Summary
I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end
The Good
This is the text which is shown on the opening screen of Squaresoft's game "Xenogears" - the famous quote from the New Testament. It is the beginning of one of the greatest games ever - a console RPG with a fantastic story and great gameplay.
The game's main hero is Fei, an orphan who was found abandoned in the village of Lahan. Most of the time you control Fei or his party (whose members change all the time). Fei will start his journey once he is chased away from the village, but soon he will find himself involved in a war between two kingdoms. This is, however, just a beginning of an incredibly complex and rich plot, that outdoes pretty much everything I've seen before in a game.
The game's story is truly amazing. It is mysterious and enigmatic, and contains plenty of important and realistic issues such as politics, war, and even religious fanaticism. The amount of social, ethical, and religious problems raised by "Xenogears" has no parallels in the world of computer games. The way the story is told, its gradual, relentless development is brilliant to such an extent that it makes other game stories pale in comparison. The plot is like a huge puzzle - only near the very end all pieces of this puzzle come together, and you finally realize what the whole thing was about. There is no end to sudden plot twists and revelations, and the suspense is so great that they deliberately dedicated almost the entire second part of the game to story development, leaving gameplay somewhat in the shadow, to tie all the loose ends and to explain everything that was unclear.
The game has an overwhelming amount of characters, each one with a deep psychological background and an importance to the plot. The story starts as a more or less conventional tale about war, but what grows out of this is an absolutely remarkable attempt to analyze the nature of faith and religion, to trace back the origin of mankind, and to face "unanswered" questions.
The "smaller" stories - personal stories of the characters - are wonderfully connected to the main plot, and every character brings with him a piece to the puzzle that will be solved only at the end of the game. Fei is easily one of the most complex characters ever, and the truth he learns about his real origin is totally unexpected and shocking. All supporting characters are deep and original personalities, from the brave "pirate" Bart to the priest Billy who has lost his faith. Perhaps the most interesting characters are your supposed enemies - Commander Rasmus, Krelian, and such mysterious figures as Grahf or Miang. There are brilliant plot twists connected to virtually all the important characters, and the sheer complexity of their relationships is absolutely formidable.
The game dares to explore the most "forbidden" issues, and mercilessly analyzes almost every aspect of human existence. It is also very rich mythologically. Mainly based on mythology of ancient Israel, with heavy references to various parts of the Bible, "Xenogears" is a remarkably stylish attempt to explain what lies behind mythological symbols, and to pose again the eternal questions: where do we come from? Is there God? What is the meaning of our existence?
The combat system in "Xenogears" is very interesting: instead of simple attacking, you can perform various combos by pressing square or triangle buttons. If you cancel one of the combo attacks, you "save" a point for your next turn, and can unleash a more powerful and devastating combo. You learn various combos by using them and simply by leveling up. Beside physical attacks, you can use Ether, which is pretty much the same as magic.
The most original part of the gameplay in "Xenogears" is gear combat. gears are large robots that can be piloted by your characters. Nearly a half (and perhaps more) of the game's dungeons can be accessed only with gears. Such are major locations like Babel Tower and the last dungeon. Gear combat doesn't work the same way as hand-to-hand battles and requires different strategies. Gears can't level up, and you upgrade them only in shops or at certain points of the game. You also lose fuel when attacking with gears. Gear combat can get quite tricky, especially during the last portion of the game and the final battles, where fuel is precious and you have to think about preserving it all the time. The gear design in the game is absolutely cool and is sure to excite any mech fan.
A large part of "Xenogears" is spent on exploring areas, and one of its very interesting features is the ability to jump. While in Final Fantasy games the characters jump automatically when jumping is necessary, in "Xenogears" this action is controlled by the player. There are some arcade sequences in the game, even some Zelda-like trap-avoiding and such. I really don't mind those arcade parts and find them quite refreshing. You can also rotate your view and do other nice things for a change, which add an arcade flavor to this adventure.
Graphically, the game is certainly not dazzling, and I suppose its graphics could annoy somebody who is not used to the animé/manga style of Japanese RPGs. The game's characters are simple sprites, with large pixels visible even when you sit farther away from the TV. The battle animations are also far from being as spectacular as in "Final Fantasy VII". I put all this in the "Good" section simply because I liked "Xenogears'" graphics, no matter how funny they look at times. The blocky world of Japanese RPG is welcomed by an addicted Final Fantasy fan such as myself, and I even find those big-eyed girls quite attractive.
"Xenogears" has many "cute" scenes, which reduce a bit the tension of the extremely intensive and complicated plot. Looking at the game's graphics from this point of view, you'll maybe be able to appreciate them as a counterweight for the story. Besides, while the character graphics are the less successful part of the game, the backgrounds are at times very beautiful and detailed. The video sequences are, surprisingly enough, cartoon-like, and the characters in those sequences looks completely different from the ingame graphics.
"Xenogears'" music is typical for Japanese RPGs: soft, easy-going and pleasant town-melodies, obstinate, agitated battle music and dramatic orchestral passages for the important events. I am a big admirer of such music, and I think the Japanese music for console RPGs is among the best we can listen to in computer and video games. The melodies are usually natural and charming, and "Xenogears" is no exception. I was whistling and humming and singing and playing on my piano the Lahan tune until I got sick of it.
The Bad
While the game's plot is among the best, if not
the best, ever to encounter in a video game, its graphics aren't that impressive. As I said in the "good" section, this didn't disturb me even a bit, but it might somewhat distract from the pleasure of a more critically minded player. As for the cartoony video sequences, I must say I was a bit disappointed there. While they were wonderful, there was simply not enough of them.
"Xenogears" was never released in PAL format, so I had to get myself a console which is able to run NTSC games, and it was a pain in the neck to find this game on a continent it was never released for. I really don't understand how come such a game was supposed to remain unknown to the players in PAL countries! That's a shame!
The Bottom Line
"Xenogears" is an amazing experience, a game that will challenge your thought in many, many ways. It has the most complex and twisted plot I've ever encountered in a game. If you like Final Fantasy games for their stories, you're going to love this game. With a bit tolerance to the graphics the game is pretty much perfect.
