Xenoblade 2

Haven't been in the mood to write much about personal stuff lately, so in the meantime I'll settle for random impressions. First off:

Finished the main story the other day. This game gets a lot of flak for regressing into cringey anime-cliche territory (especially compared to previous Xeno games), and while I agree with the overall criticisms, there was a decent amount of stuff I actually liked:

- The music. I haven't heard Mitsuda put out new game music in years, and he apparently collaborated on the soundtrack with the people who did the music for Xenoblade 1 which was decent as well. I like Gormott's day theme more than Gaur Plains now, and the choral arrangements (specifically Indol and Tantal) are great as well.

- The setting. It wasn't as awe-inspiring as the first time I was climbing the titan in Xenoblade I and trying to figure out which body part I was on, but seeing each of the different titans in II and how they functioned in space relative to each other along with the World Tree was pretty cool. In some respects I actually like the setting more than the one in Blade I, given that it felt like you were seeing more of the entire world and not just limited to one main "continent."

- The whole concept behind blades (their relationships to drivers, their life cycle) and how the main plot actually explored the implications of their existence thematically when it could easily have been limited to a gameplay gimmick, which it actually felt like at first when I was still trying to figure out the whole complicated mess of a battle system lol.

- Rex, even though he was more or less a standard generic JRPG/shounen protagonist (aka naively optimistic and impulsive teenage male). He actually had sass at times and matured a good amount by the end of the game, which was enough for me... or maybe I'm more forgiving of him because I actually like his in-game design, stupid outfit and all? Lol. (But not so much the official art.)

- Random references to past Xeno games. KOS-MOS, the gear designs, the concept behind Pyra and Mythra, the ties to Xenoblade I, and other story elements reminiscent of Gears/Saga (specifically thinking about the Zohar from those games). I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff.

- Having played most of the Xeno-games since the beginning (Gears, Saga I-III, Blade 1... skipped X just cause), it's been interesting to see how Takahashi's directorial style has changed over time. Some of these developments I've known about for a while; especially the tendency towards lengthy cinematic action cutscenes as was happening in Saga III... but it feels more appropriate here; I wasn't into Saga for the action.

- All that said, I hate the gacha system for rolling blades. Most of the rare blades themselves aren't very interesting imo, and all the time you have to waste to try getting all of them doesn't really feel worth it.

- I have to agree that in many other respects, this game doesn't respect your time much either. I don't know if I could do another game like this one for a long while.

Final verdict: I want to play Xenosaga again. Or at least ep I-II DS (if that game ever gets a translation) + III because I don't really have the patience for the mess that was the original ep II anymore.