I want to see this thread!
http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread....the-Enix-forum!
There ya go.
As for this thread, I've beaten all except Blade.
A short history because I like to talk about myself:
Back when Episode 1 first came out here in the US, I was just becoming a JRPG fan. FFVII was already quite old by that time and while I had played 7, 8, 9 and 10 (all without very much success since I was even dumber when i was that young), VIi would be the one that I went back to and beat.
And I loved it to pieces. I started looking up my first ever fanfiction online and everything because I wanted to see continuations of the story, to read more about the characters I adored.
Around this time I also used my VCR to record Adult Swim for my Inuyasha fix. At least I think it was for IY this time... In any event, I had my VCR set to record something and during one of the commercial breaks it recorded, there was this commercial.
In retrospect it really isn't much but I was riding high on FFVII mania and maybe it was also my growing interest in Japanese fiction that lured me in as well. In any event, I saw this commercial, I heard that song, and I said "I gotta get that."
And I did. I loved Episode 1 then and i still love it now. I've replayed it several times. Interestingly, I know jack-all about its sidequests and many of its game features because it was just the story and characters that enthralled me. I never bothered with anything else.
So anyone who played Episode 1 back in the day (and enjoyed it) must know how I felt when I heard of the upcoming Episode II. EP1 left us with SO MANY QUESTIONS that I was dying for a sequel. I wanted to learn more about what U-TIC was up to and this Zohar thing and Miltia and all the other myriad mysteries that needed answers.
Episode 2 I was convinced would be Episode 1 + all the answers I craved.
What I got was something that was as unlike Episode 1 as possible. Different gameplay, different voice-actors, different graphics, different perspective, different music.... EVERYTHING WAS DIFFERENT!!! And in a really bad, bad way. Like, even people who don't enjoy Episode 1 recognize 2 was a crushing disappointment. Everything was inferior, there were no improvements at all on Episode 1.
It was sometime after Episode 2 that I went and got a copy of Xenogears from a local GameStop. I'll always remember it was 2005 when I first played XG because I joined a forum in that year named Final Fantasy Online. I used the username of "The Anti-Existence" as a nod to Xenogears. (I was big into pretentious titles back then. I was basically saying I was the Devil) I believe i got the game on the high recommendation of an online friend of mine who also convinced me to play Baten Kaitos. You should all go play that too, it's a great game.
I loved Xenogears. It was amazing and wonderful and at the time I didn't even really notice the crappy dungeons. Except Babel Tower...goddam you Babel Tower. Even to this day that dungeon makes my stomach seize up and I'm almost dread replaying the game just because of that level.
Anyway, after Episode 2's crushing my soul with its crappiness, I was still hopeful for Episode 3. What's more, i was active online by this time and posted regularly on a forum called RPGDreamers. It had a very good Xeno community and we were all hyped for Episode 3; not least because it was announced it would be the final game in the series. EP3 was one of like, 3 games I've pre-ordered in my life.
Episode 3 completely blew me away. Sure it was different from Episode 1 but not in the bad ways like Episode 2. They made sure to get Lia Sargent and Bridge Hoffman back so someone at Namco USA or whatever knew what they were doing. The game looked great and sounded great and it completely satisfied me. It tied together all the loose-ends and left me a very happy person.
In more recent years I've come to resent its comparative popularity. A lot of people say EP3 was "the only good Xenosaga game" and that's BS. Why even like XSIII if you didn't like XSI? I wouldn't have given a second thought to Episode III if Episode I hadn't so thoroughly captivated me. And it's not like XSIII had a great battle system...it was rather generic in fact. No, the story, the music, the presentation, the voice-acting and the characters - these are what made Episode 3 great and it was due to Episode 1 laying the foundations.
And then I played Xenoblade for five minutes and didn't care about it.
The End
Last edited by Forsaken Lover; 08-18-2014 at 04:38 PM.
What turned you off to Xenoblade so badly? I haven't beaten it, so I have no right or interest to push it on anyone, but I'm curious, especially since you seemed to enjoy their other games quite a bit (barring Ep2)
I'm really not sure why i didn't like it so much... It might have had more to do with IRL stuff at the time than the actual game. Money issues and the like ya know? So I just couldn't focus or care about a new video game.
It really didn't look or play or sound that bad or anything. It just didn't interest me much but it's been a while since I tried it and I can't even remember why exactly i stopped.
Totally understandable. I was actually dealing with the aftermath of a house fire when I got into it and I'm surprised the stress and situation didn't pull me away sooner. It was actually the moving back into my old home part a few months later that finally pulled me away from the game long enough to need to later restart it. And I still haven't played through, so I'll need to restart again here soon
Xenoblade is a bit less heavy handed in its plot than previous Xeno titles. As I mentioned in my earlier posts, it was the game where the director chose to focus on the game first and the story second so I understand how if you're playing only for story that Xenoblade is a slow burn. It does eventually become pretty... um "Xeno-y" about halfway through but the game's selling point was really its gameplay.
True beauty exists in things that last only for a moment.
Current Mood: And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe. Maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself. To hold on to these moments as they pass...
I played and beat Xenogears as well as the Xenosaga trilogy. I absolutely love those games. I want to play Xenoblade but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. It may be a while as well, with the price it's going for at the moment.
I've always wanted a copy of Xenosaga Freaks, the Japan only short story/mini game release.
I have played but not finished Xenogears and the first Xenosaga. One of these days I'll probably play them through to completion. I also want to play Xenoblade. Maybe when the remake comes out.
That wasn't trolling. It was legitimate criticism.One of the best EoFF threads was NeoCracker's let's play of Xenogears 2 or 3 years ago. Some of the finest internet trolling I've ever seen.
"Repent your sins through death!" - Ramirez - Skies of Arcadia
Ironically, at the moment, I own not a single Xeno title. At one point I owed every single one of them but I moved to Texas and sold some of them off and left the rest.
I needed a new copy of Episode 1 anyway. Mine sucked. I doubt I'll ever bother with a new copy of Episode 2 but I definitely need to get Gears, EP1 and EP3.
X2 isn't actually that bad the second time through. Still far inferior to the great first and third games, though. I would honestly consider killing a man for the 4th game.
Oddly enough, the only Xeno game I technically own right now is Xenogears. The only one of the entire set I don't' like.
And the only trolling in my xeno play through was the negative comparisons of Xeno in relation to FF XIII to poke at Wolf.
We all know Takahashi is no Toriyama. Lightning would bitcshalp Elly and tell her to stop being a sissy bitch.