I remember stumbling across a copy of Xenogears quite by accident when I was in a local Gamestop with some friends I believe in 1999. We were all HYPED for Tony Hawk Pro Skater which was the hot new game as well as FFVIII and I bought Xenogears as an afterthought because it seemed interesting from the back cover, something about Shaking the Heavens or something like that piqued my interest. I probably didn't play it for a couple weeks as the other games were the ones my friend group were all into and we tended to play games as a group and compare notes in school. Ah, the good old pre-google days when someone would figure out a trick or new area, write it down and then tell everyone else the next day in class.

Finally, a few weeks go by and I popped Xenogears in. Boy, was I disoriented. The anime opening alone, which was one of my earliest exposures to the genre, I must have watched like 3 or 4 times before I actually started the game itself. It had an Alien meets Event Horizon vibe that just hooked me right away which is quite interesting since most of the first disc has very little of that going on.

The game started slow for me, especially since I didn't have a strategy guide at the time and limited resources existed online, so I think I probably spent at least 2 or 3 hours wandering around Lahan before I figured out where to go next. Then, once the big first fight happened, we were off and ready to go. The first disc of Xenoegears I still hold among my all-time favorite gaming experiences and it's one of the reasons why I still have my PS2 in working condition, on the off chance I ever want to experience any of it again.

As so many others have said, Disc 2 was such a shock and disappoint that I think I only beat the game once but I always held up a secret hope that maybe, MAYBE someday it would get a full re-master or re-make to complete the full story and not just the truncated version.

Several years later, I gave Xenosaga a shot but couldn't get into it. I think I have all three games somewhere but never got past the beginning of episode 2. The completely changed battle system was just too much of a headache to navigate and life got in the way.

I ended up playing Xenoblade during a long vacation and enjoyed it so thoroughly that I actually DID finish it, which is rare since sinking 100 hours into a game these days is tough. I think I've only done that twice in the last 10 years, for Witcher 3 and Persona 5 Royal. The music and ease of travel made the game fun, though yeah the side quests were a slog and the random item generator was THE WORST.

Overall, if I had to rate them in terms of games I've played:

Xenogears
Xenoblade 1
Xenosaga Ep1

Never finished or played the rest. I am certainly curious what they come up with next though I'll probably not be a day 1 or even year 1 player of it.

Take care all