So, Xenoblade, frequently cited as one of the best JRPGs ever. It's... quite good, but held back by a number of design choices
Combat is a real-time affair with you controlling one character and using skills on individual timers. It's mildly clunky (you have to select from a skill bar with the d-pad) and doesn't give most characters much room for strategizing, but at least the main character is one with a gimmick that does. There's a few interesting fights, but most of it just boils down to having a tank hold the boss's attention. And your big super move is RNG dependent based on the affinity chart, which is just awful
Speaking of quests, they kinda suck. Mostly just killing monsters, occasionally spiced up with some minor drama from the NPCs. But you want to do them since they're a good source of exp, equipment, and gems, and really the only viable source of money. And all of this is worse since the game has an aggravating simulationist aspect where things change depending on the time of day and weather. You can change the time with a brief menu dive (already annoying), but weather can require many time changes. And what quests are available depends on the affinity chart, which is just awful
For character progression there's moves to level, a skill tree, skill sharing, loads of equipment, and gems to put in that equipment. It's a bit much, really. I imagine this is great if you really like tweaking your characters, but I ended up almost entirely ignoring gems and doing less than I probably should have with the rest. Which works, since a character's most important stat is level. Also, skill links depend on the affinity chart, which is just awful
And, yeah, the affinity chart. It's really two different things, both of them bad. Affinity between character affects a few different things, but largely only grows by just being in the party together. The problem is that it grows really slowly. Simultaneously encourages and penalizes experimenting with party composition. Area affinity determines quest availability. It grows by finishing quests and talking to named NPCs. Who have their own schedules, and, no, it's not as simple as day/night
Environment! It's a big, semi-open world with plenty to explore! But there's not much reason to explore, since the game tells you exactly where you need to go and there's no treasure chests. There's collectibles and minor exp bonuses if you go out of your way, but for the most part there's not much reason to go anywhere unless the story or a quest tells you to. At least it looks pretty (but would look prettier if the colour grading wasn't so damn grey)
And the big one, the story. It's good! Lot of neat ideas, cut scenes are made well. It does kind of telegraph several of the twists, and the story is pretty backloaded, but it's not a major problem. ...Being familiar with the other Xeno- games might be an issue, though
So, yeah, I enjoyed the game. I kinda wish it was a more traditional JRPG, though
Not the best thing ever, but pretty good
So, Xenoblade, frequently cited as one of the best JRPGs ever. It's... quite good, but held back by a number of design choices
Combat is a real-time affair with you controlling one character and using skills on individual timers. It's mildly clunky (you have to select from a skill bar with the d-pad) and doesn't give most characters much room for strategizing, but at least the main character is one with a gimmick that does. There's a few interesting fights, but most of it just boils down to having a tank hold the boss's attention. And your big super move is RNG dependent based on the affinity chart, which is just awful
Speaking of quests, they kinda suck. Mostly just killing monsters, occasionally spiced up with some minor drama from the NPCs. But you want to do them since they're a good source of exp, equipment, and gems, and really the only viable source of money. And all of this is worse since the game has an aggravating simulationist aspect where things change depending on the time of day and weather. You can change the time with a brief menu dive (already annoying), but weather can require many time changes. And what quests are available depends on the affinity chart, which is just awful
For character progression there's moves to level, a skill tree, skill sharing, loads of equipment, and gems to put in that equipment. It's a bit much, really. I imagine this is great if you really like tweaking your characters, but I ended up almost entirely ignoring gems and doing less than I probably should have with the rest. Which works, since a character's most important stat is level. Also, skill links depend on the affinity chart, which is just awful
And, yeah, the affinity chart. It's really two different things, both of them bad. Affinity between character affects a few different things, but largely only grows by just being in the party together. The problem is that it grows really slowly. Simultaneously encourages and penalizes experimenting with party composition. Area affinity determines quest availability. It grows by finishing quests and talking to named NPCs. Who have their own schedules, and, no, it's not as simple as day/night
Environment! It's a big, semi-open world with plenty to explore! But there's not much reason to explore, since the game tells you exactly where you need to go and there's no treasure chests. There's collectibles and minor exp bonuses if you go out of your way, but for the most part there's not much reason to go anywhere unless the story or a quest tells you to. At least it looks pretty (but would look prettier if the colour grading wasn't so damn grey)
And the big one, the story. It's good! Lot of neat ideas, cut scenes are made well. It does kind of telegraph several of the twists, and the story is pretty backloaded, but it's not a major problem. ...Being familiar with the other Xeno- games might be an issue, though
So, yeah, I enjoyed the game. I kinda wish it was a more traditional JRPG, though