Gave myself a day to kinda just sit with the whole experience of my first playthrough. Xenogears is one of those games that kinda just existed within the culture in a way where I always heard people vaguely gesture at its greatness, but never actually got any full details about what exactly made it so great. So for years and years and years and years and years I kinda just kept putting it off, playing many other games before and after it, hearing about its complexities but never really the details as of what those complexities were. Finally experiencing it for myself I completely get it.
An experience that is some parts Neon Genesis Evangelion, some parts Gundam some parts sci-fi novels and films, Xenogears wears all of its inspirations firmly on its sleeve and proudly bears it all as it goes into its own psychological, religious explorations of the self.
The ways in which it talks about running away from your problems rather than dealing with them and how that inevitably comes to bite you in the ass, there's a quite good example with the martial arts tournament you enter that genuinely surprised me when it happened.
The ways it delves into how trauma can inform and explain behaviors, can cause people to drift one way or another instead of facing the real problems within themselves, be lead to more and differing kinds of abuses, or completely shut themselves down due to their inability to truly cope with the things that've happened to them. But it also firmly discusses how important it is to continue to live, to continue to fight and go on despite the struggles we face in life, how we have to take responsibility for ourselves and the things we do despite our traumas, that again our traumas can be an explanation for behaviors and actions you may take, but at the end of the day you have to be responsible for your own actions.
There are a few characters I do wish were able to get more from the story (Rico, Maria, Chu Chu) and the very clear rushing of things does absolutely fuck with what was clearly supposed to be this ambitious and sprawling experience, though I will say in spite of the clear rush job that Disc 2 ends up as, I genuinely still quite loved the way they handle the presentation and style. Some of the quick cuts are really sharp and effective, I dig the kinda play stage type beat they do for some of the cutscenes they didn't have time to fully make enviornments for, I like the way they frame each part from differing characters POV's. There's a lot of cool things that make that second disc really interesting, kinda reflecting episodes 25 and 26 of NGE in ways.
It's such a strange feeling in ways cause like I kinda despised the gameplay at times (ground combat relies a bit too heavily on deathblows and grinding them out where-as I feel like the Gear combat is a bit better balanced in terms of building up to your deathblows and having to strategically manage your fuel levels in interesting ways). But even though I wasn't huge on the combat or some of the dungeon design (fuck Babel Tower) the whole thing just really came together for me. Everything it was doing was absolutely fuckin aces, it honestly reminded me of watching NGE for the first time as a teenager AS WELL AS watching both Shiki-Jitsu and Rebuild of Evangelion 3.0+1.0 with what exactly it was going for in its messaging and just how much it resonated with me. How much Fei's character arc resonated with me, how dense and packed of an experience it was overall.
I think I can safely say that I'm getting into the series cause I wanna see what else can come from anyone involved who was able to put this together.
An experience that is some parts Neon Genesis Evangelion, some parts Gundam some parts sci-fi novels and films, Xenogears wears all of its inspirations firmly on its sleeve and proudly bears it all as it goes into its own psychological, religious explorations of the self.
The ways in which it talks about running away from your problems rather than dealing with them and how that inevitably comes to bite you in the ass, there's a quite good example with the martial arts tournament you enter that genuinely surprised me when it happened.
The ways it delves into how trauma can inform and explain behaviors, can cause people to drift one way or another instead of facing the real problems within themselves, be lead to more and differing kinds of abuses, or completely shut themselves down due to their inability to truly cope with the things that've happened to them. But it also firmly discusses how important it is to continue to live, to continue to fight and go on despite the struggles we face in life, how we have to take responsibility for ourselves and the things we do despite our traumas, that again our traumas can be an explanation for behaviors and actions you may take, but at the end of the day you have to be responsible for your own actions.
There are a few characters I do wish were able to get more from the story (Rico, Maria, Chu Chu) and the very clear rushing of things does absolutely fuck with what was clearly supposed to be this ambitious and sprawling experience, though I will say in spite of the clear rush job that Disc 2 ends up as, I genuinely still quite loved the way they handle the presentation and style. Some of the quick cuts are really sharp and effective, I dig the kinda play stage type beat they do for some of the cutscenes they didn't have time to fully make enviornments for, I like the way they frame each part from differing characters POV's. There's a lot of cool things that make that second disc really interesting, kinda reflecting episodes 25 and 26 of NGE in ways.
It's such a strange feeling in ways cause like I kinda despised the gameplay at times (ground combat relies a bit too heavily on deathblows and grinding them out where-as I feel like the Gear combat is a bit better balanced in terms of building up to your deathblows and having to strategically manage your fuel levels in interesting ways). But even though I wasn't huge on the combat or some of the dungeon design (fuck Babel Tower) the whole thing just really came together for me. Everything it was doing was absolutely fuckin aces, it honestly reminded me of watching NGE for the first time as a teenager AS WELL AS watching both Shiki-Jitsu and Rebuild of Evangelion 3.0+1.0 with what exactly it was going for in its messaging and just how much it resonated with me. How much Fei's character arc resonated with me, how dense and packed of an experience it was overall.
I think I can safely say that I'm getting into the series cause I wanna see what else can come from anyone involved who was able to put this together.
Most people nowadays that pick up Xenogears go in knowing it's going to be a good game, a great one, even. Word of its quality has spread gradually over time, primarily due to the success of its descendants; Xenosaga and Xenoblade. What people don’t seem to know is how ambitious it was.
The game having a good story is practically a given thanks to the names behind it, but it's the rest of the game that really impresses. Not only does the game have a ‘normal’ form of combat, in which up to three of your party members use their three attack types to combo their opponents into hell, there’s also gear combat. Gears are the mechs in this game, and unlike the normal characters, gears need to build attack level to combo, rely on fuel, and can’t be healed normally. The game switches between these two combat forms depending on the situation, and each of them are remarkably fleshed out, making it much harder to tire of combat than it is in most jrpgs.
Besides the main combat forms, there are also side modes and mini games such as gear combat. Not the same gear combat as before, the battlin’ gear combat is a lot more comparable to an arena fighter (albeit much less fleshed out) giving the gameplay even more variety. There’s even a speed minigame, a goddamn fully built card game that looks pretty good even now.
Xenogears bleeds creativity and is fully deserving of its legacy. The game is far from perfect - there are some glitches and some party members feel a tad underdeveloped, for example - but it's a truly one-of-a-kind experience worth anyone’s time.
The game having a good story is practically a given thanks to the names behind it, but it's the rest of the game that really impresses. Not only does the game have a ‘normal’ form of combat, in which up to three of your party members use their three attack types to combo their opponents into hell, there’s also gear combat. Gears are the mechs in this game, and unlike the normal characters, gears need to build attack level to combo, rely on fuel, and can’t be healed normally. The game switches between these two combat forms depending on the situation, and each of them are remarkably fleshed out, making it much harder to tire of combat than it is in most jrpgs.
Besides the main combat forms, there are also side modes and mini games such as gear combat. Not the same gear combat as before, the battlin’ gear combat is a lot more comparable to an arena fighter (albeit much less fleshed out) giving the gameplay even more variety. There’s even a speed minigame, a goddamn fully built card game that looks pretty good even now.
Xenogears bleeds creativity and is fully deserving of its legacy. The game is far from perfect - there are some glitches and some party members feel a tad underdeveloped, for example - but it's a truly one-of-a-kind experience worth anyone’s time.
Oh man, Square Enix, why have you forsaken this IP and won't give us a port, a remaster or even a remake of this amazing game :D Xenogears, even if it's obviously unfinished, is a fucking masterpiece. The themes addressed here are simply not found in current JRPGs which is super unfortunate. Among other things, it deals with the abuse of religion and power, human experimentation, racism, metaphysics and much more. The soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard (Mitsuda at his best), the combat system (or rather combat systemS) is innovative and fun, the characters are almost all very well written and the story is the big highlight of this game. Unfortunately disc 2 really isn't finished but also not as bad as its reputation and yes, the story is completed and finished, only some passages aren't playable and are presented as a slide show.
The game is phenomenal, it's amazing that Square was capable of producing something like this in the past.
The game is phenomenal, it's amazing that Square was capable of producing something like this in the past.
😈😈😈The perfect video game for a maniacal psychology major such as myself 😈😈😈. Sigmund freud's theory of personality and carl jung archetypes in MY turnbased video game 😈😈😈a truly spectacular sight to behold..........................😈
This review contains spoilers
Xenogears - as a piece of art - is incomplete. It’s a game defined by a tragic story of a development cycle that continued to never sway in its favor. Yet it’s exactly through that that Xenogears is as fascinating as it is. You can never truly separate art from its process of creation. Whether intentionally or not, it will always find itself manifested somehow in the final work. It is an unavoidable effect of the fact that creating art is projecting yourself onto a blank canvas.
The main and underlying theme of the game is that we, as people, cannot be complete. Everyone is flawed in some way. No-one is ever truly ‘whole’, and you can never truly become that. Instead, Xenogears suggests that everyone is an imperfect half, made to be complimented by another imperfect half. The main visual symbol for this theme are the statues of the one-winged angels. Two religious symbols of imperfection, existing to fill in each other’s flaws by helping each other, and being there for one another.
This theme is also explored in the game’s most iconic scene, that being Adrift at sea where Fei and Elly, upon becoming stranded together, share a moment of introspection. The introspection intentionally omits any dialogue boxes or signs of who is talking, because the scene is wholly universal to the both of them. It is what they both needed to hear at that exact time. They feel happy to help each other, both through their mutual introspection, as well as through the sharing of rations.
"It's okay to not be 'whole'. Even if you only feel partly complete, if you repeat that enough, eventually it'll be 'whole'. A part... is better than zero."
Yet I’ve always found that even stronger than any narrative symbol for the game’s themes, is the nature of the game’s release itself. Xenogears was dealt a bad hand by Square Enix. Initially rejected from being Final Fantasy VII in favor of Yoshinori Kitase’s game, and then rushed through development and faced with a difficult choice. Tetsuya Takahashi was told that he could either release disk one as a separate game, then pray for a sequel that would most likely never come to be, or rush disk two and release it in an incomplete state. He chose the latter, and while I believe he made the right choice, he has clearly been haunted by it ever since.
A game about imperfect halves ended up being forced to have half of it utterly incomplete. Disk two is extremely rough around the edges. Its balancing is all over the place, it omits most gameplay and opts instead to describe what happens over text, it never has any time to focus on anything else than what is most important. It’s a rushed effort for the sake of completing an ambitious vision that was not allowed to come to light.
Coming back to the game’s relation to FFVII, I find that both games are completely inseparable. I don’t think you can earnestly analyze one without connecting it to the other. Perhaps exactly because they were both initially supposed to be the same game, they hold a lot of connections with each other, be they narrative, thematic, or general execution. Both games are perfect companion pieces for each other, and playing both of them in close vicinity of one another sheds so much insight into the inner workings of both games. Once again, two imperfect halves filling each other in to make one another more ‘whole’.
But there is also a much more cynical way of looking at this. When asked in an interview which character Takahashi relates most to, he answered that it’s Ramsus. While at first this seems like a very funny answer, it makes a lot of sense if you consider it in the context of the game’s fate. Ramsus was created to be a perfect being. He was created by Krelian to become the contact, and to kill and replace Emperor Cain. In the end, however, Ramsus was a scrapped project in favor of Fei, who showed much more promise as the contact. Ramsus came into the world as an imperfect existence, replaced by Fei since birth, and only finds solace in the idea of killing Fei to prove his status as an ultimate existence.
Ramsus IS Xenogears, and Fei is Final Fantasy VII. And if you will humor me to take this analogy further, Krelian is Square Enix. Xenogears too was a promising concept, in the end replaced in favor of its peer. Xenogears too was forced to come in as an imperfect existence, completely and utterly overshadowed by what ultimately became the biggest JRPG to ever exist. Ramsus is a character that is essential to understanding the whole of Xenogears, because his character is Takahashi’s spite and resentment towards both Square Enix and Final Fantasy VII projecting directly onto a canvas.
I’ve often pondered the hypothetical of “What if Xenogears DID get to release as Final Fantasy VII” and wholeheartedly I believe that it would have the same amount of influence as FFVII did. That influence would just be taken in a different direction. Xenogears and FFVII share so much between each other that I do sincerely believe that the reception of XG as FFVII would not be much different from what FFVII ended up receiving. Of course, there is no way to prove this. This is a mere hypothetical decided by a lot of different factors. Maybe Xenogears wouldn’t have succeeded as FFVII, maybe it would. Regardless, the sheer idea that this beautiful game could have had the same amount of influence, is ultimately extremely tragic, and I think this is definitely something that was on Takahashi’s mind. Once again, not unlike the relationship Ramsus and Fei have over the course of the game.
Entertaining the idea of Krelian as Square Enix is admittedly a humorous one, because it’s so scathingly spiteful. Krelian doesn’t care about any of his creations. He’s willing to make anyone suffer for his own benefit, and no amount of human pain is ever too much if it means achieving his goal. He actively experiments on humans, then feeds said humans to other people. He is a mad scientist who has no qualms about robbing people of their lives and transforming them into monsters. When he scraps using Ramsus as the contact for the sake of Fei, he does it directly in front of him, and acknowledges that he’s already able to understand everything he is saying. Was this how Takahashi felt being told about the promise of Final Fantasy VII as his vision was being actively shut down? There is no way to know for sure, but I don't think it's a stretch to imagine it that way.
It’s truly no wonder that Takahashi has spent the rest of his career attempting to recapture and remake Xenogears. The Xenoblade series so actively attempts to finish the vision he never got to accomplish with Gears. Across the entire series, there are so many major parallels, often down to following the exact same plot points. Takahashi is by all means a successful creative nowadays. Xenoblade Chronicles is an enormous JRPG series, respected over the entire world. That in turn shows just how deep the scars caused by Xenogears go. Even Xenoblade 3, the big conclusion to his series, ended up being about finishing his vision for Xenogears. The parallels between N and Lacan are really not hard to spot, with some segments between the two being nigh identical.
On the other hand, I do find it important to mention that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 contains a direct reference to Final Fantasy VII. Towards the end of the game, Noah can be seen standing in front of a skyscraper much in the same composition as the iconic cover of FFVII. Referencing a game that ruined everything for him in a wholly respectful way feels really cool, and possibly means he no longer holds feelings of resentment towards the game that doomed his own project. Whether this is an empty homage or proof that Takahashi has let go, who can truly know, but I would rather believe the latter.
Xenogears is a beautiful and massive game that can be analyzed under so many lenses. There is sincerely so much to talk about with this game. With this essay, I purely just wanted to focus on what I always found to be most fascinating about it. Going back to my initial thesis: art cannot be separated from its creation process. Takahashi’s frustrations, his sadness, his anger, it all comes through in the game. Disk two is not finished, and it’s not even conventionally good, in spite of containing a lot of the game’s best scenes. But that only makes the game so much more beautiful in my eyes. Xenogears managed to become its own self serving proof of its themes.
Xenogears is incomplete. Xenogears is not whole, and will never be whole. Xenogears was robbed of its chance to be huge.
And yet, if you look at it just right, Xenogears is perfect.
The main and underlying theme of the game is that we, as people, cannot be complete. Everyone is flawed in some way. No-one is ever truly ‘whole’, and you can never truly become that. Instead, Xenogears suggests that everyone is an imperfect half, made to be complimented by another imperfect half. The main visual symbol for this theme are the statues of the one-winged angels. Two religious symbols of imperfection, existing to fill in each other’s flaws by helping each other, and being there for one another.
This theme is also explored in the game’s most iconic scene, that being Adrift at sea where Fei and Elly, upon becoming stranded together, share a moment of introspection. The introspection intentionally omits any dialogue boxes or signs of who is talking, because the scene is wholly universal to the both of them. It is what they both needed to hear at that exact time. They feel happy to help each other, both through their mutual introspection, as well as through the sharing of rations.
"It's okay to not be 'whole'. Even if you only feel partly complete, if you repeat that enough, eventually it'll be 'whole'. A part... is better than zero."
Yet I’ve always found that even stronger than any narrative symbol for the game’s themes, is the nature of the game’s release itself. Xenogears was dealt a bad hand by Square Enix. Initially rejected from being Final Fantasy VII in favor of Yoshinori Kitase’s game, and then rushed through development and faced with a difficult choice. Tetsuya Takahashi was told that he could either release disk one as a separate game, then pray for a sequel that would most likely never come to be, or rush disk two and release it in an incomplete state. He chose the latter, and while I believe he made the right choice, he has clearly been haunted by it ever since.
A game about imperfect halves ended up being forced to have half of it utterly incomplete. Disk two is extremely rough around the edges. Its balancing is all over the place, it omits most gameplay and opts instead to describe what happens over text, it never has any time to focus on anything else than what is most important. It’s a rushed effort for the sake of completing an ambitious vision that was not allowed to come to light.
Coming back to the game’s relation to FFVII, I find that both games are completely inseparable. I don’t think you can earnestly analyze one without connecting it to the other. Perhaps exactly because they were both initially supposed to be the same game, they hold a lot of connections with each other, be they narrative, thematic, or general execution. Both games are perfect companion pieces for each other, and playing both of them in close vicinity of one another sheds so much insight into the inner workings of both games. Once again, two imperfect halves filling each other in to make one another more ‘whole’.
But there is also a much more cynical way of looking at this. When asked in an interview which character Takahashi relates most to, he answered that it’s Ramsus. While at first this seems like a very funny answer, it makes a lot of sense if you consider it in the context of the game’s fate. Ramsus was created to be a perfect being. He was created by Krelian to become the contact, and to kill and replace Emperor Cain. In the end, however, Ramsus was a scrapped project in favor of Fei, who showed much more promise as the contact. Ramsus came into the world as an imperfect existence, replaced by Fei since birth, and only finds solace in the idea of killing Fei to prove his status as an ultimate existence.
Ramsus IS Xenogears, and Fei is Final Fantasy VII. And if you will humor me to take this analogy further, Krelian is Square Enix. Xenogears too was a promising concept, in the end replaced in favor of its peer. Xenogears too was forced to come in as an imperfect existence, completely and utterly overshadowed by what ultimately became the biggest JRPG to ever exist. Ramsus is a character that is essential to understanding the whole of Xenogears, because his character is Takahashi’s spite and resentment towards both Square Enix and Final Fantasy VII projecting directly onto a canvas.
I’ve often pondered the hypothetical of “What if Xenogears DID get to release as Final Fantasy VII” and wholeheartedly I believe that it would have the same amount of influence as FFVII did. That influence would just be taken in a different direction. Xenogears and FFVII share so much between each other that I do sincerely believe that the reception of XG as FFVII would not be much different from what FFVII ended up receiving. Of course, there is no way to prove this. This is a mere hypothetical decided by a lot of different factors. Maybe Xenogears wouldn’t have succeeded as FFVII, maybe it would. Regardless, the sheer idea that this beautiful game could have had the same amount of influence, is ultimately extremely tragic, and I think this is definitely something that was on Takahashi’s mind. Once again, not unlike the relationship Ramsus and Fei have over the course of the game.
Entertaining the idea of Krelian as Square Enix is admittedly a humorous one, because it’s so scathingly spiteful. Krelian doesn’t care about any of his creations. He’s willing to make anyone suffer for his own benefit, and no amount of human pain is ever too much if it means achieving his goal. He actively experiments on humans, then feeds said humans to other people. He is a mad scientist who has no qualms about robbing people of their lives and transforming them into monsters. When he scraps using Ramsus as the contact for the sake of Fei, he does it directly in front of him, and acknowledges that he’s already able to understand everything he is saying. Was this how Takahashi felt being told about the promise of Final Fantasy VII as his vision was being actively shut down? There is no way to know for sure, but I don't think it's a stretch to imagine it that way.
It’s truly no wonder that Takahashi has spent the rest of his career attempting to recapture and remake Xenogears. The Xenoblade series so actively attempts to finish the vision he never got to accomplish with Gears. Across the entire series, there are so many major parallels, often down to following the exact same plot points. Takahashi is by all means a successful creative nowadays. Xenoblade Chronicles is an enormous JRPG series, respected over the entire world. That in turn shows just how deep the scars caused by Xenogears go. Even Xenoblade 3, the big conclusion to his series, ended up being about finishing his vision for Xenogears. The parallels between N and Lacan are really not hard to spot, with some segments between the two being nigh identical.
On the other hand, I do find it important to mention that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 contains a direct reference to Final Fantasy VII. Towards the end of the game, Noah can be seen standing in front of a skyscraper much in the same composition as the iconic cover of FFVII. Referencing a game that ruined everything for him in a wholly respectful way feels really cool, and possibly means he no longer holds feelings of resentment towards the game that doomed his own project. Whether this is an empty homage or proof that Takahashi has let go, who can truly know, but I would rather believe the latter.
Xenogears is a beautiful and massive game that can be analyzed under so many lenses. There is sincerely so much to talk about with this game. With this essay, I purely just wanted to focus on what I always found to be most fascinating about it. Going back to my initial thesis: art cannot be separated from its creation process. Takahashi’s frustrations, his sadness, his anger, it all comes through in the game. Disk two is not finished, and it’s not even conventionally good, in spite of containing a lot of the game’s best scenes. But that only makes the game so much more beautiful in my eyes. Xenogears managed to become its own self serving proof of its themes.
Xenogears is incomplete. Xenogears is not whole, and will never be whole. Xenogears was robbed of its chance to be huge.
And yet, if you look at it just right, Xenogears is perfect.
I hated my time with this game for like 35 hours
It's filled with so many bad game design decisions, extremely bad pacing at the start after the intro segment and the game absolutely never tells you where to go throught all of it, gears combat is a fucking unfun mess, like half the cast only has 1 moment to shine and never again, disc 2 completely changes the entire gameplay structure to the point it's a visual novel without even the visual part it's just scrolling text, there aren't that many music tracks so you're stuck hearing the same tracks over and over again that have some annoying segments in them.
And even then.
After all of this.
It is still.
The Perfect Work.
It's filled with so many bad game design decisions, extremely bad pacing at the start after the intro segment and the game absolutely never tells you where to go throught all of it, gears combat is a fucking unfun mess, like half the cast only has 1 moment to shine and never again, disc 2 completely changes the entire gameplay structure to the point it's a visual novel without even the visual part it's just scrolling text, there aren't that many music tracks so you're stuck hearing the same tracks over and over again that have some annoying segments in them.
And even then.
After all of this.
It is still.
The Perfect Work.
Going into Xenogears, I knew 3 things. The first was that this game was supposed to be Final Fantasy VII, a game I played just a few months ago and became an instant favorite. The second is that due to a hard locked release schedule, the team didn't have enough time to properly "finish" Xenogears. The third is that it's basically just Evangelion.
I also felt it was fair to assume that this was gonna be a favorite. What I didn't assume was that this game would challenge the way I think about my relationships. At the age of 22, I didn't really think I would be able to have my worldview shifted by stories anymore. That was a thing for my teenage years. I get now this was a stupid thing to think.
I struggle to think about what I can even say about a classic like this that's unique or fresh. It's an old beloved RPG, everything that can be said about it has. So in order to talk about it I have to get vulnerable. Hi. My name is Mads. I have BPD.
The way being borderline has impacted my relationships is almost all internal. I seek validation, I want to belong, to have an impact on the people I love. Nothing I or they can do is able to convince me of that. I feel incomplete. Consequently, I feel my relationships are hollow because of me. I'm not able to get as intimate as I'd want to. I'm not able to ask for a shoulder to lean on. It feels selfish. It feels undeserved.
There's a scene about a third into this game that hammered home just how much this game made me feel seen. Without going into specifics, it involves 2 of the main cast members talking about how incomplete they feel. One describes their acts of kindness as a selfish act because they don't feel they belong, and all they hope to get out of that kindness is a place to be. The other validates that it's ok to act kindly out of selfishness. Eventually, in trying to fill yourself up, you'll complete yourself with the lives of those around you.
Another scene in disc 2, which was a flashback regarding the history of one of the main characters and explaining why they are the way they are, filled me with an intense urge to call my abusive mom and say "I'm sorry." I can't explain that. I have nothing to be sorry for. It's not my fault she treats me the way she does. I don't know what else to do besides talk about it, because god knows I have no interest in following through on that.
As far as this game not being finished goes, well, I don't think it's fair to call it that. It's a front to back story. It covers all the beats it needs to in order to function. Sure it's not fully realized, but I think it's okay to not be whole.
I also felt it was fair to assume that this was gonna be a favorite. What I didn't assume was that this game would challenge the way I think about my relationships. At the age of 22, I didn't really think I would be able to have my worldview shifted by stories anymore. That was a thing for my teenage years. I get now this was a stupid thing to think.
I struggle to think about what I can even say about a classic like this that's unique or fresh. It's an old beloved RPG, everything that can be said about it has. So in order to talk about it I have to get vulnerable. Hi. My name is Mads. I have BPD.
The way being borderline has impacted my relationships is almost all internal. I seek validation, I want to belong, to have an impact on the people I love. Nothing I or they can do is able to convince me of that. I feel incomplete. Consequently, I feel my relationships are hollow because of me. I'm not able to get as intimate as I'd want to. I'm not able to ask for a shoulder to lean on. It feels selfish. It feels undeserved.
There's a scene about a third into this game that hammered home just how much this game made me feel seen. Without going into specifics, it involves 2 of the main cast members talking about how incomplete they feel. One describes their acts of kindness as a selfish act because they don't feel they belong, and all they hope to get out of that kindness is a place to be. The other validates that it's ok to act kindly out of selfishness. Eventually, in trying to fill yourself up, you'll complete yourself with the lives of those around you.
Another scene in disc 2, which was a flashback regarding the history of one of the main characters and explaining why they are the way they are, filled me with an intense urge to call my abusive mom and say "I'm sorry." I can't explain that. I have nothing to be sorry for. It's not my fault she treats me the way she does. I don't know what else to do besides talk about it, because god knows I have no interest in following through on that.
As far as this game not being finished goes, well, I don't think it's fair to call it that. It's a front to back story. It covers all the beats it needs to in order to function. Sure it's not fully realized, but I think it's okay to not be whole.
xenogears is, at it's core, a game that feels incredibly ambitious; trying to be something so much more than it's able to be, in a way that almost circles back into covering up all the glaring flaws attached to it. this game has... quite a few issues; but i can't really say any of them really hurt my experience with it.. maybe even the opposite..! no matter how tedious, how confusing, how silly it got.. i really can't look back on this game with anything but a big ole smile.
It's a clusterfuck but it's a beautiful clusterfuck
Xenogears is a story the goes into themes of psychoanalysis and Gnosticism and freudian principles of personality development concerning the character of Fei fong wong who's development is one that is wonderfully capitalised upon dynamics with characters like Grahf, Ramsus and Krelian 3 very good antagonists that fufill there role greatly across the grand scheme of Xenogears.
lemme take a look at just the main plot of Xenogears with just the plot of disc 1 and disc 2. Disc 1 starts off with the introduction of Fei fong wong an amnesiac in Lacan villlage that due to unfortunate events has to leave his village, this enables fei to go on a globe trotting adventure (going to cut this short) the entire game makes visiting each of the locations so unique as there's so many different cultures and history in each region like the desert region of Aveh and Kislev as each region is able to feel so incredibly distinct as class discrimination and different ideaologies regarding which citizens are worthy of luxurious treatent makes the world of xenogears so alive. The plot is something that is able to captivate the audience with every development of it's plot with twists and turns that i wasn't expecting with disc 2 being a complete brainrot with what it does with the story so many new thing that just add so mmuch onto the plot of disc 1 to say that Xenogears wasn't anything mindblowing is selling the game short in my eyes. but with the mindblowing positives there are shortcomings that come along with it as oh boy it feels really unfinished as the game atp really just wanted to tell the main story and flesh out Fei,Elly and Krelian as the gameplay rally just entirely felt like an after thought and really shoved in there and the side cast while i actually like all of them, they barely gotten screen time which really sucks cause character's like rico was a really nice introspctive into the racial mistreatments the demihumans were facing due to the laws instilled by the Aveh goverment and thus had to resorted to using physicaal strength to be able to rise through the prison ranks in Nortune. ( i don't find the amount of cutscenes a problem as i like Vns but i really would've loved more gameplay in the actually game )
AAnyways the entire realisation at the end of Xenogears tells e that i won't find anything like it as Xenogears is well Xenogears it separated itself from the pack and stands as an entirely unique story so bless you Takahashi hope you can pull off something as good as this and hopefully xenosaga can make me feel something simallar to what i felt in gears.
lemme take a look at just the main plot of Xenogears with just the plot of disc 1 and disc 2. Disc 1 starts off with the introduction of Fei fong wong an amnesiac in Lacan villlage that due to unfortunate events has to leave his village, this enables fei to go on a globe trotting adventure (going to cut this short) the entire game makes visiting each of the locations so unique as there's so many different cultures and history in each region like the desert region of Aveh and Kislev as each region is able to feel so incredibly distinct as class discrimination and different ideaologies regarding which citizens are worthy of luxurious treatent makes the world of xenogears so alive. The plot is something that is able to captivate the audience with every development of it's plot with twists and turns that i wasn't expecting with disc 2 being a complete brainrot with what it does with the story so many new thing that just add so mmuch onto the plot of disc 1 to say that Xenogears wasn't anything mindblowing is selling the game short in my eyes. but with the mindblowing positives there are shortcomings that come along with it as oh boy it feels really unfinished as the game atp really just wanted to tell the main story and flesh out Fei,Elly and Krelian as the gameplay rally just entirely felt like an after thought and really shoved in there and the side cast while i actually like all of them, they barely gotten screen time which really sucks cause character's like rico was a really nice introspctive into the racial mistreatments the demihumans were facing due to the laws instilled by the Aveh goverment and thus had to resorted to using physicaal strength to be able to rise through the prison ranks in Nortune. ( i don't find the amount of cutscenes a problem as i like Vns but i really would've loved more gameplay in the actually game )
AAnyways the entire realisation at the end of Xenogears tells e that i won't find anything like it as Xenogears is well Xenogears it separated itself from the pack and stands as an entirely unique story so bless you Takahashi hope you can pull off something as good as this and hopefully xenosaga can make me feel something simallar to what i felt in gears.
Imagine you were watching a movie and it was already going on way longer than it needed to with no signs of wrapping up and at the 3 hour mark the lead actors give you a 30 minute PowerPoint presentation revealing that you were only halfway through the story and that they just never finished making it.
Much like with Xenoblade, Xenogears was one of the first RPGs I tried playing. I initially picked it up shortly after beating FF7 and I remember loving it back then though I only got up to the stalactite cave. Now that I've beaten it, my thoughts on it are much more complicated, the game was a real rollercoaster and I'm still trying to process how exactly I feel about it.
Upon replaying it again now, it's clear to me why I dropped it back then. Its all down to the narrative and how intimidating it can be at times. Right from the opening cutscene, you are assaulted with questions and for every one that gets vaguely answered, you get like 3 more. Using enigma codes to push the player to keep going on so they can figure things out isn't a bad thing, but I think Xenogears crosses a line where it just became disheartening for me at points with how little of the narrative I felt I had a good grasp of. The worst parts for me are the early scenes with the Gazel Ministry with how terms that haven't been explained to the player yet get flung around constantly and it reached a point where I was mentally checked out during these scenes. The story can feel extremely daunting at times and I initially wasn't too keen on it, but as I progressed through it and more of it started to make sense, it ended up really gripping me. I can't help but admire just how grandiose this narrative manages to be and the wide range of topics it tackles is something to behold. Slavery, warfare, psychology, mysticism, gnostic imagery, nature of humanity and God and so much more. I beat the game but I only scratched the surface of what all the symbolism and motifs mean because it feels like every dialogue exchange and every area is so meticulously crafted and filled with purpose. Despite covering such monumental subject matter, I think Xenogears is equally strong when it focuses on the smaller scale character moments. From Fei telling Elly how he acts the way he does not because he's "heroic" but merely so he can find a place of acceptance, to Maria talking about what Seibzehn represents to her and how her memory of her father is gradually fading. Scenes like this are so powerful, but are few and far between since they get buried under the rubble which are this game's larger themes. Still, whether its focusing on the small stuff or the big stuff, Xenogears' narrative is quality throughout once you start piecing things together. The only area where the story can feel a little questionable is in its handling of the core cast. Fei, Citan, Elly and Bart are all great, playing a role in the story that remains relevant for the whole game, but the same can't be said for the others. Billy and Maria gets introduced in an area, and their entire arc is resolved in that area, afterwards they just sort of hang around and help out but never really feel important. Rico and Emeralda don't even get the luxury of having anything that resembles an arc and they can be taken out of the plot entirely without anything being lost really. I still like these characters, particularly Billy, but this shift to having a more episodic approach in the middle of the game does create a disconnect between the care that went into integrating the first 4 party members and the ones that come after. Also, to me, this game just looks beautiful, the blend of sprites for human characters and 3D models of the Gears works really well and a lot of the cutscenes in this game make me forget this is a PS1 game, particularly Weltall IDs introduction.
All the games cutscenes are beautifully punctuated by the soundtrack. Talking about music is just something I rarely do when reviewing games because I don't think I have the ability to properly put into words what makes an OST good or bad, but what I can say about Xenogears' OST is that it makes you feel things. Yasunori Mitsuda does a wonderful job at elevating the emotions of a scene with his music here and it is easily his best work imo. It's not always perfect though, the music always sound great, but the number of tracks is quite low for an RPG of this length so some tracks end up getting really worn out and there is even the occasional instance where the music doesn't quite fit the scene, or is completely in contrast to it. Luckily, this issue doesn't occur too often.
So in terms of story, graphics and music, this game is beyond incredible, but the problem is just about everything else. This game is insanely uneven. Anything gameplay related plays second fiddle to the games story. The combat is okay at best, it's split into two parts, one where you control human characters and one where you use the Gears but both are extemely simple. There's no strategy involved to either, around 95% of gear battles can be won by turning on the booster function and spamming deathblows on the enemy and human fights are also won via constantly using deathblows and occasionally healing. There is some fun to be had just from how cool deathblows look and using the Combo function to decimate enemies is satisfying but for a 60 hour game, the actual gameplay here feels shallow. It has also got a lot of things that irk me, switching out party members is a little annoying with it usually requiring you to go back to the Yggdrasil every single time, certain characters leave the party for long stretches of time so getting their deathblows is just not worth it and the game makes no attempt at explaining how exactly you're meant to unlock new deathblows, levelling up here feels almost pointless since human fights are too easy and Gears' stats are dependent entirely on their equipment. Honestly, the only time I really loved the gameplay was in Nortune, where the game randomly turns into a 3D Fighter, other than that, the actual RPG elements of this game are underwhelming. Then there are the dungeons, Xenogears' cutscenes can often feel like never-ending dialogue dumps so, to balance this out and not make gameplay feel like an afterthought, the game's dungeons are designed to take as long as possible by being structured like mazes that are exhausting to get through. Except, this isn't a solution, it just makes gameplay sections in this game feel like a chore at points, with the worst offenders for me being the final dungeon, the solaris elevator shafts and the platforming required in Babel Tower. Not every area has a dungeon required to progress, like the section on the Thames which only has like 2 battles total and the rest is all dialogue but this brings me to another issue, pacing-wise, this game is all over the place. Xenogears never reaches a state of equilibrium between its gameplay and narrative so the entire experience feels lop-sided and anytime I had to play the game instead of read it, I just wasn't as interested. Also, there's like no side content here, the only time the game opens up is right at the end and even then, there isn't much to do.
Then there's Disc 2 and it is a little tragic, the fact that a game that up until that point paid so much excruciating attention to detail is now relegated to having to give a rough summary of events followed by a battle at the end is a real shame. It's not all bad though, there's still striking imagery to be found and it does have my favourite part of the game, that being the backstory of ID and "The Coward". I like also like how it's presented with the pendant swinging back and forth while a character narrates, it's oddly relaxing. The fact that this disc is so light on the gameplay is something I'm actually fine with since the story is the best part of this game anyway. A lot of plot threads from Disc 1 end up being either abandoned or rushed through but I'd still say I enjoyed this part of the game almost on par with the first one, which only makes the fact that it's unfinished sting more because I can't even fathom how incredible this story could've been had it been completed.
I complained about a myriad of things here, and I don't think I'm really wrong in doing so either. Xenogears is a fractured, uneven, and incomplete mess but beyond all that, it's also a game with so much passion poured into every pixel that I can't help but ultimately respect and enjoy it even if it took a long time for me to feel this way.
Upon replaying it again now, it's clear to me why I dropped it back then. Its all down to the narrative and how intimidating it can be at times. Right from the opening cutscene, you are assaulted with questions and for every one that gets vaguely answered, you get like 3 more. Using enigma codes to push the player to keep going on so they can figure things out isn't a bad thing, but I think Xenogears crosses a line where it just became disheartening for me at points with how little of the narrative I felt I had a good grasp of. The worst parts for me are the early scenes with the Gazel Ministry with how terms that haven't been explained to the player yet get flung around constantly and it reached a point where I was mentally checked out during these scenes. The story can feel extremely daunting at times and I initially wasn't too keen on it, but as I progressed through it and more of it started to make sense, it ended up really gripping me. I can't help but admire just how grandiose this narrative manages to be and the wide range of topics it tackles is something to behold. Slavery, warfare, psychology, mysticism, gnostic imagery, nature of humanity and God and so much more. I beat the game but I only scratched the surface of what all the symbolism and motifs mean because it feels like every dialogue exchange and every area is so meticulously crafted and filled with purpose. Despite covering such monumental subject matter, I think Xenogears is equally strong when it focuses on the smaller scale character moments. From Fei telling Elly how he acts the way he does not because he's "heroic" but merely so he can find a place of acceptance, to Maria talking about what Seibzehn represents to her and how her memory of her father is gradually fading. Scenes like this are so powerful, but are few and far between since they get buried under the rubble which are this game's larger themes. Still, whether its focusing on the small stuff or the big stuff, Xenogears' narrative is quality throughout once you start piecing things together. The only area where the story can feel a little questionable is in its handling of the core cast. Fei, Citan, Elly and Bart are all great, playing a role in the story that remains relevant for the whole game, but the same can't be said for the others. Billy and Maria gets introduced in an area, and their entire arc is resolved in that area, afterwards they just sort of hang around and help out but never really feel important. Rico and Emeralda don't even get the luxury of having anything that resembles an arc and they can be taken out of the plot entirely without anything being lost really. I still like these characters, particularly Billy, but this shift to having a more episodic approach in the middle of the game does create a disconnect between the care that went into integrating the first 4 party members and the ones that come after. Also, to me, this game just looks beautiful, the blend of sprites for human characters and 3D models of the Gears works really well and a lot of the cutscenes in this game make me forget this is a PS1 game, particularly Weltall IDs introduction.
All the games cutscenes are beautifully punctuated by the soundtrack. Talking about music is just something I rarely do when reviewing games because I don't think I have the ability to properly put into words what makes an OST good or bad, but what I can say about Xenogears' OST is that it makes you feel things. Yasunori Mitsuda does a wonderful job at elevating the emotions of a scene with his music here and it is easily his best work imo. It's not always perfect though, the music always sound great, but the number of tracks is quite low for an RPG of this length so some tracks end up getting really worn out and there is even the occasional instance where the music doesn't quite fit the scene, or is completely in contrast to it. Luckily, this issue doesn't occur too often.
So in terms of story, graphics and music, this game is beyond incredible, but the problem is just about everything else. This game is insanely uneven. Anything gameplay related plays second fiddle to the games story. The combat is okay at best, it's split into two parts, one where you control human characters and one where you use the Gears but both are extemely simple. There's no strategy involved to either, around 95% of gear battles can be won by turning on the booster function and spamming deathblows on the enemy and human fights are also won via constantly using deathblows and occasionally healing. There is some fun to be had just from how cool deathblows look and using the Combo function to decimate enemies is satisfying but for a 60 hour game, the actual gameplay here feels shallow. It has also got a lot of things that irk me, switching out party members is a little annoying with it usually requiring you to go back to the Yggdrasil every single time, certain characters leave the party for long stretches of time so getting their deathblows is just not worth it and the game makes no attempt at explaining how exactly you're meant to unlock new deathblows, levelling up here feels almost pointless since human fights are too easy and Gears' stats are dependent entirely on their equipment. Honestly, the only time I really loved the gameplay was in Nortune, where the game randomly turns into a 3D Fighter, other than that, the actual RPG elements of this game are underwhelming. Then there are the dungeons, Xenogears' cutscenes can often feel like never-ending dialogue dumps so, to balance this out and not make gameplay feel like an afterthought, the game's dungeons are designed to take as long as possible by being structured like mazes that are exhausting to get through. Except, this isn't a solution, it just makes gameplay sections in this game feel like a chore at points, with the worst offenders for me being the final dungeon, the solaris elevator shafts and the platforming required in Babel Tower. Not every area has a dungeon required to progress, like the section on the Thames which only has like 2 battles total and the rest is all dialogue but this brings me to another issue, pacing-wise, this game is all over the place. Xenogears never reaches a state of equilibrium between its gameplay and narrative so the entire experience feels lop-sided and anytime I had to play the game instead of read it, I just wasn't as interested. Also, there's like no side content here, the only time the game opens up is right at the end and even then, there isn't much to do.
Then there's Disc 2 and it is a little tragic, the fact that a game that up until that point paid so much excruciating attention to detail is now relegated to having to give a rough summary of events followed by a battle at the end is a real shame. It's not all bad though, there's still striking imagery to be found and it does have my favourite part of the game, that being the backstory of ID and "The Coward". I like also like how it's presented with the pendant swinging back and forth while a character narrates, it's oddly relaxing. The fact that this disc is so light on the gameplay is something I'm actually fine with since the story is the best part of this game anyway. A lot of plot threads from Disc 1 end up being either abandoned or rushed through but I'd still say I enjoyed this part of the game almost on par with the first one, which only makes the fact that it's unfinished sting more because I can't even fathom how incredible this story could've been had it been completed.
I complained about a myriad of things here, and I don't think I'm really wrong in doing so either. Xenogears is a fractured, uneven, and incomplete mess but beyond all that, it's also a game with so much passion poured into every pixel that I can't help but ultimately respect and enjoy it even if it took a long time for me to feel this way.
To be honest it might have been a bad idea to save Xenogears for last. I started out with the Xenosaga trilogy, cause I really wanted to learn about KOS-MOS. Then afterwards due to the Summer of Sequels, I wanted to have the Xenoblade games on the Wheel, so I played through all of them. This all leads to now, where I finally got to the game that started everything off. I found myself really enjoying a lot of Xenogears, the story is probably my favorite part of the game, but even still I find there to be some general issues with the game, though not all are issues due to the game itself.
One thing that was immediate to notice in comparison to the later Xeno games was that Xenogears features Random Encounters. It being the only one of the games to feature it, it was somewhat jarring, though of course I wouldn’t be as surprised if I played it first. Though I do have one peeve when it comes to the random encounters though. In particular, there’s like an odd delay that occurs? The music cuts out, and the random encounter starts about a second or two after. But you’re still able to act in that small window of time, and you’re able to interact with objects like doors and chests, though the interaction only occurs after the random encounter. Often, I moved over to open a door to make progress in a dungeon, but even though I interacted with the door, a random encounter interrupted me. It’s not the biggest thing really, but it was just a minor annoyance that never went away.
When it comes to the Dungeons of Xenogears, my feelings generally fluctuate throughout the game. There are some pretty solid dungeons in the game, I honestly really like the Kisvet Sewers, and especially Zeboim. When it comes to the dungeons I like though, the random encounters yet again were a bit of a nuisance, but yet again that’s just me. Though further I got into the game, the more I decided that it was best to fight every random encounter. Full Health healing items were really cheap to buy, and even though they can only be used outside of battle, they were really helpful. I will say though, the dungeons I don’t like, I really don’t like. Particularly I found myself really hating the Tower of Babel and Anima Dungeon 2. For the former, the issue comes from the game’s platforming, and the enemies you find while in the dungeon. Xenogears’ platforming isn’t all that good, and neither is my depth perception, which for a dungeon like the Tower of Babel, is really bad. One missed jump and it’s highly likely you’re brought down to the start of the long platforming segment, and have to do it all over again. Not only that, but the enemies that you have to fight before you get on an elevator respawn if you go through a room transition, and there’s one in the middle of the platforming segment. Most of the enemies that spawn in the Tower of Babel cannot be fled from, which makes the dungeon drag on a lot longer than it feels it should. Overall I just found that dungeon frustrating. On the other hand, I found the puzzles in Anima Dungeon 2 really bad. One of the puzzles broke and I had to restart it, and the other puzzle was just really lackluster. Me going into details on these 2 aside, most of the dungeons in the game weren’t bad and were honestly fun to go through, but I really disliked these 2 in particular.
Combat in this game comes generally in 2 forms. I don’t know if the actual types of combat have names, but it’s easy for me to describe them as “Human” and “Gear”, depending on whether or not you’re riding in your gear. Overall, the combat of the game is really fun, though I think of the 2, I prefer the Human combat for the gameplay, but the Gear combat for the spectacle and presentation.
Human Combat is primarily focused on performing combos. The Triangle, Square, and X buttons all use differing moves of differing powers, and the stronger the move, the more AP it requires. From what I remember, you start out the game with 3 AP, but the further you progress in the game, the more AP you get. By the end of the game, my characters had 7 AP, and I’m under the assumption that that is the maximum. But the more AP you get, the longer your combo can become, and if you do certain combos, eventually you’ll be able to learn Deathblows. I wish there was a moment where it explains how deathblows are learned, though it might be a case of me just missing it. Deathblows are really fun to use, especially as later on the Deathblows you get can be tied to specific elements, which I find really fun. Though at the same time with all of this, actually learning every Deathblow became a hassle. I found myself grinding not to get levels, but to learn Deathblows, as they are integral in combat, both in Human, and Gear combat. It made me prioritize using characters where I have already grinded out their Deathblows, instead of using the ones who haven’t learned theirs, and for Human combat, I actively avoided characters who didn’t have Deathblows. Even though I’ve said all of this, when you don’t have to worry about grinding out Deathblows, they’re really fun to use, especially when they do massive damage.
I really like Gear Combat, though I do have some peeves with it, which is based around Fuel. In actual combat, I think Fuel is a really good mechanic. Every attack uses up an amount of fuel, and you can do certain actions, like healing or using specific attacks. It adds a form of strategy based upon the limited resource. On top of that, there’s an option you can do where you can activate a booster, which speeds up your gears, but costs fuels in order to do so. All of this My issue when it comes to Fuel occurs outside of battle though. I just wish there was a way to restore Fuel outside of battle easier, especially in later dungeons, and points in time where you have to fight multiple bosses in a row. I think the reason why certain bosses are much harder than they would otherwise be is because restoring fuel outside of battle is limited. The actual combat with Gears is pretty solid though. There’s not really combos like in Human combat, and most of the time you’ll only do one attack per turn. Though each attack you use raises your level, and depending on your level, you can use certain levels of Deathblows. Later on, you gain Infinity Level Deathblows, which are absolutely sick when you’re able to pull them off, but there’s a factor of luck for when they activate.
The Boss Fights are really fun, and are probably when the combat is at its best. That’s primarily due to them being noticeably longer than random encounters, so the groove of combat is really able to develop. I definitely think some bosses are noticeably harder than others. One boss very early into the game, Calamity, was really hard when I first ran into it, though that was at a point before I understood how Deathblows worked. Once I did, the fight was noticeably easier. A lot of the late game fights, primarily in disc 2 were noticeably difficult, though I never lost to them. They’re primarily difficult for the reasons I listed in the previous paragraph, back-to-back boss fights on top of limited fuel. But even then, the general presentation and fighting of bosses is really good.
Now after all of this, I finally can talk about the story of Xenogears, which while I have some conflicting feelings with it, I still think the story of Xenogears is amazing. Xenogears has a lot of themes and symbolism, and while I absolutely love it, I can acknowledge the fact that I don’t fully understand everything going on in the game. I really love the cast of Xenogears, though I wish there was a bit more time with them. Billy was one of my favorite characters in the game, though after his main arc, he takes a noticeable step back, not having as much relevance as other characters. I definitely think the character who was hit hardest with this was Emeralda, who seemingly barely got any spotlight even when she was an important character. Looking at the events of the story as well, I really like the game’s actual story, alongside the world of Xenogears. Though with that in mind, I find it unfortunate that Disc 2’s pacing was noticeably a lot faster than Disc 1’s. I’ll explain my thoughts on Disc 2 sometime later though. Most of Disc 2’s events are done through exposition, but the most important parts are the ones that are actually playable. Even still, they’re rather short segments. For general reference, Disc 1 took me about 45 hours, while Disc 2 took me only 10 hours.
Now, Disc 2 is an unfortunate thing to really examine, I feel. By that I mean that Xenogears’ Disc 2 was meant to be a lot more, but due to the meddling, budget and timing restrictions placed upon the team by Squaresoft, they had to minimize what Disc 2 was. From what I’ve heard, all of the exposition that was in Disc 2 was originally planned to be all playable segments, and I would’ve loved to actually play those. Though I want to say, knowing the reasons why Disc 2 is the way it is, I can’t bring myself to knock on the game too much for this. On top of that, I find there to be a bit of charm in the way they present the exposition in Disc 2, though again, the pacing takes a hit due to most of it being solely through exposition.
Even though I have some gripes with Xenogears, I really find myself mesmerized with the game as a whole. Its strengths are absolutely strength, and most of its flaws are excused to Squaresoft’s meddling. The story is amazing, and though I wish some of the main cast had more time to shine, when they do, they’re really great characters. It feels odd finally being done through the Xeno series. I started this whole thing back in February with Xenosaga Episode 1, because of how I spaced them out, it took ten months to finally play through them all. It feels somewhat odd finally being at the end of the road, but that just means I can find a new road to take.
One thing that was immediate to notice in comparison to the later Xeno games was that Xenogears features Random Encounters. It being the only one of the games to feature it, it was somewhat jarring, though of course I wouldn’t be as surprised if I played it first. Though I do have one peeve when it comes to the random encounters though. In particular, there’s like an odd delay that occurs? The music cuts out, and the random encounter starts about a second or two after. But you’re still able to act in that small window of time, and you’re able to interact with objects like doors and chests, though the interaction only occurs after the random encounter. Often, I moved over to open a door to make progress in a dungeon, but even though I interacted with the door, a random encounter interrupted me. It’s not the biggest thing really, but it was just a minor annoyance that never went away.
When it comes to the Dungeons of Xenogears, my feelings generally fluctuate throughout the game. There are some pretty solid dungeons in the game, I honestly really like the Kisvet Sewers, and especially Zeboim. When it comes to the dungeons I like though, the random encounters yet again were a bit of a nuisance, but yet again that’s just me. Though further I got into the game, the more I decided that it was best to fight every random encounter. Full Health healing items were really cheap to buy, and even though they can only be used outside of battle, they were really helpful. I will say though, the dungeons I don’t like, I really don’t like. Particularly I found myself really hating the Tower of Babel and Anima Dungeon 2. For the former, the issue comes from the game’s platforming, and the enemies you find while in the dungeon. Xenogears’ platforming isn’t all that good, and neither is my depth perception, which for a dungeon like the Tower of Babel, is really bad. One missed jump and it’s highly likely you’re brought down to the start of the long platforming segment, and have to do it all over again. Not only that, but the enemies that you have to fight before you get on an elevator respawn if you go through a room transition, and there’s one in the middle of the platforming segment. Most of the enemies that spawn in the Tower of Babel cannot be fled from, which makes the dungeon drag on a lot longer than it feels it should. Overall I just found that dungeon frustrating. On the other hand, I found the puzzles in Anima Dungeon 2 really bad. One of the puzzles broke and I had to restart it, and the other puzzle was just really lackluster. Me going into details on these 2 aside, most of the dungeons in the game weren’t bad and were honestly fun to go through, but I really disliked these 2 in particular.
Combat in this game comes generally in 2 forms. I don’t know if the actual types of combat have names, but it’s easy for me to describe them as “Human” and “Gear”, depending on whether or not you’re riding in your gear. Overall, the combat of the game is really fun, though I think of the 2, I prefer the Human combat for the gameplay, but the Gear combat for the spectacle and presentation.
Human Combat is primarily focused on performing combos. The Triangle, Square, and X buttons all use differing moves of differing powers, and the stronger the move, the more AP it requires. From what I remember, you start out the game with 3 AP, but the further you progress in the game, the more AP you get. By the end of the game, my characters had 7 AP, and I’m under the assumption that that is the maximum. But the more AP you get, the longer your combo can become, and if you do certain combos, eventually you’ll be able to learn Deathblows. I wish there was a moment where it explains how deathblows are learned, though it might be a case of me just missing it. Deathblows are really fun to use, especially as later on the Deathblows you get can be tied to specific elements, which I find really fun. Though at the same time with all of this, actually learning every Deathblow became a hassle. I found myself grinding not to get levels, but to learn Deathblows, as they are integral in combat, both in Human, and Gear combat. It made me prioritize using characters where I have already grinded out their Deathblows, instead of using the ones who haven’t learned theirs, and for Human combat, I actively avoided characters who didn’t have Deathblows. Even though I’ve said all of this, when you don’t have to worry about grinding out Deathblows, they’re really fun to use, especially when they do massive damage.
I really like Gear Combat, though I do have some peeves with it, which is based around Fuel. In actual combat, I think Fuel is a really good mechanic. Every attack uses up an amount of fuel, and you can do certain actions, like healing or using specific attacks. It adds a form of strategy based upon the limited resource. On top of that, there’s an option you can do where you can activate a booster, which speeds up your gears, but costs fuels in order to do so. All of this My issue when it comes to Fuel occurs outside of battle though. I just wish there was a way to restore Fuel outside of battle easier, especially in later dungeons, and points in time where you have to fight multiple bosses in a row. I think the reason why certain bosses are much harder than they would otherwise be is because restoring fuel outside of battle is limited. The actual combat with Gears is pretty solid though. There’s not really combos like in Human combat, and most of the time you’ll only do one attack per turn. Though each attack you use raises your level, and depending on your level, you can use certain levels of Deathblows. Later on, you gain Infinity Level Deathblows, which are absolutely sick when you’re able to pull them off, but there’s a factor of luck for when they activate.
The Boss Fights are really fun, and are probably when the combat is at its best. That’s primarily due to them being noticeably longer than random encounters, so the groove of combat is really able to develop. I definitely think some bosses are noticeably harder than others. One boss very early into the game, Calamity, was really hard when I first ran into it, though that was at a point before I understood how Deathblows worked. Once I did, the fight was noticeably easier. A lot of the late game fights, primarily in disc 2 were noticeably difficult, though I never lost to them. They’re primarily difficult for the reasons I listed in the previous paragraph, back-to-back boss fights on top of limited fuel. But even then, the general presentation and fighting of bosses is really good.
Now after all of this, I finally can talk about the story of Xenogears, which while I have some conflicting feelings with it, I still think the story of Xenogears is amazing. Xenogears has a lot of themes and symbolism, and while I absolutely love it, I can acknowledge the fact that I don’t fully understand everything going on in the game. I really love the cast of Xenogears, though I wish there was a bit more time with them. Billy was one of my favorite characters in the game, though after his main arc, he takes a noticeable step back, not having as much relevance as other characters. I definitely think the character who was hit hardest with this was Emeralda, who seemingly barely got any spotlight even when she was an important character. Looking at the events of the story as well, I really like the game’s actual story, alongside the world of Xenogears. Though with that in mind, I find it unfortunate that Disc 2’s pacing was noticeably a lot faster than Disc 1’s. I’ll explain my thoughts on Disc 2 sometime later though. Most of Disc 2’s events are done through exposition, but the most important parts are the ones that are actually playable. Even still, they’re rather short segments. For general reference, Disc 1 took me about 45 hours, while Disc 2 took me only 10 hours.
Now, Disc 2 is an unfortunate thing to really examine, I feel. By that I mean that Xenogears’ Disc 2 was meant to be a lot more, but due to the meddling, budget and timing restrictions placed upon the team by Squaresoft, they had to minimize what Disc 2 was. From what I’ve heard, all of the exposition that was in Disc 2 was originally planned to be all playable segments, and I would’ve loved to actually play those. Though I want to say, knowing the reasons why Disc 2 is the way it is, I can’t bring myself to knock on the game too much for this. On top of that, I find there to be a bit of charm in the way they present the exposition in Disc 2, though again, the pacing takes a hit due to most of it being solely through exposition.
Even though I have some gripes with Xenogears, I really find myself mesmerized with the game as a whole. Its strengths are absolutely strength, and most of its flaws are excused to Squaresoft’s meddling. The story is amazing, and though I wish some of the main cast had more time to shine, when they do, they’re really great characters. It feels odd finally being done through the Xeno series. I started this whole thing back in February with Xenosaga Episode 1, because of how I spaced them out, it took ten months to finally play through them all. It feels somewhat odd finally being at the end of the road, but that just means I can find a new road to take.
If I ever mark my words I'll come delete this but I truly don't think there will ever be a better story in gaming. I finish this with these thoughts every time, and then I read perfect works and that's further cemented. I know including a book in judgement of a game is unfair but I don't care
O principal erro do Takahashi foi achar que a Square daria moral pra um noia igual ele.
Basic bitch cliff notes understanding of the most mainstream psychologists and philosophers possible. Dan Hentschel says more about psychology than this garbage.
I think it's time for me to give up on this one. I've tried it numerous times through the years and even got decently far into it once... but it's just not super compelling to me. For being a 3D game with 2D sprites it just doesn't look that great and all around it feels very... almost but not quite. Besides the OST, which may be my most listened to OST after Chrono Cross. It's like this inbetween of CT and CC (probably because it literally was made between them).
I've heard this was originally a FFVII pitch, and then a possible Chrono Trigger 2 at some point as well, and it does have a lot in common with CT, not just the the soundtrack composer.
Anyway, I think I'm going to abandon this as a game and watch a playthrough instead. Considering how inspired by Gnosticism I am in my own projects it seems like a necessity to at least know the whole plot.
Edit: Just collecting my thoughts here while I watch a play-through, but this very much feels like a game completely led by its narrative and everything about it is in support of that narrative. Basically, there are no overly frivolous gameplay aspects, they're all there for the story. This could very much just have been a novel. Not sure how I feel about that, but it is an interesting way to approach a game.
The pacing is also pretty slow and there's a lot of dialogue to not say so much. That feels like a pretty common Japanese poetic choice. A lot of battle scenes feel like 61 episodes of DBZ.
I've heard this was originally a FFVII pitch, and then a possible Chrono Trigger 2 at some point as well, and it does have a lot in common with CT, not just the the soundtrack composer.
Anyway, I think I'm going to abandon this as a game and watch a playthrough instead. Considering how inspired by Gnosticism I am in my own projects it seems like a necessity to at least know the whole plot.
Edit: Just collecting my thoughts here while I watch a play-through, but this very much feels like a game completely led by its narrative and everything about it is in support of that narrative. Basically, there are no overly frivolous gameplay aspects, they're all there for the story. This could very much just have been a novel. Not sure how I feel about that, but it is an interesting way to approach a game.
The pacing is also pretty slow and there's a lot of dialogue to not say so much. That feels like a pretty common Japanese poetic choice. A lot of battle scenes feel like 61 episodes of DBZ.
this game is easily 4.5 stars but unfortunately due to time constraints in my review schedule i didn't have time to give it the last 2 stars.
I usually don't write real reviews on here but I feel like I really felt like this one deserved it.
I didn't really expect much of this game to be completely honest. I've been wanting to go through the entire "Xeno" series for awhile and as this is the first game, I had to play it.
This game is a fucking masterpiece. ...and I mean it. 90% of this game I was in genuine awe at what I was playing. I could not believe that this was a PSX game. Phenomenal music, phenomenal plot, phenomenal characters, phenomenal everything.
All of this to say, PLAY THIS GAME. I loved it, and I'm sure you'll love it too.
I didn't really expect much of this game to be completely honest. I've been wanting to go through the entire "Xeno" series for awhile and as this is the first game, I had to play it.
This game is a fucking masterpiece. ...and I mean it. 90% of this game I was in genuine awe at what I was playing. I could not believe that this was a PSX game. Phenomenal music, phenomenal plot, phenomenal characters, phenomenal everything.
All of this to say, PLAY THIS GAME. I loved it, and I'm sure you'll love it too.
One of the main points of contention Xenogears' critics will bring up is the game being released in a state of not being entirely finished. Disc 2 being made up of mostly narration and Evangelion eps 25-26-esqe dreamlike cutscenes is a common point of contention when addressing this game's strengths and shortcomings. Just as every artistic medium is defined by its limitations, video games are no different. Even still, Xenogears is a special case. One of the main questions the game poses is what it means to be complete. Although this is mainly to be applied the main character Fei and his arc of finding his purpose by forming meaningful human connections, given the game's own status as a not fully realized vision makes the message all the more profound.
If there's one question that Xenogears has made me ask more than anything else, it's about the point when a piece of art becomes complete. How complete do you need to be to feel like a "whole"? A defining aspect of Gears is its stance on this topic: we aren't defined by our own journeys so much as how we affect the lives of each other.
Many may see disc 2 as unsatisfying, but the way I see it it's the brightest shining aspect of what makes Xenogears as good as it is. This game tells a front to back story, and I haven't even addressed the fact that I think this might be the best individual story I've ever experienced in a single video game! Not to mention the amazing character arcs of Fei and Elly. People throw around the term "this speaks to me on multiple levels" a lot but this is especially true to me with Xenogears.
As the game says, it's okay to not feel whole. Eventually as time marches on, we affect the lives of others and find meaning in the various human connections we form in our lives. And that gives us meaning just as much as any aspect of ourselves. Just as people are defined by the bonds we make, the people we meet, and the love we share, I think Xenogears has a somewhat similar journey.
A big reason I was interested in this game as I've been is because of how much I've heard it inspired modern JRPGs. With them being my favorite genre of game, combined with my fascination with works of fiction that inspired other pieces I so dearly enjoy made Xenogears a must play for me eventually. I'm so happy I did. Seeing this game's legacy retroactively makes me think this is the "complete" form of Xenogears: leaving such a legacy on the entire genre in the 24 years since its release.
Video games are a unique artform. The relationship between creator and consumer is an especially gray line here with many of the highest names in the industry describing themselves gamers just as much as game creators. Games, being as big of an art form as they are, cannot be created by one person (maybe in some instances but definitely not something like Xenogears for the purposes of this thought). Creators constantly build off one another, using aspects of someone else's creation for their own works, thus creating a living legacy for the original piece. Given how much inspiration others have found in the storytelling, character writing, and worldbuilding of Gears, I think it's safe to say it has about as impactful of a living, active legacy as just about any game in the genre.
Xenogears defines what it means to be a video game. Despite the fact that it's not a fully realized vision, you cannot argue the impact its had on everyone who's come into contact with it. Knowing this, is there really anything that truly needs to be changed about it? Although it's admittedly imperfect, flawed, whatever you want to call it, the lasting impressions it leaves on everyone give the game as much of a purpose as if it was truly finished.
So is Xenogears "whole"? I think so at least.
If there's one question that Xenogears has made me ask more than anything else, it's about the point when a piece of art becomes complete. How complete do you need to be to feel like a "whole"? A defining aspect of Gears is its stance on this topic: we aren't defined by our own journeys so much as how we affect the lives of each other.
Many may see disc 2 as unsatisfying, but the way I see it it's the brightest shining aspect of what makes Xenogears as good as it is. This game tells a front to back story, and I haven't even addressed the fact that I think this might be the best individual story I've ever experienced in a single video game! Not to mention the amazing character arcs of Fei and Elly. People throw around the term "this speaks to me on multiple levels" a lot but this is especially true to me with Xenogears.
As the game says, it's okay to not feel whole. Eventually as time marches on, we affect the lives of others and find meaning in the various human connections we form in our lives. And that gives us meaning just as much as any aspect of ourselves. Just as people are defined by the bonds we make, the people we meet, and the love we share, I think Xenogears has a somewhat similar journey.
A big reason I was interested in this game as I've been is because of how much I've heard it inspired modern JRPGs. With them being my favorite genre of game, combined with my fascination with works of fiction that inspired other pieces I so dearly enjoy made Xenogears a must play for me eventually. I'm so happy I did. Seeing this game's legacy retroactively makes me think this is the "complete" form of Xenogears: leaving such a legacy on the entire genre in the 24 years since its release.
Video games are a unique artform. The relationship between creator and consumer is an especially gray line here with many of the highest names in the industry describing themselves gamers just as much as game creators. Games, being as big of an art form as they are, cannot be created by one person (maybe in some instances but definitely not something like Xenogears for the purposes of this thought). Creators constantly build off one another, using aspects of someone else's creation for their own works, thus creating a living legacy for the original piece. Given how much inspiration others have found in the storytelling, character writing, and worldbuilding of Gears, I think it's safe to say it has about as impactful of a living, active legacy as just about any game in the genre.
Xenogears defines what it means to be a video game. Despite the fact that it's not a fully realized vision, you cannot argue the impact its had on everyone who's come into contact with it. Knowing this, is there really anything that truly needs to be changed about it? Although it's admittedly imperfect, flawed, whatever you want to call it, the lasting impressions it leaves on everyone give the game as much of a purpose as if it was truly finished.
So is Xenogears "whole"? I think so at least.
My favorite game of all time even 22 years after I first played it
Looks a lot like Stranger of Paradise!
i literally cannot think right now, something about japanese pseudo-religious science fiction mecha shit makes me go crazy. there is so much here, there is just too much. for me to try and form any coherent thought surrounding this abomination would require who knows how long just to process what the fuck i just played. such a beautiful mess of a game. i will never shut up about this
This game is functionally held together by duct tape, but past that is a story that has resonated with me like no other. I need there to be an official remaster even on the caliber of Chrono Cross (post-patches). Absolutely special RPG, a must-play.
Disco 2 >>>>>> Disco 1
More like Kinogears.
Take a shot every time Citan is shown that he knows something that the rest of the party don’t know about.
I think this game fucking sucks to play and the characters and story definitely fall short in more than a few places, but I'd be lying if I said this doesn't deserve a remake. There's a LOT of stuff here that could potentially be fantastic if this was given a second chance in the modern day.
This game really makes you feel like a MAN, OF, THE SEA!!!
I have never been as disapointed with a game as I have been with Xenogears.
This game has an absolutely beautiful, late 90s anime-ps1 aesthetic that I cannot get enough of. And it has a very promising premise. The first couple of hours of this game are very good actually.
But eventually, it falls on its face and becomes an absolute unsufferable mess.
The story is ambitious, yes, and it aboards themes you very rarely see in games, especially considering when it released. However I dont think this means we should give it pass for ambition. Many many games were very ambitious yet failed.
What appealed to me about this game was the numerous esthetic resemblances between it and Neon Genesis Evangelion. And I can say that Xenogears goes into Freudian psychology even deeper than Evangelion did. But that dosent mean its story is well told. Again it starts off pretty good, but regularly takes detour to introduce you to new party members who have a mini arc and then never become relevant again. Factually speaking, the game would have had more than enough with Fei, Elly, Citan and Bart. And its not just this, the worldbuilding is admirable but ultimately detracts from the game more than it adds, because the game regularly expects you to take hour long infodumps on you and make sense of it. The second disc basically becoming a visual novel out of nowhere due to frankly poor planning by the developpers only aggravates this.
But the real falling of Xenogears is the gameplay. Now if Xenogears was a book, or an anime, maybe the issues I listed with its story and presentation could be forgiven, but its not. Its a game.
The battle system is awful, the combo system sounds so good, until you realise you cant keep your build up between battle making it a useless gimmick to be used against bosses and nowhere else.
The dungeons fall into the typical JRPG trap of being absurd mazes with no rhyme or reason, with an added bonus of awful camera angles and piss poor platforming.
The pacing is the worst through. You will go hours navigating these mazes, hoping for a story section to come, only to be bombarded with info for an hour. Creating a vicious cycle, where when you're in gameplay, you hope for cutscenes, but when you're in cutscenes, you hope for gameplay. When I realised this, I just.....couldnt lie to myself about how much I hated this. No amount of deep dive philosophical talk will make this experience enjoyable. And the fact that Evangelion exists just I can go get my 90s-Mecha-Anime-that's-actually-a-philosphy-thesis fix elsewhere.
Truly a remarkable game, let's not kid ourselves. But I can't stand it and I never want to touch it again. It's an energy vampire.
This game has an absolutely beautiful, late 90s anime-ps1 aesthetic that I cannot get enough of. And it has a very promising premise. The first couple of hours of this game are very good actually.
But eventually, it falls on its face and becomes an absolute unsufferable mess.
The story is ambitious, yes, and it aboards themes you very rarely see in games, especially considering when it released. However I dont think this means we should give it pass for ambition. Many many games were very ambitious yet failed.
What appealed to me about this game was the numerous esthetic resemblances between it and Neon Genesis Evangelion. And I can say that Xenogears goes into Freudian psychology even deeper than Evangelion did. But that dosent mean its story is well told. Again it starts off pretty good, but regularly takes detour to introduce you to new party members who have a mini arc and then never become relevant again. Factually speaking, the game would have had more than enough with Fei, Elly, Citan and Bart. And its not just this, the worldbuilding is admirable but ultimately detracts from the game more than it adds, because the game regularly expects you to take hour long infodumps on you and make sense of it. The second disc basically becoming a visual novel out of nowhere due to frankly poor planning by the developpers only aggravates this.
But the real falling of Xenogears is the gameplay. Now if Xenogears was a book, or an anime, maybe the issues I listed with its story and presentation could be forgiven, but its not. Its a game.
The battle system is awful, the combo system sounds so good, until you realise you cant keep your build up between battle making it a useless gimmick to be used against bosses and nowhere else.
The dungeons fall into the typical JRPG trap of being absurd mazes with no rhyme or reason, with an added bonus of awful camera angles and piss poor platforming.
The pacing is the worst through. You will go hours navigating these mazes, hoping for a story section to come, only to be bombarded with info for an hour. Creating a vicious cycle, where when you're in gameplay, you hope for cutscenes, but when you're in cutscenes, you hope for gameplay. When I realised this, I just.....couldnt lie to myself about how much I hated this. No amount of deep dive philosophical talk will make this experience enjoyable. And the fact that Evangelion exists just I can go get my 90s-Mecha-Anime-that's-actually-a-philosphy-thesis fix elsewhere.
Truly a remarkable game, let's not kid ourselves. But I can't stand it and I never want to touch it again. It's an energy vampire.