I finished it about 3 months ago, one of my favorite games of all time

It is without a doubt one of the best JRPGs ever made. Up there with FF6, FF7 and FF9 for me.

It's kinda a shame it's remained so niche though. About 1 million sales. Which I guess is good for a JRPG in general. But awful compared to a Final Fantasy game. Really goes to show how much the IP matters over the quality.

Which leaves what exactly? The story and....the characters?

There's more to look forward to like the side mechanics and the lore ... 

It's a decent game but it almost feels like a lot of the issues are been overlooked ... 

Or your taste differs from the majority who played it... I found the combat to be the best I've played in an RPG.

We all have different perspectives but I'm not alone in finding that aspect to be drab as you can see in this thread ... 

Lol, why would I take someone as Lawlight serious?

You're very much in the minority.

Lawlight isn't even in this thread ... 

It matters not that I'm in the minority in this case. It's that Xenoblade fans are in the minority ... 

Is it a sin to ask Monolith Soft to appeal to other bigger JRPG fanbases like Final Fantasy, Pokemon, Dragon Quest, and maybe even KH ? 

Why not have the combat system to be like those games and poach their customers then maybe the original fans can go on about proclaiming that Xenoblade is a better series than those bigtime JRPGs ? 

The combat is inspired by FF XII...

It's not Xenoblade's fault that most people are idiots that only buy something from well known brands.

Pokémon has the most boring combat system ever. Dragon Quest is way too basic as well and most people in the West don't care for it.

Xenoblade is better than those big time JRPGs. It just is. Rename the game FF (and change nothing else) and it would sell many millions.

You do realize a lot of these developers at Monolith Soft used to work on games like FF, right?

Sin? No. Wise? I doubt that very much. Monolith has a long history of providing a very different product than the ones you listed. I suspect going "me-too" will end up in an inferior product that fails to appeal to the crowds you've identified while alienating the modest fanbase they've established.