Breh are you a "Xenoblade" stan or something? These are terrible nonsensical examples.
You could play this game, not even know the first game exists, and follow the story just fine. Hell, if you removed the 2 from the title, there would be no indication it
was a sequel, unless you played the first game.
Comparing this to something like "Mass Effect 3" is silly as hell....it has the same characters, enemies, setting, and plot across all three games....it's literally one long ass story. In the opening scene you're on trial for shyt you did in "Mass Effect 2", for Christ sake. Saying you could play "ME3" and not know what you missed is false as fukk....it would be like saying you could enjoy "Return Of The Jedi" with no knowledge of the two previous movies....technically correct, but you aren't going to know what the fukk is going on and most things are going to go over your head. The same with "The Witcher 3". Within the first 10 minutes of the game you're interrogated and the answers you give are what happened in the first two games....because the game makes nonstop references to them.
The connections in this game are Easter Eggs, that's it.
Fred.