Getting the mech is probably my favorite videogame moment this year. It took me like 35 hours since I pretty much explored the entire world on foot first. Still not sure what I think of the story so far, the way the audio is mixed in cutscenes seems like a pretty big hint that you shouldn't care at all about it which is disappointing after Xenoblade. I really enjoy the combat and exploration though, so it is still turning out to be one of my favorite games this year.
The combat is why I'm here right now. Eager to see what the mechs add to it. The world is absolutely gorgeous, but it hasn't been filled with enough interesting stuff to drag me away from doing story and affinity missions. I'm gonna grab a bunch of simple and normal missions and run around the world soon, but that'll mostly be to work on my lesser used party members.
As for the story, if I find cool parts, that's great. If not, I've accepted it's not the focus. It sucks that that's the way it is after XC, but this really isn't a sequel to that game. Once I moved on from that, I was able to get into the game. The audio mix is inexcusable, however. Cannot believe someone let it ship like that.