Man, I just feel so disappointed by this game. Xenoblade Chronicles 1 is one of my all time favorite games, and although I was somewhat mixed on it at first, I've gained a soft spot for Xenoblade 2. But something about Xenoblade 3 just doesn't do it as much for me. To get the positives out of the way, I think that the gameplay is some of the best the series has to offer. Combat actually feels fun, and movement is infinitely better than the predecessors. The game's world is also pretty enjoyable to explore, although in my opinion the loss of the titan format for the world was a disappointment, the fact that living beings acted as the setting was a neat trait of the series up until this point. But this game lost me in its most major aspect: the story. I'm not going to go into explicit detail for the sake of spoilers (and if I went full-spoiler mode I'd be here all day typing this), but this game has one of the most undercooked, boring stories I have ever seen in a JRPG. I've never felt so burnt out from a game just because of how unmotivating a story was, but it's definitely applicable here. My major complaint is just the lack of actual character development. With the introduction of 6 different protagonists all at once, none of the characters really get their chance to shine early on, leaving you with empty shells who have to be haphazardly fleshed out towards the very end of this 100+ hour experience. Don't even get me started on the villains. This game's villains are some of the worst, most generic, forgettable villains I've ever seen in any piece of media. They're terrible. And you fight them all the time, making all of them blend together. I can go on and on with my story complaints, but you get the point. I can only hope that the story DLC isn't nearly as disappointing, like Torna was for Xenoblade 2, but as of right now, my expectations aren't super high. Overall, I think Xenoblade 3 has the framework of a really solid game, but the story underdelivers, and that really hurts a game like this. If given more time to cook in the oven, I think this game could've been a masterpiece, but it just underdelivers. Feeling very similar feelings to Shin Megami Tensei V when that first released. Both games I was really looking forward to, but underdelivered in the story aspect when everything else was so great.