I'd call this a perfect game but it unfortunately falls under the Xenoblade sequel curse of still being overshadowed in some areas by the other three games, so it's only near-perfect. It's lacking in charm — no heart-to-hearts, and the camp conversations aren't nearly as good of a replacement, no unique post battle dialogue (heroes don't have them at all!), and the world design is significantly less imaginative than previous games — the music isn't as memorable, there's invisible walls in a Xenoblade game, the villains just aren't good at all, and the story takes a nosedive in quality in the last chapter and a half (minor SPOILERS for the last chapter, skip the rest of the paragraph if you don't want to see them), firstly by forcing you on a boring MacGuffin hunt spanning the world (during which you have to resolve forced villain arcs with no emotional investment), and the final dungeon/boss have almost no tension, the final boss in particular being not just a terrible villain, but also doesn't have the courtesy to make the fight any sort of fun, instead it's just an hour slog, parts of which he's invincible until story happens. There's a couple cool moments, but it just isn't fun overall.
I've written a lot of criticism for this game so far, but I love this game so much that having even the most minor issues frustrates me, because it gets so close. The battle system is probably better than it has ever been (although I miss 2's special attacks), and it has a Final Fantasy-like job system (somewhat similar to Xenoblade Chronicles X in that aspect) that adds a lot of customization to the game, making builds more fun than ever, albeit not as in-depth as XCX. The characters are wonderful, and found myself loving each one of the main party members. The Hero system is the latest "optional party member" system, the successor to XCX's BLADE members or XC2's polarizing gacha system, but it might be my favorite implementation of this kind of mechanic, as it requires you to explore and do a quest before the hero is added to your party. It's a lot of fun, and I enjoyed engaging with it (although I think I enjoyed the rare Blades of XC2 just a bit more). Speaking of exploration, this game rewards you well for exploring, in classic Xenoblade fashion. There's a lot of gorgeous views (as usual) in this game too, and a lot of treasure to find. Some Heroes also give you traversal techniques via new field skills, allowing for a Metroidvania-esque gameplay experience by opening up previously visited areas, giving you more to explore. I would love it if they took this idea a bit further, but I can understand why they would be reluctant to do so (especially after XC2's terrible implementation of field skills).
Anyways this is one of the best games of this year and a fantastic game with a lot of content to sink your teeth into and keep you busy for a while. Easy recommendation, go check it out, even if you're unsure; I've heard many people mention that this was the Xenoblade game they could get into, despite bouncing off the others. It's well worth the $60 price tag.
I've written a lot of criticism for this game so far, but I love this game so much that having even the most minor issues frustrates me, because it gets so close. The battle system is probably better than it has ever been (although I miss 2's special attacks), and it has a Final Fantasy-like job system (somewhat similar to Xenoblade Chronicles X in that aspect) that adds a lot of customization to the game, making builds more fun than ever, albeit not as in-depth as XCX. The characters are wonderful, and found myself loving each one of the main party members. The Hero system is the latest "optional party member" system, the successor to XCX's BLADE members or XC2's polarizing gacha system, but it might be my favorite implementation of this kind of mechanic, as it requires you to explore and do a quest before the hero is added to your party. It's a lot of fun, and I enjoyed engaging with it (although I think I enjoyed the rare Blades of XC2 just a bit more). Speaking of exploration, this game rewards you well for exploring, in classic Xenoblade fashion. There's a lot of gorgeous views (as usual) in this game too, and a lot of treasure to find. Some Heroes also give you traversal techniques via new field skills, allowing for a Metroidvania-esque gameplay experience by opening up previously visited areas, giving you more to explore. I would love it if they took this idea a bit further, but I can understand why they would be reluctant to do so (especially after XC2's terrible implementation of field skills).
Anyways this is one of the best games of this year and a fantastic game with a lot of content to sink your teeth into and keep you busy for a while. Easy recommendation, go check it out, even if you're unsure; I've heard many people mention that this was the Xenoblade game they could get into, despite bouncing off the others. It's well worth the $60 price tag.