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The best RPG I've played...EVER!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 20, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This VERY innovative game was, for a while, under controversy for American release. The plot of the game centers around the true meaning of a 'god' and the origin of humanity. In fact it was part five of a series of books about the progression of time and the inevitability of fate. The game play is fluid and the graphics, while sprites, are more than decent. The soundtrack by composer Yasunori Mitsuda and is quite a bit better than most RPG fare. The 2d anime cut scenes have probably the best animation I have ever seen. (and I am a HUGE anime fan) The only downside to the gripping story, fantastic characters and terrific animation...is the dubbing of the cutscenes. It is truly worse than Godzilla and takes a lot away from animation. But if your in the market for a challenge of the mind and of the faith, BUY XENOGEARS.

An Underrated Masterpiece

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Xenogears is the first game that comes to my mind when I think of an involved RPG.

Battle System: The battle system is pure joy. Though not "Active" (the enemies wait for you to choose your attack before attacking), it allows you to every turn use your given BP to choose what to do. You can always use an item, ether (or whatever the characters magic abilities are called; they vary by character), or defend, etc. take all of your current BP. Your BP increases with level. Your starting BP is 3 at the beginning. Your Triangle attack always takes 1 BP, Square attack takes 2 BP, and X attack takes 3 BP. You can combine the BP in any way, but you cannot use over your total BP. You aquire Skills by using the BP in ways that relate to or are a Skill combo (Ex. You want to learn a Skill thats combo is Square, Square. To learn it, you need to use Square, Square in battle, or for a greater effect, something that is close but not exact like Triangle, Triangle, Square). As you work towards the Skill, a bar appears in the Menu under Character, Choose a Character, and then enter Skills. The bar tells the percent completed (learned) it is. If you don't have bars for some skills, don't worry because bars only show up when the percent reaches at least 50. If the bar reaches 100% and you don't have the Skill, you are not at the required level yet, but don't worry, it just means that you're ahead. If you only use 1 BP and press Circle to back off, you gain AP, which is basically stored BP. You gain the amount of BP that was not used in AP. AP can only be used to perform Combo attacks(in this review I call them Big attacks just because its a habit). Big attacks are where you have enough AP to use two or more of your Skills. You enter the Combo menu and choose two or more Skills to use. Then just select them, sit back, and watch your Skill attacks be used in a lightning fast and more powerful manner (hence Big attacks). Battles can be tough and the Gear (mech battles) are interesting, though somewhat easier. In Gears, you use Fuel for everything. Instead of using BP, you use fuel. Items, magic type attacks/support, escaping, etc. does not use Fuel. The main difference in battle with Gears is that you only use one of the 3 attack buttons per turn. Triangle attacks take 10 fuel, Square attacks take 20 fuel, and X attacks take 30 fuel. The more fuel, the more powerful. Every time you attack, you gain a type of level. If you are at level 1, you can press Triangle and then follow it up with another button (like a Skill) providing you have the corresponding Skill for the person outside of the Gear. If you have 2 levels, you can perform a Square skill, etc. As you can see, battle is glorious.

Story: Wow, this ones a mindblow. It is very confusing, but rewarding. The anime cutscenes aren't my style though. The story is somewhat controvercial, since it revolves around people using Gears to try and destroy God. The protaganist (Fei) uses a mech that was prophesized as the Destroyer of God. As usual in RPG's, the main character has a dark past, and he suffered from amnesia which comes straight from RPG 101. The plot is very good and consumes much of the incredibley long game time. I must warn you though, the slow-witted need not apply.

Graphics: Good for it's time. Your friends will probably think that you're crazy if you are impressed versus next-gen games, but hey, it's Squaresoft's only completely 3D game (it is the sole game from Squaresoft with a moveable camera which swings left and right with the R1 and L1 buttons, even if it can be wonky and some angles are downright terrible in certain areas).

Sound: This is one of the rare games with a likeable soundtrack. I embarrassingly found myself humming a tune from it before. The use of instruments is great and the composer is right up there with the Final Fantasy composer (I'm not even going to try to spell their names). I could do without the vocals in some songs though, but thats OK. The battle music is awesome; it makes you WANT to fight battles. Wow.

Length: What? I spent over 3 days on this game? Whoa. 80 hours is what I call length. Need I say more?

Control: It fits and it fits well. Besides the wonky and inprecise camera swivel, it works for me.

Overall: Buy immediately! Rent it, borrow it, whatever it takes. I suppose if you were offended by the story concept or aren't into 80 hour games it might be a no-no, but otherwise, just buy it.

A Lost Classic

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: September 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

A good story depends on a plot that keeps the viewer/reader interested, characters that one can understand and sympathize with, and subtle meanings and undertones which are not evident at first glance. By these standards, Xenogears is an excellent story. The plot, while complex, remains intriguing as it twists and turns. The characters remain sympathetic. More than most RPGs, one can relate to the characters, including the villians such as the idealistic Krelian and the neurotic Ramsus who walks the line between arrogant military man and self loathing trash. Even the secondary characters, from an old butler to a crusty sea captain to a philosophical queen, remain interesting. Unlike many games, Xenogears does not hesitate from embracing a view on modern cultural instiutions though, be warned, some of them will offend (especially the rather Nietzchian view of God and Christianity).

In terms of gameplay, remembering that this was in fact a game from 1997, Xenogears seems a little dated. The battle system, while acceptable, is fairly simple, nowhere near as complex as some current games. While the graphics are limited, they are not that offensive on the idea. The animated clips, while often short, seem a bit out of place. The music is excellent and some of it remains haunting.

Xenogears remains one of the more interesting RPGers ever made and is worth the time and attention of any RPG fan.

The Best plot written

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 13, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Its not about how the fighting is, or how much money you get by beating an enemy, or how you defeat a boss. I don't look at Xenogears this way . Its the plot, the story, the characters and their personalities, the richness of what one learns after finishing the game.
Xenogears has one of the most fabulous storylines ever created in ANY book, movie, novel etc...
The way the story is presented: the mystery, religion, sadness, happiness, betrayal, love, hatred, philosophy, psychology and so many more features make this story a complete one. ( I really dont understand why they don't make an anime series like Neon Genesis).
From the start until the end, the story wraps the viewer with an immense sensation of mystery that slowly unfolds the more one advances. It was done in such a genius way that I couldnt wait for the next day to come to know what is going to happen.
The storyline is immense and VERY complex, it took me weeks of research, after i finished Xeno, to fully understand the plot. Unlike the disapointing storlines found in FFX, FFX2, FF 8 and some of the other recently released games, Xenogears should be a Benchmark for any written sci-fi story.
Let us just hope that SquarEnix will realize what a mistake they are doing by releasing those childish and brainless new titles and thus to produce titles as good as old times.

The BEST Game of all Time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 09, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Xenogears is hands down the best game of all time. Everything, the story line is great, the cutscenes are awsome Japanese aneme'. Some complain about the graphics being choppy. The people at Squaresoft ment it to be that way, if you want amasing graphics buy Final Fantasy VIII. The story is very dramatic and at the same time actionish at times. So if you want a game that will keep you on the edge of your seat, you should get Xenogears.

Almost too good for words...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 28, 1999
Author: Amazon User

The first word that coems to mind is WOW. The storyline for this game is complex and keeps you wondering just what will happen next. The graphics in my opinion are very good, the animated sequences you don't want to miss. This game is more then just fun however, it's a challenge. It is NOT easy (though it's not TOO difficult). This game is a real treat to any RPGer, after all why spend money on something you can beat in a day!

Masterpiece

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 02, 2000
Author: Amazon User

If you like FF7 and 8, you will like this one. I became addicted to this game overnight. The only drags are that in disc 2, you are taken through what seems like over two hours of dialogue and no action, and also, close to the game's end, every town on the world map is destroyed, and the only place you can go for supplies is Shevat, which is also in ruins.

DON'T MISS THIS!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

To be truthful it was nice to pick up a sqauresoft game that got a ton of hype that wasn't Final Fantasy whatever or Chrono. MUSIC: I feel that the music in this game is quite possibly some of the best I've heard in an RPG. You will enjoy the music in this game, that like FFVI and CT, you'll be dying to find the soundtrack! BATTLE SYSTEM: The battle system is great in this game. Like most Squaresoft RPGs though, you can still battle with your eyes closed though, so while you don't have to focus on the screen much at all (except for the HP of your characters of course), its still interesting to enter in those commands. It seems a little like Legend of Legaia, only put into better use. Being that its more exciting to battle. While I still think that Grandia has the best battle system in an RPG, Xenogears will have you wanting to battle more as you progress. CHARACTERS: What can I say? Great characters. Not too many (Can you say Chrono Cross on that one?) and not to few (Much like FFVI). The characters are nicely developed. While FFVIII still has the best character development, I can still say that the characters in Xenogears do seem like actual people. STORY: There is no way I'm giving this away! You want the story, e-mail me at least 900 million times and I'll eventually tell you! Its that good! And being that story is what RPGers should care about, (Go Home if your an RPGer who goes for graphics, and scroll down and click "No" at the bottom if you do! Don't let me waste your time blabbering about the story if you only care for graphics) GAMEPLAY: Like in most RPGs, the story is not as fascinating or as fun the third time through (Being that you'll know everything). Well, the story will still be, but you'll know everything. DIFFICULTY: Xenogears is just like most other sqauresoft RPGs I play. It is by no means an Impossible game. If you want to see a hard RPG play Final Fantasy IV or Lunar 2: Eternal Blue. This game is not very hard at all.

GRAPHICS: If you are a graphics person, then the graphics of a game in the year 2001 for playstation aren't for you. But as mentioned earlier and by several other reviewers on RPG titles, GRAPHICS DON'T MAKE THE RPG, THE STORY DOES. But back in its time the graphics were pretty good, but to me they're all the same. Don't really care for graphics much at all. OVERALL: A kickass story, kickass soundtrack, kickass characters, what's not to like? This is a an RPG for all RPGers. Its better than any Final Fantasy and I believe it could Blow FFVII out of the water.

BETTER THAN FFVII & FFVIII

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 06, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Xenogears is without a doubt the greatest RPG ever by Squaresoft or any other company on the PlayStation. The game has the most complex and shocking story ever-I had to play through the whole game twice to understand everything. The soundtrack is really good and the fighting is much funner and than in the Final Fantasy series because you use button combinations as attacks instead of a menu. I also like the deathblow system a lot because I enjoy gaining different attacks and magic by gaining levels rather than finding them like materia or guardian forces because if you miss a certain materia or guardian force in the Final Fantasy games, then you can never get it again. Fighting with gears gave the game a lot of variation and the bosses are outstanding and challenging. May I once again say that this game has the most incredible and memorable story in the world...a must have for any PlayStation owner.

Probably the best RPG on the Playstation

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 14, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Xenogears is arguably the best RPG on the Playstation. The Anime cut scenes, while could have dubbed better, were a welcome change to the standard cut scenes. The plot and character developments are worthy of a prize. The plot can get confusing at times, especially on the second disk. But play through it again, and you should get it.

The unique battle style is also a welcome change. The Gear (giant robots) aspect is cool.

I can not say enough good things about this game!

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