History YMMV / Xenoblade

** The reveal that Shulk was a vessel for Zanza brings into question how much control he had over his emotions when starting his RoaringRampageOfRevenge quest against the Mechon. Many fans suspect Shulk's struggle to restrain himself from delivering the finishing blow to Egil wasn't the first time Zanza egged him on.

* FirstInstallmentWins: A VocalMinority believes that ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' is ''far'' superior to both ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'' and ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2''. The former is viewed as a severe case of TheyChangedItNowItSucks and is criticized for introducing less likable characters. The latter is criticized for having way too many [[AnnoyingVideoGameHelper tutorials]], bad English voice acting, [[WTHCostumingDepartment inferior character design]], and a bland story.

** ''Definitive Edition'' remixed the entire soundtrack and generally speaking the reception has been very well received. However, the one area players find to be a let down is the battle themes. The main issue players have is that they either remix the song entirely (An Obstacle In Our Path for example is now a heavy metal rock song) or just change the song a bit tone-wise to make it lose its original impact (the final boss theme is smoother but lacks impact now). As a result, the songs now feel less fitting or lose the sheer impact they had before, leading to many to prefer the original soundtrack. Thankfully, the game offers the option to switch to the original soundtrack, lessening the blow.

* CatharsisFactor: One of the things added to the remake was Casual Mode, following the lead of ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2''. Which can be toggled on or off at ''any'' time. Facing a particularly tough enemy who keeps wiping the floor with you? Just set the game to casual mode and watch as you ''slaughter'' them.

** The characters sometimes look like they have a rather vacant gaze during some scenes. It becomes better when they are obviously looking right at each other, or when they emote during cutscenes, but sometimes the characters just ''don't blink''. And it becomes a little unnerving. When played in SD or on a 3DS screen, it's not very notable but you ''really'' notice this on the Switch.

* SpecialEffectFailure: The visual effects on the remaster are quite nice, giving all sorts of detail to everything... until you reach Frontier Village and you notice that the Nopon's mouths ''do not move'' when they are speaking to you, whereas Riki is using the infamous "Pixel mouth". You wouldn't have paid much attention on the rather blurry character models of the Wii or on the compressed screen of the 3DS, but when you're on an HD switch? You ''definitely'' notice.

** Sharla, because the game's mechanics make healing less valuable than in many other [[EasternRPG JRPGs]]. The fact that she is very lacking in combat arts, combined with the inability to use her Cooldown Talent Art (itself a ScrappyMechanic) in Chain Attacks, makes it difficult to perform lengthy Chain Links with her. Unlike many other examples of this trope, though, it's not so much that she is actually a detriment to the party and more that everyone else is just that good, and needing her to win non-boss/uniques much higher than you is a sign that your party is underleveled or underoptimized.
** NPC Melia, mostly because of her ArtificialStupidity. Her AI's main shortcoming is the fact that she focuses on acting as a ''melee combatant'' despite being the least durable character in the game, yet her break-topple combo is never properly utilized. The AI also tends to use her actual primary attacks, the Summons, for their passive buffs instead, causing her to just stand there uselessly if she isn't trying to [[TooDumbToLive whack enemies with her staff]]. While she is still useful for her ability to rack up multipliers during chain attacks, and putting her in the party with Reyn or Dunban ''does'' make her a little more effective (as they will keep the heat off of her for a bit) it's not as effective as if the player controls her.
** Player-controlled Shulk, by virtue of being too good and BoringButPractical. The Monado gives him access to many useful abilities, including some that none of the other characters have (e.g. he's the only reliable defense against area attacks with Monado Shield and Monado Armor, and Monado Purge is the only reliable way of removing Spike or other active Auras). That many bosses and Unique monsters require use of the Monado to be taken down effectively doesn't help anyone who would like to use someone besides Shulk in your small 3 man party.
** On the other hand, NPC Shulk is hated almost as much as NPC Melia for [[ArtificialStupidity similar reasons]]. The AI isn't the best at positional attacks and has a nasty tendency to waste his Talent Gauge unnecessarily, such as spamming Monado Enchant against Mechon when the entire party already has Anti-Mechon weapons equipped, making it difficult to counter visions when they arise. Which doesn't sound ''too'' bad, except he has a nasty habit of using [[CastFromHitPoints Battle Soul]] repeatedly to fuel his frivolous use of the Monado, meaning it's common to see Shulk drop from full health to red in a few seconds without the enemy even needing to get an attack in. And unlike Dunban, Shulk doesn't have any Arts to replace it with. It is possible to de-equip Battle Soul (press 2 in the Art Menu using the Nunchuck control scheme) but this is the only time such an ability is even useful.

** Avalanche Abaasy deserves mention for having the unique trait of having an [[OneHitKill Instant Death]] [[ScrappyMechanic Spike Aura]], which means your party will get eviscerated ''just for trying to land a hit''. It also has resistance to Aura Sealing, so there's no easy way to shut off the aura (and even then, not for longer than a few seconds at a time). It's also 21 levels higher than the level cap. Thankfully, it's also [[BonusBoss completely optional to fight.]]

* RetroactiveRecognition: For fans of ''Series/DoctorWho'', if they play with the English dub, they'll be surprised to find out Melia is played by Creator/JennaColeman, from before she got the role of [[Characters/DoctorWhoRevivalSeriesCompanionsClaraOswald Clara]].

** What's more, Egil's level 72. After this, the levels utterly ''spike'', ending at 81 for the FinalBoss. Given that there are fewer sidequests (and the ones that do exist don't provide enough experience to truly push your levels like they did in the middle of the game) it also requires a lot of players to stop and grind so they can have some kind of an advantage against the next couple bosses, as a boss two or three levels above can utterly ''slaughter'' you without Break-topple-Daze chains.

* GoddamnedBats: Heavier flying enemies are flat-out immune to Topple, requiring some out-of-the-box strategies to take them down swiftly.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: After meeting Tatsu in VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX, quite a few players publicly announced that they miss Riki.

* UncannyValley: Scenes that are not fully animated (the "dialogue" scenes) suffer from LimitedAnimation in movement and facial expressions. This combined with the lack of detail in some textures and models creates an uncanny effect. Though this is not the case in ''Definitive Edition''.

** The revelation that Faced Mechon have Homs inside them may not be too surprising considering early on the game went out of its way to show that the Monado can't harm Homs. They above example doesn't exactly help this any, either.

** Sometimes, if you're in a narrow area, the AI party members will jump. And you'll hear their jumping noises out of nowhere. Sometimes you end up hearing Fiora's rather unintentionally hilarious jumping noise, Melia's strangely commanding jumps, or Reyn saying "Alley-oop!" out of nowhere.

** Telethia. They have the ability to basically NoSell almost everything you throw at them. Just another reason why Shulk is essentially a ''requirement'', as he's the only one who has any way of reliably shutting them down.

* FountainOfMemes: Due to just how often the characters shout quotes during battle, all seven party members are full of memetic material. When Shulk was brought into Smash Bros for Wii U, he even brought some of Reyn's with him!

* {{Moe}}: Both of the Nopon party members in ''Future Connected'', but especially Kino.

** With the other ''Xeno'' games, ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' and especially ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}''. Many ''Xenoblade'' fans go as far as to consider it the ''only'' good ''Xeno'' game, particularly gameplay-wise. The main argument being that ''Blade'' was the only franchise to avert the infamously TroubledDevelopment that plagued ''Gears'' and especially ''Saga'' (to the point the series was cut in half and its original creators left midway through what remained), having aged gracefully enough to remain high-quality with a 1:1 remake in ''Definitive Edition''. On the other hand, the plot of ''Blade'', while very well-done for what it is, shoves many of the heavy philosophical and psychological themes and imagery that defined ''Gears'' and ''Saga'' to the background in favor of a more conventional and straightforward type of JRPG storyline. ''Blade'' fans argue that it made the story more cohesive and easy to follow, especially since the story manages to be told onscreen in its entirety, while ''Gears'' and ''Saga'' fans believe that ''Blade'' themes are not nearly as ambitious enough and lack the depth of its predecessors.

** With the other ''Xeno'' games, ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}''. Many ''Xenoblade'' fans go as far as to consider it the ''only'' good ''Xeno'' game, particularly gameplay-wise. The main argument being that ''Blade'' has aged far more gracefully than its spiritual predecesors in this regard, thus why they could make a 1:1 remake with ''Definitive Edition'', rather than needing a reimagining to stay relevant. On the other hand, fans of ''Gears'' and ''Saga'' heavily criticize ''Blade'' in the story department, arguing it can't hold a candle to its spiritual predecessors. Particularly that, while ''Gears'' and ''Saga'' were very heavy in philosophical themes, complex character psychology and religous imagery, ''Blade'' on the other hand leaves those elements far further back in the background in favor for a more "Anime trope-y" story, which makes the story, maybe easier to follow, but also far less unique and special.

** Building up Affinity. High affinity between party members increases Chain Attack damage, unlocks Heart-to-Heart cutscenes, grants access to more sidequests and is necessary to get additional skill trees. Unfortunately, the most effective way to gain affinity is by using different combinations of characters in battle, leading to obscene amounts of grinding.

* LesYay: Despite there being plenty of ShipToShipCombat between the Shulk & Fiora and Shulk & Melia fans, there are plenty of fans who either ship the OT3, or just Melia and Fiora ''without'' Shulk. After the events of ''Future Connected'', a lot of fans began to ship Melia and Tyrea as well.

* LesYay: Despite there being plenty of ShipToShipCombat between the Shulk & Fiora and Shulk & Melia fans, there are plenty of fans who either ship the OT3, or just Melia and Fiora ''without'' Shulk.