I don't know anything about the criticism or opinions the game gets from people...
I like the game, I don't see anything wrong with it (yet). ^^;
You are the one that decides if you want to do the "Walking Game: The Walkening", or fight enemies.
If you don't press Z to target enemies, you can run around in the open field and be amazed at the beauty of the game.
There's also a arrow icon at the very top of the screen that shows you where to go next.
A number will go lower and lower the closer you get to your next destination. ^^;
When you fight, you can pick between the spells and attack moves you have with the D-pad and use with the A button.
They will recharge for a bit after you use them, so in the meantime, you can do regular attacks with A button. Jump with B button. xD
Does the game have anything similar to Fast Travel? And when I meant walking alot, was that there's a big distance between objectives, with few enemies to fight. It's at least what I've seen in videos. Comparable to say... Oblivion. If you've played it, the game features an entire continent of scenery, but it gets kinda frustrating to always keep traversing it, with few enemies along the way, although there are plenty of landmarks. Xenoblade seems to have quite alot of open world, tons of walking to do in it, with just a few enemies to fight along the way. Huge cities as well. So without a form of fast travel, the game might get a bit boring as you go on.
Again, only seen a few gameplay videos, so this is just speculation. I'm referring to this video in particular.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v00DGXlZdCc&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
The character spends a good time walking before he has the chance to do anything. =P