This isn't the worst game but it's not exactly good either, along with not being Fire Emblem Awakening or Wind Waker. Those comparisons seem out of nowhere but I assure you I'll get into why later.

I played this back on release, finished it in two weeks and while I thought I felt positive but I might've mistaken apathy for something good. Of course that goes without saying that the past 5 years (Jesus Christ) being filled with discourse and really awful discussion about it doesn't raise any hope. But I replayed it for about a month, though with some cheating.

I bought the Expansion Pass from when Torna came out as well as used a save editor to get Challenge Battle Blades much earlier and immediately. Due to how Shulk, Fiora, and Elma work, I did cheat their Affinity Charts. Outside of that the gameplay is mostly as designed following the multitude of patches. Comparisons to the first game cannot be helped.

The story sure does exist. It feels more like the final chapter was thought first and then written to reach that point. At least, the emphasis on "boy meets girl" feels this way. While they do establish that the Architect is the end goal, the journey never feels cohesive and feels like constant A-to-B to the next event. As a game, yeah that's exactly what it's supposed to be. But for a story, you want more nuance or intrigue so I can actually remember the point of some of these locations in the greater scheme. Yeah sure, Mor Ardain might have the factory and foreshadow the Artificial Blade later, but in the moment it feels like a weird Nopon chapter where they make me fight a robot maid and remove my tank for a bit. And then you don't really have to go back besides a short visit to go to a completely different Titan. And a lot of core events are just tied to events 500 years ago which is all kinds of lame. I don't even think this game really properly uses this leap in time. As much as I do want to know the past, it is really lame to constantly tie people and relationships to this one event and not rethink how they go about it.

That's not to go into some of it's subjects and themes that it doesn't handle with grace. There's the lack of resources with Mor Ardain and how they're making an effort in Gormott, painting Mor Ardain as some sterotypical super militaristic nation. This does tie into Rex's personal motivation of seeking what is at the top of the World Tree, but the actual topic itself is scarcely mentioned handled by the main story until the ending. But there's no further discussion of like practical approaches before then. Or discussion about refugees who protest Indol's distribution of Blades and Zeke whiles about "manners cost nothing" and now how these people were displaced and very reasonably would like to stop the spread of one of the strongest weapons out there. And then Nia fucking chimes in by saying "people who harp on about justice with no solutions, I'm betting on Rex" like I'm sorry? What the hell? And this is just not brought up again. None of the ethics of this fucking line of thought while the party stares at the tents in the distance. Or no one really resolves Jin's issue with Blades being designed to forget and how much pain that brought to him. Blades are to watch over people but no one really addresses Jin's actual issues Then there's the main theme of how people influence on another, seen through the relationships between humans and Blades. (Some) humans can awaken Blades and in one line suggest that people's thoughts can influence what Blade comes out. It's what shapes antagonist Malos to see his role as nothing more than to destroy it all. But like. It doesn't really work? The game sure does try to push how alike Amalthus and Malos are due to being Driver and Blade but even in cutscenes Amalthus is at first in awe of Malos's sudden leaving and does his own thing for whatever reason. It's certainly not seen with many other Driver and Blade pairings. Rex wasn't even Mythra/Pyra's first Driver yet they think "I love this world because you're in it". Morag and Brighid don't feel like much of an influence, especially cause Brighid is also the same as she was before. I think at best Zeke and Pandoria show this off, sharing animations and bits, but still feels more like straight up affection rather than just an influence. I don't think Poppi counts when she was literally created by Tora.

And it sucks because the game seems convinced that it's made a great party of friends when these all feel like static strangers as teams. Sure, there are Affinity Quests and Heart-to-Hearts but I don't think it should rely on those, especially if someone ends up not being interest to bother with those anyways. Like you should probably make these people interesting to start even considering seeing more of them. The original game, at least to me, didn't need to rely on this. There were plenty of moments where the team in Xenoblade 1 interacted and showcased their dynamics with one another. Not to mention the game was designed around letting you vary your party and dialogue between them all. They were all united better toward a common enemy and motivation against the Mechon. They butt heads and comforted each other, all in the main story. Meanwhile I don't feel like there's any real or sincere comradery. Rex is out for Elysium and wants to take Pyra there, Nia is lonely and thinks it would be interesting, Tora looks up to Rex, Morag is here on business, Zeke is a weirdo also on business. Even with their proper Drivers, Blade's don't really feel like the partners and buddies the game definitely thinks they are. Game tries to say they're all moved by Rex's drive but that doesn't work when all I see is a kid with a cool, powerful sword just swinging. He says himself that people are going to chase after Pyra, and being that's what is keeping him alive, it's not like he has any other choice but to go forward. It's trying to tell me he's driven while not really showing me it. Really weird to try and set him up with (one of) your 500 year old heroines too.

And on top of it all this game tries to tackle romance too! Trying to make Rex out to be this driven motivation to others as well as a genuine love interest that I think is meant to be improved as the game goes on but. He's just a dude. A child. I don't know what about him makes you love the world so much, or really change the Architect's perception on humanity. Likely just the fact he pushed this far but still. It goes the other way too, as Rex's love for Pyra feels like nothing more than just when a kid sees a cute girl in his class. He may sympathize with her and wish her well, but I don't think there's anything more to it than that. Ending is also ass for trying to make them all end Happily Ever After, which not only doesn't make sense but also feels completely unearned. They were even close to making it even a little bittersweet, and knowing it was changed last minute makes it all the more worthy of an eye-roll.

Juggling all of this, Xenoblade 2 manages to drop the ball in tone too. It's trying to tackle subjects like hatred and war but very casually throws in more anime-esque events that don't really belong. Following the intense end of Chapter 1 is Rex waking up to a shot of Pyra's underboob, some joke about being too heavy, later chapters having a dedicated hot springs scene, Mythra's behavior, and whatever is going on with Nopon. Not to mention how cartoonish some of the villains are despite the state of the world. It doesn't really blend together. And not helping is the discourse surrounding the use of the term "anime". Yes, it's vague and unhelpful but it doesn't take an expert to understand what it's use is in this context. Hot spring (singular), tsunderes, a cutscene insert song, all paired with the concepts of The Church, kingdoms and their fantasy politics, and another bad attempt at fantasy racism.

And this is where a weird poor understanding of Fire Emblem Awakening comes in. Both have criticism for using anime tropes, leading people to think anime comments about Xenoblade 2 like they share the same weight. Awakening uses anime tropes for its characters but it's all mostly about mixing these traits together and how they interact. It also doesn't do anything as much as an emphasis on boobs or as many revealing designs and not bothering to say anything about politics or people. It has a hot springs and swimsuit event, but those are DLC and completely optional. While Xenoblade 2's hot springs is used for foreshadowing, it's other use of tropes are really just straightforward and weird. What's with the maid artificial blades, what's with the scene with Mythra being in the wrong bed and slapping Rex (which is a thing also done in Torna, it wasn't funny either time), what is all of this for. It's not adding to any of the messages or scenes, and if attempted levity, it only ends up as weird. And people would reasonably be taken aback for how often the game tries to mix it's sincere scenes with stuff like this. I'm not going to lie and say the original wasn't anime as hell, but it didn't do this. It's anime ass was bound by having large robots and titans duke it out and it was sick as hell. While this game gets sort of close to that, it's all background.

Stuff are just as messy when it comes to being an actual game too. The battles that take up the main gameplay loop is just fine. Some say they consider it more engaging or better than 1's but I think it really ends up the same. Once you find a reliable pattern as early as like Chapter 4, you don't need to vary anything up. You are heavily reliant on your AI to aid with Blade Combos but you're both relying on them to reach a certain Special level AND keep the right element on too. More often than not, I have Nia switch right as my Blade Combo dies out and there's no way of telling them to stay on that. They seem to have removed tactics entirely, leaving only a button to focus your allies onto one enemy. Which isn't exactly the most useful, can't prioritize blade combos or even tell them when to stop attacking. Maybe not a lot of people used this but it's something you want to have when you already have to leave on the CPU. Even Torna felt the need to bring it back.

Not to mention the tone dissonance of the game having characters be upset at the treatment of Blades while the game blatantly asks you which Aegis is your favorite for a few cutscene differences. Jesus Christ man. Already after when Rex says that's kind of weird, make up your mind.

Battles are often determined on what Blades you bring and how you shape your party around them. It sounds like there's meant to be a lot of customization but they add a lot of stupid limits. Blade Combos have to be progressed with specific elements, and random combos add nothing. Blades when first rolled on a stupid gacha system are locked to a character unless you have a specific item that is rare or have DLC that just gives it out. Your assortment of Blades/Weapons not only shape your Arts but also how your stats are impacted based on how many Attackers, Healers, and Defender Blades you have on a character. Sometimes the Arts actually fit with how a character is designed, sometimes not. And when you get a new Blade they are likely far behind when you still bother rolling, they start from scratch in their Affinity Chart making it feel more like a hassle. Customization dies a bit when Rex gets his upgrade that just make you win and pick any element for a Special. Limited buff for once in a fight but I'm pretty sure it's just expected of you. The CPU doesn't seem to use it, why let it go to waste?

Not to mention many of the actual systems and menus are just pretty poor. While you get abilities from the Afinity Chart, you are expected to open it constantly every time or else you do not unlock that node. Aux Cores for Blades usually have to be made at stores and I don't see the point of not just making them usable right when I get them? Then there's the skip travel menu which always seemed to delay a bit when it came to letting me use other inputs like the B button. Likely due to the hardware limitations from portable mode but no other game I've played hampers menus like this. And to think on launch it didn't even lead you to your current area. The Blade menu is the worst of it. Rolling for blades where originally uou couldn't even skip the cutscene. And they resolved it with a patch only adding "Yes (Skip)" which feels so half-assed. The "auto-run" option also shares a button with the quest details button or having the map cycle through hiding itself every time is all kinds of stupid. None of it feels super smooth and just makes the game feel more jank than it should really be for a Nintendo game. Both 1 and X did much better in its menus, what happened here? Definitely a strained development, but that only explains so much.

Strained development really shows in its presentation. Just technically this game really doesn't look great, in it's models or animations outside of battle. Majority of cutscenes end up using a lot of generic animations, sometimes looking very confusing. Not to mention it's actual art styles, or various styles. There are styles reserved for the main characters and their Blades, antagonists Torna have theirs done by Tatsuya Nomura, and many of the rare Blades have guest artists. Anyone else is just left up in the air to a generic style that is definitely humanoid. I'm fine with Rare Blades having their own styles, they are meant to be the xenos here. But All of these styles just end up clashing and none of it meshes well. This doesn't feel like one whole world like this. The world itself isn't much better. While the main party has their exaggerated anime stylings, the world just feels kind of stale. I'm gonna sound weird (yes, now is where I sound weird) but everyone manages to stick out despite being the main way how I'm to be experiencing this world. Designs aren't great, and this game chose to ditch having real-time armor models so you're ultimately stuck with them unless you do Challenge Battles.

I've seen someone try to argue this is just how people talked about Wind Waker, and this comparison is also poor. While Wind Waker suffered due to people wanting a less cartoony Zelda, it at least was consistent in both its characters and world. There's universal cell shading and styles between all characters and races. It was also still a Zelda game at its core in its structure and story elements. People warmed up to Wind Waker because outside of those 2002 expectations, it's pretty tight on its own. Xenoblade 2 feels like the duct tape is about to rip at any second, making this entire world fall apart and takes me out of it..

Areas by themselves are a little better. Uraya, of course, is pretty as hell. The World Tree is cool. But otherwise the areas feel kind of bland and lifeless. Tantal sure is a titan filled with snow and isn't fun to navigate. Mor Ardain has a lot of sand and industrial areas and is also a pain. Idol sure is a church. There's nothing really of interest in the area design. And I think this is because of how much this game is trying to be it's own thing as well as focusing on being familiar to Xenoblade.

Gormott is like Bionis' Leg. Uraya much like Satorl Marsh. Mor Ardain is reminiscent of Mechonis and Sword Valley. Tantal, Valak Mountain. All these areas and the concept of living on breathing titans, but it doesn't feel like its grasped its own identity. All while exploring feels really aimless and stale.

Xenoblade 2 doesn't really try to follow up anything from 1 or X (DLC aside, if that even counts). Exploration is as basic as it was in Xenoblade, nothing was advanced further. All they did was add really annoying Blade Skills to make it feel like you're exploring and digging through the world, when really you probably came back when the affinity chart got filled. These add nothing besides ruining my ultra thin immersion already. What they didn't change or add, they outright removed for any usefulness. The collectopedia is gone so hunting for items just gives me the Titan, remove knowing your position relative to the enemy for some reason, remove the actual Affinity Chart so I can see how people and NPCs interact, remove aiding your allies when toppled or dazed, and not even try when it comes to narrative losses like the original, making me question what's even the point if the story says I lose anyways. All very good things and just amounts to a worse experience. X ended up feeling like more of a proper sequel in actually advancing ideas from the original. And let you control a sick mech!

And it's a shame too because sometimes the game does actually good references. Malos's Blade weapon having no real focus is really cool! Of course no one is going to react to it, they don't know the signifigance of the Monado, but they don't make a big stink with camera shots and zoom ins. He has his own Arts and variations. Points off for not calling it Monado Armour though.

Xenoblade 2 tries to do a lot and drops a lot because it can't seem to focus or actually work towards its goals. It doesn't succeed on its own in its themes or customization, and drops the ball when it feels like attempting to follow its predecessors. I understand I didn't do a lot of side content and holding it up to a standard of a game that probably had more time in the oven, but it was given the name Xenoblade 2 and failed to live up to it. The original is in no means perfect but I could at least say it felt like a complete product. I'm aware Torna was meant to be in-between chapters, but it shipped like this. Even Torna feels like it's making up for some short comings but is still ultimately weighed down by its shortcomings. It's not even a game I can be mad at. It's just mediocre at much of what it does, and that's arguably worse. To finish it twice and just feel apathetic and confused why people would be so passionate about a game so... nothing.