From all the reception ive heard it will score less. Maybe even mid 80s at most.

I think not. The story about alien war is worse than the story about gods battling each other IMO.

85 would be good enough. Story will make the score a lot lower but larger world, better sceneries, more gameplay depth and mechas will prevent it from doing much worser. I expect to enjoy it a lot more though.

Wow a lot of people are keeping their expectations low but I agree with you guys. Probably 85-90.

I'm personally interested in how fun the overworld and Skells are though, so I'll be paying more attention to those mechanics in the reviews.

It will be at >90p.
Not sure if will be higer...

from the (p)reviews I've read and heard I'm not sure if it will make it above 90.
Probably 86 or 87-ish at the end of the day.

batman arkham knight received good score with quest structure like xeno x lol

85-90 is guaranteed from what I've read. In almost every aspect the gameplay is better and more refined than the first game, with a lot more content. The story is not self-contained (it is an introduction for sequels) unlike Xenoblade Chronicles, so that might be an issue that will decrease scores a bit. Overall though, Western reviewers should have a better time with the game than Japanese reviewers, and Japanese reviewers gave this game great scores (80-90 range.) I expect less than Xenoblade Chronicles, but still quite high. I'll predict a score of 88%.

Was Kotaku's "review" and Neogaf import reviews the extent of what you read? For the first, I'd say he'd probably give that score to the first Xenoblade. As for the second, I'd say they aren't very mainstream and reviewers will be considering a much broader audience when they review the game - particularly people who haven't played the first.

The story is much more than an alien war. Lots of serious plot-twists and the usual existential allusions and ethical questions of a Takahashi game.