Then... we are on the same page.

Um... no?

Huh? That’s... impossible. As I already said, he’s entitled to his opinion, and his biggest dislikes are 100% subjective.

I poured over 300 hours into the first game. The menus weren’t unintuitive. They were pretty basic, I thought. Only issue I ever had was the hassle of putting gems onto gear whenever I wanted to change up strategies. Otherwise, the menu system was almost barebones in its mostly basic and accessible layout and options.

Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Three titles. XBX is easily and immediately identifiable as a Xenoblade title when you play it.

I have a problem when people say “I love JRPGs” because that’s as broad as “I love games”.

You’re arguing subjectivity, and I have never said Jason shouldn’t have done the review. Rather, I’m entirely, 100% not surprised he didn’t enjoy the game, because it’s MORE OF THE SAME of the thing he didn’t enjoyed, and we’ve known that for a very long time. It’s the very guts of the series at this point, akin to…

I use “football” as an analogy because there are ONLY “football” games. Just as there are almost zero games that look, play, and sound like Xenoblade from my experience. Arguably the closest I can compare it to is Final Fantasy 12, and that’s a VERY thin comparison. It’s as silly as comparing Portal, Metroid Prime,…

I found it to be a deep, nuanced JRPG with endearing characters, amazing twists, deep lore, a fascinating world, dynamic gameplay, rewarding exploration, beautiful music, crazy customization, and enough sincerity and sentimentality to make me truly fall in love with every new location, race, and character.

That’s precisely my point. His criticism are also THE REASON other people enjoy it, and enjoyed the original.

Hardly. I said he’s entitled to his opinion, but that if he wasn’t a fan of the first title (which is almost NOTHING like Xenogears or Xenosaga in terms of gameplay, story, art style, or execution), then perhaps it was a franchise that just wasn’t for him.

I’ll point out again, that if he hated “Madden ONE” it’s probable he wouldn’t enjoy the THIRD one. He states outright he didn’t really enjoy the FIRST Xenoblade - the one that other critics and fans showered with praise and that Nintendo said “okay we’ll make more of them”.

Let me stop you right there. You want a JRPG nut? I’M a JRPG nut. I’m even willing to throw my “JRPG credentials” in comparison to Jason’s because it’s been my bread and butter for 30 years.

Mentioned earlier, it’s more like saying “I like sports, but don’t like Football, or I like FPS titles but don’t like Metroid Prime.”

Agreed. I think it’s mostly the glowing chest and eye shape that is similar.

Not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison. More like “giving someone who likes sports a Football game to review and they discover they like sports... but not football”. Football continues to be football, and they can enjoy other sports, but that still doesn’t mean football is a game they’ll ever enjoy. But that…

“I didn’t love the first Xenoblade Chronicles...”

He looks cool and all, but every time I see the new Ultraman, I always just see “Japanese Iron Man”.

So you’re telling me that a group of people with the right special genes can become amazingly powerful blonde-haired super men, a superior race over their genetically-inferior counterparts?

For me, it’s simple value proposition.