenes in the game
and everything just seemed to click for me. That's when I fell in love with the soundtrack, with the gorgeous environments, with the battle system, and where I finally became intrigued with where the story was going to take me. I stuck with it over the next three weeks, until I finally finished it tonight, and I really love the game. It's a fantastic experience, and anyone who likes RPGs really owes it to themselves to actually play through it. From the gorgeous art to the incredible world design to the fantastic OST, great characters, and really engaging story, not to mention the layered battle system and mechanics that feel so wonderfully satisfying to master, this game is like very few other games on the market.
With that said, the game is a goddamn tragedy- you can see that it's a great game, but if it had had just a year or so more of development, this legitimately would have gone down as one of the all time greats. As it stands right now, there's way too much jank and lack of polish here for anyone to convincingly forward that opinion- the menus are an utter mess, as is the navigation UI (the map is useless, and the compass simply is ill suited to the topography of its own game). The graphics in hanheld mode are an embarrassment, some of the voice acting feels off, and the lip synch is almost never on point. There are baffling QoL choices that slow the game down for no reason- such as any skill checks only considering the active Blades you have equipped, as opposed to the full pool you have on your person.
And then there are the blades- I'm not really a fan of RNG gatcha mechanics, but fine, the game at least somewhat contextualizes that well enough. The larger issue is the aforementioned skill checks- several are mandatory to proceed in the story. This is an issue because:
- Blades are gotten through an RNG mechanism;
- Skills are locked behind 'Trust', which accrues slowly unless you grind the Blade's favorite food endlessly for a while
- Skill grinding itself often requires either highly specific requirements, or are RNG governed themselves
There's a whole laundry list of complaints with this game- which is a shame, because none of this stuff is actually all that big a deal- a year or so of additional development time would have resulted in most of these problems being ironed out. I don't know why this game was rushed, I don't know what the compulsion was to release it in 2017, because the Switch didn't need its help, and the game itself could have used the extra time.
It's a shame, because what works is so good. The soundtrack, as I mentioned, is sublime, and definitely my second favorite from last year; I love the characters. I think Nia is a gem, I think Zeke is awesome, and yes, I love Pyra, who's a great character with a great arc. I even like Tora and Poppi, who I know annoy many. Rex, with his boundless optimism, is a bit generic, but I feel like he works well given what the story is supposed to be. I liked one of the antagonists (but ended up mostly ambivalent to the rest of them, including the main big bad).
I love the wonderful world, and just how imaginative Monolith gets with the locales- some of the later ones are especially gorgeous, and jaw dropping, and many a time, you'll want to just stop and take the view in. Their imagination is on overdrive here, and the world they have created is truly unique and a joy to behold on its own terms for what it is.
I loved the story and where it went, and I loved the themes it tried to tackle, on a broader, as well as a more personal, level. I absolutely adore the battle system, with all its complexity and nuances, and how satisfying it is to stack up 5-6 orbs on an enemy before unleashing a chain attack for massive damage.
The thing in the end is, Xenoblade 2 is flawed. It's easy for me, and probably for anyone, to be able to list out everything it does wrong. But it works in spite of those flaws, and in spite of itself- and most of all, it seems to work simply because of how much heart and sincerity it seems to have at the core of it all. You can't help but fall in love with it, warts and all, in the end.
