Before the finale, I thought this campaign was tediously slow, bloated with exposition, and had an awful problem with pacing / padding with regards to the Community feature. But after the finale...I don't think any of those critiques matter anymore.

It's kind of crazy how much Torna improves upon the base game:
- it streamlines and focuses the battle system, always ensuring you have the tools available to its systems without requiring knowledge of proper builds.
- the driver + blade duo is actually emphasized in battle, making their bonds way more explicit, fun to use, and makes the themes' execution within the story better too.
- gorgeous music as always, but now JAZZY
- massive + fun titans to explore without any odd roadblocks

But they couldn't stop there. They also retroactively made certain characters and ESPECIALLY certain moments from the base game so much more powerful or emotional. They created one of the most devastating final 30 minutes a JRPG like this could pull off. Hell, I even think that the decision to do all those sidequests was accidentally genius, because it led to so many more small character moments...along with giving you more things it can take away from you with its ending.

And honestly, it just makes Xenoblade Chronicles 2 as a whole better thanks to this context & backstory existing! WHAT AN EXPANSION. If only more DLC could be like this.