I loved Xenoblade Chronicles 2. All of the main cast of characters were well written and engaging to me, with interesting backstories and motives that unfold throughout main game. The combat system, while explained very poorly through the game's tutorials, I found to have a lot of depth, variety, and customization as the game progressed to later chapters. Each time the game transitioned to a new titan, I was enthralled by the visual design and level of detail put into the game's environments that I felt the need to explore every nook and cranny of the world. The designs of the monsters and enemies are stand outs to me too, complementing the environments well. I also found a lot of the side-quests to be entertaining, especially the ones that unlock with the rare blades, which are characters that also function as combat partners (The Praxis and Theory, Perceval, and Wulfric quests were stand outs to me for those who have played the game). The character designs of the main cast range from good to great for me, even though I do wish some of them were a bit more armored since they are weapons after all.
To address the flaws of the game, while there is fanservice and anime tropes in the main plot, I don't feel it is as egregious as others make it out to be, and rarely did it detract from my overall experience with the main story. In terms of the character designs, again I think it comes down to subjectivity whether you love or hate them, but other than a couple of rare blades (Dahlia and Newt) none of them stuck out to me as anything worse than mediocre. Also, in order to unlock new rare blades there is a "gacha" mechanic where you open core crystals that have seemingly random odds. However, there is a pity points system that the game doesn't tell you about where the more core crystals you open, the easier it is to pull a rare blade. During my playthrough, I was very lucky and was able to get all of the rare blades I needed only using the core crystals I had naturally come across, only needing to grind when I was going for 100% after beating the main story.
In conclusion, my experience with Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was an outstanding one. After watching a playthrough of the first game on youtube while in middle school, and getting invested in the world of Xenoblade, even more so after getting to experience it again myself, I feel that almost everything about Xenoblade Chronicles 2 connected with me in a special way that the first game never did. If you are able to deal with the fanservice and anime tropes that Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has on the surface, I feel the characters, combat, world, and story within is well worth your time.
To address the flaws of the game, while there is fanservice and anime tropes in the main plot, I don't feel it is as egregious as others make it out to be, and rarely did it detract from my overall experience with the main story. In terms of the character designs, again I think it comes down to subjectivity whether you love or hate them, but other than a couple of rare blades (Dahlia and Newt) none of them stuck out to me as anything worse than mediocre. Also, in order to unlock new rare blades there is a "gacha" mechanic where you open core crystals that have seemingly random odds. However, there is a pity points system that the game doesn't tell you about where the more core crystals you open, the easier it is to pull a rare blade. During my playthrough, I was very lucky and was able to get all of the rare blades I needed only using the core crystals I had naturally come across, only needing to grind when I was going for 100% after beating the main story.
In conclusion, my experience with Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was an outstanding one. After watching a playthrough of the first game on youtube while in middle school, and getting invested in the world of Xenoblade, even more so after getting to experience it again myself, I feel that almost everything about Xenoblade Chronicles 2 connected with me in a special way that the first game never did. If you are able to deal with the fanservice and anime tropes that Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has on the surface, I feel the characters, combat, world, and story within is well worth your time.