Xenogears
Developed by: Squaresoft
Released: October 20, 1998
Genre: Role Playing Game
Platform: PlayStation
Stand Tall and Shake the Heavens"If god doesn't exist in our world, then... I will create god with my own hands!" So said Krelian, after the death of his beloved, when God failed to aid him. A while ago, Squaresoft's Project Noah did not seem like it would make it to US shores due to it's clash with Christian ideals, but was released nontheless in Fall of 1998. The game follows Fei Fong Wong, a martial artist that is reluctant to fight. He arrived in the peacefull village of Lahan 3 years ago, with no memory of anything beforehand. His life is changed forever when a group of Gears, or giant robots, land in their village. The Gears belong to the conflicting countries Aveh and Kislev, which have been at war for centuries. Recently combat has been changed by the introduction of Gears, which are actually ancient technology that have been discovered in old ruins and repaired by an organization called The Ethos. To save his village, Fei jumps into an empty Gear, and manages to pilot it. But when his friend Timothy is shot down, Fei loses control. He awakes hours later to find that he has destroyed his village. This event creates a hatred for Gears and fighting in Fei, and yet he is constantly force to fight in his Gear to survive. Fei teams up with a very wide and diverse set of characters as he takes on the world and uncovers the mysteries of his past.
Xenogears features a beautiful graphical style, using 8-directional sprites in a 3d world, very reminiscent of Breath of Fire 3 and 4. The result is a fresh style that is much easier on the eyes than the trademark Final Fantasy pre-rendered backgrounds. The addition of a rotational camera allows for greater visibility and really comes in handy. Staged throughout the game, although not very common, are full cutscenes featuring an excellent combination of anime characters and pre-rendered 3d bgs, with real voice acting. The voices, however, aren't that great, and never fit with the mouth movements. The soundtrack is composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, who worked with Nobuo Uematsu on the Chrono Trigger soundtrack. Many of the tracks feature voices and chants, but almost of all of it is excellent, with some really memorable themes, such as Grahf's. The music perfectly sets the mood and atmosphere, and is a high point of the game.
Gameplay is almost perfect in Xenogears. Movement on the field is smooth, and the ability to jump even adds in a few points where skill is required to advance. Xenogears uses a unique battle system where character can string together attacks into combos. Each turn a character is given a set number of AP (eventually you can get up to 7), which can be used on different attacks. Weaker attacks use less AP, whereas stronger attacks use more. Characters can also use deathblows, which are special moves that deal a lot of damage. By not using all of your AP every turn, you can save some up to string together combos of deathblows and hit the enemy hard. Of course, there's more to battles than that. Throughout at least half of the game you'll find yourself fighting in Gears, which are 3d battles as opposed to 2d. Each turn you can use one of three attacks, which use varying amounts of fuel. Each attack brings up your Attack Level, which allows you to use powerful deathblow-like attacks. Charging can be used to restore a small amount of fuel, and additionally certain equipment can be used to fix your Gear's frame, regaining hp. Xenogears always has something new to offer gameplay-wise, including a number of unique minigames. There's battling, which is like normal Gear fights but in a real-time, fighting game style, and there's also the card game Speed, which you can play in Thames against a few select people.
Of course, no game is without its faults, and Xenogears has a few. The framerate can drop a bit in large towns, and the camera can very rarely make it hard to see. Of course, the most noticeable fault of the game is the second disc, where gameplay changes dramatically. A lot of important scenes are not seen, but rather narrated by a character sitting in a chair. Of course, this style gives some good insight into the character's minds sometimes, but for the most part it seems to just be added in due to time and/or budget restraints. This does not happen too frequently, however, and doesn't really change the overall effect of the game. Xenogears also features some tributes to existing works, including Soylent Green and The Shining, as well as Star Trek. Xenogears also shares many similarities with the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, which was released during the game's early production, such as many psycological aspects, the use of religious imagery, the reluctant protagonist, and, of course, the fact that they both have mechs.
Overall, despite its flaws, Xenogears is an excellent game that is often overlooked by the average gamer, and is definitely worth a play-through if you can get the chance.
Graphics: 10/10
Story: 10/10
Sound Effects: 8/10
Music: 9/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Overall: 9.5/10