Xenogears - The Most Ambitious RPG Ever?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ก.ค. 2018
- My retrospective and review of Xenogears, which analyzes the game's story, characters, graphics, soundtrack, and difficulty. I also include a few criticisms.
New to the channel? Subscribe here:
th-cam.com/users/subscription_c...
Support the channel and become a member!
/ @xygor
Join my Discord community!
/ discord
Check out all my game reviews here:
• All Video Game Reviews...
Buy Xenogears: amzn.to/2RavGCG
Buy Xenogears Official Strategy Guide: amzn.to/2RgzIJQ
Buy Xenogears Perfect Works: amzn.to/2IqoqOY
Buy Xenogears Soundtrack: amzn.to/2RaGzEv
Other great gear:
Best webcam for value: amzn.to/2zEpQTl
Best microphone for value: amzn.to/2QfRpI4
Best boom arm for value: amzn.to/2zDJ8bp
Best microphone + boom arm combo: amzn.to/2OnebjV
Best keyboard for value: amzn.to/2DFyMvQ
Best mouse for value: amzn.to/2OfHm8D
Best gaming chair for value: amzn.to/2R3cOW2
Best speakers for value: amzn.to/2On5Dtg
Best wireless router for value: amzn.to/2zDJYoz
#Xenogears #RPG #PlayStation - เกม
Thank you for this. Xenogears is one of my absolute favorite RPGs and it's one I so often find many people never played. I have to admit it's been a good couple of years since I last played it and completely forgot about the second disc but it reminds me so much of the end of the Evangelion Anime series which was similar in story content, religious context and budgetary issues causing a rushed finale. I just recently discovered your channel through the FF7 complete story video and I look forward to viewing your other videos. If you ever find the time or motivation to do a story video for Xenogears please know I'll be there in no time flat. Keep on creating and happy playing!
Thanks Brian! I will be doing a Final Fantasy VI story video next, but I do hope to do Xenogears sometime. Thanks again!
Xenogears was Square’s Magnum Opus on the PS1. I bought a PS3 in 2016 just to play it (and other games). I made my personal goal that summer to beat the game before my senior year of high school started.
I was only off by one day but I still finished it
Great review man. Square was pretty much untouchable when it came to RPGs during the PS1 era. I do consider FF7 ,FF8, FF9, FFT, Xenogears, Vagrant Story, Chrono Cross and Parasite Eve to be one of the greatest RPGs of all time. The only RPG that could rival those games was Konamis Suikoden 2 imo. Even if games like Breath of Fire 4, Grandia, The Legend of Dragoon and Valkyrie Profile was of high quality.
Xenogears truly quite an experience despite Its imperfections. Always has the urge to replay it every 3 years or so.
Thanks for the compliment! Yep, Square dominated the era and the industry for so long. I don't think they've made games that have been nearly as good as that in the last few decades, which is unfortuante. I love all the games you listed.
man if you think those games are great (which they are!), just wait until you check out the ones they released on the SNES
This game is amazing, fingers crossed for a rerelease. Even better if adapted to an HD 2D style.
Maybe someday!
Your intro to this video truly described my sentiment for this game. Still to this day, Zenogears was the most captivating story of all video games ever made. The new FF7 remake was just released last week, and it looks awesome, but if it had been a Xenogears remake nothing would have made me happier.
Best RPG story ever and the combat was excellent. Anyone who likes philosophy and psychology would definitely like this. Glad you covered those aspects in the review and how they formed together to make the game. Really wish they'd bring this game to a newer console cuz all I have is a PS4 now.
Great job! One of the better retrospectives/reviews out there~
Thanks, glad you liked it! I love this game.
Watched my brother playing this...his main character was able to take on the mechs without his mech...never got far into it myself but it looked amazing
Xenogears is my favorite thing of all times. It's basically the ultimate culmination of everything great about 80s mecha anime up to and including Gundam, VOTOMS, and especially Five Star Stories.
Matter of fact, Xenogears is basically THE ultimate Mobile Suit Gundam JRPG.
Awesome and very accurate review. I remember that feeling when switching to disk 2 and start with a hour of monologue.
Great job
What was the most memorable part of Xenogears to you?
Please consider supporting me at www.patreon.com/xygorgaming OR through TH-cam membership by clicking the JOIN button above to subscribe!
That beyond deus is... That the wave of existence is actually a....
Dude you just nailed it..
That was a great review and you explained it all.
Thank you, I really appreciate it!
It was actually the Xenosaga Trilogy on PS2 that got me into wanting to play Xenogears actually. I had loved the Xenosaga series. and I knew that The Xenosaga games were the spiritual successor to Xenogears. So I went back and played Xenogears. Never heard of this game before because I never owned a PS1 and I only learned about it because of Xenosaga. I was lucky to find a greatest hits version of Xenogears at my local games exchange and PS1 games were dropping in Price because the PS2 was out. I fell in love with this game immediately. I basically lived and breathed this game for several weeks. I did nothing but play it. 20 plus years later I am still obsessed with this game's lore. and still trying to understand it. It's only one game and its lore and backstory is so vast you could teach a college course on it. Halo, Mass Effect and other sci fi IPS that released multiple games still don't have lore that compares to Xenogears.
I would like to try out the Xenoblade games someday, but unfortunetly, I don't own a Switch.
I hope they remake this game.
Fantastic review of an absolute masterpiece of a jrpg, we can only imagine what might have been if Takahashi and his team had been given the time and finance needed to bring their project to its full potential, i really need to find someway of playing it again soon😊 Thanks again!!
I wonder if it would've made the game better or worse? Unpopular opinion, I like disc 2.
@@darkness439 In some ways disk 2 actually surpasses the first half as several events are just spine-tinglingly good.
The disk does get riffed on a lot but it’s still fun to play through and experience all the story events.
@Nintendo Switch online is a bad joke and not funny I remember playing it as kid. Fei sitting in a chair felt like he was reading scriptures from a Bible. Story literally got turned up from 100 to 1000. Great game and great story! I wish more could be done!
Superb review! Your reviews are truly amazing and I appreciate you taking the time to put them together! I definitely need to play Xenogears again. It is a great game and the minor gripes you mentioned are quite fair. This game NEEDS a proper remake (complete with additional content) because...can you imagine how incredible it could be? I certainly don't expect it but we can all hope, right?
Thank you! Yes, it does need a remake. But hopefully not a reinvention :)
We need a remake and remaster.
I agree!
Did you just recently discover thus or just talk about this now? All in all, I think it's sad. Some people pass up or not want to play this game. I believe some just can't obtain the knowledge and the aspects of this legendary jrpg.
The brilliance of this story is what me and my cousin still discuss this day on.
It's just truly a game you have to play again and again to really understand such of the story.
Nah, I played it all the way back when it came out. I always wanted to put together a big video on it though. Love this game and always think about it. Replaying every few years is really fun. Totally agree on the story.
Xygor Gaming yes it is a masterpiece and I'm glad you made a review and retrospective about this game. I await for more games you review😊
Your lucky i just experience this year it 20 years old. Become my favorite game of all time. Psychology themes mechs i like gundam and neon genesis give that vibe, lots of amazing scenes. I will never forget this game. Also superb review. Last thing if i play back at 1998 up to now. Would play xenogears 100 times
I think the larger issue as to why so many missed out on this game is because most regions outside of Japan and the US didn't get it. It came out around a time where JRPG devs were still being pretty picky over what titles they were willing to spend the time/money to localize and distribute worldwide.
Square was just starting to give more attentiont to PAL regions after FFVII (which was the first mainline installment of FF to be released globally) made a big splash, but were still at a point where non-FF brands were perceived as risky, so Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and other places all missed out on it.
not sure if you will get this but holy shit its great seeing how much work you put into this! Keep on knocking these out.
Thanks, glad you liked it! Lots more to come.
Played it this year! Great game and the story still holds up and has become one of my favorites. Hope it will one day be properly revived
This game is still in my Top 10 of favorite RPGs to date. You know they're onto something when the biggest criticisms all circulate around the lack of development time. "if they had more time they could have given us more music, more story, fleshed out disk 2, etc". What completely blew my mind when I finished the game 20 years ago was during the credits when they made it apparent that this game was not episode 1, but episode 5, pulling a George Lucas and implying there were 4 games before this one that could flesh out the histories of of many characters or build on the lore and universe prior to this first entry. I was especially excited when Xenosaga was announced because I thought we were about to see the events leading up to the opening cutscene where Deus took over the ship and caused it to crash land.
In my humble opinion, Xenosaga didn't live up the expectations set up by its predecessor. The combat didn't feel as rich, the characters weren't as interesting and the music didn't carry the same quality or weight. The series seemed to suffer from what a lot of PS2 titles did and a lot of what makes a quality game seemed to be sacrificed for improved graphics. I could also have been looking for XG where I shouldn't have, so I can't say that there's no bias behind my take on the games.
XSIII did a good job tightening up the combat and telling a more compelling story. It also had the most direct allusions to XG, and gave me the impression they might actually be trying to link the two series. I thought it would have been really interesting for Deus to have been some kind of Gnosis...prime...thing. It's been about 15 years since I played XSIII though so my memory is fuzzy and my recollection may be inaccurate.
I keep hoping that somehow Square will bring Takahashi on to (in the very least) do a Xenogears director's cut with disk 2 fleshed out to be as intended and extend that 70 hours to 100, though some kind of campaign to drop Takahashi's 3 xeno series and do a definitive 6 part epic using XG as the template would make me lose my mind.
Quick note: the different attack strengths also change in accuracy with X having the lowest especially on the first attack. it Means for enemies with high evasion, it's best to lead with a weak attack to then lead into stronger attacks further into the chain.
Anyway I discovered your channel recently and will definitely be coming back. If I had any input for you, it would be on these retrospectives to talk a bit more about the history, development difficulties and go just a little deeper into defining mechanics to show what makes these games interesting or unique. It would put these already great retrospectives over the top.
Thanks for helping to keep the classics alive.
Love this review of my favorite game, also a long time fan of the other games you reviewed on your channel such as FF6 and Chrono Trigger (first played FF6 in the PS1 Anthology pack on Christmas in 1999 and Chrono Trigger a few years later in the Chronicles pack in 2001) but its this game Xenogears which has had the most psychological and spiritual impact on my life as a person and changed my life forever. Also just subbed to your channel after watching your reviews of these games, one of my new favorite gaming channels.
This review was well-done, and reminded me of how kick-ass the Xenogears soundtrack is.
It really was amazing, wasn't it? Definitely in my top 3 video game soundtracks ever. Seems like Mitsuda built upon what he did in Chrono Trigger.
This was the best time. I've played this game ok xmas night 1998 and beat the game April 6th 1999. I played the game 3 years later then played the game in 2014. I'm gonna play it again this will be my fourth time!! The game is rich with story and character development awesome review !!!
Thanks, glad you liked it! This one is always worth coming back to play.
And this is why i start to love all Xenoblade series and xenogears in the beginning , GOAT PEAK
I wonder if Xenogears will ever get a remake like some other older jrpg’s.
I appreciate your good work and insights here. This game has remained me with after 25 years and often lingers in my mind. I'm with you on most of your points, from the plot to the villains to the soundtrack. The second disc left a bad taste in my mouth but did not undermine my love as a whole. I'm a little more critical about the controls and camera angles, especially on Babel Tower.
Really enjoyed this review man
It’s so hard to cover absolutely everything about Gears. It’s such a intense game that covers so many different philosophical and humanitarian principals it’s ridiculous. This isn’t even the mentioning the perfect works which has an absurd multiple century long plotlines 😂
I pray someday Takahashi can get his hands back on this game. I know if he had his proper budget and time the game would be even more timeless
Glad to hear it, this was one of my favorite to make!
Oh, and I agree, I really hope this is remade someday.
Well Xenogears with Philadelphia class motherships, Xenosaga and Xenoblade Chronicles X with project Earth exodus colonization is welded in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed.
Imagine watching these clips and you've never played the game before, mind blowing
When I tell people about Xenogears, I always tell them how amazing a game it was, and it wasn't even finished! Image what could've been. This is always number one on my life of games to get a remaster. Remastered and finished. Side note, do you have any plans on doing a Xenosaga retrospective?
I found the gear battle to be such an exercise in fuel management. It never felt like any of the gears had enough fuel and recall having to use one of the worse healing abilities because the better ones would just zap your fuel tank in almost no time at all. I should give the game another try since I haven't beaten it since it came out, but I wish this game would get a full remake with new actual content for the second disc!
Yeah, fuel is really the name of the game in this one!
You have some high quality videos. I hope you get more subs and likes.
Takahashi is a god. His work in Xenoblade shows he's still got it.
So true!
_Overall_
LOVE this video. I played this way back in the day and it's funny how differently it looks to me now than it did back then. (I swear the graphics were way better am I crazy?)
_Philosophy_
I loved this as well, so many wonderful references. It all went over my head back then but many years later I took philosophy and it all sank in. This made me enjoy the game more. There's one other game that delves into the ID and EGO in an interesting way, have you heard of Harlan Ellisons game "I have no mouth and cannot scream"? In it, a live AI has an ID and EGO and SUPEREGO. Very scary stuff.
_Judea-Christian References_
Yeahhhh... You gotta be reeeeeaaaalllll careful with the Judea-Christian culture references, unless you want your business to get that silent Alt-Rite treatment where your future business endeavor/deals suddenly get cancelled due to "unforseen circumstances."
When people steer clear half of it is out of respect and half of it is out of caution for one's business.
_Final_
Thanks so much for such a great video. Very cool stuff, and very thoughtful, too
Great review for a great game!
Thank you, definitely one of my favorites. I put a lot of time into this one!
@@Xygor I understand it. As I am also a TH-camr 😉 You have a cool voice 👍
Incredible game, to me better than Final Fantasy 7, although maybe just for different reasons, its darker and to me therefore different but more realistic in some ways, incredibly great game
Yep, so so great!
Interesting to learn about the game's problematic development, which explains the stark contrast between its discs. I remember being enraptured by it when I played it upon release, but when all of a sudden it turned into basically a static graphic novel, I was completely confused and frustrated and actually never finished the game. I guess it's time to give it another spin one of these days. :)
I would love to see you do this for the Xenosaga triology.
Unpopular opinion, I think disc 2 masterfully done with the resources they had. Do you play a tedious rpg for intricate game play or story?
Fair enough!
whats really sad is the more i watch this and other content the more im very disappointed how sensitive US translators and translations are. Like even when these games were out we were so puritan? pfft blah anyways another good work, You are bringing back my childhood memories! haha great games
You would have thought the director and neon genesis Evangelion wrote these side by side
There does seem to be many thematic similarities!
@@Xygor love the anime,everytime i watch i think of neon
This game is so great.
Heard and saga collection
Can't help but to think you took a lot of the idea and content from Xenogears - Retrospective Review and Analysis by Resonant Arc. There's wayyyy too many similarities and their video came out first.
Okay, but who's is better?
What a game that fucked up my childhood. I love this game so much. I wish the second disc would get the direct it deserved. And maybe a real remaster.
F-- you man, now I feel this urge to replay it again.
Great vid!
One of the best ever!
Great video but xenosaga 1-3 are 100% prequels to xenogears. Citan comes in the second game and is the brother of the main character, also Fei and elhaym come in the 3rd game as children.
After everyone watches this video, I recommend everyone watch Alex jones explains xenogears. Really scary
Great review btw
Thank you!
I know this video is old but...uh...no Jew refers to God as "Yahweh". That's a Christian name for God.
Dan’s hairline had to be the worst part of the game.
Haha, true!
Was there really a hesitance to release it based on the religious aspect? That would have sucked because all the biblicisms in the game are largely responsible for what inspired me to first read the Bible and ultimately become Catholic. Now I kinda laugh at all the references in xenogears because it's all very shallow applications of bible names with no real understanding of the things they're "referencing". But nevertheless the game had an impact on introducing me to Christianity in my teen years.
Japanese media like manga, anime, and video games love to take inspiration from very random western stuff but then use them in a completely unrelated way lol. They mainly just like to use names and words from western religions, myths, and the occult without understanding or applying their real meanings or any depth. But it makes sense when you look at it from their perspective, things that are familiar to us westerners are seen as new and exotic to them, so they use it to spice up their own works.
Xenogears > Star Ocean 1&2?
And today they make JRPGs with action combat, terrible now
If there's any rpg(other than ff7) that needs to be remade.......
Kim = Elon Musk
Dan’s hairline had to be the worst part of the game.