Have you even played Xenoblade? The entire games wasn't all super-colorful. There were many parts of the game where the environment was incredibly bland.
Yeah, you're right, but they definitely weren't the parts we want to remember, are they? I would say the early game parts were the most jaw-dropping, by far: Colony 9, Bionis Leg (how amazing is the Bionis Leg!?). Satori Marsh, OMG.
The bland parts were basically the ones that were all indoors: The cave bit between Colony 9 and the Bionic Leg, anything
inside the Mechonis , and that
High Entia Tomb Place . Oh, and maybe
inside the Bionis But the absolutely beautiful parts of the game were so numerous. And you may not agree, but the first time I entered the final "level" of the game, my jaw dropped, and kept dropping. Absolutely amazing. Despite the fact that, admittedly, having that kind of world as the last level of a JRPG is kind of a cliche.
How many times has a JRPG ended in space?