Playing it after the third game, you can see how this was the proto-Xenoblade 3.
The biggest love-hate aspect of this standalone expansion is the fact that you have to do a bulk of side quests to progress the main story. This does hamper the main story's pacing, since you are gated when it feels like they don't have time to waste. But on the other hand, it builds up a community of NPCs that you can feel attached to, amplifying the ending's effect. Some quests are also interconnected, which leads to nice, wholesome moments in later quests.
Also, the final boss of this is arguably more hype than the main game.
The biggest love-hate aspect of this standalone expansion is the fact that you have to do a bulk of side quests to progress the main story. This does hamper the main story's pacing, since you are gated when it feels like they don't have time to waste. But on the other hand, it builds up a community of NPCs that you can feel attached to, amplifying the ending's effect. Some quests are also interconnected, which leads to nice, wholesome moments in later quests.
Also, the final boss of this is arguably more hype than the main game.