I don’t usually finish RPGs the first time through, but I put a couple of months of distance between when I put the game down and when I went back to do it “right.” I re-rolled my character just after Christmas in Xenoblade Chronicles X, and the only reason it took that long for me to restart was because my roommate put 120 hours over two and a half weeks into beating the game himself.

That’s what makes Xenoblade Chronicles X so compelling. Even taking the critical path to try and finish the game for review and failing, it was still an amazing game. It’s got the best graphics on the Wii U past, present, or future and an amazing soundtrack even if the sound mixing is slightly botched on occasion. Every day I find a new song to love from the soundtrack (today’s jam: “Melancholia”). But all the looks and music don’t matter unless there’s a great game underneath, and Xenoblade Chronicles X delivered like no other this year. It’s when you have a chance to explore Mira and do the side quests to see what makes its residents tick that you come to the heart of the game.

Xenoblade Chronicles X also brought two of the most thrilling moments of the year. The first time I got to fully use a Skell, and the first time I got to fly with one. The first time I walked up to something higher levelled then my character in a Skell, I pulled out a laser sword and sliced half its health off in one stroke. After that moment, I didn’t stop grinning for the rest of the night. It’s a great 30 hour RPG that unlocks the best mech simulator I ever played. Later on, you unlock the ability to take to the air, the soaring music kicks in, and you feel like you can conquer the world (or at least your little portion of it).

I want to see everything Xenoblade Chronicles X has to offer at some point. I’m going to help bring down a Global Nemesis, maybe finally get to have a baked Tatsu, and max out all of the maps. Maybe I’ll even get that Skell that someone was wrecking faces with in the opening cutscene. It’s a 2015 game that I fully intend to still be playing in 2017 which, given how many games I have to play in the run of a year, is amazing.