TL;DR Everything except playing the game is phenomenal, but playing the game has too many unpredictable random elements that seem horribly unbalanced. Still a recommended experience overall, just prepare yourself.
This game is... extremely complicated. In so many ways.
I will first say that I've played only Definitive Edition, and prefer its soundtrack- except for You Will Know Our Names and the final boss track. Don't know what quite happened there.
It seems fitting, for a game of such pedigree, to start with the other elements that I "don't know what quite happened there." Best to get them out of the way, so that I may give the truly incredible feats this game accomplishes the room for praise they deserve. Xenoblade Chronicles, as a game, is a dense cluster of STUFF that takes an unhealthy amount of time to unpack. Now, this is actually fine to me. Slowly coming to understand every last nuance of its mechanics, both through the tutorial screens in the menus that rather humorously use the characters themselves to explain what they can do and through experimentation, is incredibly rewarding, and makes for a very personal connection. However, so many of these systems are linked together through the most tedious elements of the game. Completing the Collectopaedia, while fun for the first 60 to 70% of an area, becomes a frustrating slog of running through blue orbs for hours on end and talking to every last character to trade for that one last item you need. Oh! But don't add it to the Collectopaedia just yet to get the actually-valuable gem rewards, you'll need this item for a quest later that also gives you a reward of value, forcing you to run through more blue orbs! To get good gems and equipment- the heart of Xenoblade's progression, I feel- the most tedious fetch quests and running through massive environments to discover crystal deposits with scarce landmarks nearby must happen. This progression actively halts the progression of the story for worrying amounts of time, exhausting me to my core.
This is but one of my three major issues with Xenoblade, sadly. I feel like I MUST exhaust myself to my core finding crystal deposits and completing the tedious quests in order to stand a chance, for two reasons; these two reasons are the other of the two issues. Firstly, the game punishes experimentation after a point. With every one of the seven party members being so unique, each bringing such a fascinating and niche role to combat, the number of ways you can set up your team is staggering. Add on that the specialization options of ether gems, and the possibilities jump even higher still. But each combination always leaves massive holes. Balanced composition is tough to fully achieve. Some teams are focused heavily on ether, and some on physical strength. Some teams can survive anything but have trouble dealing with lots of variety, and others can do anything but nothing well. And this system would work beautifully... were the game not so punishing for having the wrong setup for any situation. For example, say there is a scenario where ether-based offense is practically required for a good composition, but this vulnerability is placed on an enemy with great physical offense. This hypothetical scenario presents two major problems: one, that the ether-based characters either deal poor offense like Sharla or have low survivability like Melia, and two, that the game gives you zero indication that this is what is required for this scenario nor a way to let you fix your mistakes without dying and regrouping. This type of scenario, unfortunately, is rather common. Even dying and retrying might take multiple attempts before you truly figure it out. Not to mention, having Shulk in the party as a safeguard against any difficult gimmicks the enemy might throw at you (Mechon defenses, spike auras, and powerful Arts that require Monado Speed/Shield to change the future) practically forces you to not only play as him to avoid the AI wasting every unique ability he has, but it percludes you from including Melia in the party at the same time for a similar reason- the AI controlling her has little regard for her mechanics and her role as a support-focused black mage and simply attacks. The AI's approximation of Melia is only a quarter of what a Melia truly should be.
And sadly, this does lead into my final point: the AI and balancing. As mentioned, the AI of more complicated party members such as Shulk and Melia result in restricted party compositions. Were we able to expend a block of Party Gauge at any time to get someone to act, not just with a vision, potentially some issues would be alleviated. However, that is far from the only problem. The difficulty rubberbanding (meaning it keeps fluctuating at random due to factors out of your control) is so severe that there are points when the game becomes borderline unplayable. Even at the recommended level, a single misplaced Art (which, if you'll recall, is hard to see coming when preparing party composition) from a standard enemy has the capacity to party-wipe. This becomes especially egregious in the second half of the game. During one infamous boss fight, the one in which you "pay for your insolence," I had a party of Melia, Riki (who had max health), and Seven. I died within ninety seconds despite being one level ahead of the boss because they came out swinging with dangerous Arts. I tried again, no differences in my inherent strategies, and I beat the boss in ninety seconds. The AI and damage levels on enemy Arts are terribly unbalanced, and forced me to finish the game on Casual Mode to just be done with it all. I am grateful that Casual Mode is an option, but relying on it to have a comfortable experience through the end is a major problem.
Of course, having had that whole experience, troubling experiences included, it was so absolutely worth it. From my perspective, that of a creative writer and creator of fiction myself, here was a story worth every moment along the way. A story that prides and flaunts on misdirection, half-truths, and the complexities and tragedies of the bitter nature of the cycle of vengeance and how it spills between the large and the small, the older generation to the younger generation. If for no other reason than this, play. This. Game.
This game is... extremely complicated. In so many ways.
I will first say that I've played only Definitive Edition, and prefer its soundtrack- except for You Will Know Our Names and the final boss track. Don't know what quite happened there.
It seems fitting, for a game of such pedigree, to start with the other elements that I "don't know what quite happened there." Best to get them out of the way, so that I may give the truly incredible feats this game accomplishes the room for praise they deserve. Xenoblade Chronicles, as a game, is a dense cluster of STUFF that takes an unhealthy amount of time to unpack. Now, this is actually fine to me. Slowly coming to understand every last nuance of its mechanics, both through the tutorial screens in the menus that rather humorously use the characters themselves to explain what they can do and through experimentation, is incredibly rewarding, and makes for a very personal connection. However, so many of these systems are linked together through the most tedious elements of the game. Completing the Collectopaedia, while fun for the first 60 to 70% of an area, becomes a frustrating slog of running through blue orbs for hours on end and talking to every last character to trade for that one last item you need. Oh! But don't add it to the Collectopaedia just yet to get the actually-valuable gem rewards, you'll need this item for a quest later that also gives you a reward of value, forcing you to run through more blue orbs! To get good gems and equipment- the heart of Xenoblade's progression, I feel- the most tedious fetch quests and running through massive environments to discover crystal deposits with scarce landmarks nearby must happen. This progression actively halts the progression of the story for worrying amounts of time, exhausting me to my core.
This is but one of my three major issues with Xenoblade, sadly. I feel like I MUST exhaust myself to my core finding crystal deposits and completing the tedious quests in order to stand a chance, for two reasons; these two reasons are the other of the two issues. Firstly, the game punishes experimentation after a point. With every one of the seven party members being so unique, each bringing such a fascinating and niche role to combat, the number of ways you can set up your team is staggering. Add on that the specialization options of ether gems, and the possibilities jump even higher still. But each combination always leaves massive holes. Balanced composition is tough to fully achieve. Some teams are focused heavily on ether, and some on physical strength. Some teams can survive anything but have trouble dealing with lots of variety, and others can do anything but nothing well. And this system would work beautifully... were the game not so punishing for having the wrong setup for any situation. For example, say there is a scenario where ether-based offense is practically required for a good composition, but this vulnerability is placed on an enemy with great physical offense. This hypothetical scenario presents two major problems: one, that the ether-based characters either deal poor offense like Sharla or have low survivability like Melia, and two, that the game gives you zero indication that this is what is required for this scenario nor a way to let you fix your mistakes without dying and regrouping. This type of scenario, unfortunately, is rather common. Even dying and retrying might take multiple attempts before you truly figure it out. Not to mention, having Shulk in the party as a safeguard against any difficult gimmicks the enemy might throw at you (Mechon defenses, spike auras, and powerful Arts that require Monado Speed/Shield to change the future) practically forces you to not only play as him to avoid the AI wasting every unique ability he has, but it percludes you from including Melia in the party at the same time for a similar reason- the AI controlling her has little regard for her mechanics and her role as a support-focused black mage and simply attacks. The AI's approximation of Melia is only a quarter of what a Melia truly should be.
And sadly, this does lead into my final point: the AI and balancing. As mentioned, the AI of more complicated party members such as Shulk and Melia result in restricted party compositions. Were we able to expend a block of Party Gauge at any time to get someone to act, not just with a vision, potentially some issues would be alleviated. However, that is far from the only problem. The difficulty rubberbanding (meaning it keeps fluctuating at random due to factors out of your control) is so severe that there are points when the game becomes borderline unplayable. Even at the recommended level, a single misplaced Art (which, if you'll recall, is hard to see coming when preparing party composition) from a standard enemy has the capacity to party-wipe. This becomes especially egregious in the second half of the game. During one infamous boss fight, the one in which you "pay for your insolence," I had a party of Melia, Riki (who had max health), and Seven. I died within ninety seconds despite being one level ahead of the boss because they came out swinging with dangerous Arts. I tried again, no differences in my inherent strategies, and I beat the boss in ninety seconds. The AI and damage levels on enemy Arts are terribly unbalanced, and forced me to finish the game on Casual Mode to just be done with it all. I am grateful that Casual Mode is an option, but relying on it to have a comfortable experience through the end is a major problem.
Of course, having had that whole experience, troubling experiences included, it was so absolutely worth it. From my perspective, that of a creative writer and creator of fiction myself, here was a story worth every moment along the way. A story that prides and flaunts on misdirection, half-truths, and the complexities and tragedies of the bitter nature of the cycle of vengeance and how it spills between the large and the small, the older generation to the younger generation. If for no other reason than this, play. This. Game.