After many years of trying to play this game but ultimately dropping it because I had/have developed a kind of rejection for RPGs in general, I decided to beat it for real this time. I continued a save I had from June 2022 when I was only at the third dungeon. The game was grindy, the introduction too slow and the persona fuse system too complicated, but I decided it would get better. And it did.
The worst part about this game is undoubtedly the first 10 hours. Full of tedious (although necessary) exposition, character building, system introductions, being overwhelmed about the many choices laid out every day. It all pays out in the end. Once you become familiar with the game, you start having a LOT of fun. Fusing specific skills into personas to have a death machine, trying to set up your week in advance in order to get every social link while leveling up skills, grinding dungeons with some video essay or music in the background, and in general having fun with the fleshed out cast of characters, their cozy dialogue and the intriguing mystery.
I will say I was totally spoiled about the culprit, but not about everyone else, and specially not about the golden-specific ending. It takes merit to surprise me although I knew such a massive story beat from the beggining. The golden story content was a tear jerker and the epilogue was just a very warm and optimistic ending, which I love.
Bear with the first 10 hours, please. You will not regret it.

Genuinely speaking, one of the best games I have ever played. Many biases are in play here: space theme, totally free-roam exploring, time loop mechanics, spaceship management, cool gadgets, intriguing story and an amazing OST I keep listening to to this day.
I will say it is not for everybody. This game has the opposite of handholding. It tells you NOTHING besides a few clues on the ship's log, and the point of the game is exploring, so it isn't a very replayable game unless you wanna hunt for achievements.
I still think this should be an experience everyone should try. Once you get inmersed, it will genuinely impact you in many unforseen ways

I never liked JRPGs, I never liked Xenoblade. I needed a year to really get into this game, but it was so worth it.
One of the best games I have ever played. Open world travel is seamless, and once you unlock another two methods of travel it puts it on a whole new perspective. Exploration is rewarded, the world is magical, the music is great. The story has some great bits and I really loved the plot twists to the point that I cried on the final boss battle.
This doesn't mean I think it's perfect. There are many systems and subsystems to optimize your gameplay that you need to learn and invest time in refining. Sometimes grinding is necessary to upgrade equipment or relationships. There are some difficulty spikes in the story too. Audio mixing for some reason is awful and music tends to drown dialogue in an almost comical manner.

That being said, I really hope for a sequel