Combat system takes a long time to get interesting. Thankfully the story lays its hook very early. In many ways, this is a "classic" JRPG story beginning with your hometown destroyed, and ending with you killing a god, with a war fueled by racial animosity sprinkled in between and some love triangle for good measure. What elevates Xenoblade to greatness is how it translates classic JRPG experience into full 3D gigantic world to explore. Keep in mind this game came out around the same time when "HD town is hard". It was a beacon in the age of darkness when JRPGs either abandoned their identity or retreated to handheld.