Xenogears 15th Anniversary

[Forsaken Lover]

So this is a bit late but I didn't have access to the internet for a while. Also I'm appalled no one else made this thread.

It has been fifteen years since Xenogears' North American release and I think it's time we reflect upon it.



Xenogears is a game you have to love in spite of its many, many flaws. Can your love for Fei and Elly's characters outweigh the fact most of the cast is forgotten and useless? Can your love for the larger storyline outweigh the terrible dungeons? Can your love for the music make you deal with Disk 2?

Even then I know people who think Elly was a horrible sexist piece of crap and Disk 2 wasn't all that bad. I am of the second opinion because a lot of the most intriguing Plot happens on the second disk. And so I can forgive the Narration Chair.

And even Disk 2 Haters gotta love this.


That's "Flight" playing during the transformation and it could easily be the best track in the game. But I'll get back to music in a second.

Xenogears is a game I love. I love it more than I love other technically "better" games. Take Final Fantasy IX for example.There's no doubt in my mind that, pound for pound, it was much better put together. Hell, maybe it was even written better.

But you know which game I spent $40 on when i got money the beginning of the month? Which game I have replayed about three times in the past couple years? Xenogears. I haven't touched FFIX in nigh on a decade.

Oh sure, I used to love it. I'd defend it to my dying breath. And teh game is still very good. But....it doesn't keep my attention or affection. As well put together as it was, what it was put together from has lost its effect on me. Xenogears has not. Xenogears might be a mess, full of characters who drop into a void never to be heard from again, it might have a ridiculous inability to maintain a tone (think of the Old Butler who tried to save Bart and co. with his Flying Robot then the propeller broke and he had to hop away from all of Shakhan's gunman while they just kinda stared.... And then remember there's a dungeon where we learn about how people are processed food) and it could possibly have the worst dungeons in video game history.

But the story? The ideas and themes in it? Fei and Elly's romance? I'll plow through all of the bad just to get to that good. What Xenogears has is something special and so I will always consider it one of the best JRPGs ever.

Now....enough of that. Here Listen to this smurfing amazing ballad.


And always remember, Chu Chu died for your sins.

[Bolivar]

I salute this game as one of the most ambitious projects ever, some of the best music I've ever heard and some of the most emotional moments I have ever experienced in a game. And that's having first played the game 12 or so years after it released and the novelty of it was long removed from the experience.

No one criticizes this game more than me, I could talk about its problems for days, but I'm thankful that there are people out there like Takahashi, Mitsuda, and Soraya Saga, people crazy enough to think they can make games like this and get away with it, crazy enough just to try even if they didn't quite get there.

Xenogears' highs solidify why no genre can do what a Japanese RPG can.

[edczxcvbnm]

I love Xenogears...but those dungeons were either trout or worse. One of the dungeons was really big (or at least it felt that way) and when presented with this nightmare I decided to do one thing and hope for the best. I went up and right only. I made it to the exit and was a happy camper for bypassing most of that trout.

I think some of the ideas in the story were pretty bad as well or at least needed to be heavily refined. The whole soylent green thing is the one that made me cringe. It was so lazy and transparent but it doesn't detract from the brilliant parts of the game.

One thing I really like was the mech battle system. It game the creators a way to control your level progression so that the fights could be challenging and that you couldn't make them overly easy by just grinding away.

In the end, some great, some good, some bad and some >.>

[NeoCracker]

No one criticizes this game more than me

...Not so sure about that one.

[comma]

If you liked Xenogears, make sure you get the Perfect Works translation somehow. It's great. Willing to share if anyone needs it.

[theundeadhero]

The first time I played through it I was a bored stoner kid and it blew me away.
The second time I was a reasonable adult and it was just very meh through the whole game.
Honestly, I just don't think it's that great. It will be several more years before I decide to play it again.

[Mirage]

It didn't really strike me as very great either.

[Fynn]

I love the game.

But I hate "Flight". Really, the music in this game is either genius or terrible. There's gems like "The Befinning and the End" or "Omen", and then we get trout like the Nisan theme. Dear God, that one made me want to tear off my ears.

[Ayen]

I only ever played the demo that came out, never got around to playing the full game. But if the demo is any indication then wow.

Should've bought that thing...

[The Captain]

The game to me is a near-miss. It had all the tools and parts of a masterpiece but as the story goes, the budget ran out and they had to basically race to end the game which gave us that insanely uneven Disc 2.

Still, the ambition on display was wonderful and I will gladly play near-misses that aim so high versus other games that are more polished but have less interesting things to say or try.

Take care all.

[Pumpkin]

I read the entire game script because the story interests me. The characters are pretty good. But I've never been able to play very far. The gameplay just... doesn't keep my attention. I plan to play the whole thing this year. We will see how that pans out.

People think Elly is a horrible sexist piece of crap?

[black orb]

>>> I liked the game but, Disc 2 ruined it for me..