xenogears doesn't quite seem like a fantasy plot because the characters in xenogears talk and act alot more realistically than in say the final fantasy games. But it is not necessarily dealing with things that are taking place in our own present time either.
So what would you consider xenogears as being. A fantasy plot or a realistic plot.
Sci-fi.
Quote:
Sci-fi.
A wrong forum plot.
Sci-fi is a form of Fantasy fools.
Definition of Science Fiction - http://dictionary.reference.com/sear...ence%20fiction
Definition of Fiction - http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=fiction
Definition of Fantasy - http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=fantasy
What the hell is wrong with RPG players to not know that Sci-Fi is a form of fantasy? I swear to God that know one knows...well except this thread maker. I commend you!
So by saying it is a Sci-fi plot you have unknowingly called it a Fantasy plot.
Are you asking if something like Xenogears is realistic? Not really, but then again, it does not take place on Earth.
What are you talking about? They talk more or less the same way.Quote:
Originally Posted by darkchrono
You're mean.Quote:
Originally Posted by edczxcvbnm
You don't think I know that? However, fantasy and science fiction are two different subgroups and should be categorized thusly to avoid confusion.
Not the -Abel-, the Solarians. They talk a lot differently than the -Lambs-, possibly because they take too much -Drive- and their -Minds- are -Toasted-.Quote:
Originally Posted by DJzen
Plus the Abel are better educated than the Lambs.
when I said that the characters talk and act much more realistically in xenogears I meant that they kind of deal with much more realistic issues (and respond to those issues much more realistically) and interact with eachother much more realistically than most characters in most rpg's (specifically final fantasy games) interact with eachother and respond to their environment.
No they are not. Fantasy is not a sub group. Sci-Fi is though. Sci-fi is a sub group of Fantasy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Behold the Void
Dictionary.com is a bunch of hacks anyway.
EDIT: Xeno is different than most fantasy games, but still fantasy.
Give me a better free dictionary site and I will use it. Also why are they a bunch of hacks.
I'm just screwing around. Definitions for things like these are all relative to me anyway. One person's fantasy is not necessarily another's.
You are correct that it is all relative but we also need a standard that is universally recognized. We do we draw the line :crying2:
Main Entry: So·man
Pronunciation: 'sO-m&n
Function: noun
: a poisonous gas with potent anticholinesterase activity created for use in chemical warfare
I certainly hope you do NOT have a somantic bull!
Considering that Xenogears includes giant robots, nanomachine colonies, and demi-human bunny girls I would lean toward Fantasy. ;)
But seriously, even within a Fantasy genre, there are stylistic choices in character interactions. Tolkien characters don't necessarily interact the same way that C.S. Lewis characters do.
When I bite into a game of Xenogears I get the sensation that, WHOOOSH! I flying around in giant robots over vast fields, fighting for my life, and struggling with inner demons. YEE-HAA!
Except for the demon bunny girls :) that sound like science fiction to me.Quote:
Considering that Xenogears includes giant robots, nanomachine colonies, and demi-human bunny girls I would lean toward Fantasy.
xenogears is science fiction. I consider anything fantasy that 1. does not contain robots, 2. does not have cloning or genetics crap, and 3. does not have super cool dungeons with those elevator things. so basically anything that has one or more of those as a major theme within the game is not considered fantasy. final fantasy 7 is not a fantasy.
sci fi is almost always fantasy.
Well I guess fantasy could encompass science fiction, but to be honest xenogears an undesputable science fiction! how can it possibly be just a fantasy when it fits into such a better and more specific sub category? Well? For one thing Xenogears has robots, nano machines, lots of scientific ideas concerning energy, and even some psychological mumbo jumbo crap.
Your right. It is science fiction but that is not what this thread was asking. It was asking if it was fantasy or realstic.
Giant mech robots from past civilizations? A spaceship that crashed on our planet 10000 years ago and spawned human life and intelligence as we know it? An engine that violates every single law of physics? Let me think...
The only realistic part of Xenogears is nanotechnology. Everything nanotech does in that game; we are on the verge of being able to accomplish (with the potential exception of Emeralda - that might take a while).
Fantasy is a broad catagory,
But I am fairly certian xenogears would be put in a particular genre I have read before. This genre is called Science Fantasy, more or less a mix of straight Sci-Fi and straight Fantasy. So magic AND robots, which xenogear has.
Some things that the game has in it are plausable, but others are not, which once again fits the science fantasy genre. Anyways I am droning, and if you doubt me of the existence of the science fantasy genre, take a look at what Chris Wooding's early copies(don't know if they are still labeled the same) of his Broken Sky Series, namely I remember the first one being classified as such.
So to answer the question directly, it is niether, it is a mix of the two, and I think it is a fairly even mix that could be argued either way, Although I would say it has more science in it then fantasy(the oposite of The Broken Sky Series)
I at first called it a realistic game because of what the characters deal with. They deal with much more personal and real problems than most rpg's deal with. And interact with eachother in a much more personal and real way then most other rpg's do as well. That is what I was basing my realistic thoughts off of. Off of the characters moreso than all the giant robots flying around in it.
Well, then Xenogears has an unusual degree of depth and complexity to the character interactions. That is a good thing. :)
Darkchrono, what might help is if you provide an example of an RPG that has what you consider a 'fantasy' style of character interaction.
Although I consider several other RPGs to be equal in terms of depth and understandable characters, such as FFVII and FFT.
Hey, it doesn't matter if it's sci-fi or fantasy. Whatever it is, it's a damn good game.
....
But to expand a bit more...I'm an avid book-reader. But only mystery/crime and fantasy. FANTASY. I absolutely loathe science fiction novels. There is a huge difference between the two. It is, in its own way, fantasy, but it branches off into something that I deem unreadable. But not, necessarily, unplayable. Xenogears is science fiction. If, because sci-fi relates to fantasy, it is also fantasy, so be it. It can't be a little bit of both? I agree with ShunNakamura.
Final Fantasy 7, and 8 also seem to lean more towards the sci-fi direction, while Tactics seems to take more to the fantasy side. In terms of setting, and plot, maybe, not character interaction. I think xenogears seems more realistic because it doesn't have the Final Fantasy logo on it. It's much deeper, and takes more chances. It's a given that all the FF games will be released here as well as Japan. That game almost didn't get over here because it was so controversial. In the character interaction...way...it is a lot more realistic....blah.*shrug*
:D
I can't argue about that.
I agree with the fact that it is an excellent game, and I am also glad to meet another avid book reader.
I myself prefer fantasy books over sci-fi but I read just about anything, probably my favorite sci-fi author is Orson Scott Card, and he also writes fantasy.
As another example of the difference between sci-fi and fantasy, I have several freinds who wouldn't touch fantasy with a 8 foot long pole, but they love science fiction. So while they may appear similar to some people there is definately something different about them, aye?
For those of you who argue that sci-fi is a subgroup of fantasy, and while I know many dictionaries classify it as such, sci-fi is truely a subgroup of fiction not fantasy. Now it can sometimes be in subgroups of fantasy(due to content) but not all science fiction are.
Also I believe what the original post was asking was really this, ( Is Xenogears a fantasy plot or more of a realistic fiction plot). Fiction by comparison of definitions is the same thing as fantasy for the most part. Therefor realistic fiction could be read as realistic fantasy thus making me feel that Xenogears falls more in that realistic fantasy or science fantasy subgroup then anywhere else.
As for the it doesn't matter point... well technically I guess it doesn't but many of us nitty-pickers love to take things apart(boy o boy is that ever true for me) so we like these discussions.
ok, here is an example of a fantasy style of character interaction.
In ff7 when Aeris and Cloud meet it basically doesn't go much further than the lines of girl meets heroic boy, girl likes heroic boy, girl and heroic boy go off to fight evil together.
But for instance in xenogears when Fei and Elly meet there is much more of a realistic feeling to what the problems the two people might face in real life. Girl and Boy meet, girl and boy do not hit it off right away, girl and boy's interaction with eachother is very affected by what is going on in their lives at the time. Both go through the growing pains of getting to know eachother.