Corny at times, but XC2 being "more anime" made it easier for me to get attached to characters since they're far more entertaining (whereas comedy in XC1 felt bland to me). Despite this, most dialogues feel unnecessary and cringe.
The combat system is very fun and provides limitless customization. Incredible OST and a lot of visually stunning areas.
XC2 establishes a universe that revolves around the social dynamics of humans and blades: something that first doesn't aim to draw a parallel with our world. This kind of world-building isn't necessarily a bad move (some series such as Beastars did it very well), but it's difficult. Xenoblade somehow succeeded at it while maintaining some thematics elements that the player could relate to (such as memory, overpopulation, dissociative identity disorder, and cognitive dissonance- even though the latter only get to fully shine in the DLC). It is not perfect and still features some inconsistencies, but there's a real will to get closer to what the XC1 accomplished on psychological and metaphysical levels (and not thematically!).
The combat system is very fun and provides limitless customization. Incredible OST and a lot of visually stunning areas.
XC2 establishes a universe that revolves around the social dynamics of humans and blades: something that first doesn't aim to draw a parallel with our world. This kind of world-building isn't necessarily a bad move (some series such as Beastars did it very well), but it's difficult. Xenoblade somehow succeeded at it while maintaining some thematics elements that the player could relate to (such as memory, overpopulation, dissociative identity disorder, and cognitive dissonance- even though the latter only get to fully shine in the DLC). It is not perfect and still features some inconsistencies, but there's a real will to get closer to what the XC1 accomplished on psychological and metaphysical levels (and not thematically!).