To be honest it might have been a bad idea to save Xenogears for last. I started out with the Xenosaga trilogy, cause I really wanted to learn about KOS-MOS. Then afterwards due to the Summer of Sequels, I wanted to have the Xenoblade games on the Wheel, so I played through all of them. This all leads to now, where I finally got to the game that started everything off. I found myself really enjoying a lot of Xenogears, the story is probably my favorite part of the game, but even still I find there to be some general issues with the game, though not all are issues due to the game itself.
One thing that was immediate to notice in comparison to the later Xeno games was that Xenogears features Random Encounters. It being the only one of the games to feature it, it was somewhat jarring, though of course I wouldn’t be as surprised if I played it first. Though I do have one peeve when it comes to the random encounters though. In particular, there’s like an odd delay that occurs? The music cuts out, and the random encounter starts about a second or two after. But you’re still able to act in that small window of time, and you’re able to interact with objects like doors and chests, though the interaction only occurs after the random encounter. Often, I moved over to open a door to make progress in a dungeon, but even though I interacted with the door, a random encounter interrupted me. It’s not the biggest thing really, but it was just a minor annoyance that never went away.
When it comes to the Dungeons of Xenogears, my feelings generally fluctuate throughout the game. There are some pretty solid dungeons in the game, I honestly really like the Kisvet Sewers, and especially Zeboim. When it comes to the dungeons I like though, the random encounters yet again were a bit of a nuisance, but yet again that’s just me. Though further I got into the game, the more I decided that it was best to fight every random encounter. Full Health healing items were really cheap to buy, and even though they can only be used outside of battle, they were really helpful. I will say though, the dungeons I don’t like, I really don’t like. Particularly I found myself really hating the Tower of Babel and Anima Dungeon 2. For the former, the issue comes from the game’s platforming, and the enemies you find while in the dungeon. Xenogears’ platforming isn’t all that good, and neither is my depth perception, which for a dungeon like the Tower of Babel, is really bad. One missed jump and it’s highly likely you’re brought down to the start of the long platforming segment, and have to do it all over again. Not only that, but the enemies that you have to fight before you get on an elevator respawn if you go through a room transition, and there’s one in the middle of the platforming segment. Most of the enemies that spawn in the Tower of Babel cannot be fled from, which makes the dungeon drag on a lot longer than it feels it should. Overall I just found that dungeon frustrating. On the other hand, I found the puzzles in Anima Dungeon 2 really bad. One of the puzzles broke and I had to restart it, and the other puzzle was just really lackluster. Me going into details on these 2 aside, most of the dungeons in the game weren’t bad and were honestly fun to go through, but I really disliked these 2 in particular.
Combat in this game comes generally in 2 forms. I don’t know if the actual types of combat have names, but it’s easy for me to describe them as “Human” and “Gear”, depending on whether or not you’re riding in your gear. Overall, the combat of the game is really fun, though I think of the 2, I prefer the Human combat for the gameplay, but the Gear combat for the spectacle and presentation.
Human Combat is primarily focused on performing combos. The Triangle, Square, and X buttons all use differing moves of differing powers, and the stronger the move, the more AP it requires. From what I remember, you start out the game with 3 AP, but the further you progress in the game, the more AP you get. By the end of the game, my characters had 7 AP, and I’m under the assumption that that is the maximum. But the more AP you get, the longer your combo can become, and if you do certain combos, eventually you’ll be able to learn Deathblows. I wish there was a moment where it explains how deathblows are learned, though it might be a case of me just missing it. Deathblows are really fun to use, especially as later on the Deathblows you get can be tied to specific elements, which I find really fun. Though at the same time with all of this, actually learning every Deathblow became a hassle. I found myself grinding not to get levels, but to learn Deathblows, as they are integral in combat, both in Human, and Gear combat. It made me prioritize using characters where I have already grinded out their Deathblows, instead of using the ones who haven’t learned theirs, and for Human combat, I actively avoided characters who didn’t have Deathblows. Even though I’ve said all of this, when you don’t have to worry about grinding out Deathblows, they’re really fun to use, especially when they do massive damage.
I really like Gear Combat, though I do have some peeves with it, which is based around Fuel. In actual combat, I think Fuel is a really good mechanic. Every attack uses up an amount of fuel, and you can do certain actions, like healing or using specific attacks. It adds a form of strategy based upon the limited resource. On top of that, there’s an option you can do where you can activate a booster, which speeds up your gears, but costs fuels in order to do so. All of this My issue when it comes to Fuel occurs outside of battle though. I just wish there was a way to restore Fuel outside of battle easier, especially in later dungeons, and points in time where you have to fight multiple bosses in a row. I think the reason why certain bosses are much harder than they would otherwise be is because restoring fuel outside of battle is limited. The actual combat with Gears is pretty solid though. There’s not really combos like in Human combat, and most of the time you’ll only do one attack per turn. Though each attack you use raises your level, and depending on your level, you can use certain levels of Deathblows. Later on, you gain Infinity Level Deathblows, which are absolutely sick when you’re able to pull them off, but there’s a factor of luck for when they activate.
The Boss Fights are really fun, and are probably when the combat is at its best. That’s primarily due to them being noticeably longer than random encounters, so the groove of combat is really able to develop. I definitely think some bosses are noticeably harder than others. One boss very early into the game, Calamity, was really hard when I first ran into it, though that was at a point before I understood how Deathblows worked. Once I did, the fight was noticeably easier. A lot of the late game fights, primarily in disc 2 were noticeably difficult, though I never lost to them. They’re primarily difficult for the reasons I listed in the previous paragraph, back-to-back boss fights on top of limited fuel. But even then, the general presentation and fighting of bosses is really good.
Now after all of this, I finally can talk about the story of Xenogears, which while I have some conflicting feelings with it, I still think the story of Xenogears is amazing. Xenogears has a lot of themes and symbolism, and while I absolutely love it, I can acknowledge the fact that I don’t fully understand everything going on in the game. I really love the cast of Xenogears, though I wish there was a bit more time with them. Billy was one of my favorite characters in the game, though after his main arc, he takes a noticeable step back, not having as much relevance as other characters. I definitely think the character who was hit hardest with this was Emeralda, who seemingly barely got any spotlight even when she was an important character. Looking at the events of the story as well, I really like the game’s actual story, alongside the world of Xenogears. Though with that in mind, I find it unfortunate that Disc 2’s pacing was noticeably a lot faster than Disc 1’s. I’ll explain my thoughts on Disc 2 sometime later though. Most of Disc 2’s events are done through exposition, but the most important parts are the ones that are actually playable. Even still, they’re rather short segments. For general reference, Disc 1 took me about 45 hours, while Disc 2 took me only 10 hours.
Now, Disc 2 is an unfortunate thing to really examine, I feel. By that I mean that Xenogears’ Disc 2 was meant to be a lot more, but due to the meddling, budget and timing restrictions placed upon the team by Squaresoft, they had to minimize what Disc 2 was. From what I’ve heard, all of the exposition that was in Disc 2 was originally planned to be all playable segments, and I would’ve loved to actually play those. Though I want to say, knowing the reasons why Disc 2 is the way it is, I can’t bring myself to knock on the game too much for this. On top of that, I find there to be a bit of charm in the way they present the exposition in Disc 2, though again, the pacing takes a hit due to most of it being solely through exposition.
Even though I have some gripes with Xenogears, I really find myself mesmerized with the game as a whole. Its strengths are absolutely strength, and most of its flaws are excused to Squaresoft’s meddling. The story is amazing, and though I wish some of the main cast had more time to shine, when they do, they’re really great characters. It feels odd finally being done through the Xeno series. I started this whole thing back in February with Xenosaga Episode 1, because of how I spaced them out, it took ten months to finally play through them all. It feels somewhat odd finally being at the end of the road, but that just means I can find a new road to take.
One thing that was immediate to notice in comparison to the later Xeno games was that Xenogears features Random Encounters. It being the only one of the games to feature it, it was somewhat jarring, though of course I wouldn’t be as surprised if I played it first. Though I do have one peeve when it comes to the random encounters though. In particular, there’s like an odd delay that occurs? The music cuts out, and the random encounter starts about a second or two after. But you’re still able to act in that small window of time, and you’re able to interact with objects like doors and chests, though the interaction only occurs after the random encounter. Often, I moved over to open a door to make progress in a dungeon, but even though I interacted with the door, a random encounter interrupted me. It’s not the biggest thing really, but it was just a minor annoyance that never went away.
When it comes to the Dungeons of Xenogears, my feelings generally fluctuate throughout the game. There are some pretty solid dungeons in the game, I honestly really like the Kisvet Sewers, and especially Zeboim. When it comes to the dungeons I like though, the random encounters yet again were a bit of a nuisance, but yet again that’s just me. Though further I got into the game, the more I decided that it was best to fight every random encounter. Full Health healing items were really cheap to buy, and even though they can only be used outside of battle, they were really helpful. I will say though, the dungeons I don’t like, I really don’t like. Particularly I found myself really hating the Tower of Babel and Anima Dungeon 2. For the former, the issue comes from the game’s platforming, and the enemies you find while in the dungeon. Xenogears’ platforming isn’t all that good, and neither is my depth perception, which for a dungeon like the Tower of Babel, is really bad. One missed jump and it’s highly likely you’re brought down to the start of the long platforming segment, and have to do it all over again. Not only that, but the enemies that you have to fight before you get on an elevator respawn if you go through a room transition, and there’s one in the middle of the platforming segment. Most of the enemies that spawn in the Tower of Babel cannot be fled from, which makes the dungeon drag on a lot longer than it feels it should. Overall I just found that dungeon frustrating. On the other hand, I found the puzzles in Anima Dungeon 2 really bad. One of the puzzles broke and I had to restart it, and the other puzzle was just really lackluster. Me going into details on these 2 aside, most of the dungeons in the game weren’t bad and were honestly fun to go through, but I really disliked these 2 in particular.
Combat in this game comes generally in 2 forms. I don’t know if the actual types of combat have names, but it’s easy for me to describe them as “Human” and “Gear”, depending on whether or not you’re riding in your gear. Overall, the combat of the game is really fun, though I think of the 2, I prefer the Human combat for the gameplay, but the Gear combat for the spectacle and presentation.
Human Combat is primarily focused on performing combos. The Triangle, Square, and X buttons all use differing moves of differing powers, and the stronger the move, the more AP it requires. From what I remember, you start out the game with 3 AP, but the further you progress in the game, the more AP you get. By the end of the game, my characters had 7 AP, and I’m under the assumption that that is the maximum. But the more AP you get, the longer your combo can become, and if you do certain combos, eventually you’ll be able to learn Deathblows. I wish there was a moment where it explains how deathblows are learned, though it might be a case of me just missing it. Deathblows are really fun to use, especially as later on the Deathblows you get can be tied to specific elements, which I find really fun. Though at the same time with all of this, actually learning every Deathblow became a hassle. I found myself grinding not to get levels, but to learn Deathblows, as they are integral in combat, both in Human, and Gear combat. It made me prioritize using characters where I have already grinded out their Deathblows, instead of using the ones who haven’t learned theirs, and for Human combat, I actively avoided characters who didn’t have Deathblows. Even though I’ve said all of this, when you don’t have to worry about grinding out Deathblows, they’re really fun to use, especially when they do massive damage.
I really like Gear Combat, though I do have some peeves with it, which is based around Fuel. In actual combat, I think Fuel is a really good mechanic. Every attack uses up an amount of fuel, and you can do certain actions, like healing or using specific attacks. It adds a form of strategy based upon the limited resource. On top of that, there’s an option you can do where you can activate a booster, which speeds up your gears, but costs fuels in order to do so. All of this My issue when it comes to Fuel occurs outside of battle though. I just wish there was a way to restore Fuel outside of battle easier, especially in later dungeons, and points in time where you have to fight multiple bosses in a row. I think the reason why certain bosses are much harder than they would otherwise be is because restoring fuel outside of battle is limited. The actual combat with Gears is pretty solid though. There’s not really combos like in Human combat, and most of the time you’ll only do one attack per turn. Though each attack you use raises your level, and depending on your level, you can use certain levels of Deathblows. Later on, you gain Infinity Level Deathblows, which are absolutely sick when you’re able to pull them off, but there’s a factor of luck for when they activate.
The Boss Fights are really fun, and are probably when the combat is at its best. That’s primarily due to them being noticeably longer than random encounters, so the groove of combat is really able to develop. I definitely think some bosses are noticeably harder than others. One boss very early into the game, Calamity, was really hard when I first ran into it, though that was at a point before I understood how Deathblows worked. Once I did, the fight was noticeably easier. A lot of the late game fights, primarily in disc 2 were noticeably difficult, though I never lost to them. They’re primarily difficult for the reasons I listed in the previous paragraph, back-to-back boss fights on top of limited fuel. But even then, the general presentation and fighting of bosses is really good.
Now after all of this, I finally can talk about the story of Xenogears, which while I have some conflicting feelings with it, I still think the story of Xenogears is amazing. Xenogears has a lot of themes and symbolism, and while I absolutely love it, I can acknowledge the fact that I don’t fully understand everything going on in the game. I really love the cast of Xenogears, though I wish there was a bit more time with them. Billy was one of my favorite characters in the game, though after his main arc, he takes a noticeable step back, not having as much relevance as other characters. I definitely think the character who was hit hardest with this was Emeralda, who seemingly barely got any spotlight even when she was an important character. Looking at the events of the story as well, I really like the game’s actual story, alongside the world of Xenogears. Though with that in mind, I find it unfortunate that Disc 2’s pacing was noticeably a lot faster than Disc 1’s. I’ll explain my thoughts on Disc 2 sometime later though. Most of Disc 2’s events are done through exposition, but the most important parts are the ones that are actually playable. Even still, they’re rather short segments. For general reference, Disc 1 took me about 45 hours, while Disc 2 took me only 10 hours.
Now, Disc 2 is an unfortunate thing to really examine, I feel. By that I mean that Xenogears’ Disc 2 was meant to be a lot more, but due to the meddling, budget and timing restrictions placed upon the team by Squaresoft, they had to minimize what Disc 2 was. From what I’ve heard, all of the exposition that was in Disc 2 was originally planned to be all playable segments, and I would’ve loved to actually play those. Though I want to say, knowing the reasons why Disc 2 is the way it is, I can’t bring myself to knock on the game too much for this. On top of that, I find there to be a bit of charm in the way they present the exposition in Disc 2, though again, the pacing takes a hit due to most of it being solely through exposition.
Even though I have some gripes with Xenogears, I really find myself mesmerized with the game as a whole. Its strengths are absolutely strength, and most of its flaws are excused to Squaresoft’s meddling. The story is amazing, and though I wish some of the main cast had more time to shine, when they do, they’re really great characters. It feels odd finally being done through the Xeno series. I started this whole thing back in February with Xenosaga Episode 1, because of how I spaced them out, it took ten months to finally play through them all. It feels somewhat odd finally being at the end of the road, but that just means I can find a new road to take.