I remember hearing/reading about it and seeing it everywhere, but have never played it. It most definitely looks incredible that much is for sure.

That it is. Hell I didn't understand the story until my 3rd/4th playthrough. It is the definition of epic.

LOL! Doesn't it involve mechs of some sort? Or is that Xenosaga i'm thinking of?

Hey I remember Xenogears well!

Well...I remember the part where I wasn't able to get it for being a filthy European, but I still remember it for that!

Hey I remember Xenogears well!

Well...I remember the part where I wasn't able to get it for being a filthy European, but I still remember it for that!

xD! That really does suck. Like...I don't understand why you guys get the shaft so much. It...sucks. Sucks hardcore!

Xenogears is one of my guilty pleasures. I recall that the game was little more than a footnote in most jRPG fans' minds when controversy erupted over the print mags and the Internet. It was thought that Square would pass up localization because of the game's heavy use of Christian symbolism and the way it depicts God and the creation of mankind. Basically, compared to what we usually got that was pretty mature subject matter, at least to the typical fan. And I figure it's that extra bit of "we might not get this!" anxiety from the Square fanatics that brought more attention to the title and ultimately convinced Squaresoft to bring it over. I remember playing the demo that came with my copy of Parasite Eve and falling head over heels with the general setting, battle system, music... everything, really. And DAT CLIFFHANGER... game was a Day One purchase.

One Winged Angels. Latin Choir not included.

I finally got my copy, and proceeded to devour the game in long bursts. The game's plot was definitely unlike anything up until then... the game deliberately name-dropped without any sort of context, with events unfolding that only served to puzzle the viewer. But it was damn fun to try to figure out what the hell was going on. The game used 3D maps w/ 2D character sprites (like Grandia would later) and this helped to give the game a bit of a cinematic flair to its standard cutscene interactions, even if the 2D sprites were very low resolution, resulting in a bit of muddiness and lack of detail. The music, on the other hand, was GODLY. Themes of love, themes of betrayal and sadness, themes of battle and themes of triumph... Xenogears is considered one of Yasunori Mitsuda's great soundtracks. I would later find that a good chunk of the Chrono Trigger development team were working on Xenogears, which would explain the Lucca cameo in the game's first town.

Battles were turn-based, but with the inclusion of an AP meter that determined how many attacks you could inflict before your turn was over: a Weak strike used only 1 AP, while Strong and Fierce (where the damage dealt was higher, but accuracy takes a hit) used 2 and 3 AP respectively. You start the game with 3 AP per turn, up to a total of 7 AP allowing you to string together combos and engage each party member's "Deathblow" attacks by inputting specific combinations. Also a great departure from the norm was the inclusion of 'Gears', the mechs you and just about every important character in this game pilot. Battling in a Gear required you to watch your Fuel gauge, which depletes as you fight... but you can kick all kinds of ass and are required for a lot of the heavy hitters in the game. There was even a "Gear Battle" minigame that dropped the turn-based aspect and allowed you full 3D movement in a 1-on-1 battle against a variety of gears and monsters, in which winning awards you with Battle Points you can use to trade in for unique items, some that can't be bought anywhere else.

But how can I talk about what's awesome about Xenogears without discussing some of the flaws? There's the atrocious english dubbing (it's ... pretty bad, even by my standards), the script had all kinds of grammatical errors (and the script's pacing was terrible... the text was incredibly slow to display onscreen without any option to speed it up... the occasional monologue dragged on horribly) and a bit of censorship thrown in for good measure. The game, while playing as a typical overhead RPG, included some mild platforming. This made some dungeons like the totally vertical Babel Tower a nightmare to traverse: one misstep (and there will be) will send you plummeting back down to the tower entrance, all the while random encounters will rob your Gears of precious fuel and HP (and the only real way to heal Gears in this game is to expend a good chunk of Fuel to use one of the optional Charger units, at least until you get a certain someone on your team). And while the cast of party members includes plenty of eventual fan favorites, it also included the dreaded MASCOT CHARACTER:

"Nice to meet CHU."

There was also the much-publicized problem with the game's 2nd disc: it was rushed horribly. Square, in all their infinite wisdom, decided that they were going to need more people working on Final Fantasy VIII in order to make release day. Many of the internal devo teams were gouged for resources, including Team Xeno. In order to make their own deadline, several dungeons and explorable maps were excised from the game (Mass Driver facility, Soylent System). For the few that remained, the game would employ still screens and the game characters would narrate what was happening in-between the playable areas. As far as the plot was concerned, it remained engaging, but you can't help but feel that you're no longer playing a game but reading an interactive novel instead. I also recall a couple of times where you would be forced into a boss fight (or two!) without a chance to prepare your Gears. Two in particular (Original Deus, and the combo Ramsus/Miang fight) could be considered progress-breakers: there's a bit of randomness involved that could result in victory or game over. You could be doing everything right, and still lose because the enemy AI decided to break pattern and use its UNDEFENDABLE ULTRA DEATH MOVE twice-in-a-row or sooner than anticipated. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time on GameFAQs.

But when I finally traversed the last dungeon, beat the Big Bad and saw the game's ending... man, it was all worth it. A satifying conclusion, a damn fine ending song that made me well up with, of all things, EMOTION. And the promise that more Xeno games would be forthcoming, if the Episode V text at the very end was anything to go by.

'nuff said.

Unfortunately, it never came to pass. At least not in the way I would have wished for. You see, the Episode V text referred to how the game's story and backplot was crafted by Tetsuya Takahashi and his wife, Soraya Saga to be just one part of an all-encompassing work. Various "Episodes" would be produced in different media, such as manga, novels, an anime TV series. Something similar to what Namco Bandai achieved with the dot.hack franchise. Xenogears, though fifth in line, would be the first part released, withe later parts released subsequently, fleshing out the backstory only hinted at in the game. Sadly, despite incredible sales in both Japan and the U.S.,Square never went through with it. An artbook called "Xenogears Perfect Works" was released that sparsely detailed the over-arching plotline:

- Episode I is set 15,000 years before Ep. V (Xenogears) and dealt with space-faring humans who colonized a new planet and called it Neo-Jerusalem. An inter-planetary war breaks out, and it is in this age that the weapon called DEUS was created.

- Episode II begins 5,000 years later soon after the crash of the Eldridge. The original 'Fei', Abel, is featured here in his struggle to free the people from Emperor Cain.

- Episodes III and IV detail the Zeboim culture and the War with Solaris as briefly depicted in Episode V.

- Episode VI was also planned and was to be the final component of the saga, but it was never expressively detailed.

The book also included all kinds of behind-the-scenes info on Xenogears' development. Did you know Esmeralda and Maria Balthasar were originally intended to acquire Omnigears of their own? Yet another aspect that was forced to be cut from the game. But hot damn, despite knowing all that I still love how this game came out. I could only hope that some day the original team can reform and do a proper remake (many jumped ship from Square and formed Monolith Soft, their first project would be Xenosaga, another take on the same mythos... however that series also wasn't able to meet it's full potential due to company politics).

Another work that will never be finished.

^ Pretty much why its one of, if not my favorite game ever! High five PSX!

But you failed to go into WHY the story was so epic..... its just.... one of those things you have to play over and over again to understand it.... and yes Hyper, it has mechs. Giant, freaking mechs.

^ Pretty much why its one of, if not my favorite game ever! High five PSX!

But you failed to go into WHY the story was so epic..... its just.... one of those things you have to play over and over again to understand it.... and yes Hyper, it has mechs. Giant, freaking mechs.

Sold! 😛 But of course he won't tell why the story is so great. Spoilers don't make friends, silly. lol

Actually he spoiled some significant details but they don't make any sense at all unless you've played through the game 😛

they don't make any sense at all unless you've played through the game 😛

played through the game 😛

PLAY THE GAME

just as planned

they don't make any sense at all unless you've played through the game 😛

played through the game 😛

PLAY THE GAME

just as planned

lack of clever pic = psx fail

OMGTIMEPARADOX :O

I.Will.Obey.
o.o

xD!

yeah of course i remember xenogears... it came in small supplies, it was really hard to get but it was worth the trouble.
i still wish there was an anime with it's art style it was such a deep story  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj1Z3IF14qE  

every character was interesting and was explored deeply, and the love between Ellie and Fie is very touching. when it was released i remember a lot of magazines were talking about the taboos in it [ the bed scenes - the religion based stroy of adam and eve - skin showing] it was a shameless game and i'm proud of it.

and really, it was packed with animation, so that kept gamers happy.

what made this game a hit:

- lots of characters with original styles and perfect designs.. you never get bored with xenogears
- lots of evil characters
- depth and flawless storyline
- robots you can upgrade
- flying craft you can control and use it's cannon
- different cities each more better than the next, i love how much effeort was placed in each city, exploring each place is a thrill of it's own.
- the regular battle was just too cool, the characters were animated and you had to use a combonation to use a skill for example XXBO or something for thrust kick.
- being able to call for your robot during battles was cool.. btw the robots were like 20 feet high, so smashing monsters was cool.. although the ammo would run out.
- boss fights, they were too cool, you get more rush from playing xenogears than even final fantasy.
- music was perfect and there was a lot of sound track made for the game so you never get bored, nowadays games give me a headache from hearing the same music for hours.

i can't remember anymore reasons, but this is a game you'd want to play again. if you havent, i strongly suggest it. it shows game making talent at it's best.

btw anyone remember the joke with Billy?     

they don't make any sense at all unless you've played through the game 😛

played through the game 😛

PLAY THE GAME

THE GAME

 

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU

.... i just realized something all the rest of you on this thread are dudes so....   guess you guys blocked the Billy scene <pats the guy's heads>.

but man that was gold  the funniest scene in gaming history, well until metal gear solid 3 that is. 

You mean this?

Um, yeah... funny.

oh yeah that's the one! Psxphile you're the coolest man! i wanted to see it again thanks

ha ha yeah that is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay funny, 30,000Gil a night  
and when bart says "there's things you can get back once sold and things you just cant" that's the worst advice ever.

there's a reason Billy dresses like that! and this is why.

Wow. @ that cutscene.

Hey, it reminds me of Sonicknight for some reason. Remember that guy? He got so worked up over HSW's use of the word "whore". I someone threw in a parody of that scene at some point.

yeah of course i remember xenogears... it came in small supplies, it was really hard to get but it was worth the trouble.
i still wish there was an anime with it's art style it was such a deep story  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj1Z3IF14qE  

every character was interesting and was explored deeply, and the love between Ellie and Fie is very touching. when it was released i remember a lot of magazines were talking about the taboos in it [ the bed scenes - the religion based stroy of adam and eve - skin showing] it was a shameless game and i'm proud of it.

and really, it was packed with animation, so that kept gamers happy.

what made this game a hit:

- lots of characters with original styles and perfect designs.. you never get bored with xenogears
- lots of evil characters
- depth and flawless storyline
- robots you can upgrade
- flying craft you can control and use it's cannon
- different cities each more better than the next, i love how much effeort was placed in each city, exploring each place is a thrill of it's own.
- the regular battle was just too cool, the characters were animated and you had to use a combonation to use a skill for example XXBO or something for thrust kick.
- being able to call for your robot during battles was cool.. btw the robots were like 20 feet high, so smashing monsters was cool.. although the ammo would run out.
- boss fights, they were too cool, you get more rush from playing xenogears than even final fantasy.
- music was perfect and there was a lot of sound track made for the game so you never get bored, nowadays games give me a headache from hearing the same music for hours.

i can't remember anymore reasons, but this is a game you'd want to play again. if you havent, i strongly suggest it. it shows game making talent at it's best.

btw anyone remember the joke with Billy?     

I gotta comment on this. I can understand how you thought Fei + Elly was an Adam and Eve reference, as the game does feature many Christian-Judeau references but the main "religion" of the game is much closer to Gnosticism than anything else, at least from my glance. It also features some references to a notable philosopher who was an arduous critic of Christianity (To put it lightly :P). Just figured I'd let you know because the game really isn't Pro-Christian (I wouldn't call it anti-christian either. I say it really goes down the middle).

the adam and eve thing was mentioned in the cave remember? the old fossile guy was talking to them?
he said adam and eve so i got the idea stuck.

(Just figured I'd let you know because the game really isn't Pro-Christian (I wouldn't call it anti-christian either. I say it really goes down the middle).)

actually thanks, it's good to know what it was all about. there was so much text in that game.

http://whatdoesgodneedwithastarship.com/

Funny as hell. Full of spoilers, so I can only really recommend it to people who've played and beaten the game. But if you never plan on playing it... go nuts.

that's cool psx, but the last part should be the first.

what sold that game was how it was aimed for older gamers  
play it people, its a juicy game!

I see Xenogears has been added to North American PSN starting today. For those of you who want to play a quality PS1 rpg on your PS3/PSP, I highly recommend it.

The fact that this topic is still on the first page despite me leaving is huh wow

Well, I did bump it last week for the PSN release. o.o

I don't own a PS3 though

I still own the original copy though, and I haven't played this in forever. I should start up on a new game soon.