[Late to the Party] Xenogears!

[Cthulhu's Advocate]

This story begins several months ago. I was in a Gamestop, and saw this game, apparently rather well liked. I had Xenosaga 1, but hadn't played it yet. I purchased Xenogears at a rather hefty price tag($35!). No, I didn't start playing it right away.

A few months later a friend borrowed Xenosaga from me. He said it sucked so I offered to let him borrow its precursor. I played Xenosaga a little while after that, which was good, but slooooooowwww. Anyway, he said that my Xenogears disk was busted, and it crashed during the first mech battle, just when it was getting real good. A couple weeks ago, after replaying Final Fantasy VII(which I first played less than a year ago, a testament to its quality in my eyes) with at the end, every ultimate weapon, every limit break, every summon, all the WEAPONs dead, and Cloud at level 82, I decided to see for myself if the disk was broken. I played the game, started to love it, an lo and behold, my friend was right.

So I ordered another from Amazon for $20. And now I begin to play Xenogears, for real. SO LAY OFF THE SPOILERS! Alas, though, I've had vague things spoiled for me. Apparently Fei, the main character, is in some capacity Grahf, the villain. But I have no idea about the context, the hows and whys, or even how it's possible in any way, so the twist is mostly intact. Also some biological superweapon Deus, is apparently involved in the plot.

So on with my impressions!

Pregame Thoughts:
*Fei is a martial artist instead of a swordsman! Kick-ass! And his full name, Fei Fong Wong is likely a reference to kung-fu doctor, and Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hong.
*Citan Uzuki, huh? Wonder if KOS-MOS will show up too.
*A pro wrestler?! Awesome!
*Cloud plugs this game in Final Fantasy VII.
*What an awesome manual cover.

Now to the game!

*Cool anime intro! And the theological stuff is already popping up! "I am the Alpha and the Omega."
*Hee hee, you can see that chicks ass. Sweet.
*Centuries long wars really suck.
*But once you add mecha in, things get awesome!
*No beating around the bush, I guess. The town's already on fire.
*But first we'll see how.
*And of course, Fei is painting fire.
*Amnesia!
*Timothy doesn't want to get married, eh? The obvious allusions to long hidden love begin!
*Dan is one ugly mofo.
*Bearcows?
*Dan wants me to kidnap his sister. And he says she's well-endowed. Creepy.
*Eww, that farmer put manure in my potions. Ah, well, I'll still drink 'em.
*Some drunk guy gives me a mermaid's tear.
*A Stamina Drink of Courage and Love for their wedding night? Giggidy! Sorry I'm saving that for our hot adulterous love affair anyway.
*What the hell?! You don't have any Stamina Drinks! Potions with cool names, but no Stamina Drinks!
*Off to the beginners house! And is that....
*It is! Lucca! And she smugly offers to give me a tutorial on something I already know how to use. But I'll oblige, for Lucca.
*And Lucca takes my money. Beautiful.

And that's where I stopped. Let's hope it works this time.

[Spectrum]

Oh lord. When the game starts picking up, look forward to many sleepless nights as you keep playing to find out what comes next.

I'll say the following:
There are a few jumping puzzles. Most of them aren't too bad, except for the Tower of Babel, which makes the baby Jesus cry.

The final disc is a bit of a let-down because they ran out of money/time and had to cut corners.
Pregame Thoughts:
*Fei is a martial artist instead of a swordsman! Kick-ass! And his full name, Fei Fong Wong is likely a reference to kung-fu doctor, and Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hong.
*Citan Uzuki, huh? Wonder if KOS-MOS will show up too.
*A pro wrestler?! Awesome!
*Cloud plugs this game in Final Fantasy VII.
*What an awesome manual cover.
Citan is awesome, but I can say no more about quite *how* awesome he is without spoiling tons and tons and tons of things.

Practically everyone can agree that Bart, while well meaning, sucks.

Almost no one will agree with me that Billy is way, way overrated.

The pro wrestler, Rico, does his job well enough when you get him, but you'll unfortunately find that he lacks versatility and his Elemental attacks suck balls. And he's slow as hell.

Nothing good comes from Chu Chu. NOTHING.

[Voidnaut]

I like Bart. Enough that I inserted an adaptation of him into my Exalted game. Fear the Red Scorpion's Lash!

-Voidnaut

[UberGnome]

Xenogears is one of the best games I've ever played, and I've played quite a few. I'm not going to say much on it though, as I'll leave that up to you. As Spectrum said though, while the third disc is still very good, it's a bit of a let down after two amazing precursors. Funding and time was cut for the Final Fantasy series, so they had to shave a few things off.

Great game though, hope you enjoy it. Let us know what you think.

[Q99]

Bart rules. He's just sometimes... Bart. Which says it all. :D

My irrational Billy hatred is a running joke with a friend of mine.

Alas, though, I've had vague things spoiled for me. Apparently Fei, the main character, is in some capacity Grahf, the villain. But I have no idea about the context, the hows and whys, or even how it's possible in any way, so the twist is mostly intact.

Well... no, not really, you haven't been spoiled.


Pregame Thoughts:
*Fei is a martial artist instead of a swordsman! Kick-ass! And his full name, Fei Fong Wong is likely a reference to kung-fu doctor, and Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hong.

Yea, Fei rules. There's a lot of name-drops in the game, from subtle, to blatantly obvious (and not always central to the plot).

Anyway, Xenogears is my *favorite* RPG of all time. You have a treat ahead of you.

[SPrintF]

Xenogears is excellent because it gleefully showcases a collection of mecha and other Giant Robots, and offers insane scenes like this:

KID
Hey, have you met the Captain yet? He is sooo cool! I wanna grow up to be just like him.

[Kid runs a couple steps and shoots something.]

KID
I am!

[Scene cut to behind the kid as he shoots again.]

KID
A man!

[Scene cut to in front of the kid as a horn honks.]

KID
of the sea...... Hey wait? Oops.

[The kid pauses, then jumps.]

KID
It's over here. I still need more practice.

This made no sense at all until we met the Captain. Then it made perfect sense. And you knew, just knew, that the Captain and Bart would be soul mates.

[Cthulhu's Advocate]

Okay, I'm not gonna keep up detailed updates like the beginning, but I'm posting my thoughts here.

Observation:

Fei is strangely reminiscent of Sephiroth. He's nuts, ends up destroying a town(That shocked the hell out of me! He even killed his possible love interest!), and his psycho alter ego even has long bangs! Of course he has Cloud's identity issues. Of course I doubt these similarities are intentional; Fei seems like a distortion of certain character tropes, really. The Insane Village Destroyer and Amnesiac Hero being among them. Likewise Sephiroth is essentially an evil version of Terra. I could go into how Turanga Leela is rather similar to Terra, but not now.

Seriously this game is great. I have a thing for screwed up protagonists, I guess. The wierd hallucinations and dreams Fei have are just so well done.

[Q99]

Oh yea, this is so the game for you. If you like figuring out people's minds and motivations, some of the villains are great.

[Mostlyjoe]

Chu Chu will die for your sins. :D

[Dawgstar]

If Chu Chu just died that'd be swell...

I'm replaying this game again myself, and I still like it. This is a half-assed attempt on my part to play it, then Xenosaga 1 & 2 and be 'ready' for 3.

Sadly, the truth has been spoken on Rico. I wanted to use him, I really did, since he hits the hardest (currently, I guess), to say nothing of his Gear. But he's... just... so... slow.

When I'm done, I think I want to find a good story guide for it.

[bv728]

If Chu Chu just died that'd be swell...

I'm replaying this game again myself, and I still like it. This is a half-assed attempt on my part to play it, then Xenosaga 1 & 2 and be 'ready' for 3.

Sadly, the truth has been spoken on Rico. I wanted to use him, I really did, since he hits the hardest (currently, I guess), to say nothing of his Gear. But he's... just... so... slow.

When I'm done, I think I want to find a good story guide for it.

Keep in mind that, by the orginal time line, Xenogears is, effectively Xenosaga Episode 5 or 6 (given what we've seen, it looks like it would wind up being 6).

[Cthulhu's Advocate]

Incidently, my copy came with 2 CDs, which isn't a mistake, as the case says it has 2 CDs, and my earlier copy, had 2 CDs. I have the Greatest Hits version, which was made rather recently judging by the mention of Kingdom Hearts in the manual's enclosed poll.

And good God, would Xenogears and Chrono Trigger appearances rock in KH3. Lavos could fit rather well in the cosmology, too.

[Spectrum]

Regarding Chu Chu:
It's unfortunate that she becomes just so goddamn useful when you get her, as she's practically the only way to easily heal a mech. Okay, so she's fairly useless outside (and Fei is strong outside is mech late game), but still. Come to think of it, she reminds me somewhat of Legend of Mana's Pearl when you get access to her. Useless as anything in a normal battle, scion of asskickery as Lady BlackPearl in a boss battle.

All this, only makes me hate her more, just as I hate Quina for being FFIX's most useful (and annoying) character. Fscking Auto Life.

[Topher]

Incidently, my copy came with 2 CDs, which isn't a mistake, as the case says it has 2 CDs, and my earlier copy, had 2 CDs. I have the Greatest Hits version, which was made rather recently judging by the mention of Kingdom Hearts in the manual's enclosed poll.


It's always been two CDs. It was originally planned to be 3, but the aforementioned budget/time crunch happened, and Disc 2 and Disc 3 were compressed together, which meant that at least two dungeons and two Gears were cut from the game (Rico and Emeralda were supposed to get upgraded Gears), and much of the story that was meant to be played through was instead shown as cut-scene narration.

Topher

[Cthulhu's Advocate]

It's always been two CDs. It was originally planned to be 3, but the aforementioned budget/time crunch happened, and Disc 2 and Disc 3 were compressed together, which meant that at least two dungeons and two Gears were cut from the game (Rico and Emeralda were supposed to get upgraded Gears), and much of the story that was meant to be played through was instead shown as cut-scene narration.

Topher

Ah. Hopefully the end will still be more coherent than Final Fantasy VIII. But hey, I'm a big Chrono Trigger fanboy, so I know all about loving a somewhat less than complete game(due to Nintendo of America. Grr!).

Very stupid unrelated question about FF7:
Is the Sephiroth you encounter in Disc One a mind controlled clone, or a mind-controlled part of Jenova? I believed the former when I first played the game, but the latter was in Ultimania, and is widely considered canon. At the moment I lean towards the latter, but I'm just wondering.

Oh, and right now I'm just out of the forest. I may play later tonight. I'm also in the middle of Treasures of the Rudras, as well.

[Q99]

Very stupid unrelated question about FF7:
Is the Sephiroth you encounter in Disc One a mind controlled clone, or a mind-controlled part of Jenova? I believed the former when I first played the game, but the latter was in Ultimania, and is widely considered canon. At the moment I lean towards the latter, but I'm just wondering.



I personally felt it was deliberately left unclear.

[Neall Raemonn Price]

Ah. Hopefully the end will still be more coherent than Final Fantasy VIII.

I keep saying that FF8 sucks, but nobody will listen to me. Thankfully, Xenogears has a good ending, even if you're rushed there.

Very stupid unrelated question about FF7:
Is the Sephiroth you encounter in Disc One a mind controlled clone, or a mind-controlled part of Jenova? I believed the former when I first played the game, but the latter was in Ultimania, and is widely considered canon. At the moment I lean towards the latter, but I'm just wondering.

Which Sephiroth on which part of Disc 1?

[Kurotowa]

Very stupid unrelated question about FF7:
Is the Sephiroth you encounter in Disc One a mind controlled clone, or a mind-controlled part of Jenova? I believed the former when I first played the game, but the latter was in Ultimania, and is widely considered canon. At the moment I lean towards the latter, but I'm just wondering.

Part of Jenova. Sephiroth cuts off Jenova's head and falls into the lifestream after being mortally wounded. Jenova's body is taken to Hojo's lab at SHINRA HQ. When you're first breaking in you see the body in a tank, the mutated thing. Sephiroth exerts his will through the Lifestream and transform's Jenova's body into a new Sephiroth body, which breaks out of the tank and goes on a killing spree. That's why when you break out of the cells you find the tank burst open from the inside and a bloody trail leading away from it. The Sephiroth you chase all through the game is Sephiroth's new body, and he drops pieces off to form the Jenova monsters you fight. His original body is at the Northern Crater, the one with no lower body. At the end of the game, the final boss is his original body and the multi-part boss before that is the new body.

This all fits in with Advent Children, where the bad guys are trying to collect enough Jenova cells to form yet another new Sephiroth body.

[Cthulhu's Advocate]

Let me now explain how I first played the game. My original copy crashed during Lahan's destruction, as a Gear simply didn't take its turn. I put the new copy in, and lo and behold, it works! And Alice is dead! I turned the game off then, later starting from the beginning.

And we begin again when Fei has left the forest, but not before he accidently destroys Lahan. He discovers in the forest that Elly provoked the conflict to begin with, but he shoulders the blame. Also, free mecha! But it's broke...

*And we head to Dazil to fix it.
*Dazil has awesome music.
*Big Joe! He 'reappears' in Xenosaga as the surprisingly easy Great Joe.
*We cannot find parts in Dazil, however so Citan decides to loot a battlefield. Fei gets all anxious and follows.
*Yay, new Deathblow and a few levels!
*I steal me a motorcycle.
*And get attacked by Gears. I hoped Aveh wasn't trying kill me before, but now...
*I kick their asses in my kung-fu Gear!
*And a man in black calls me a bloodthirsty nutjob. I'll bet this is...
*Hang on a sec, newly introduced villain, an evil part of my subconciousness is calling me a murderer. He was probably referring to Lahan. Maybe.
*Now that that's out of the way, enter Grahf, the seeker of power. He knows stuff about me, and wants to team up with me to kill "Mother god." I'll bet that was the blue-haired lady.
*Grahf has awesome music, too.
*And he sent troops after Elly, so I could go nuts, and unleash my power. What an asshole.:mad: I'll bet he was the one who brought me to the elder, too.
*He wraps it up by telling me he killed my father, and his death-scream was beautiful. He's like a cross between Darth Vader and Kefka. Then he sics a sandworm on me.
*Which I beat, but my Gear's busted. Again.
*I am captured, and have a dream involving Grahf, my Dad, and some red-haired guy. Mr. Fong Hong says Grahf will "never take him," but he seems to be referring to the red-head. Hmm.
*Some stuff starts to happen, but I opt to save and continue later.

[Q99]

*Which I beat, but my Gear's busted. Again.

Yea, it wasn't well fixed before. Weltall (Kung Fu gear) starts out kinda buggy, but is a seriously sweet gear (it does kung fu!).

On Grahf: I love love love his music. "Grahf Emperor of Darkness" (the name of his theme) beats out even the Imperial March for me... and it's similarity to Vader also shows.

He's more like "what Vader wants to be when he grows up".

[Cthulhu's Advocate]

Thoughts and observations so far(I'm in a cave with Bart.):

*Fei has similar poses to Zell. Good thing he's not quite as annoying.
*I love the battle system! It's just so cool.
*Yasunori Mitsuda's music really shines here. He isn't just a good game music composer; he's a good composer in general.
*Story and characters are fantastic so far.
*Kung Fu Mecha!
*The voice acting in the cutscenes are a bit meh. Except for Grahf's. He has good voice acting. At least it's better than the stuff in Star Ocean 2.

So far this game is hitting on all cylinders. I've heard complaints about the end, but I'll just see for myself.

[taleswapper]

Based on this thread, I purchased Xenogears from Amazon for 20 bucks. It should arrive next week. Keep up the good work.

[Cthulhu's Advocate]

We pick this tale up again at the vaguely named "Operation Aveh." We have to bust "Margie" out of Bledavik.(Bart and Margie, where have I heard that before?)

*But first I beat giant robots to kingdom come with my barehands, yo!
*As we enter the city a cutscene takes place! Commander Ramsus of the Keebl- Um, Gebler meets with Fu Manchu, and a character reused in Xenosaga. Apparently there's a party and a kung fu tournament. Ramsus goes to interrogate Margie...
*Who is a ditzy teenager who talks about cake. Wonderful.
*After much wasted money at the festival, and 30 pounds later, I go to meet a nun of the Nisan Sect.
*We gather information for a while, and come up with a plan. Citan changes the name of the mission to the more specific, but uncreative, "Operation Rescue Margie."
*Fei chills for a while. Some crazy guy(not as crazy as him, of course) rants at him, and I have an awkward moment with someone from Lahan.
*Has any video game character ever refused to take part in a tournament? The Dragon Slaying Boxer hasn't.
*And Dan is in the waiting area, wanting to kill me for "murdering his sister." Look you ugly little hellbeast, it's all very easy to explain. I didn't kill Alice, an evil repressed personality inside my subconsiousness killed her when he awoke because a hot redhead spy from space(who's way hotter than the late Alice, by the way) landed in Lahan. The entire situation was orchestrated by Goth King Arthur(seriously, he looks like the final Knights of the Round guy) who wants me to help him in his quest to kill God. Got it? Whatever, it's my turn anyway.
*Bart starts to sneak into the castle. As he's swimming up a waterfall...
*Fei fights Big Joe! Who's great! And dynamic! And does 3 points of damage! Are you really going to fight me, Joe? What are you, dense? Are you retarded or something? Don't you know who I am? I'm the god damn Slayer of God!(Not that I could be damned, what with the aforementioned God-slaying.)
*But his fans are a bitch. How did he get that many?!
*Time to go all Xenogears Solid. But instead of "sneaking," I whip people in the face.
*And Fei fights Dan! Trust me, any rearrangements I make to your face can only improve it.
*Wait! What the hell!?
*How do you shot chi?
*Meanwhile, Bart rescues Margie. She takes something disgustingly cute with her. I'm guessing it's Chu-Chu. When I first saw that thing in the manual, I projectile vomited rainbows and marshmallows.
*Ramsus tries to stop me! He's pretty tough, but Fei shows up and demonstrates a five section combo is tougher. And apparently he knew that red haired guy in one of my dreams, and I have the same kung fu as him.
*And that hot redhead spy helps me escape. But she won't come with me.
*Back on the ship Margie laments her dead relatives.
*And leaves the Kawaii in front of the bridge. Nice going.

And that's where I stop. I'm also playing Golden Sun and Star Ocean at the moment, so I'm not playing Xenogears all the time.

[Prism Pawpaw]

When I first saw that thing in the manual, I projectile vomited rainbows and marshmallows.

Take a laugh point for that.

[Lisa Nadazdy]

*And Fei fights Dan! Trust me, any rearrangements I make to your face can only improve it.
*Wait! What the hell!?
*How do you shot chi?


Just a suggestion- if you decide to try the fight versus Dan again, try not fighting him. Maintain a defensive stance and keep yourself healed when you can. Eventually Dan will give up in frustration, and it will alter a couple of minor aspects of the game later.

[Cthulhu's Advocate]

I'm condensing a few (short) sessions into one post here. Bear with me.

*I guess I have to go comfort a ditzy teenage bishop.
*Oh crap...
*I'm not feeling very good...
*^_^ O_o T_T =^.^= O.o 'O'
*Oh God..... the Kawaii...
*I'm a bit better now.
*Anyway, Chu-Chu is introduced.
*She promptly declares her love for Fei.
*Fei has bad luck when it comes to stuff of romantic nature. His first love interest is disintegrated, the second is a spec ops mecha pilot who evidently has issues, and the third is a Care Bear with Down's Syndrome.
*But hey, I'm one of the few people who liked Selphie, so Chu-Chu doesn't really bother me.
*And some scene happens with Margie too, I guess.
*Now, to Nisan!
*Citan is discussing stuff with Sigurd. Space stuff.
*Bart interrupts.
*Sorry-dorry? DUDE, NOT COOL!
*Anyway, we dock.
*Sleeping on the job, eh!? Royal punishment shall be conveyed via stomping on your head!
*Maison flips out.
*Bart, we are all aware of Maison's advanced age. There is no need to convey it in every single sentence.
*Margie shows us around the cathedral.
*"Estuans interius, Ira vehementi..."
*She shows us into a room. Uh-oh!
*That symbol is Fei's psycho cross!
*And I painted that lady, too. Maybe.
*Sigurd and Citan talk about Solaris. Be it ever so humble, there's no place like evil sky empires.
*And now we plan!
*No wonder Bart isn't very bright. His ancestors were cousins!
*And according to this scene he doesn't really want to be king.
*Whoo! Miang sorta naked!
*That kung fu guy goes bugfuck in Kahran's dream! And why is Grahf there?
*Speak of the devil, he's here!
*That kung fu guy is him, maybe?
*In a different plot, Fei goes about his mission.
*And meets Elly, and some other guys.
*I beat the other guys.
*But Elly shoots up! After a flashback, of course...
*And they fight!
*Am I a dork for finding the scene between them emotional?

Here is where I stop.

[Cthulhu's Advocate]

Alfred Pennyworth saves the day in his Helicopter Crab Mecha. Sublime.

[Cthulhu's Advocate]

Just a suggestion- if you decide to try the fight versus Dan again, try not fighting him. Maintain a defensive stance and keep yourself healed when you can. Eventually Dan will give up in frustration, and it will alter a couple of minor aspects of the game later.

I figured that. It's just that he wasn't giving up after quite a while, and he's a freakish little assgnome.

[Cthulhu's Advocate]

Heh. Been a while since I posted, I guess. I guess it's just wierd posting on RPG.net when it's been so long since you've actually played one, huh?

So I just finished disk one.

WHOA!

Incredible. So far this game is possibly better than Chrono Trigger and for me to say that....

I read the complaints on the second disk in another thread, I don't mind that much. I'm perfectly willing to "sit back and enjoy the ride" as it were so long as the story delivered is solid.

More thoughts later, perhaps.

Campaign ideas run through my head. I may elaborate on Open.

[Q99]

Oh yes, whoa indeed ^_^

And the second disk, while less game-y, is still really good plot-y (they didn't cut corners there). I look forward to reading your thoughts.

[Wizdoc]

I'd pay good money for a game that would be just a graphical update to Xenogears. Maybe expand the story stuff into a game on the second disc, but I'd be content with a shot-for-shot remake.

[NotMousse]

I don't recall if I got to the second disk and failed, or if I never quite got there, but WTF man, there was a bit where I had a ship and couldn't do jack all to save my life!

[Cthulhu's Advocate]

So I'm a bit into the second disk, searching for an Anima relic. Hmm. It does seem unfortunate that so much has been obviously cut for budgetary purposes, but at least I'm near the end, and the story continues well enough.

And what a story. So many twists, so much complexity! I find myself resetting after some scenes to rewatch and grok them. Such powerful narrative! And a very impressive cast(too bad not all of them are perfectly balanced. And I never use Chu-Chu.), that feel very alive. Every character is incredibly well developed, even NPC's like Jessie and Sigurd. And I sort of feel bad for poor Kahr.

Truly first rate so far, in spite of flaws presently manifesting.

[Cthulhu's Advocate]

And in honor of the brave Gebler troops:

Kahran: Prepare for trouble...
Miang: ...and make it double!
Kahran: To protect the world from devastation!
Miang: To unite all peoples within our nation!
Kahran: To denounce the evils of Fei Fong Wong!
Miang: To ressurect the mother god!
Kahran: Kahran!
Miang: Miang!
Kahran: Team Gebler blasts off at the speed of light!
Miang: Surrender now or prepare to fight!
Seraphita: Seraphita, that's right!

[Q99]

*Laughs* Seraphita sells it.

So I'm a bit into the second disk, searching for an Anima relic. Hmm. It does seem unfortunate that so much has been obviously cut for budgetary purposes, but at least I'm near the end, and the story continues well enough.

And what a story. So many twists, so much complexity! I find myself resetting after some scenes to rewatch and grok them. Such powerful narrative! And a very impressive cast(too bad not all of them are perfectly balanced. And I never use Chu-Chu.), that feel very alive. Every character is incredibly well developed, even NPC's like Jessie and Sigurd. And I sort of feel bad for poor Kahr.

Truly first rate so far, in spite of flaws presently manifesting.


On Chu-Chu; there is -one- fight where you'll probably want to use her eventually, simply for not needing fuel and having healing.

And even at the relics, I think you'll be impressed how much story you have left in front of you.

[Cthulhu's Advocate]

So, God just awoke, is pissed off, and is composed of the bodies of it's manifold 'children', and it turns out that all along, every character as far as I know(except the Eldridge's crew and passengers) isn't truly human, and poor Elly is now the center of the wrathful "God" in question.

Wow.