But what about the gameplay? I agree that storywise it's pretty forgettable and I too am not a fan of the skimpy character designs or poor voice acting, but I can forgive everything else as long as the gameplay is there. Compared to the original I'd say X2 easily wins on that front for being much more engaging, though I haven't played XCX for more than 10 minutes so can't say anything about that.

So how many hours of grinding would you say that is? I can't remember what global nemesis entailed anymore. 

I strongly disagree with this. The story is the best in a Xeno game since Xenogears. It is self-contained, unlike Xenogears (required an art-book to understand; disc 2), Xenosaga (cut-short three episodes; and episode 2 dragged) and Xenoblade Chronicles X (depends on a sequel to reach full potential), well-paced (like Xenoblade Chronicles and unlike other Xeno-games), but also has much more world complexity and developed characters that aren't flat in comparison to the original. 

If Xenoblade Chronicles X doesn't get a sequel, the story will be strongly disappointing, and Xenoblade Chronicle's story was great for what it was - a simplified Gnostic allegory with little character development, but Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is more ambitious than that. 

Every cliché  that exists in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 existed in the original. 

Except both the gameplay, structure and Story are leagues above X I don't know how far you've played to say it's cliche story because it's far from that as you progress it's even better gameplay wise than the original.

In what ways were it's gameplay and structure leagues above X? 

In what ways were it's gameplay and structure leagues above X? 

Diving and Farm Points have replaced gathering random items that spawn on the map. In X if you wanted an ultra rare plant drop you had to run around the map for hours praying you'd get it. In 2 you just have to load up a bunch of Botany blades, and watch as a single farm point gives you 30 random plant items at once. 

The combo system in 2 rewards creating element orbs, and breaking them. This leads to long epic combos, is challenging to setup, and rewarding to pull off. You can have bosses or normal creatures drop over 3 times their normal loot this way. 

Having multiple towns instead of having just one town made talking to people less of a chore. Wandering around New LA trying to find someone you haven't talked to yet, or trying to find someone with something new to say was a chore. 2 has it so that these people have a star above their heads, and the smaller towns make it much easier to find the stragglers endgame. 

Being able to equip two luck modifying accessories, and then two luck modifying blades makes opening rare blades very easy. Especially when you combine it with farming a boss for Rare/Legendary Blades. With 2 the designers introduced all these different elements to give skilled players a chance to get past the grind. In X finding new teammembers was often confusing and down to sheer luck. If you only did X, Y, and Z, new teammate A would show up, in random place B. 

Being able to equip different blades to different drivers, and having different movesets with different drivers really diversified the strategies and teambuilding you can take in the game. For example: Rex has completely different moves using a Shield Hammer, than Nia. In X everybody just used the same movesets per weapon. 

I mean don't get me wrong here, I liked X. It had bigger worlds, and let the player choose their class at the start of the game. But Xenoblade 2 takes out a lot of the grindy elements, introduces interesting combat mechanics, and gives you more options for teambuilding. 

Yeah, I'm finding that to be a headscratcher too.

I don't even think the story of Xenoblade Chronicles was anything special either, as it's a linear plot that's already been done by the same writers, and done better; where XC progressed wasn't in terms of story - it was in vertical design and pacing goals/checkpoints in a massive 3D world. The story of Xenoblade Chronicles X did ask some fascinating questions (such as, how would a human city fare on an alien world?) and provided an enormous amount of content to answer it.

At least with Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the story seems much more original - I am still not through it, as I am in chapter 6, but I am really enjoying it so far.

Diving and Farm Points have replaced gathering random items that spawn on the map. In X if you wanted an ultra rare plant drop you had to run around the map for hours praying you'd get it. In 2 you just have to load up a bunch of Botany blades, and watch as a single farm point gives you 30 random plant items at once. 

The combo system in 2 rewards creating element orbs, and breaking them. This leads to long epic combos, is challenging to setup, and rewarding to pull off. You can have bosses or normal creatures drop over 3 times their normal loot this way. 

Having multiple towns instead of having just one town made talking to people less of a chore. Wandering around New LA trying to find someone you haven't talked to yet, or trying to find someone with something new to say was a chore. 2 has it so that these people have a star above their heads, and the smaller towns make it much easier to find the stragglers endgame. 

Being able to equip two luck modifying accessories, and then two luck modifying blades makes opening rare blades very easy. Especially when you combine it with farming a boss for Rare/Legendary Blades. With 2 the designers introduced all these different elements to give skilled players a chance to get past the grind. In X finding new teammembers was often confusing and down to sheer luck. If you only did X, Y, and Z, new teammate A would show up, in random place B. 

Being able to equip different blades to different drivers, and having different movesets with different drivers really diversified the strategies and teambuilding you can take in the game. For example: Rex has completely different moves using a Shield Hammer, than Nia. In X everybody just used the same movesets per weapon. 

I mean don't get me wrong here, I liked X. It had bigger worlds, and let the player choose their class at the start of the game. But Xenoblade 2 takes out a lot of the grindy elements, introduces interesting combat mechanics, and gives you more options for teambuilding.