Whereas Xenoblade Chronicles 1 felt cohesive in narrative, tone, and gameplay, the whole of Xenoblade 2 unfortunately is worse than the sum of its parts. I went into this game with an open mind and I attempted to compare it to its predecessor as little as possible. This did make me enjoy the game more than I probably would have otherwise, but there are still a few too many glaring issues with the core game design that I cannot overlook.
The main combat loop of Xenoblade 2 is actually great, and a good step up from Xenoblade 1. The part that is frustrating, however, is that the sidequests no longer made me feel motivated to get into the combat. In Xenoblade 1, you got a stack of sidequests to complete as soon as you entered a new area. These objectives were usually very simple, which made it easy to complete as you went along exploring the newly discovered locale. This made the quests like a sort of checklist that you could do subconsciously while following the main story path. In Xenoblade 2, the sidequests are much more involved, but as a result they felt like a nuisance when I just wanted to continue the main story. I had to go out of my way much more often to complete sidequests, and the reward you get from each quest is not at all worth the amount of time you need to put in for each one. Since I wasn't getting into combat to complete quests anymore, they didn't feel as rewarding as they COULD have been, even though the core gameplay is really, really fun.
There are parts of this game's story that I really like, but once I reached the end of the game, I found that the writers had too many ideas and not enough time to flesh out all of them. For example, one of the main villains in the story has an incredibly interesting motivation, relating to mortality, immortality, and one's true purpose. These concepts might be expanded on more in the Torna DLC (which I haven't played as of writing this review), but right now it feels like so much missed potential. They could have centered the entire game around these concepts like how Xenoblade 1 was all about fate, destiny, and fighting back against a higher authority. Instead, this was just one of many different ideas thrown around at random points in the game's narrative.
I'll end this review by gushing about Xenoblade 2's soundtrack. Oh my god, this soundtrack. I actually can't believe they managed to improve upon Xenoblade 1's OST, which already felt like a masterpiece to me. How they will manage to top this for XC3, I have no idea, but I'm excited as all hell for it.
tl;dr: I liked this game, but didn't love it. I think this could have been something truly special if it were more a more focused experience like its predecessor was, but as it stands now I would recommend this to those who have played the first game and are looking for a similar, yet different experience. If you haven't played Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, I suggest picking that up instead. It's overall the better game and its strengths are more well-rounded.
The main combat loop of Xenoblade 2 is actually great, and a good step up from Xenoblade 1. The part that is frustrating, however, is that the sidequests no longer made me feel motivated to get into the combat. In Xenoblade 1, you got a stack of sidequests to complete as soon as you entered a new area. These objectives were usually very simple, which made it easy to complete as you went along exploring the newly discovered locale. This made the quests like a sort of checklist that you could do subconsciously while following the main story path. In Xenoblade 2, the sidequests are much more involved, but as a result they felt like a nuisance when I just wanted to continue the main story. I had to go out of my way much more often to complete sidequests, and the reward you get from each quest is not at all worth the amount of time you need to put in for each one. Since I wasn't getting into combat to complete quests anymore, they didn't feel as rewarding as they COULD have been, even though the core gameplay is really, really fun.
There are parts of this game's story that I really like, but once I reached the end of the game, I found that the writers had too many ideas and not enough time to flesh out all of them. For example, one of the main villains in the story has an incredibly interesting motivation, relating to mortality, immortality, and one's true purpose. These concepts might be expanded on more in the Torna DLC (which I haven't played as of writing this review), but right now it feels like so much missed potential. They could have centered the entire game around these concepts like how Xenoblade 1 was all about fate, destiny, and fighting back against a higher authority. Instead, this was just one of many different ideas thrown around at random points in the game's narrative.
I'll end this review by gushing about Xenoblade 2's soundtrack. Oh my god, this soundtrack. I actually can't believe they managed to improve upon Xenoblade 1's OST, which already felt like a masterpiece to me. How they will manage to top this for XC3, I have no idea, but I'm excited as all hell for it.
tl;dr: I liked this game, but didn't love it. I think this could have been something truly special if it were more a more focused experience like its predecessor was, but as it stands now I would recommend this to those who have played the first game and are looking for a similar, yet different experience. If you haven't played Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, I suggest picking that up instead. It's overall the better game and its strengths are more well-rounded.