I gotta disagree. It's fair to argue that the more realistically proportioned artstyle of XC and XCX made it harder for the characters to emote facially, but enough came through in their dialogue and actions that I honestly don't think much is gained with the art shift.
Without a major gain, it just feels like they've taken an art direction I adored and dropped it for something they think markets better. If the environments didn't recall the lovingly crafted vistas we saw in XC and XCX, you could've told me it was pulled straight out of Shonen Jump and I wouldn't bat an eye. Put mildly, Rex isn't helping the case.
I'm not going to completely disregard the game for it - can't even call it without precedent, if you look at the styling for its spiritual predecessors, Xenogears and Xenosaga, this seems more like a return to form than anything - but after genuinely enjoying XC and XCX for their character design (former more than latter) I just can't call the change appreciated.
All personal opinion, but I ain't really feeling it.
Still need to catch up on the treehouse. Here's hoping the gameplay can bring me back on board the hype train.
This indeed really depends on people's preference. I don't enjoy XC character's facial artstyle that much, not to mention with the low resolution of the new 3ds makes the look even more blurry. I know there are HD mods for the game, but even that I merely give it a pass. X on the other hand sometimes I found it pretty good but more times I think it looks dull.
To sum it up, despite I didn't enjoy XC and X's artstyle, I didn't really care that much when playing the game. Only when I watch the cutscenes that I found the artstyle not fitting my taste. Nevertheless I love the dialogue in those cutscenes.
However, I do say this, if you never really enjoy the typical anime cell shaded CGI JRPG games artstyle like Tales of Berseria, Dragon Quest XI, Persona 5. I can understand it, but saying Xenoblade should not have anime artstyle feels a bit of a selfish statement, at least for me. Xenoblade is a JRPG, and it is not a surprise that it has that kind of artstyle.
Said before, I personally enjoy the new artstyle of XC2 but the voice acting is a bit of a down grade compare to the previous games. But I have to play the game to make sure. Once again, I believe they want to attract Japanese audiences more than West since Xenoblade is the more popular in the latter compared to the former
Xenoblade is still roughly a young franchise, I am sure there will be more visual shifts for the future games.