How far did you get in SPM?  If I recall correctly, it gets significantly better about 4 worlds in or so.  It opens up and starts incorporating much more rpg elements.  

Bristow9091 said: KLXVER said: Well youre in for another 70 hours of fun Oh so many hours of fun! *breaks down into tears* Yerm said: it admittedly does start out slow but then it really picks up during the second and third act   Ljink96 said: I avoided this game as much as I could until I saw it top the top 10 lists of Wii games/RPGs. It looked bad compared to other 7th gen RPGS, the art style wasn't what I was used to but I took a jump in, and don't ever regret it. The story and voice acting is nothing short of amazing and the battle system was unique for its time, at least on the Wii. Just keep playing. If you ever think you're getting bored, just keep playing. The plot twists and characters alone were more than enough to keep me invested in the game. Pair that with an amazing soundtrack, and by the end I swear you'll cry. I beat it with my brother and being the "manly men" we thought we were, we were both trying to hold back emotion. It's just a well done story and overall amazing experience. It's not for everybody, no game is, but the game will find you if you're open to it, if that makes sense. So the pacing DOES eventually pick up, right? I mean, it must do since so many people LOVE the game, there's got to be SOMETHING other than the soundtrack, right? ...RIGHT?! Just waiting for my Wii U Gamepad to charge, then gonna' start my (mis)adventure, lol.

yeah, the game tricks you into thinking its going to be a light-hearted revenge story. i realize you havent completed it so i will keep spoilers limited to the first act. the Mechon attacking Colony 9 and then Shulk venturing off to Colony 6 to find the faced mechon is basically all exposition, and it is actually a very limited exposition compared to everything the game has to offer, and they dont tell you anything aside from what was immediately necessary. as you get farther and farther into Xenoblade huge chunks of lore will be dropped that will flip the narrative of the game inside-out and backwards. your perspective of the titans will change, your perspective of the monado will change, and then just when you think things might be coming to a close you realize youre still only about halfway through the game.

I don't remember. I think the furthest I got was in some mansion. 

Bristow9091 said: KLXVER said: Well youre in for another 70 hours of fun Oh so many hours of fun! *breaks down into tears* Yerm said: it admittedly does start out slow but then it really picks up during the second and third act   Ljink96 said: I avoided this game as much as I could until I saw it top the top 10 lists of Wii games/RPGs. It looked bad compared to other 7th gen RPGS, the art style wasn't what I was used to but I took a jump in, and don't ever regret it. The story and voice acting is nothing short of amazing and the battle system was unique for its time, at least on the Wii. Just keep playing. If you ever think you're getting bored, just keep playing. The plot twists and characters alone were more than enough to keep me invested in the game. Pair that with an amazing soundtrack, and by the end I swear you'll cry. I beat it with my brother and being the "manly men" we thought we were, we were both trying to hold back emotion. It's just a well done story and overall amazing experience. It's not for everybody, no game is, but the game will find you if you're open to it, if that makes sense. So the pacing DOES eventually pick up, right? I mean, it must do since so many people LOVE the game, there's got to be SOMETHING other than the soundtrack, right? ...RIGHT?! Just waiting for my Wii U Gamepad to charge, then gonna' start my (mis)adventure, lol.

Yes, there's one huge plot twist around 50-60% of the game that will keep you invested through the rest. I know that's a while for a huge plot twist, but there are smaller ones along the way. I think the story improves in your second play through though, as things that flew over your head are easily understood and further enhance your overall appreciation of the story. It gets good, you just have to get there!

No joke I finished Xenoblade 1 four times in the year it came out. I will say going back to it now the battle system would be a bit clunky compared to what I'm used to now. X and 2 really refined the formula and in 2 it's at it's best. Inventory you can have 99 of each item. It's insane. XCX is a great game for exploring but the story is incomplete and not related to XC1 outside of references. I love X so much because of flying mechs in a massive open world. The real downside to Xenoblade games is they are bad at explaining how they work. They are complex and have depth and yes at first seem very overwhelming. Over time you learn it as they do have a learning curve but while they throw a lot at you, a good amount of it is just optional and lets you play how you want to. It's just giving you more options. When you boil it down it's no more complicated than any RPG in basic structure.

At the beginning I had a lot of issues getting into the battle system and the characters seem to be stiff. After playing around 20 hours both things changed radical for me.

If you loose again interest in the game, I recommand you to watch an experianced youtuber that you can see how the battle system is used properly.

Depends on your playstyle really. It's one of those things where they give you loads of options but you choose what's best for you. For me I just attack a crap ton and had Reyn as my tank and Sharla as my healer. As the game goes on you will have quite a few people to choose to use in your party. (you get more thna you can use at once like any of the games) so early on I wouldn't worry too much as you will have plenty of party members to diverse your skills. For now just go with what you want.

People like different things. Seemingly people like this joke of a Tomb Raider reboot or GTA which was boring as hell, so why shouldn't were people outside which dislike Xenoblade. It may be just not your cup of tea.

I love this game to death. I have it on Wii, 3DS and never got to actually finish it. Mostly due to me having less and less free time, not the game itself.

Have fun! :D

First time I played it Im pretty sure I pulled like a all-day outta it..... like 12-16hours.

Start over if its along time ago since you played it, and just accept its going to take like 60-70hours to beat it.

I was hooked right from the start with xenoblades, its not like its got a rough start to get into.