Greatest Mega Man game in the entire franchise, just so much fun start to finish. Took everything that was good about Zero 2 improved and expanded on it. The level design is just as great, and the combat (specifically the combo system combining EX skills and normal attacks) has been fully fleshed out, giving you a ton of freedom for how you approach enemies and (especially) bosses.

And I don't care what anyone says, the story was cool as fuck. I actually cared about what was happening throughout the series, and it culminated in the best finale in the Mega Man franchise.

Gunvolt games have always been very polarizing, because how you play offers very different experiences. If you play it like a Mega Man game, and just attempt to beat it normally from start to finish, it's just alright. But it all changes when you play as the developers obviously intended; for score. Holy FUCK this game is so much fun to play when you play for score. And when you turn off prevasion and turn on heaven or hell? That's when the kino starts. Compared to the other Gunvolt games, I think this one is the best, as Copen is objectively more fun than Gunvolt, and his gameplay has been refined from his GV2 incarnation. Though there is less content in this game than GV2, the quality more than makes up for it.

Also fuck Blade, insane DLC boss.

I'm going to be honest with you: the gameplay is some of the worst I've seen in a JRPG yet. It's genuinely bad in nearly every way, to the point where I'd let out an audible groan every time the cutscenes ended and I had to actually play the game again. The on-foot combat itself is boring; all you legitimately do is spam each characters strongest deathblow or heal. Gear combat is slightly better about this, especially in boss battles, though. There's no sense of resource management either, since you just stock up on a ton of Omegasols (which fully heal you) for cheap and use them as needed. Dungeon design ranges from being merely passable to being downright tedious (the final dungeon, the sewers, and the tower), which is mostly owed to the random encounter rate being way too fucking high. You won't get any satisfaction from progression and "building" your party members either, since its extremely linear and the height of customization is "use the deathblows and equipment with the biggest stats". At the very least though, gear customization is waaaay better about this.

We've established that the gameplay is a completely joyless 40+ hour endeavor, so what makes Xenogears good? The story. It was engaging from the very beginning, and stayed engaging all throughout... for the most part. It was so engaging that it prevented even me, who often cannot stress the important of satisfying gameplay in games, from dropping it. It could use better pacing though, since the game definitely drags at times. The dogshit gameplay only serves to pour salt in the wound when it happens.

Then you get near the end of Disc 1, and you understand why people call this game a masterpiece. The narrative removes its limiters, and cranks shit up to 11. Disc 2 arrives, and elevates Xenogears to KINOgears. It's easily the best part of the game (and anyone who says otherwise is an idiot) for two reasons. First, the narrative gets even crazier; if the end of disc 1 is an 11, the end of disc 2 is a fucking 20. Truly some wonderful shit. Second, and more importantly, Takahashi ran out of time and rushed the shit out of it. In his rush, he forgot to include much gameplay in disc 2. And this is nothing short of a modern miracle.

Now I know I made a big deal out of how bad it is to play, but again, I do honestly think it's a great game, and I'd recommend it; it would simply be remiss of me to not make sure you know what you're getting into. Make sure to actually play it though. I don't want to see anyone do any goofy ass Persona 5 fan youtube shit, alright?

Real solid game in almost every single way.

Not sure why no one ever mentions this, but all the backtracking and general effort required to get all the upgrades is tedious as fuck, especially when the endgame is balanced around a fully-powered X. It's a problem that has plagued the series since, and it started with this game. It completely destroys any replayability that the games would have had, too.

Other than that (and mediocre bosses), I have no other complaints. Good level design, great music.

Greatest JRPG ever made, bar none. There was nothing like it, there is nothing like it, and there will never be anything like it (unfortunately). The structure of the story is really cool, being able to progress and explore at (more or less) your own pace. Einherjar stories, as short as they are, are riveting, with some of them connecting to one another, and others playing integral parts in the events that unfold as you play the game. I love the overarching story as well. The gameplay is amazing too, for the first half at least, but then you figure out how to break it over your knee, but it's still fun and quite satisfying to obliterate everything you see. The dungeon design is easily some of the best I've ever seen in a JRPG, and the post-game dungeon is ICONIC. Motoi Sakuraba did a really good job on this soundtrack as well.

It is absolutely a MUST play if you're a JRPG fan. Play Valkyrie Profile.