This fucking game man. If I told you I immediately fell in love with it I'd be lying. This game has so many elements that, to the uninitiated, will seem like cons that its no wonder myself and others quit this game in the first act. All you need is a shift in opinion. Is Rex's battle shouts awful, or are you watching one of the funniest cutscenes you've seen in a jrpg? Does the lack of synching for english VA taking you out of the scene, or are you giggling to yourself when the lips move and no sound? I've got to say though when this game clicks, it fucking clicks.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a game that took me the better part of 4 months to complete, sometimes not playing for weeks, sometimes hours each day. This is not to say the game is particularly boring, its just that I really wanted to take my time with it. The sheer amount of random shit you can do (all very optional at least for my non-completionist brain) really allows for both short sessions before bed (levelling a blades affinity/doing side quests) or a big meaty session such as exploring a new area/progressing the main story.
The music alone carries whatever damage the awkward voice direction and occasional bad voice acting takes away from a scene. This is perhaps the single greatest soundtrack I've ever heard in a game, taking the place of my former favourites, the Nier franchise. No game has been shuffled and played in my day to day life quite as much as the Xenoblade franchise, and out of the I've played, Xenoblade Chronicles 2's is just unfathomably good. Nothing but the sweet promise of good music kept me from continuously loading up the game again. That first cutscene of the game, where you hear the orchestral soundtrack paired with the cloud visuals is, for the brief few moments before Rex opens his mouth, one of the most enchanting starts to a game for me.
After completing this game I just sat there for at least 10 minutes just kinda numb. A 4 month endeavour, finished. When something is such a constant in your life like this game is, the void left behind is palpable. For some reason despite having done side quests/blade affinity grinding in bed almost every day for 4 months (20 minutes here and there after work, or before bed) I knew I was done. Sure there were more generic fetch quests to grind, and yeah, I could farm core crystals and get all the blades. But when those credits rolled I knew I was done. So I sat there, tearing up just thinking about what a fucking ride it had been. I'm glad I played this game, I'm glad it has a stupidly large amount of content and has perhaps the GREATEST SOUNDTRACK of any game I've ever played. I'm glad I got to play one of the most enjoyable combat systems in a jrpg and an incredibly strong story (once it gets going). Really great game.
Only real complaint I have is pacing, which is my gripe with most jrpg's. One that immediately pops into mind is in Gormott, you can't just hop on a boat, you need to first find the titan and feed it. Or the implementation of field skills requiring you to menu just to open a chest/barrier. Just little blips in the matrix that take me out of the experience. Not a perfect game, but still insanely enjoyable.
Basically once you take all the cons (lip synching, questionable voice directions/acting, cringe anime tropes) into pros (this game is fucking hilarious), it really becomes something special. You just gotta fucking dive in and embrace the game in all its cringey and goofy glory.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a game that took me the better part of 4 months to complete, sometimes not playing for weeks, sometimes hours each day. This is not to say the game is particularly boring, its just that I really wanted to take my time with it. The sheer amount of random shit you can do (all very optional at least for my non-completionist brain) really allows for both short sessions before bed (levelling a blades affinity/doing side quests) or a big meaty session such as exploring a new area/progressing the main story.
The music alone carries whatever damage the awkward voice direction and occasional bad voice acting takes away from a scene. This is perhaps the single greatest soundtrack I've ever heard in a game, taking the place of my former favourites, the Nier franchise. No game has been shuffled and played in my day to day life quite as much as the Xenoblade franchise, and out of the I've played, Xenoblade Chronicles 2's is just unfathomably good. Nothing but the sweet promise of good music kept me from continuously loading up the game again. That first cutscene of the game, where you hear the orchestral soundtrack paired with the cloud visuals is, for the brief few moments before Rex opens his mouth, one of the most enchanting starts to a game for me.
After completing this game I just sat there for at least 10 minutes just kinda numb. A 4 month endeavour, finished. When something is such a constant in your life like this game is, the void left behind is palpable. For some reason despite having done side quests/blade affinity grinding in bed almost every day for 4 months (20 minutes here and there after work, or before bed) I knew I was done. Sure there were more generic fetch quests to grind, and yeah, I could farm core crystals and get all the blades. But when those credits rolled I knew I was done. So I sat there, tearing up just thinking about what a fucking ride it had been. I'm glad I played this game, I'm glad it has a stupidly large amount of content and has perhaps the GREATEST SOUNDTRACK of any game I've ever played. I'm glad I got to play one of the most enjoyable combat systems in a jrpg and an incredibly strong story (once it gets going). Really great game.
Only real complaint I have is pacing, which is my gripe with most jrpg's. One that immediately pops into mind is in Gormott, you can't just hop on a boat, you need to first find the titan and feed it. Or the implementation of field skills requiring you to menu just to open a chest/barrier. Just little blips in the matrix that take me out of the experience. Not a perfect game, but still insanely enjoyable.
Basically once you take all the cons (lip synching, questionable voice directions/acting, cringe anime tropes) into pros (this game is fucking hilarious), it really becomes something special. You just gotta fucking dive in and embrace the game in all its cringey and goofy glory.