Party affinity in Xenoblade also affected your gem crafting options, although for most people that was probably not a big deal.
Enjoyed the episode a lot. I agree that a Hyrule-based series focused on non-Link characters would be good - something that gives the background of the the kingdom, explains how evil took root before Link gets there to save the day might be cool. It'll be interesting to see what they choose to do regardless. (Caveat: interesting doesn't mean good.) The Xenoblade talk is always fun because I'm one of the people who essentially bought a Wii U because the sequel was announced. Sure, there are lots of other good games on the consoles - but promise of a Xenoblade sequel was the "killer app" I needed.
Also, laughed at the dismissal of the Final Fantasy series from 7 onward... but only because I largely agree with the assessment that the franchise has focused more on improved production values than any meaningful innovations to gameplay or even storytelling. They aren't terrible games, but haven't been in my list of "best RPGs" for quite a while.