Flying isn't boring it just simply isn't a new concept, even when looking at the Blade series.

@bolded: You obviously didn't know about the best weapon farms, super nemesis', ect. There are tons of hidden secrets in every area that can only be reached through the use of flight. The Noctilucent Sphere that has Pharsis, The Everqueen in Sylvalum. The giant flower you can enter on the north side of Noctilum. The final battle with the Almandal in the floating islands of Primordia, the volcano you can enter in Cauldros, or the land center of the bottomless pit in Oblivia are just the tip of the iceburg for things in each territory that can only be reached through flight. There are tons of other examples but it would just be cave here, and waterfall there.

For the last part, sure, we didn't get the story till the second trailer. Luckily XCX didn't need a story trailer to really get through to the viewer that this was going to be something epic. It did show the introduction to vehicles, it did show the introduction of flight, it did show the MASSIVE update of the graphics from XC. It showed combat and how that had completely evolved through melee and range weapon swapping and being able to remove limbs from monsters. It showed that gaint robots were back in the Xeno series.

Maybe I have posted this somewhere else or not. I dunno.

But you should check out the artist on this game and how his previous work looks like:

I was aware of the super bosses and such but new farming opportunities doesn't occupy the same level of significance as new settlements and such.  That's what I was getting at.  Sure there was some loot and special enemies but it wasn't integral to discovery of new towns and lands, which it very well could be here.

Also, as for the character artist sample above, 1) showing that he has in the past done work that one might consider tasteless or fanservicey has little relevance since whether or not that will show up in any given work is not up to him, it's up to the director(s) and 2) honestly, having played XC, XCX, and seen many images of female characters from past games, the girl from the example provided would fit right in as far as design goes :P.  Let's not be naive concerning the designs of characters in past games (*cough*Sharla*cough*)

Judging by the reveal trailers, I would guess we're looking at a game that's much closer to Xenoblade Chronicles that it is to X: a large, single-player story driven RPG, rather than an exploration driven RPG. The emphasis in the reveal trailer is on a handful of characters and settlements, rather than on huge environments and vehicle traversal, as the X reveal was. 

An interview Takahashi gave to Time after XCX released supports this angle:

"The design focus for this game was on map exploration and character builds during battle," says Takahashi. "We deliberately distanced ourselves from having philosophical themes intertwined with the core of the story. Given that we at Monolith Soft had no experience with developing HD titles, our goal with this project was to experiment with and implement the assorted tech skills we needed for HD game development. We decided that trying to balance that with an epic theme-laden story would pose difficulties. Our hope is that we can start by creating the core system, then expand on the story and thematic elements in our future project."

This statement is particularly interesting, because it demonstrates two key points about XC2: 1) It will benefit from Monolith Soft's greater knowhow when it comes to HD development, in that they now have the skills and tools required, and 2) XC2 is likely being designed with "an epic theme-laden story" at its core.

This is further supported by an interview with Game Reactor:

"While Xenoblade Chronicles was a true story-driven JRPG, we took a rather different approach with Xenoblade Chronicles X. You could say it doesn't really feel like a typical JRPG: what really sets it apart from other JRPGs is that the game world - the planet Mira - is really vast. I've heard that some Japanese users who played Xenoblade Chronicles X said they enjoyed a more story-driven type of game. So if we have the opportunity to make another game in the series, I'd like to made another typical JRPG-style game like Xenoblade Chronicles again."

It should be fairly obvious - with XC2 being a direct sequel - but these interviews do confirm to me that we should expect a linear, plot-driven RPG rather than an open world RPG this time around. That's not to say XC2 will lack ambition or innovation, but it's quite clear we're looking at a different set of priorities to XCX. Personally I loved both XC and XCX (though I never played any of the other Xeno games), so I'm looking forward to XC2. Hopefully we'll get plenty more details at E3 and confirmation of whether or not this really is a 2017 release.

I would hope it is much more open than Xenoblade. Portions of the game felt like a wide corridor, rather than a real world, this is pretty much a symptom of moving from wide open 2D maps into a 3D environment. Xenoblade was a big improvement from games like FFX and the Xenosaga titles, but it is not ideal for an RPG. The design philosophy needs to progress, not look backward at that sort of stop-gap design style.

Anyway, in the end, if there is one game Monolithsoft was ever destined for, it is a fully realized game based on the original vision of Xenogears: Full 3D environments, consistent gameplay style, and depth significantly in excess of what is currently available. Of course with updates, now Takahashi has the resources, and has built a more streamlined battle system. Monolithsoft has had their hands in Breath of the Wild, they have experience with the most cutting edge open-world game design, I think it would be a waste to have them work on something of obsolete style.

As always, we'll just have to see more. Not every great game "wowed" you initially. I'm sure some were impressed with the initial reveal of Splatoon but remain cautious about it, especially when news came out about its online features and such. Ultimately, it became a best-seller and the sequel is now one of the headliners of the Switch this year.

Moving back to a more linear and plot-driven affair is good news in my book. 

I really dislike the school of thought that open world is inherently superior to linearity.

The reveal trailer to me seems to establish more that each game in the series is going to be it's own thing in how it's approached much like the FF series hence why the setting and all is significantly different. Much like with the Zelda team (whom Monolith work with often) changing things up each game I think Monolith are going down the same path with the series.

And exactly how significant are new settlements and stuff? I'd argue places which give you materials to create intergalactic rated weapons and armor and materials for creating level XX rated augments are far more important than a new town full of npcs that serve little else than move story along. And that is even if this new game even goes that direction, and there is even a sense of control in how you get from one town to the next. But you are correct when stating the Nopon Caravans and Wrothian base can all be gotten to by foot. I'm just saying the narrative in which flight isn't crutial to being able to get to important places in X is not true.

No idea where the idea of being fanservicey was an issue for me, it's not. You're right though, Sharla, as well as Goetia, Elma true form and Ryyz from X are all pretty fan servicey.

Settlements can be very significant.  They can provide a variance of cultures to see, new side stories, etc.  While I am a big fan of XCX, one of the missed opportunities in that game I felt was the lack of other settlements.  Not even the Nopon had a town.  In XC, it was cool to see the different cultures of the Nopon and High Entia.  The fact none of the other races had a proper settlement at any point - not even a district in NLA (which there was plenty of room for) was a bit of a let down.  The exception of course being the Ma-non with their ship.   And these can provide new opportunities for stuff as well, it's not a zero-sum game where more towns equals less other stuff.

And I wasn't referring to you with the fanservicey bit, I was referring to the guy who posted directly above me with images of a character drawn by the artist for this game and the fact he seemed to be trying to make some point by showing said character had a bit of fanservice about her.  Which, as you pointed out, isn't necessarily out of place in the Xenoblade (or indeed any Xeno-) series.  It's just I've seen more than a few people try to make a huge deal about that.