First replay of this game since I was a kid, and I think XD still holds up very well. Compared to Colosseum, it improves upon the gameplay systems in almost every way. The game still plays really slow, but that's not a problem in the modern era thanks to emulation speedup. :^)

I remember reviews back in the day chastising the asset reuse, which include entire dungeons and exteriors that are almost unchanged. And coming immediately after playing Colosseum, the reuse did make my eyes roll a bit. However, there was a certain charm to revisiting areas, talking to the same NPCs from the previous game, and seeing what new things they have to say, or what their lives have been like in the five year time gap between the games. There's a surprising amount of continuity with the most minor of NPCs that I love.

XD also has a way lighter tone than Colosseum. There are jokes, silly moments, characters that exist just to create gags, and just a general atmosphere that wasn't there in Colosseum. Whether this is a good thing is a matter of taste, but the game did have me smiling at certain parts. I enjoyed the dialogue for what it is.

There's also a bunch of side content in XD! Battle CDs were a really neat concept, and I loved trying to figure out how to complete them.

All in all, a great game to look back on. It turns 18 this year, did you know? Old enough to vote!