Going into Xenogears, I knew 3 things. The first was that this game was supposed to be Final Fantasy VII, a game I played just a few months ago and became an instant favorite. The second is that due to a hard locked release schedule, the team didn't have enough time to properly "finish" Xenogears. The third is that it's basically just Evangelion.

I also felt it was fair to assume that this was gonna be a favorite. What I didn't assume was that this game would challenge the way I think about my relationships. At the age of 22, I didn't really think I would be able to have my worldview shifted by stories anymore. That was a thing for my teenage years. I get now this was a stupid thing to think.

I struggle to think about what I can even say about a classic like this that's unique or fresh. It's an old beloved RPG, everything that can be said about it has. So in order to talk about it I have to get vulnerable. Hi. My name is Mads. I have BPD.

The way being borderline has impacted my relationships is almost all internal. I seek validation, I want to belong, to have an impact on the people I love. Nothing I or they can do is able to convince me of that. I feel incomplete. Consequently, I feel my relationships are hollow because of me. I'm not able to get as intimate as I'd want to. I'm not able to ask for a shoulder to lean on. It feels selfish. It feels undeserved.

There's a scene about a third into this game that hammered home just how much this game made me feel seen. Without going into specifics, it involves 2 of the main cast members talking about how incomplete they feel. One describes their acts of kindness as a selfish act because they don't feel they belong, and all they hope to get out of that kindness is a place to be. The other validates that it's ok to act kindly out of selfishness. Eventually, in trying to fill yourself up, you'll complete yourself with the lives of those around you.

Another scene in disc 2, which was a flashback regarding the history of one of the main characters and explaining why they are the way they are, filled me with an intense urge to call my abusive mom and say "I'm sorry." I can't explain that. I have nothing to be sorry for. It's not my fault she treats me the way she does. I don't know what else to do besides talk about it, because god knows I have no interest in following through on that.

As far as this game not being finished goes, well, I don't think it's fair to call it that. It's a front to back story. It covers all the beats it needs to in order to function. Sure it's not fully realized, but I think it's okay to not be whole.

I wrote an April fools review for this where I just linked to a YouTube video relating to Kagurabachi (read that instead of this tbh). I think it’s fair I write an actual review on this. For starters what a 4/10 game this is. First problem is the world design and how it doesn’t really make you want to explore. In most cases your gonna to find what a rare enemy or a landmark that gives out exp which you can get while grinding. I’m no master at this game I will never argue that but it feels to me that at a certain point being underleved can make fights next to impossible. Doesn’t help that the main ways to get exp are through the fights, exportation, and side quests. All of them are not great with fights you get minimal amount of exp where you have to take on hoards of enemies to gain a single level. Exploration can also grant exp but it’s usually not too much unless it’s a hidden area. On the topic of exploration I just have to say why is climbing so slow and traversal in general makes it a bitch to get anywhere and it’s not like in God of War 2018 where Kratos and Arteus have a conversation whenever they are in the boat to distract you from the nothing gameplay going on. That leaves the side quest and holy pad most of them are fetch quests and add nothing. Sometimes you get an interesting reward like Monado armor but I never got it and I was fine. Alright so most of your exp is combat but that has to be good right uuuuuuuuh. I think near the start the combat is alright when you team is pretty limited on what you can do and you have to plan accordingly (even though you can’t control your teammates). However by late game every encounter just was topple locking the enemies gaining energy for a chain attack and doing it again. Which just stems from being punished for being in encounters for too long. It makes Sharla the healer awful since she is made to be low dps but keep you alive for longer but fighting longer just sucks. So in conclusion Light heal> Sharla. The only saving grace for combat is visions which show you when a big attack is coming and how to deal with it. A decent way to make people not spam chain attacks all the time since they are overpowered. Quick thing on chain attacks why is the chance of it ending random that makes no sense. Visuals: they look fine nothing groundbreaking but fine for what they are. Music: it’s fine gets the job done I’m not a huge music guy and it should be set dressing and not a major part of why you enjoy the game. Alright plot some yall call this peak? Let’s start with the obvious why do they always make it obvious there is something going to happen. Easy example is Dickson where he has his ever iconic line “I feel bad for manipulating those kids” and it’s supposed to be played for a big twist in the third act. This is like that one line in the DORA THE EXPLORER movie where the adult character kept saying he was a bad guy. I think a better idea would be a more sidelined manipulator like Makima where if you are paying attention you notice something is off but to the average person would not pick up on it. But that’s the easy answer they wouldn’t make it obvious that the character that was killed off is alive right. What do you mean they pretty clearly tease Fiora’s return. Blonde hair and and breasts it could be anyone especially not girl who had blond hair and moderately sized breasts but was “dead”. But favorite one was definitely that Gadolt is still alive. Like they don’t mention his ass for more then half the game but the moment they do a new robot is keeping an eye on them. Oh of course it’s Gadolt. Onto the actual plot two titans clashed but eventually brought forth different life biological in bionis and Mechanical in mechonis (very original names). They were bitter enemies for some unknown reason (we are keeping tally of every anime trope ) 1. This came to ahead with a battle that will deiced the fate of the bio vs mech life. Fuck this cliffnotes going to go full speed ahead. Shulk is just your average orphan 2 that lives a quiet life 3 with his friends. Till one day the enemy that hadn’t attacked in ages did 4 and Shulk finds out he is special 5 and can wield a special blade called the Monado. His journey is about growing and changing his perspective.He starts his adventure with pure revenge but develops into something more. He meets people from a variety of places 6. This all pulls ahead when his motivation is alive and that guy from the prologue is alive. He then learns that not all Mechon are bad 7. They travel to Mechonsis and learn that they attacked first 8. Shulk tries to make peace until he is interrupted by Dickson doing that evil thing and unleashing the true villain who was inside Shulk all along 9 and he can be considered a god 10. Shulk believes hard enough and comes back and defeat god in a quick enough recap. Anyways time to bitch about Zanza. First off they make it pretty obvious that he is the final boss just due to how the game is set up. You skip two major parts of bionis being most of prison island and inner bionis which had my head scratching till I realized that they were probably going to pull a the bad guys aren’t the actual villain. With making some of the people of mechonis good. Yeah I called Zanza being the final boss. Also his ass barley does anything he could took control at like any moment but didn’t that makes like 0 sense. This isn’t even a why didn’t Jotaro use Star finger. Since he is op on his own and could probably solo most of Mechonis since their god was stuck in Fiora for some reason (I don’t remember if it’s explained you I will not bitch). Also this is a more minor nitpick I wish he looked a little more different then his original human form since he is a god. Alright let’s wrap this up characters I won’t comment on since I used like the same 3 so I saw no heart to hearts. Shulk is a fine protagonist except he still has trouble telling his team about visions. What did I think of future connected? Didn’t play it. Will you play 2. Hell nah. In conclusion go read Kagurabachi for some good action adventure.

esse jogo eh a maior pegadinha dos jrpgs me venderam a segunda vinda de jesus cristo em um jogo e eu recebi 55 horas do pior sotaque britanico ja visto sendo constantemente gritado no meu ouvido enquanto eu repetia o mesmo combate de mmo para prosseguir em uma historia que eh a fusão todos os rpgs dos anos 2000 em um. eu recomendo que voce escute a trilha sonora pq ela eh pedrada e veja os cenarios bonitos mas nao precisa jogar nao (curiosidade: com 55 horas eu poderia ter feito um curso de mecanica e agora eu saberia trocar agua de carro mas eu escolhi jogar esse jogo )