That plot twist in chapter 5 tho

29 hours into the game, I love it so much, already more than the original XC.

Music is better, gameplay is much better, sidequests are better, everything for me surpasses the original and I don't mind the bigger focus on characters rather than story.

And yeah Mike dat Chapter 5

An asshole has lowered the entire score of the game on metacritic by giving it a 5/10. Kill Screen is a freaking joke, why metacritic allows this clickbait publications to count? They did the same with Undertale, Rise of Tomb Raider, Bloodborne the old hunters, Super Mario Maker and now XCX. Their intentions are just too obvious.

I just got to Chapter 4, and got bombarded with a bunch of new options. It seems like a lot of co-op stuff, but I noticed there are those support boxes floating around in different areas. Looks similar to the areas that would initiate support conversations in the first Xenoblade, only they initiate missions now? Seems interesting...gonna have to play around to see what else I can do now.

Hopefully I get a Skell soon! I can't stop playing this game, it's so easy to get lost doing side quests or just exploring the incredible world. I've only clocked around 10 hours, but it definitely seems like a serious contender for my GOTY.

So, I've just beaten the Chapter 11, 70 hours in, and each time I'm more in love with this game. Like, really, I always thought it would be good, but not that good. I think that what make the deal for me is the much more interesting side quests and world, even if the main plot lacks compared to the original. And the world feels very much alive. It's nice to see how the quests you make change the life in Mira, it makes you feel part of NLA. Your actions truly matters and affects a lot of people. I think it's one of my contenders for GOTG.

It may not be a perfect game, but I'm deeply impressed by the raw ambition of XCX.

In an era where much of Nintendo's software output has been, in my humble opinion, stiflingly conservative and safe, (even straight-up lazy at times) this game is everything they've been lacking; it's huge, it's epic, it's complex, it's "hardcore" oriented, and it's not afraid to take risks.

Nintendo needs more games like this.

I remember reading their Xenoblade Chronicles review. It's painfully obvious that they want to be edgy and sharp. While not..

Yet critics give it the same scores as New Super Mario Bros U, what a way to encourage Nintendo to go the right way. Nintendo cares about the critic reception, we saw that last year when they were using metacritic as a proof of the quality of their games, and of course, Nintendo cares about sales. And that's the thing, XCX is not gonna be a hit on sales, is gonna make them lose a ton of money, and its metacritic score its on par with a 2d platformer that, while good, represents a lot of the biggest mistakes Nintendo is making today, a lack of ambition (wich is extreme in this particular case), excess of conservatism and over confidence on its most established franchises, but it sells like hotcakes. So what is left then? What is going to understand Nintendo from this? That they should not go this route, that NSMBU is the good way, and XCX the bad way since it does not get remarkable sales or critic recognition, is just a waste of money. I find this sad. 

Look at me multi quoting. And I've never heard anyone else talk about this particular bug, I think you're just unlucky. I'd suggest ringing Nintendo and seeing what they can do. 

I'm more upset with Metacritic's balancing and weighting system.  The whole point of the average being weighted is to give more reliable/consistent critics more credence, balance out different metrics, and help the meta reflect the general consensus.  The game has 28 scores of 90 or higher, and Kill Screen rates lower by an average of over 7 points, AND Kill Screen is highly inconsistent, bouncing between high and low scores.  They should be either thrown off Meta - given Game reactor got tossed for no reason I can find it can't be that big a move - or be weighted so as to not be able to drag scores down for the sake of clicks.  If Metacritic wants to do weighting, they need to be responsible.