That the voting for XC and XCX is so close is very telling, however, I’m baffled by XC2’s victory. While I love all three of these games for different reasons, they only barely eek out one another in terms of quality, and each game has a strength. However, based on how I view these games, there’s really a clear winner.
XC has a great aesthetic and tone, and it’s combat is commendable if only for its variety in play styles. It’s world design, music, and story are better than XC2.
XCX has a nuanced story and numerous systems that may overwhelm a player, and it’s combat is a bit more homogenized than the other titles. It’s world design and story are better than XC.
XC2 has a fantastic battle system. And that’s really it. It isn’t superior to the other games in any way other than some minor quality of life changes, which I don’t think is fair to factor into iterative releases.
But I guess there’s no one to really argue this with, the results have spoken and people favor XC2. I just don’t really understand why, but hey, I have very specific tastes.