I've gone out of my way to try different types and avoid stuff I dislike, and in most cases I still don't like what I get.

I simply do not like anime in general, I don't know why you have such an issue with that.

Well, then you don't have an open mind. Saying that is like saying: I have sampled a Hollywood movie and I didn't like it.

Anime is very different. Take for example: Mushishi, Serial Experiments Lain, Parasyte Maxim, Nichijou and Akatsuki no Yona. These series fit together well as Stranger Things, How I met your Mother, Primer, 300 and finding nemo would fit into the same category - not at all. So if you put Anime together so as if it would be all the same you don't treat anime fairly.

I've tried many anime shows, many anime movies, and many games like an anime style. In the majority of cases I find the style and associated conventions annoying.

Having an "open mind" doesn't mean you're not allowed to dislike things.

I didn't get around to write one.

Which reminds me of last year's failed mega project to finish the thing in its entirety with an estimated time of 250 hours. I broke down after 210 hours because I couldn't see the game anymore. Got a 100% exploration rate, finished all missions except one basic one that involved killing a certain tyrant, killed all tyrants except ~10, had gotten 731/749 trophies. The missing tyrants and trophies required yet another round of heavy grinding after I had done so many before; I think I could have fulfilled the original estimate of 250 hours, but I couldn't do it anymore. Also, the plan to max out all skills turned into a huge bust, because the avatar gets way too few skill points and grinding them is a nightmare.

Game world is great, freedom is good, content until the credits is motivating. But once you move to the postgame content you soon get slammed with ridiculous grinding. There's no smooth progression from tackling one thing and then moving on to the next; you have a huge hill to climb before you can do some actually new things again. This game was big enough to not fall back on cheap tactics to lengthen the playtime, but it fell into that trap big time.

I'd still rate it 8.4/10, but it's clearly not as good as the first game.

I'd rather have Xenoblade 2 with a smaller game world that has more interesting things to do. A growth in quality instead of pursuing quantity, so to say.

I think that by naming the game Xenoblade 2, they're sending the message that the game will be more like the first game than like XCX.

I didn't finish XCX. The progression is so slow in this game, and there's so many fetch-quests that I prefer doing it in short bursts. I have to say I don't really enjoy the formula they went for this time around, and prefer the first game in most aspects. The world in XCX is nice to explore for sure, but the payout isn't good enough most of the time. That, and Skell battles really disappointed me by how basic and repetitive they are. :(

I mean, anime is incredibly broad, so it kind of is not having an open mind. Saying you don't like anime is like saying you don't like live-action. The only "associated conventions" and "style" are being animated and being produced in Japan.

I don't like anime in general; there are exceptions (Princess Mononoke comes to mind) but the tropes common to around 90% of anime irritate the crap out of me. That's not being closed minded, that's simply not being a fan of overly melodramatic high school aged main characters, cutesy mascot co-stars, technicoloured hair, and other such widespread cliches.