Does anyone else hate Xenogears?

[norkusa]

I picked this up last week at a pawn so I could see what all the hype is about. After about 3 hours of play, I really can't find the patience to play it any longer. I know 3 hours isn't going to get me deep into a RPG, but I already find the game slow and the storyline incredibly dull & cliche. All of the characters get on my nerves too. I really want to strangle that little bastard Dan every time I hear him whine about something.

I know this game has cult a following and got rave reviews back in the day, but is there any real reason why I should continue playing it if I don't like it already? Does it start to pick-up further into the game? Is there more action? RPG's isn't my favorite genre, (It used to be. I literally played Might & Magic for the Genesis for an entire summer back in '92 and I haven't been able to get back into them since then) but I'm trying to get back into them. I just picked up Valkyrie Profile think it's great so far.

Oh yeah, Xenogears (and strategy guide) if up for trade if anyone is interested.

[SoulBlazer]

I don't HATE Xenogears, but I don't praise it as a top quality game like many people do. I'd say it's a good game that was brave enough to push the limit with a few concepts, such as the heavy anti-religion story and the chain combo fighting system, combined with mechs for some of the battles.

I did a review of the game back in the day, but I could count as many things I found annoying or bad with the game to match the good points -- a VERY complex and confusing story that no one can understand on the first playthrough; a very bad camera control system that made it impossible to find about half of the items; a reliance to keep your charcters at a high level all through the game and needing to find several key items, or your butt is going to get kicked; poor charcter development for other people at the expense of a few main people; parts where it feels like a platform game instead of a RPG, and as you allready said, it's slow to get into it. Plus all of the anime scenes are either at the start or the end of the game -- not a very good balance, and the second disc feels rushed.

Then there's the good things -- a very moving story once you are able to get around the confusing and anti-church parts of it, a WONDERFULL musical sound track, good controls besides the camera angles, some different missions in the game, such as a scene where you sneak around a la Metal Gear Solid, and good graphics for its day and age.

I almost did'nt buy Xenosaga because of the bad memories that I had about Xenogears, but when I saw the game used I finally decided to give it a shot, and fell in love with it. Xenosaga, IMHO, took what worked in Xenogears and added in a much better story and several LONG hours of anime to go with the game.

My advice? Stick with the game for a few more hours (at least until after you get past the desert town and meet a couple other main charcters ;) ) and then decide what you think. If you decide to sell it, sell it on Amazon -- I sold mine for $50 there.

[Sylentwulf]

I'm the opposite. Xenogears, I LOVED. Xenosaga, I did NOT love. (And it's not because there were too many movies, actually I thought there weren't ENOUGH movies.)

[Kid Fenris]

Wisesalesman also hated Xenogears, but he hasn't posted here lately . . .

Anyway, if you don't like the game after five hours or so, there's little chance that you'll start to enjoy it further in. The slow pace and creeping text only grow denser throughout the first disc. (Though the text can be sped up with a GameShark code.) Should you keep playing, you can at least look forward to seeing and hearing less of Dan after the first few hours.

In both story and gameplay, Xenogears is very long and very complicated, and that isn't what everyone wants from an RPG. To be fair, many of its flaws (limited development of secondary characters, a rushed pace towards the end) can be applied to countless RPGs and other games, but Xenogears still isn't a player-friendly experience for much of the time. Then again, maybe that's why I dug it.

[hezeuschrist]

I loved what it said. The first time I played through I had my saved game erased right at the end of the first disc way back when it came out in 98, and it probably took me 2 months to get there. I just went back and played all the way through it in 2 weeks, I was absolutely engulfed in the story, and I found it easiest to understand by playing through it at an extremely rapid pace. After about 10 hours the story really starts to take shape and really has some excellent script contrary to some of the really bad translation.

Definitely not for everyone though, and I really don't think it's aged all that well. Poorly drawn sprites, a less than admirable camera system (although i'd love to be able to rotate like that in Xenosaga), and some just flat out lackluster environments didn't make for a very visually stunning experience, but the story questions reality itself.