Xenogears

Xenogears is probably one of the finest games I have ever played. I love RPGs with very in-depth plots, and this one certainly gives me a lot to sink my teeth into! There is a nice mix of drama, humor, and suspense in it that makes me unable to stop playing for more than a few hours. The characters are very well developed, and the battle system is perfect for me. While there are occasional holes in the plot, they really aren't big enough to make the game unenjoyable. The characters are nicely animated and the backgrounds are completely 3D. One feature in this game that is rare in RPGs is the ability to JUMP! I like that a lot.

While this game is not for everyone, and people who don't like do to a lot of reading in their video games would probably hate it, I strongly recommend it.

The opening of Xenogears is a lavish CGI sequence spliced with anime that begins with the famous biblical line: "I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." The cryptic events of the opening scenes (the tragedy of the Eldridge, and the emergence of the woman from the wreckage on the beach) lead into events that take place nearly 10,000 years later.

Following a lengthy exposition in text, the story leads to a small village on the border of the kingdom of Aveh and the Kislev Empire (the two warring nations) named Lahan. And the tale of Fei Fong Wong begins.

The general feeling at the outset of the game is one that is familiar in the realm of RPGs: Young man with amnesia involved somehow in the fate of the world. We've seen it a thousand times. However, the gods at Square turn the tables very early in the game, adding heart-wrenching tragedy to the carefree world Fei inhabits. Very soon, the once two dimensional plot gains a considerable amount of depth. Fei begins to doubt himself and his past as more and more becomes known to him about the truth... of everything.

This game literally has everything: Great villains (Grahf, Id, Ramsus, Miang), memorable characters (Wiseman, Zephyr), a barrage of the most complex plot twists (watch out once the attack against Vanderkaum begins) known in RPG land, and quite possibly the greatest love story a video game has to offer (Fei and Elly were meant to be, and finding out why is one of the most fascinating plot points in RPG history).

True to its tagline ("Stand tall and shake the heavens"), Xenogears delivers a storyline that raises questions about existence, God, and the relevance of religious doctrine. Name-dropping like "Fatima" and "the Magi", backed by inquisition style priests named the Ethos heighten the whole experience to a new, groundbreaking level.

Solidified by a simply sublime soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda, Xenogears is one of the best games of all time, and it's a shame that more people don't know that.

I'm not much for words, and not here to write a review, but I must say that Xenogears is one of the best games I ever got sucked into. Xenogears took my breath away, not to mention 72+ hours of pure gaming bliss. It had a few rough spots, nothing is perfect, but overall as far as story, battle system, graphics, and music and sound effects, I have to say Xenogears is one of the best games for the Sony PlayStation, if not one of the best games in known history.

It's hard to choose between this and Super Metroid as my personal favorite game of all time, but I'm probably leaning towards choosing this game because of its length and for it being one of the few games to actually make me think...

Anyway, this is a perfect game from every angle. The music, the characters, the battles, pretty much anything that you could find flaws in any other game is perfect in this game. The main selling point, of course, is the multi-layered and very convoluted storyline. Though obviously very indebted to Evangelion, the 70 hours or so of story in this game is full of plot twists and shocking revelations about humanity, existence, God, love, death, and everything else in between. Not your typical RPG fare by any stretch of the imagination.

Also, don't listen to people who say disc 2 sucks... there is more than enough gameplay in this game that disc 2 comes as somewhat of a relief after 50 or so hours of disc 1's constant battles.

Just a perfect game... what more can I say?

I have played many RPG's and seen many amazing games in my life, but this one is one of the crown jewels that Squaresoft has bestowed upon us. The gameplay is unique and the story is very new and compelling. The music is fantastic and the length of the game rivals most of the Final Fantasy games. Bravo Squaresoft...bring us more gems like these!