Xenogears Retroview
Starry Aspirations
The Xeno - games helmed by Tetsuya Takahashi, first at SquareSoft and since then at Monolith Soft, can be best defined by a single word: ambition. This starts right at the outset, as its first title, Xenogears , is infamous for its sky-high aspirations and how they were not fully executed due to development time constraints. But despite this, its narrative is extensive, rich, deep, and layered with heavy, complex, and emotional themes that it tackles and examines masterfully. Its setting, characters, and world are dizzying in their scope. When combined with its solid, entertaining gameplay foundation and gorgeous presentation, the result is a game that, while not perfect, is truly special and deserving of its place among the pantheon of RPG greats.
Xenogears opens with a chaotic cinematic: an intergalactic ship traversing the cosmos is suddenly beset with a disastrous malfunction that the ship’s crew desperately tries to contain and control. High-level technobabble echoes in the ship’s cockpit and, suddenly, the crew realizes their control is fully compromised, and their efforts are pointless. The screen becomes covered in a bold, red-colored repetition of an ominous message, “You shall be as gods.” Panic ensues, and an evacuation process begins, but it is too late. The ship explodes, crashing down onto a planet, and a naked, lone purple-haired female rises from the wreckage.
[caption id="attachment_182218" align="aligncenter" width="531"] The opening superbly sets the tone and atmosphere for much of what is to come.[/caption]
The game then pivots away, briefly explaining its world, setting, and factions. Xenogears takes place on the continent of Ignas, which has been roiled in war between neighboring countries Kislev and Aveh for nearly 500 years. To try to break the back-and-forth stalemate and gain the upper hand, both countries have been excavating Gears, giant mechs that are relics of a civilization from thousands of years ago. With that established, the game pivots once more, away from the conflict, focusing on protagonist Fei Fong Wong, an adopted amnesiac who has spent the last three years living peacefully in the village of Lahan after being left there by a mysterious masked man. However, Lahan is suddenly caught in the crossfire between Aveh and Kislev, with mechs crashing into the village one night. When Fei attempts to pilot an empty mech and defend his friends in the ensuing chaos, he blacks out and causes a massive explosion, killing many and destroying the village. After being exiled, Fei is left to wander throughout Ignas and subsequently must navigate the war, all the while uncovering truths about the continent’s prior civilizations and its current political and religious turmoil.
Xenogears gradually reveals its hand at a very deliberate pace. For much of its first disc, it is quite slow pacing-wise, and those looking for quick payoffs could be forgiven for not being immediately enamored in its early going. In bursts, it bombards players with tons of names of organizations, people, places, and concepts. It is a bit hard to follow, but the characters, NPCs, and set pieces along the way are all so fascinating, exciting, and dazzlingly written, and more than just about any other game, Xenogears greatly rewards player attention to its plot elements. While it’s certainly a slow-burning experience, the game progressively erupts in brilliance so often and with increased frequency that it more than makes up for the slow pacing.
How Xenogears accomplishes narrative excellence boils down to its outstanding writing and localization, its heavy and deep thematic elements, its tonal consistency and atmosphere, and its sheer creativity and scope. For a game released over 25 years ago, during a time when many contemporaries such as Final Fantasy VII suffered from localization mishaps, Xenogears impresses throughout the entire experience with its sharp, focused, and moving dialogue. While there is an occasional smattering of typos throughout the game’s gargantuan script, they are innocuous in nature, and much credit must be given to translator Richard Honeywood for being able to translate and convey a script of this depth and size so well, while also skirting potential religious sensitivities at the time.
[caption id="attachment_182219" align="aligncenter" width="610"] Xenogears never misses a beat with its writing.[/caption]
Bolstered by its outstanding script, Xenogears magnificently discusses and navigates incredibly serious topics and themes, ranging from institutional sexual abuse, memory, mental illness, human experimentation, cycles of abuse, trauma, religion and god, and psychological self-realization. So much can be said about each of these themes, but what ultimately makes this a masterpiece in storytelling is one overarching theme that intersects with all others: humanity. Xenogears has so much to say about the human condition: what it means to live, love, cry, hurt, feel, connect, and suffer. Even when the second disc morphs into mostly character narration and cutscenes, the writing stays razor sharp. Though the heartbreaking in-development snippets of unfinished dungeons and the like sadly loom over its second disc, the overarching plot is fully and completely executed, impressively leaving no plot thread unresolved. In some ways, there is even arguably some meta-commentary from the developers, with a later plot thread on the second disc drawing parallels with the emotional pain of a character who is unable to finish a painting. If the Xenogears team were handed a bag of old lemons, they made the sweetest possible lemonade, and it all culminates in a tear-jerker conclusion for the ages.
The gameplay of Xenogears doesn’t quite excel to the extent of its other qualities, but it is fundamentally sound and very entertaining. Utilizing a form of the Active Time Battle (ATB) system, combat occurs in two flavors: on foot alongside the cast of characters, and while piloting Gears. Attacking has players utilizing three buttons to perform weak, strong, and fierce attacks. These can be combined to execute learned “Deathblows,” powerful attacks that serve as the primary method of dealing damage both on foot and in Gears. On foot, attacks cost AP, and unused AP can be accrued across turns to eventually unleash combos of Deathblows. In Gears, players gain Attack Levels for each executed attack, up to three levels, and can execute two-button combo Deathblows of increasing power with each level.
Aside from the Deathblow system, Xenogears offers magic spells and special character-specific moves in the form of Ether abilities, which allow players to inflict buffs and debuffs and influence combat further. Interestingly, character stats and equipment directly impact the function and utility of their corresponding Gears. While the bedrock of combat is solid, engaging, and generally fun to play, Xenogears suffers from occasionally oblique or non-existent explanation of its stats and mechanics, and less-than-ideal implementation of its mechanical systems.
[caption id="attachment_182220" align="aligncenter" width="611"] Gears can be on the field along with characters![/caption]
There is a good deal of attention given to each character’s skillset and abilities, and the skeleton of an outstanding combat system is here, but it lacks the full set of tendons and ligaments to hold it all together, never muscling its way into asking much of the player until its second disc. There are only two to three fights in the entire game that ever warrant building AP and using combos, and most fights — even bosses — can be adequately dispatched with Level 1 Deathblows. A decent chunk of the status spells and Ether abilities don’t get to see much use until later, when it becomes ridiculously easy to figure out ways to exploit and pump certain stats. Combat works and does its job well, but most of its entertainment comes from the brilliant gear designs, outstanding attack animations, and visual flair of its presentation.
Xenogears nicely implements its explorative elements, and this is one area where the grandiosity of its world really gets to shine. Unlike many RPGs of the time, Fei and company can jump, lending increased verticality to dungeons, towns, and other areas, which does wonders for the game’s scope. In so many areas, seeing Gear or character sprites absolutely dwarfed by technological behemoths inspires a truly remarkable sense of awe. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Xenogears elects not to utilize analog camera controls, mapping camera rotation to the shoulder buttons. While the camera works fine, it’s a slightly dated aspect that takes some getting used to and isn’t always ideal.
Sadly, Xenogears is held back a bit with its other interactive dimensions. It has two primary minigames: a version of the card game Speed and a battle arena for Gears, where players duke it out in full 3D real-time fights against other Gears. The former is unremarkable, but the latter is quite fun, even if it’s a bit sparse. Speaking of sparse, what holds back the interactivity the most is the notable lack of sidequests, and there are several characters, namely Rico, who would have benefited immensely in their development from a sidequest or two.
[caption id="attachment_182221" align="aligncenter" width="611"] Gears already dwarf humans, so just imagine how big this dungeon is…[/caption]
Xenogears's most unquestionably brilliant element is its presentation, which is jaw-droppingly exquisite from start to finish. Put simply, this is one of the best-looking games on the PlayStation, perhaps only surpassed by 2000’s Vagrant Story . The Gears are strikingly designed and are just plain awesome to see in action. There are so many beautifully crafted massive environments, but Xenogears never sacrifices detail for the grandiosity of its scope, and towns, buildings, and locations are packed to the brim with details. The character sprite animations in battle are particularly extraordinary, and every character has their own swagger or bounce, which does wonders in giving them identity and visual character. Using 2D character sprites against 3D backgrounds is a smart choice, as the real-time dynamism of its action scenes and camerawork allows scenes to flow so smoothly and sets it apart from many of its contemporaries. The only real caveat of Xenogears ’s visuals is that it should ideally be played on a CRT television or with a corresponding filter to appreciate its true beauty.
Musically, Yasunori Mitsuda’s talent as a composer is on full display here, and there is a wide selection and range of diverse tracks that elevate every location, scene, and event throughout the entire experience. Plodding bass guitars and finger snaps evoke the monotony of the slums and their enslaved inhabitants' plight, whereas smaller towns have airier or breezier-sounding grooves. The mainstay theme for the world map is exceptionally catchy, but the strongest elements of Mitsuda’s score are the more melancholic tracks, which make much of the late-game drama hit so much harder, be it confessions of love or emotional emptiness faced by much of the conflict-torn world.
There is undoubtedly some disappointment that some of Xenogears's ambition goes unrealized, be it everything that is abridged in its second disc or its slow early pacing. But Xenogears is like a wise grandpa telling a grand legend. He may not be spry enough to convey the action, but he has all the knowledge and skills that got him here so far, and picked up the nous for flair in the process. He might even misspeak a word or two and take some time to get his story going, but he’s seen and gathered wisdom, and he intimately knows every detail he's gathered, entrancing his audience. He concludes the tale with riveting aplomb and style while managing to thread everything together in a way only a master of their craft can. For players with the patience to sit down and listen, old man Xenogears offers one of the most special stories ever put to an RPG.
The post Xenogears Retroview appeared first on RPGamer .
Popular Content
Explore Topic
