PKMudkipz
2000
1991
2001
1998
This game just straight up sucks. Garbage hub world, slippery controls, boring as fuck levels, even more braindead bosses, man what a disaster of a game. Maybe it'd be enjoyable if I was the kind of person that found joy in mashing cubes into circular holes, but I'm not. Music is the one good thing about this trash heap though, but it's nowhere near good enough to redeem it.
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.
It is absolutely a MUST play if you're a JRPG fan. Play Valkyrie Profile.
1993
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.
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.
1998
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?
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?