I feel left out that I can't participate in this thread from the perspective of stuff that's actually in the game, but at least I can participate in the discussion of the game as a product.
In its second week in the EU sales charts,
Xenoblade Chronicles has dropped from #2 in sales (it was behind Zumba Fitness) to #12. If you only count games that didn't just launch this week, then it was #6.
EMEAA Weekly Chart, Week Ending 27th Aug 2011 - VGChartz
It's not really a great sign for folks like me who want to see it released in North America. I guess it must really be as niche as Reggie thinks it is... but what does he expect? Was the game well-marketed in Europe? It's certainly not a juggernaut along the lines of something from Square Enix that did get a lot of marketing.
It might be import time after all. And if I do have to import it, Reggie will be getting a letter about it.