My FOURTH attempt at finishing Xenoblade Chronicles... here I go!

[JWeinCom]

If you don't like it... maybe just don't play Xenobldade 2.

It does start out slow, and honestly it stays kind of slow throughout the game, which is actually the problem I'm having with 2.

But the problem IMO is less about being slow, and more about feeling kind of aimless in the beginning. There's a vague goal, but overall, there's not a great sense of purpose, so it feels like a slog with nothing much to look forward to. That being said, once the story develops, it gets really engaging, and the slow parts, rather than just being boring, serve to build anticipation.   So, I'm hoping that 2 eventually gets to the same point.

Btw, I would actually recommend X. A lot of fans didn't like it as much since it's very different from Chronicles 1, but it's a really good game in its own right. It's more of an open world than a traditional JRPG, and I feel like it kind of set the stage for Breath of the Wild. It's similar in that it takes a lot of the freedom from WRPG style games like Skyrim, but is still focused very squarely on a central goal. As in BOTW, there is a lot to do, but all of it serves the game's central objective. I kind of feel that now that there's a legitimate followup to Chronicles, opinions on the game will soften. If you think of it as a spinoff instead of a sequel, you'll probably enjoy it. In fact, you may enjoy it more than Xenoblade Chronicles. Because the format is way more open, you don't run into the same issues of your progress being bottlenecked in certain places.