I didn't realise there had been a Xenoblade Chronicles 3! Loved the first one, it's the best RPG I've ever played, but #2 just left me cold. I could never get the hang of the battle system even after 20-odd hours. Got stuck on some incredibly long and tedious boss fight and lost the will to keep playing.
Is the battle system in #3 quicker or easier to understand? I kept getting wiped out in #2 because of the massive cooldown time on the special abilities. Probably one of the most disappointing sequels ever for me, given how much I was into the previous game. I'm willing to give them a pass and try #3 though.
XC3 kind of combines combat elements of XC1 and XC2, as it's a story featuring people from both worlds. It does have better tutorials, including even having training rooms to master techniques, and I think it's easier to get the hang of. So you might prefer that to XC2.
But having said that, if you think you could ever possibly give XC2 another go, it really is a sensational game filled with great stuff that even surpasses XC1 in multiple areas. In my case, I would have been lost figuring out XC2 if I didn't shamelessly look up youtube guides that taught me things like how important pouch items, cancelling and fusion combos are (combining driver's break/topple/launch combo with blades elemental combos at the same time allows you to not just win battles but actually destroy the enemy really fast.)
Just loaded it up to check my old save, and 20 hours was an underestimate. The story, setting, graphics, music - all amazing. But what a waste of time when you can't get along with the fighting. The boss in this area was too much.
It sounds like you were almost loving the game except for that seemingly awful combat, which is actually very, very badly explained awesome combat. So maybe it is worth retrying? It also has an amazing ending that will deepen your understanding and enjoyment of XC1 and XC3. The video danjin posted above is good, along with character specific tutorials made by that same youtuber. You could also look at this guy:
He does an expert let's play of the entire game explaining everything from deep lore to datamined secrets. When he gets up to a bad tutorial he explains why it's bad and gives a good tutorial. There's even one tutorial in the game that he says tells you the opposite of what it should! Anyway, you probably don't want to watch the entire 200 video let's play, but you could watch some to get ideas. Or maybe you could look up the part of his let's play that matches the part where you got stuck and he might explain a good strategy to make that part faster/easier?
If you think you could give XC2 another shot like that, the story revelations in it will greatly enhance your enjoyment of XC1 and XC3, its ending is epic and it really would be the best way to enjoy the series. But if looking up youtube guides doesn't appeal to you, maybe playing XC3 with its better tutorial system and elements of both XC1 and XC2 will work better for you, and you might even feel ready to go back to XC2 after that.
