Xenogears

[Anonymous]

I picked up Xenosaga last week, but instead of putting the game in and playing it, I borrowed Xenogears from my roomate and started playing it instead. So far I'm really enjoying the game, and the PS2's texture smoothing really helps this game out a bunch.

Anyone else playing Xenogears in order to get ready for Xenosaga, or just catching up? The point in the game that I'm at right now: Fei's in the fighting tournament while Bart looks for his cousin in Aveh.

[kainemaxwell]

Fluke, that's a fun part of gears! Remember when you gotta fight Dan, just let him beat up on you to get the Wedding Dress item.

Gear is episode 5 of the whole Xenosaga but according to namco, Gears never happened.

[Starcade]

SPOILER





Yea, but near the end of the game, you see a flashback of Fei.

[Kid Fenris]

I finished Xenogears years ago, but I'm planning on checking it out again after I'm done with Xenosaga, just to see if I can pick out all of the references that link the two games.

Yet it's hard to say how closely they relate to each other. Whether due to legal issues or the designer's own intentions, Xenosaga is the first part of a remake of the entire storyline that included Xenogears. Series creator Tetsuya Takahashi supposedly wanted to start the whole thing over, and he's remarked in interviews that Xenogears doesn't really follow Xenosaga. Confusing, yes, but so are the games.

[kainemaxwell]

Yes...very confusing...

[Anonymous]

I played it for a bit tonight, and I've rescued margie, and am behind kislev borders. The game is holding up remarkably well graphics-wise thatnks to the texture smooting of the PS2. I was hoping to beat this game before spring break was over, but ast it is, I'm only about 7 hours into it. curses!

[Dahne]

I never really noticed much of a difference between playing it on the PS1 and the PS2. Guess I'm just oblivious.

Remember, pay attention! I did't the first time through, so I've had to play it through several times just to get the storyline :). The Nisan Sanctuary website has some nice explanations, but it's chock full of spoilers, so don't go there yet.

Some advice: Switch between characters a lot. The game keeps their levels up automatically, but it pays to keep everyone's deathblows up to date. Except for Elly. She'll always suck and you don't have to use her much, so don't bother.

Oh, and try to stay away from spoilers, (if it's even possible these days :) ) since there's some very neat surprises along the way that are better if they haven't been ruined for you.

Of course, I played very badly my first time through, so by the end I was so wussy that the boss, who really isn't that hard, whooped me. Then I gave up. So I went all the way through again to prepare for Xenosaga. LOL

[kainemaxwell]

Fluke, don't expect to beat Gears anytime soon..you'll likely fall asleep later in the game when the dialogue drags on (I really wish there was a faster scrolling option).

Daphne, my characters were kinda wussy too..and I didn't really learn about and using Deathblows till the Sewer creature problem..so I started building everyone's Deathblows and levels up then.

[GENESISNES]

I really really really really really realllllllllllly want to get xenosaga, but the opening video is 40 minutes long!! I wouldnt be able to take it. That is the only flaw against it i heard.

[Kid Fenris]

If you have a Gameshark, Kaine, you can use a code to speed up the text.

http://terror.snm-hgkz.ch/mirrors/www.thegia.com/news/0104/n01i.html

And yes, Xenogears requires a huge investment of time. I think I spent about 55 hours on it my first time through.

[bargora]

I spit on your RPG foolishness.

Also, I'm recalling that texture smoothing of PS1 games is an option that you have to enable in one of the PS2 menus when you power the system on. The default is to not have texture smoothing.

[Anonymous]

I never really noticed much of a difference between playing it on the PS1 and the PS2.

I accidentally turned on xenogears without the texture smoothing (does anyone know how to set the PS2 so it defaults to fast discread/smoothing? I heard you can but can't remember how), and the game looked completely different. The environments benefit, but the difference between the look of the characters is incredible. They always look like they're just slightly out of focus, but they look way better than they did on the PSX. The only person I've had issues with graphics wise is Bart, whose face looks a little odd.

And so far, I haven't heard anything regarding spoilers about the game. I literally know nothing of what's going to happen, and I'm pretty thankful for that. I did hear one thing that maybe you guys can clear up for me. I heard that if you don't do something right early in the game, it will make it unbeatable and you have to start over. Is this true?

[kainemaxwell]

I'm up to 42 hrs in game time and going through the dreaded Babel Tower now.

[Dahne]

First thing: Dahne. Not Daphne. I do not solve mysteries with a dog and a stoner, thank you very much. :P

Second thing: If a 40-minute intro scares you off, then believe me, Xenosaga is NOT for you. It's basically an anime series with some bits of game thrown in. I'm enjoying it immensely, but it's easy to see how some people wouldn't.

Last thing: I haven't heard anything about messing up early in the game, fluke. Could be it exists, but if it does it must be pretty dang rare.

[geelw]

First thing: Dahne. Not Daphne. I do not solve mysteries with a dog and a stoner, thank you very much. :P...

LOL! dahne- ya oww mi a nw kwybwd- i was dwinking hot tww whn i saw that wispons, and now som lwttws don't wk!... LOL

[Dahne]

Mua ha ha! My vendetta against clean keyboards is satisfied!

[Kid Fenris]

I really really really really really realllllllllllly Wanting To get xenosaga, but the opening video is 40 minutes long!! I wouldnt be able to take it. That is the only flaw against it i heard.

Though there are some cinematic bits that border on an hour in length, the opening sequence isn't that long --you're exploring an area and getting into refreshingly non-random battles within fifteen minutes or so.

And despite the talk of it being more movie than game, Xenosaga's gameplay seems to outnumber its cutscenes. For every cumulative hour that I've spent watching the story develop, I've lost about twice as much time to battles and dungeon navigation. Xenosaga is still very much a console RPG, albeit one with more plot details and exposition than any other I could name.

My big complaint about Xenosaga, however, is the lip sync. It's not as poorly matched as the animated parts of Xenogears, but sometimes the characters' mouths move long after they're done talking, tempting me to crack wise about how "the monster called Gamera is destroying the city, huh?"

Fluke: There are a few secrets that you can only unlock by doing something early in the game, but they're really just cute bonuses that don't affect play.

[Anonymous]

Well I had planned on playing the game a little bit more today when I got home from work, but instead found this on my doorstep:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11322&item=3014061069&rd=1

This was the first time I'd ever played the game, and I really dig it. It just might be fighting with xenogears for play time.

[kainemaxwell]

Nice buy! I'm thinking of trying Dance Maniax today myself.

But backon topic, trust me, as you get deeper into Xenogears the stroy'll get more puzzling and you'll want to keep playing to figure out what the HFIL's going on.

[kainemaxwell]

Fluke, where ya at in Gears now? trust me when I saw this- the Babel Tower will be a pain in the ass and not because of the enemies there...

[Anonymous]

I just finished the attempted raid by the pirates on Aveh. lots of exposition, and lots of boss battles. I went from level 26 to level 29 with Fei in the space of like 6 battles :) Some other stuff happened, but don't want to go into too much detail for obvious reasons. Thanks for asking I was just going to post an update.

[kainemaxwell]

Took me 3 hrs least climbing and jumping up the friggin Babel tower to finally reach the floating city.

Fluke hint- beat all 4 guys in the prision.
Nice avatar. ;)

[Dahne]

You really don't have to beat the guys in the prison. I let the first guy beat me once, just for kicks, and all it does is change a bit of dialogue and make some dialogue about how exceptional your battle was sound a little weird.

[Anonymous]

I did, I'm going to play for a couple more hours tonight. I think I'm going to hijack the rant blog on my site for Xenogears updates, as much to keep the story straight for myself as for anyone who might be interested...

[kainemaxwell]

Fluke, trust me...it's gonna keep getting weirder and weireder...

And those alien dudes in the TV ball remind me of the Robotech Masters...

[kainemaxwell]

Fluke, how ya doing in Xenogears anyhow?

Is it true about why disc 2 seems rushed- that Squaresoft pulled the Xenogears people off the project to workon FF8, which eventually lead to their desertion?

And all i gotta say about the end of Disc 1 and start of Disc 2 is.. holy crap!! :o

[Anonymous]

I finally just started back up yesterday, thanks for asking! After playing DDRmax to the point of exhaustion, I finally booted up Xenogears, and am currently in the area where I have a bomb strapped around my neck, and am about to fight Rico in the battle arena. I expect things will move rather quickly now that I'm back in the swing of the game.

Any idea how far I am from the end of disc 1?

[kainemaxwell]

I take it you fought Redrum then? You got another fun story sequence after you beat Rico coming up soon anyhow.

Um, you have ALOT to go before you hit the end of the 1st disc my friend...

I'm just excitied since things are finally making sense..I always said I'd take a break once I hit the start of disc 2, now I kinda don't wanna!

I kinda miss Solaris now.

[Kid Fenris]

Is it true about why disc 2 seems rushed- that Squaresoft pulled the Xenogears people off the project to workon FF8, which eventually lead to their desertion?

Sort of. It's true that Square rushed Xenogears to the market, just as they did Final Fantasy VII, but I'm not sure that they pulled programmers to work on FFVIII. And the director of Xenogears, Tetsuya Takahashi, reportedly left Square because the company wasn't interested in making another Xeno-game.

Come to think of it, Square's neglected a lot of decent titles and series. I wish they'd make another Threads of Fate, Einhander, or Front Mission.

[kainemaxwell]

I'm considering doing a Xenogears fanfic now myself...

[Anonymous]

mmmm..... PS2 Einhander.......<drool>

[kainemaxwell]

*Gets Fluke a drool bucket*

Believe me, you'll love what happens next in Gears.

[Dahne]

*Minor Spoilers*

Okay, they say that Rico was given the option to have his explosive collar taken off and therefore become free to leave the city. However, he always declined. By looking at his icon, you can tell that he obviously never had the collar removed. My question is, when he later leaves the city, WHY THE HELL DOESN'T HE BLOW UP? They never mention doing anything like disabling the collar instead of just taking it off, to my recollection. Did they just forget about it? I wouldn't be surprised, considering how Rico's whole side story gets dropped. Depressing, considering how much potential he had.

[Anonymous]

Way to go Dahne, thanks A LOT. I think I'll just stop playing now.


Just kidding ;). I'd love to chat about the game sometime with ya.

[kainemaxwell]

*Minor Spoilers*

Okay, they say that Rico was given the option to have his explosive collar taken off and therefore become free to leave the city. However, he always declined. By looking at his icon, you can tell that he obviously never had the collar removed. My question is, when he later leaves the city, WHY THE HELL DOESN'T HE BLOW UP? They never mention doing anything like disabling the collar instead of just taking it off, to my recollection. Did they just forget about it? I wouldn't be surprised, considering how Rico's whole side story gets dropped. Depressing, considering how much potential he had.

*minor spoiliers*
Now that you mention it I kinda have to agree there, heck I think they did more with Billy and Emeralda then Rico at this point!
(Not to mention Billy reminds me of Vash and his Gear looks like the Esaflowne.)

And love to talk Gears with ya sometime too.

[Kid Fenris]

*Minor Spoilers*

Okay, they say that Rico was given the option to have his explosive collar taken off and therefore become free to leave the city. However, he always declined. By looking at his icon, you can tell that he obviously never had the collar removed. My question is, when he later leaves the city, WHY THE HELL DOESN'T HE BLOW UP? They never mention doing anything like disabling the collar instead of just taking it off, to my recollection. Did they just forget about it? I wouldn't be surprised, considering how Rico's whole side story gets dropped. Depressing, considering how much potential he had.

It's been a while since I played Xenogears, but . . .

HERE BE SPOLIERS

Yeah, they probably just forgot about it, as most of the cast members get a single, unchanging character portrait apiece. Rico's development is another casualty of the game's rushed second disc, in which the writers likely intended to go back and straighten out that business about him being the son of you-know-who.

On the other hand, here's a theory: If Rico was indeed so-and-so's son, someone along the lines might have known it and deliberately programmed his collar to be a dud. Rico, of course, would have to have realized this in order to walk away from the city after he meets Fei. But if this is true, why wouldn't Rico leave before that? For the same reason he refused to have his collar removed, I'd guess. Perhaps he thought his chances were better as the leader of the Nortune gangs than as a vagabond, or maybe he knew all along that he had some connection to royalty, and therefore wanted to stick around and find out what it was.

Overthinking minor story elements. Another sign of having played Xenogears too much.

[kainemaxwell]

Do they do anything else with Emeralda by chance?

Thinking of doing a fic myself, mainly about a Solarian who woke his mind up, so to speak.

[Dahne]

They do a little more wth Emeralda, but not a lot. There's a lighthouse you can go to near the very end of the game, and you learn a little more about her there.

[kainemaxwell]

Man does that suck...so 2nd disc is pretty much Fei and Elly this, Fei and Elly that...