The "Beginner's" Guide to the Xeno Series

[Pumpkin]

So some of you may have heard of and/or played Xenogears, Xenosaga, or Xenoblade (and sequels) and you may be confused or intimidated by the story and content. Understandable, they're rather complex games to get in to. So Fynn and I have apparently compiled a list of some important plot details for you.

*Note, out-of-context spoilers

Feel free to contribute if you've played the games!

The masked dude is kinda my dad and also kind of a previous incarnation of myself

I have been in love with the same girl for 10000 years but I really only wished her into existence because I needed a mother figure

My girlfriend is dead but it turns out they actually just turned her into a robot and I'M the dead one and the sword was just using my body

Our God figure is actually an A.I. who wants to harvest us over 10000 years for space parts


Weird, violent alien things are actually dead people who reject the afterlife collectivism and are slowly leading the universe to destruction

There's also actually a real God who is really a pretty swell dude who just wants to go home but the bad God computer doesn't wanna let him

Also, there's this kinda evil woman who's the original mother of every human on the planet except for me and she's kinda also my soulmate but not quite and she can hijack the body of any female human on the planet at any time only because she's literally written into all of our genetic code

Who also used that skill to take over my mother and subject me to brutal torture experiments


I made an android that's kind of Mary Magdalene and my boyfriend made her kill him and was brought back as an antagonist who emotionally abused me before revealing his identity and claiming he DID IT ALL FOR ME

I also have a daughter made of millions of tiny robots who's not really my daughter because she was made by me in a previous life at a time where evil body-jacking mom was president and no one could have kids. I can also make her grow up for some reason


People are literally changing into salt by touching space ghosts

[Fynn]

A giant pink chipmunk comes to your rescue and gets crucified for it

[Squall Leonhart Loire]

Xeno would be my favorite series of all time if only Xenoblade Chronicles X and II never happened.

[Fynn]

X was good and 2 hasn't happened yet

[Fynn]

There's also a race of people with wings on their heads who'll turn into dinosaurs if they don't breed with humans hard enough

[sharkythesharkdogg]

https://lparchive.org/Xenogears-(by-The-Dark-Id)/Citan/6-soylentgreen45.jpg

http://www.jackhumphrey.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/hartman.png

[Squall Leonhart Loire]

X was good and 2 hasn't happened yet
X seems like a MMO to me. I don't want them to go that route. And II has an unappealing art style.

[Pumpkin]

Dude came in to contact with a higher existence, couldn't handle it, made 669 designer children and tried to kill God

[Vyk]

I'm just glad the first Chronicles happened and Xenogears. Some of the primest jrpg experiences I've ever had

[Fynn]

Guy makes clone of his dead daughter and leaves the code to hack into God or something inside her

[Pumpkin]

Dude who was crushing on said dead guy's daughter develops feelings for the artificially created clone while also being an adult stuck in a teenager's body

[Formalhaut]

I really want to play Xenoblade Chronicles but I'm not able to. Don't have a fancy latest model 3DS and Nintendo Wii copies are like, super-expensive.

[Fynn]

And his brother once cut his head off in front of him and went crazy because he couldn't do the same

[Pumpkin]

I really want to play Xenoblade Chronicles but I'm not able to. Don't have a fancy latest model 3DS and Nintendo Wii copies are like, super-expensive.

They are, yeah. We got ours for like $60 used.

Bet you want to play more now after reading these!

[Fynn]

hint hint play Xenogears first it'll be cheaper and the game is awesome don't listen to the haters

[Pumpkin]

Maybe Fynn will lend you his Xeno games!

Man this thread really makes me realize just HOW weird this series is. I mean, I knew it was odd, but breaking it down like this really goes to show how crazy plot points can actually still make good stories if done correctly

[Fynn]

I mean a lot of stories can be broken down like that but the execution is what really matters

[Squall Leonhart Loire]

I am trying to find a fresh black label Xenogears but most are like $100-300. My old copy got lost back in America.

[Fynn]

But it's available on the US PSN store so you can get it that way

[Formalhaut]

Yeah, this series sounds so strange.

[Squall Leonhart Loire]

But it's available on the US PSN store so you can get it that way
I know but I really want to own a copy since it's my favorite game and I am a collector. I may even try to get that collector's edition of it(and one of Final Fantasy VIII).


Yeah, this series sounds so strange.
That's why I love it so much. Xenogears > Xenosaga Episode III > Xenosaga Episode I > Xenosaga Episode II > Xenoblade > Xenoblade Chronicles X

[Fynn]

Yeah, this series sounds so strange.

It all makes sense in context

Honestly, if it sounds weird it's because these games are so dense and ambitious in terms of story. So much research has find into the various symbols and icons and other elements represented that it's all actually really well done and not in the least gratuitous

[Squall Leonhart Loire]

Yeah, this series sounds so strange.

It all makes sense in context

Honestly, if it sounds weird it's because these games are so dense and ambitious in terms of story. So much research has find into the various symbols and icons and other elements represented that it's all actually really well done and not in the least gratuitous
Extremely Ambitious. I wish Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest were the same way.

[Fynn]

play xenogears formy

[Squall Leonhart Loire]

play xenogears formy
And read Perfect Works with it.

[Pumpkin]

The Big Bad is actually trying to STOP the destruction of the universe and some 22 year-old engineer has the key to the magical universe resetting tool

[Fynn]

Guy gets friendzoned so bad and then the girl dies so he says God is dead, dyes his hair blond, and decides to just turn people into spare parts of God

[Formalhaut]

But isn't Xenoblade Chronicles the more accessible game?

[Squall Leonhart Loire]

But isn't Xenoblade Chronicles the more accessible game?It was popular among JRPG fans but the Wii was just a casual console that millions of non-gamers even owned. The game also wasn't advertised very well. That's why the copies must be so expensive.

[Fynn]

But isn't Xenoblade Chronicles the more accessible game?

Doesn't matter. Xenogears is a PS1 era RPG - you've played that period, you'll do fine

[Formalhaut]

I'll think about it. I've got so many games to play that are coming out in the next month.

[Pumpkin]

Xenogears is a tough, grindy game, Formy. No one Fynn would blame you if you just watched an LP, but I wouldn't

Don't forget Xenosaga though, those are my faves

[Squall Leonhart Loire]

Xenogears is a tough, grindy game, Formy. No one Fynn would blame you if you just watched an LP, but I wouldn't

Don't forget Xenosaga though, those are my favesMany seem to hate XS, especially II.

[Fynn]

It's not grindy - you've played the Personas and SMTIV, it's not that kind of climb. It has some clunkiness in its jumping mechanics and gear battles can get tough what with managing fuel and everything, but it's worth it and things get considerably easier much later when you can finally get access to gear healing. I wouldn't be mad at anyone, though! I just think it's much better to experience this game for yourself rather than watch it. You get a more visceral experience that way

[Pumpkin]

I found it grindier than the Persona games I've played but I haven't played SMT

[Fynn]

The reason I think it's less grindy is because it's more of an organic world ala pre-X FFs instead of having to trudge through long dungeons

[Pumpkin]

That is true but I found myself having to spend more time grinding

But again, just personal perspective

[Vyk]

I don't recall ever having to grind... Though I did explore a lot, but I think my levels were pretty much always where they needed to be. Other than some encounters where you get one shot, and the encounter in the sewers where I died a lot, I think the game was only ever difficult. I know Pumpkin likes easier games so it would require some grinding to make it easier. But I never felt like I was under-leveled. Just that I had to rethink how I was approaching the hard fights on the rare occasions that I died frequently.

[sharkythesharkdogg]

Xenogears is a tough, grindy game, Formy. No one Fynn and Sharky would blame you if you just watched an LP, but I wouldn't

Don't forget Xenosaga though, those are my faves

Fixed.

I think what makes it grindy are the difficulty spikes with certain bosses. You'll be humming along thinking you're fine and them bam.

Still, you should play it Formy. It's cheap on the PSN store, and it has the best music of any Xeno game.

[Fynn]

Idk, it has its moments (Omen or the Ship of Regret and Sleep) but it also has some ear-tearingly awful tracks. It's easily the least consistent of Mitsuda's soundtracks, as I feel Chrono Trigger, Radical Dreamers, Chrono Cross and Xenosaga I all had soundtracks that were either much better overall, or just didn't have such stand-out bad tracks that made me wanna puke

Also. Xenoblade has the best OST overall, while Xenosaga III has the best battle themes because Yoko Kajiura is a goddess of music

[Pumpkin]

Saga 3 has the best OST

[Formalhaut]

So how many sagas are there, exactly?

[Fynn]

Xenosaga has three episodes.

But aside from that, they're all completely separate stories. Though XC2 might actually be a sequel to XC...

[Formalhaut]

So is the order you're suggesting to play Fynn is Xenosaga 1 > Xenosaga 2 > Xenosaga 3 > Xenoblade Chronicles?

Also, I've heard Xenoblade X is pretty awful. Is it?

[Fynn]

It's not awful. It's different. You have a player-created avatar that silent and the world is much more open with more focus on side content and the openness of it all than the story. It's still great but the only thing that really bothers me about it is the tiny font that does not gel well with my astigmatism.

It'll be the most cohesive if you go Xenogears > Xenosaga (1, 2 and 3 in that order - these are all direct sequels that were meant to be one game) > Xenoblade Chronicles > Xenoblade Chronicles X. But that order really is irrelevant, but it is a good idea to start with Xenogears since it might be hard to come back to an older game with antiquated mechanics after playing the newer ones. Also, you can see how certain ideas evolved.

[Formalhaut]

But doesn't it fall foul of 'open-world hollowness' that can plague that type of game?

[Fynn]

Idk, haven't beaten it because I don't have access to it much, but it fits that when you're remnants of the human race on a hostile alien planet, most of the stuff you encounter is hostile monsters.


Most people take issue with the fact that the story isn't as involved as it is in most of Takahashi's games, and I can kinda see it, but it's still a really good game when you go in just expecting a new game and not something that the same as XC but bigger

[Pumpkin]

I haven't played XC2 but my faves in order are:

Xenosaga 3
Xenosaga 1
Xenoblade
Xenogears
Xenosaga 2

They're all good games, but Xenosaga had a large impact on me. It really got me in to psychology and philosophy which has undoubtedly shaped my world view in some ways.

Really these games have epic stories, which I think is their greatest strength.

[Fynn]

OH, definitely. We make fun of how ridiculous it all sounds out of context, but they're easily some of the best stories in gaming, period

[Pumpkin]

Conjoined twins separate and one of them develops an unhealthy obsession with his brother and the artificially created humans made in the image of the girl he had a crush on, finds out he can't die, goes insane, and may or may not end up as an albino chihuahua at the end of the game

[Formalhaut]

I mean, the shoe fits, because I love Persona and their take on Jungian psychology. Games that delve into psychology are interesting, no doubt about that.

[Fynn]

It also goes balls-deep into Gnosticism and stuff which is super fascinating

[Pumpkin]

Heavy themes in Xeno series that you will learn stuff about:
-Nietzchean philosophy
-Gnosticism/Abrahamic religions
-Jungian psychology
-Freudian psychology
-Collectivism
-Fear
-Adlerian psychology
-Xenophobia and racism

[Squall Leonhart Loire]

I had a friend who got pissed at me just because I said I wanted FF to be deeper like the Xeno games.

[Fynn]

Heavy themes in Xeno series that you will learn stuff about:
-Nietzchean philosophy
-Gnosticism/Abrahamic religions
-Jungian psychology
-Freudian psychology
-Collectivism
-Fear
-Adlerian psychology
-Xenophobia and racism

Also, get ready got a story that literally spans ten thousand years

[sharkythesharkdogg]

Interesting thoughts on the sound tracks. From the ones I've heard, I easily put Xenogears at the top, with the Chrono series next, followed by the other offerings.

Just opinions, but Xenogears to be seemed to contain much more heart and emotion. It did a great job of capturing feelings and places.

[Vyk]

I feel the same. Xenogears may indeed have some blah tracks, but it has a couple dozen really good ones, and a handful of extremely good ones. I feel a lot more invested with the music of Xenogears. Though I do agree Chrono Trigger is probably a lot more consistently good. But the stellar ones from Xenogears still speak to me. Something about that whole game as an experience speaks to me for some reason