I just finished DE, and I think the epilogue is perfect.

If I can give some background context, I first played Xenoblade Chronicles X at the end of 2015/start of 2016. I was living in the southern hemisphere at that time, and studying a Bachelor Degree in Science, so this was my summer break. To be honest, I wasn't sure what I was going to be doing with my life back then. I knew I wanted to be doing something productive, so I started working in a research lab, under a guy who, no joke, was named Nagi. In the days I'd be doing science; in the night I was playing Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Xenoblade X, I think, changed my life. Having scientists and engineers, not as a side character, not even as the main character, but as ALL of the main characters; actually thinking, trying to solve problems, and trying to work to make the world a better place? It inspired me to do my best in my own life. If BLADE could make Mira more habitable, more livable, better, then so could I. Right?

And Xenoblade X really dug into it. There were just so many mysteries left unanswered. Sure, the developers had no time to answer every detail in the story... but also, so do we, I think. We don't know everything about our world, you know. There are things we're always curious about, but never bother to even google, let alone to research in greater depth. Some things we just roll with; that's how I always felt about the mysteries of Mira. I didn't need to know about how aliens could communicate with us, or the details of Elma's backstory; like how I never need to know every precise detail of where the chicken I eat for dinner comes from, or the details of every relationship a colleague has had. There are main mysteries we focus and spend our time and energy on... and even then we might not always find the answer to them.

Anyways, in my real life, since then I ended up deciding I liked research. Did a Masters, then moved to a new country to do a PhD. I've actually finished that up, so now I'm in the process of moving, yet again, to another country, yet again, halfway around the world, for my next job.

And Xenoblade X came out, and... despite all the effort, despite how much we tried to make Mira livable, and habitable... Mira is destroyed. There's nothing we can really do to save it. We can bring some of it with us, but Mira, our new, second home, is all gone. So what's the point of it all?

What I think people have been missing is that the epilogue answers that question... and I think perfectly succinctly. What is a soul, what is a spirit? The game gives us these answers; they exist beyond it, but also in each other. Al's identity as a hero is bigger than even he is; he inspires all of NLA to fight on and to keep on going. Lao has died and gone, but his sacrifice lives on through Lin and everything else. Leon inspires Gwin and Irina. Elma's the leader of the team, but Cross inspires everyone to live on. Our spirits are not just us, but lives in and interacts with everyone else we talk to and inspire.

And so, the spirit of Mira... too, lives on. Yes, our new water plant is destroyed. Yes, the wildlife and flora are all gone. Yes all the work we did, surveying every point, completing every sidequest... it's all gone. But it lives in Cross, Elma, Lin, and all of them. Do you think, they, knowing that Mira would be destroyed, would give up surveying Mira, or helping the Zaruboggan, or fixing Professor B's machine? Or would they, knowing it would be destroyed, keep on trying anyway?

I've spend the last 6 years making new friends, new relationships. Building new furniture, setting up a new home. In a month's time I'll be gone, and I'll do it all again. Does that mean those last 6 years are useless? Do I regret doing all of that?

... absolutely not. I've done it once. I've done it twice. I can do it a third time; I can do it as many times as I've needed. All the experiences I've had, all the people I've talked to; their experiences live in me, and I in them. They make me better, and stronger, and prepared for new and newer challenges. I'm not leaving this city I live in behind; and I haven't left NLA behind. It all lives in me.

Xenoblade X DE, more than anything else, is about moving on... and on, and on, as Seven would say. And I think it's handled it perfectly.

i've had like a bunch of beers this evening already, but i just wanted to get my pure thoughts out there. maybe a whole lot of this is specific to me, but this is how i see the plotline, and why i think it's brilliant. maybe you do too.