re: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Switch JRPG Official Thread (84/100 Metacritic)

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Xenoblade 2 consistently displays a frustrating lack of respect for the player’s time. Everything takes significantly longer than it needs to, in part because the game contains such an overwhelming number of features. It can take dozens of minutes to navigate the clunky menus, sort through all of the characters’ upgrades, and manage a collection of Pokémon-like Blades. The mini-map is vague and often feels like it’s withholding information. There are no larger maps to be found, so you’ll have to rely upon UI markers to figure out where you need to go.

Battles are long and tedious, and many of them dragged on even after I’d fully learned how the combat system worked. The otherwise satisfying battle combos became much less interesting after I had to repeat them on every bullet-spongey trash mob in my path. And when I wasn’t grinding levels or taking care of some of the game’s menial sidequests, boss fights often prevented me from making any progress, especially during those moments when Xenoblade 2 arbitrarily decides to limit the party to two characters as opposed to the standard three.

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On this and many other levels, Xenoblade 2 exhibits admirable depth. Adventurous types that enjoy complex combat systems can easily spend more than 100 hours uncovering Alrest's secrets and developing their team of Blades, provided they can come to terms with a handful of unavoidable shortcomings. It's equal parts pleasing and frustrating, but the struggle to keep up with everything thrown your way is more of a hurdle than a roadblock. It will be a tough pill to swallow for people who aren't accustomed to the typical cliches found in many Japanese RPGs, and its often clumsy nature keeps it from being the next groundbreaking Switch game, but Xenoblade 2 is worth pursuing if you've got enough patience to let it blossom.

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