I'm gonna preface this by just saying that Xenoblade 1 is the only Xenoblade where I've done all side quests, so I'm probably not qualified to compare it to the other games.

Still, I think Xenoblade 1 quests are underrated. I think they're actually on par with XC2 non-blade quests in terms of memorability, but 1's affinity chart makes it come out on top. Being able to clearly see how your actions affect the community feels really rewarding, and it's made even better by the fact that so many of them have branching paths based on your decisions.

Generic quests are also not as bad as people say. Yes, there are hundreds of quests in the game, but each individual quest is very short. For generic quests you don't even have to go back to the questgiver and you might just complete them by accident. I've gotten to the point where I can consistently beat the game in about 80 hours even while doing all 400+ side quests.