I’m quitting Xenoblade 2 and I’m sad about it

I really wanted to like this game. Xenoblade DE is my favorite game of all time and I was so excited about the sequel, I’m 28 hours in on chapter four but I’m stuck needing nopon wisdom lvl 4 to read some barrels. I read countless forums, asked chatgpt, I’ve spammed poppi’s favorite pouch items so much I’m broke, I’ve fought countless battles with random monsters, I did the merc sidequest that supposedly gets rid of the requirement, I’m just so frustrated and I can’t believe such a simple thing just ruined the 28 hours I put in the game. Am I crazy? Why do ya’ll like this game so much? For how many hours do I have to keep fighting random monsters to unlock the affinity’s chart? Did ya’ll do this and enjoyed it? I’m not even that mad I’m just really sad and disappointed.