Whilst it was a good game, Xenoblade isn't the greatest Jrpg ever created, not by far.
The game had a very good plot, though it was long, and drawn out, and it also had many opportunities to end the game, but it didn't opting out for a very farfetched, and awkward ending, that explained about a step back from enough.
The soundtrack was disappointing, especially when you compare it to Monolith's other games, especially the Baten Kaitos series.
Depending on your viewpoint, the game has a massive amount of optional content that you will, unlikely, reach during your first play-through. It is almost guaranteed that multiple play-throughs are required to access certain areas, or to complete all of the game's quests. Personally, I didn't find the game good enough to even dare another 80 hour playthrough.
In my opinion the game is far to long, simply to advance the main story line, and much could have been eliminated to streamline the progress of the story line, and I also believe that they could have ended the story much sooner, and on a much more realistic note. Yet, they do end the game rather abruptly, when they do decide to.
The game isn't as fantastic as people make it out to be, ignoring gems from the Tales series and even Monolith's own Baten Kaitos series, which outshine Xenoblade, especially in the realm of Character development.
However, Xenoblade does do a good job of keeping you guessing at what will happen next. The game is by no means bad, but it isn't as great as some may want you to believe.