Boy howdy this was one coming that I kept going "I'll finish this when part 2 comes out" and then it did and I was playing P3R as is so I said "I'll do it after" and I started seeing spoilers for part 2 and said fuck it its time. GOD I WISH I FINISHED THIS BACK WHEN I PICKED IT UP!! Everything about 7Remake is so incredible, obviously its a completely new experience and all but the disc it tackles is handled amazingly with love and everything new....God I have so many questions but love the changes and things fleshed out its ridiculous how much content we have in just PART ONE

I needed this damn game so badly, for one it somehow actually WORKED and with a brand new voice cast which is unreal to me how incredible they work. Zeno as Junpei...Alecks multiple roles in the plot besides the protagonist....ALLEGRA AS MITSURU OH MY GOD it is insane how the main cast is recasted, as well as the now FULLY voiced Social Links which are all elevated in love to me compared to the original/FES where my love for some characters got expanded (Mutatsu and Akinari my kings) with new love for some(Hidetoshi and Tanaka my goats) but god...what needs to be said plot wise, its the same and the new additions with a certain Jesus looking man I ADORED to see expanded on. The music I will say its hard to determine which soundtrack I prefer but god if the new tracks aren't incredible. Color Your Night is beautiful, the new battle theme is an all-time favorite hearing Lotus Juice singing in the second verse...also the reload version of MANY boss songs I adore (The final boss reload version had me speechless)

It is SOOOO CLOSE to being perfect from how wonderful the plot is, seeing some of the characters from XBC2 I was very interested in alongside with incredible development and arguably one of the best soundtracks in general but....

Once again the Skill checks/community stuff just brings it down a bit for me, the community bit isn't bad per say but even after focusing on it through the game before the checks in the very end it just burnt me out near the end where I felt kind of forced in the "After this its the ending just keep doing it" kind of way instead of enjoyment but it isn't outright terrible, just not for me!

Overall its my favorite experience with Xenoblade thus far heres to XBC3 at the end of the year

I have my gripes with this game that many do.. Cough SKILL CHECKS Cough and just the Gatcha system as a whole (Though thank you Emile Chuggaconroy for explaining it in a video) but G O D after everything I experienced with this damn game emotionally...I just can't help but ADORE it for all the things it gets right!

There's obviously the "Bro its literally just Shonen anime troupes" like fanservice and all with certain scenes but I can deal with it for the insanity that is the character writing. Oh my god the writing for some characters is ridiculous. Rex, Pyra and Mythra as a whole are such a beautiful dynamic that I was just adoring the entire time despite for the last four years I've shat on their designs {LMAO}

The gameplay is kind of hit or miss like XBC1 for me where...I enjoy it a L O T more than the prior where once I got the gist of it and understood the complexities of it such as DAH ORBS it was a blast but GOOD GOD does this game have a terrible way of explaining some of the additions of the combat and I truly wish it was all accessible from the start besides say chain attacks and not just a "Hey random Tutorial here means you can now do this thing you've wanted to for 3 chapters of combat"

Finally the music...Absolutely a new favorite soundtrack of all time...its just so fucking stunning and ethereal at some points like hearing some of the songs the first time I had to genuinely just stop and embrace it its beautiful.

Overall I ABSOLUTELY adore this game despite my issues with the game which seem to be general complaints.

Here's to seeing if the TORNA DLC is somehow better as a standalone