This is quite possibly my favorite game of all time. Every single part of this game is so good and awesome, that it drowns out the very few and minute negatives.
+ The Story: the story is nothing short of phenomenal. I won't spoil anything here because it deserves to be played through blind. Its full of twists, as you would expect from a Xenoblade game, and they are all really good.
+ The Characters: Unlike the previous 2 games, every character stays relevant up until the end in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. They all develop really well, and are all endlessly like able. The Blades mostly all have great personalities and most are really useful in battle, and while most don't factor into the story, the ones that do are used exemplary well.
+ The Villains: so good that they needed an extra point. Yes, they fall under characters, but they need to be singled out and mentioned. They are all really really good. All of them are likable, and all of them are sympathetic villains, with a good chunk of the game related to them and their backstories.
+ The World: The areas are drop dead gorgeous, and really varied too. Uraya and Gormott or breathtaking, but are completely contrasted by the Industrial Wasteland of Mor Ardain. This continues throughout the game, with a great many unique and gorgeous area, which are all a joy to explore and find secrets in.
+ The Combat: I won't go to in depth about it here, because its quite complicated. The combat is easy to understand but difficult to master. You have to use arts to charge up special attacks. creating a combo with these specials results in an elemental orb surrounding the enemy, which you can smash during a chain attack to wrack up huge amounts of damage. Its a really unique and well implemented combat system.
+ Most of the Sidequests: I really enjoyed playing through most of the blade quests and quest chains and they all have quite interesting side stories that excellently build up and give lore about the phenomenal world.
+ The Music: Every single track on this OST is incredible - every single one. It is the single best video game soundtrack I have ever heard.
- The Map System: It was largely fixed in a patch, but the map is still a bit confusing - mostly notable during the quest 'Riddle on the Wall'
- A Small Percentage of Quests: Some of these are what you expect, collect this, kill that. There are less in this game than in X and 1, but its still unwelcome after some of the more interesting sidequests. Also one Blade Quest is complete hell to do. if you have played through the game, you know exactly which one I'm talking about.
Conclusion- This game is unbelievably amazing and I would recommend it to anyone, whether they are a fan of JRPGs or not.
