Finished playing Xenogears (1998, SquareSoft, PlayStation) on 06/13/2017.
Hours: 115
Well versed in both the martial- and fine-arts, Fei Fong Wong is a young man who has lost his memory of everything before he was taken in by the peaceful village of Lahan. On his way back from the mountains one night, where his wise friend, Citan lives with his family, Fei watches as giant, humanoid battle-machines called Gears turn Lahan into their battleground. When one of the machines' pilot falls in battle, Fei decides to take control of that Gear in hopes of fighting the other ones off the village. But as he watches his friends and neighbors die, something in Fei's mind triggers and the Gear malfunctions decimating the village in the process. Without a home and shunned by the few survivors, Fei is advised by Citan to leave the village with his new Gear in search of answers.
Playing Xenogears has been the most intriguing experience I've ever had as a gamer and I feel like my usual, short "Finished Review" would not be enough for this game. Soooo, without further ado... it's story time...
It all began with my wife's obsession with her first contact with the Xeno franchise - Xenoblade Chronicles. Then came Xenoblade Chronicles X. She really enjoyed both and would sometimes tease me to get into them. Eventually she mentioned Xenogears and how she should give it a try because of all the great reviews it had received.
Then, one day, at a small anime con in NJ, there it was. For $30. I took it without hesitation. At first I didn't plan on playing it. It was just a gift for my wife. I didn't want to get into another game franchise, I already have too many games backlogged as it is. But months passed and she had not touched it. When I finished FFVII I had decided to just get a small taste of Xenogears. Only a few months later would I have found how ironic that decision had been considering the game I had just finished playing. And how naive I had been, thinking I wouldn't get hooked.
A few weeks later I had found myself on eBay spending money I don't have on the Xenosaga trilogy. I had peeked over the Xeno well and it had sucked me right in without mercy. I knew nothing about Xenogears (or anything really about the franchise) when I watched the words "You shall be as gods" repeating itself on the screen in front of me. But there I was, enjoying every minute of it.
I found the combat system to be very unique and interesting. The soundtrack was very enjoyable and the characters were believable and entertaining. The anime scenes were nice. It was interesting to find out Production I.G. was behind it. Although the English voice acting left something to be desired.
Anyways, the concept of 2D sprite characters on a 3D world had also grabbed my attention. I mean, it's nothing I hadn't seen before as Final Fantasy Tactics had done just that, although I have to give props to Xenogears for the amount of frames their sprites have in comparison. But it was different for sure. However, I was forgetting the fact that Xenogears was doing exactly the opposite of what Final Fantasy VII had done in terms of character models and backgrounds, and honestly I think Cloud and company would've looked pretty cool as sprites instead, at least in overworld mode. Not sure how weird the transition to 3D models in fights and cutscenes would've been. Either way I just wish the sprites in Xenogears had been a bit more detailed so as not to look so jagged on camera zoom-ins, for example.
But I was enjoying Xenogears as I played along, in fact I was even thinking how a remake of the game would be amazing! And so I pressed on with Disc 1. The plot thickened, and became more complex... but the pacing had gradually slowed. I didn't think much of it at first. But the more I progressed the more apparent it became, to the point that playing the game became a bit of a chore. I was 80 hours in and still on the first disc. I began to wonder what Disc 2 contained. 80 hours more? Or maybe just 10? And the soundtrack... it seemed lacking now. No, more like it was becoming repetitive.
Then, as those of you who have read many reviews on the game before, or even just played the whole thing already know, came the mess that is Disc 2. Suddenly the game had almost lost what makes it a game. Fei sat on a chair as a cross-shaped pendant swung back and forth on the screen, rotating on itself. There, I climbed through walls of text as the story was narrated to me by the characters I had once controlled through menacing caves and towns bustling with life.
What was happening? I thought to myself.
What was I witnessing? I had never experienced such a gap in production value in a video game before.
For me, going through this game for the first time without knowing a single thing about it, I was dumbfounded.
What had happened to the game? I had to know. This needed to be researched. But not until I finished it. And when I did finish it I was left with a turmoil of mixed emotions I couldn't sort through. I felt frustrated and very confused. I didn't want to review this game without knowing better. I knew it wouldn't be fair.
And so the next day the research had begun. That's when I came across a man of my age who had put every single thing I was feeling about the game into words. And I felt saved. Dan had played the game a year or so prior to me also for the first time, and as he played he sort of chronicled his experience in three discussion videos before he made a review video. I'll link the videos here:
Xenogears Discussion Part 1
Xenogears Discussion Part 2 (a bit longer)
Xenogears Discussion Part 3 (very long/optional)
Xenogears - Retrospective Review and Analysis
8/10 - Xenogears is an unfinished project that certainly deserved more support from Squaresoft and better management from its director. But I understand how hard it is to take on such a big project on your own, specially when you're so attached to something that is basically your child. So I have to keep all that in mind when giving Xenogears my final rating. That said... I refuse to die until I play a faithful Xenogears remake that will give the story the proper managing and direction it deserved. I also want to play the original game again. I feel like the experience will be drastically different the second time around, so that's something I'll be looking forward to.
WEEKS LATER: Hahahah! The lasting effects of Xenogears. I had started listening to the soundtrack more and more as the days passed. It's so good. I've especially grown fond of a track called "June Mermaid". I've listened to the Myth album as well. And the more I keep listening the more the game keeps calling me back. I will play it again without a doubt. And the experience will be so different from the first time, it's probably going to feel like a different game. Why? Because I'll know what happened. Past, present and future. Real and fictional.
