So a quick question for those who already beat the game, how long did it took you?

97:50.

Yeah, while the "I'm gonna cook Tatsu" joke got old very fast, she is the most likeable character so far for me. (Finished Chapter 7) To be honest though, nobody in the game so far is as appealing as Shulk, Fiora, Riki or Dunban from the first game, or even Sharla, Reyn, or Melia.

I absolutely hated Riki. But I guess that's true. I like Lin better than Riki, but she isn't as strong as the other guys. It's just so refreshing that none of those guys felt tropey. I think that if she didn't do those two gripes though, she would be. She's a really likable character.

I guess I like Elma, but she isn't even remotely as likable. She just has such a boring tone to her voice. It's weird, because she actually has a much wider range of emotion than I thought she's have, but most of the time she's just stoic and matter-of-fact, making those moments seem out of place. I think the game tries to make her come off as some sort of badass, but her personality doesn't really make that work. That being said, she's not bad like...

Well, you'll see.

I honestly liked that we only have one hub town in the game, because I cared a lot for it and I enjoyed the changes I made on it through the game, with all the new races and all of that. Though maybe I'll put more dungeons through Mira, that's my main grip.  

And yeah, lots of questions are not answered, so I think a sequel is on the works. Next game could be very different, but it could be a sequel perfectly. He might be talking about gameplay, but the game could follow the same story. I hope that's the case because I think that the 2 final chapters of the game were brilliant, and I can't wait to know what's next. 

The way he worded it, there's really little chance that the next game will be a direct sequel. It's likely going to be another spiritual successor in a different genre. The first was fantasy. This was scifi. The next will be something else completely different and unrelated.

Knowing Takahashi's history I really think he was probably exaggerating/his meaning was mistranslated. Sci-fi is what he likes to do best, and even Xenoblade had heavy scifi elements. In the one "Iwata asks" about this game they mentioned he wrote more story for this than any other game he worked on - almost a novel, and he just loves long episodic epics with both Xenogears and Xenosaga. The pacing of this game is very reminiscent of Xenosaga as well. Xenoblade Chronicles was the exception, not the rule with Takahashi. The only external factor I can see affecting what he works on is Nintendo, but so far they've given Monolith Soft a lot more freedom than Namco had. 

I am unsure whether the next game will be a Xeno- game or not, but if it is, I think it will be in the same universe as this one, if not on Mira. There are just too many loose-ends in the plot which - unless they plan to resolve them through future (unannounced) DLC's - scream for a sequel. 

Got the game for Christmas. I've only had time to play it 5 hours now (just rescued Tatsu). I'll post my impressions later on.

So what's the go with levelling Skells? Do we upgrade the frame at Armoury Alley, are their stats tied to the pilot's level, or are they stuck at a fixed level?

My Skell isn't as resilient as I'd like, and I'd like to improve this if possibe.