Bummed to see this game exclusive to Switch 2. I was really hoping Monolith Soft would give Switch 1 one last massive RPG before moving on completely.

By the time this comes out it'll be around 2 years into Switch 2's life; for a big game like this, going crossgen would likely have held back their ambitions too much, even Xenoblade 2/3 struggled a bit on Nintendo's last gen system.

If she is the leading composer, that's a big shift from the other Xenoblade games. Until now, Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger) was the one in charge for the three numbered Xenoblade games and Shimomura only composed like a couple of songs for the first one (not to downplay her: she composed the main theme, some custcene music and a few are themes... and all of them are glorious).

So, she's not only returning after 15 years of absence in the series, she's also replacing Mitsuda and taking the lead on the newest entry. That's huge news.

I'm a bit conflicted on this one. A new Xenoblade always excites me... but this one doesn't really "hit the spot" for me.

While characters art style kinda fall in line with Xeno 2 and 3, the landscapes and other elements look too stylized for what I expect from a Xenoblade games. Don't get me wrong: it doesn't look bad. Just... not what I expected.

It's the same with the whole academy setup. Not the biggest fan of the concept.

I will say: the whole "Inception" thing going on with the world is breathtaking and has tons of potential.

I'm torn on this one. I loved the quirkiness and fun over the top character designs of Xenoblade 2. They toned that down for a much darker tone in X3 which I didn't like that much. And this one seems to be quite removed from 2 as well. But I'll keep an open mind.

I wish the trailer showed more of the open areas, because every time they are running through a grassy plain, it looks so good, but in the more urban areas they focused on for 90% of the trailer, it was harder to spot the leap from the last-gen games.

Apparently Shimamura is the main composer this time around, accompanied by Mariam Abounnasr (Torna the Golden Country, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Future Redeemed) and Aimi Kiyota. (Also Xenoblade Chronicles 3)

Takahashi already stated that changes were coming to the franchise after the closure of the 3rd episode.

Heck, the game made a point that changes are inevitable.

They kept some recognizable elements but also changed on some aspects. Notably the art director/character designer is different this time around.

oh... thought maybe it was just me seeing things.

Anyway I rather enjoy the Xenoblade series, so I'll keep a eye on this, willing to give it a chance.

Looks great so far. Definitely a very big leap graphically over the previous games. It's probably the first time since xcx that a trailer for the series has looked interesting to me. Which doesn't mean a whole lot since xcx is my least favourite game in the series and 3 is my favourite, even though none of the trailers for 3 were particularly good.
I'm hoping this game has more towns and cities to visit than 3, the small outposts were a bit dull in that game compared to all the built up areas in 2.