i haven't a lot of freeze just on cinematic Colony 9 ( same as you) and some time when i engage fight with full animation but i played 3hours and it's playable and beautifull.
Me i have this config on Dolphin for xenoblade:
-Dual core, jump, framelimit 30fps with limit by fps checked
-DSP HLE, OpenAL 30 latency
-Direct3D9,1680x1050, full screen
-2.5x resolution, 4xSSAA, 4x AA, copy EFB,
-Hack by texture, fast, Checked OpenMP, Checked depth
Me i have this config on Dolphin for xenoblade:
-Dual core, jump, framelimit 30fps with limit by fps checked
-DSP HLE, OpenAL 30 latency
-Direct3D9,1680x1050, full screen
-2.5x resolution, 4xSSAA, 4x AA, copy EFB,
-Hack by texture, fast, Checked OpenMP, Checked depth