The depiction of a shattered mirror is one
that director Tetsuya Takahashi has used a number of times to characterize one of Xenogearsā
central themes. In addition to the quote featured on screen,
the script book for the game is titled Thousands Of Daggers, and the song used in the ending
credits contains the same symbolism in both its name and content. Even the battle screen transition exhibits
the same imagery, but what I find most interesting is that the time I spent playing the game,
in many ways, also felt like a fractured experience. Despite its lapses though, Xenogears is
one of the most poignant and impactful narrative works Iāve ever encountered, and tells a
story so expansive that it has inspired discussion, research, and introspection beyond what I
ever anticipated. Xenogears is the invention of Tetsuya Takahashi
and his wife Kaori Tanaka, better known by her pen name Soraya Saga. Both were Square employees who had extensive
experience working on Final Fantasy, but after the release of Final Fantasy VI, Takahashi
began to feel a little frustrated with the direction the series was taking and restless
to try bringing his own storytelling ambitions to light. Hironobu Sakaguchi recalled his own feelings
about this in an interview with Satoru Iwata, where he said, ā...they would often ask
me: āIs Final Fantasy all this company can let me create?ā I used to worry about that... One really clear memory I have is that no
sooner had Taka-chan formed a separate team than his desk became completely covered in
Gundam models and toy guns. It was then that I realised heād always
wanted to work on this kind of thing.ā Itās clear that Sakaguchi respected Takahashi
immensely, and considered him one of the most talented designers on his Final Fantasy team. He could sense Takahashiās growing desire
to create his own game though, and so he advocated for him to have that opportunity. Originally, Xenogears began as a script proposal
for Square executives to consider as they searched for ideas for Final Fantasy VII. In an interview with Siliconera, Soraya Saga
elaborates that, āWhile we were told that it was too dark and complicated for a fantasy,
the boss was kind enough to give Takahashi a chance to launch a new project. Then Takahashi and I wrote up the full screenplay
which contained cutscene-dialogues in final form, thus the project was born.ā Itās interesting to note that many of the
reasons Square executives stated for rejecting Takahashiās proposal, including its dark,
complicated story and science-fiction elements, were eventually embraced for Final Fantasy
VII; and there are several similarities that, while altered for the final game, still very
much resemble the original pitch. Once Takahashi had received approval however,
development was by no means smooth sailing. In the same interview with Satora Iwata previously
referenced, Takahashi states that, āNinety percent of my team were actually new kids
who didnāt know the first thing about 3D. The most difficult thing was the psychological
side: helping people adjust to the team, talking through their worries and concerns with them,
and so on. It was then that I realized that Sakaguchi-san had been dealing with this kind of thing all along. In another interview he recounts that, āWith
Xenogears, in the very beginning we started from the point of making a sequel to Chrono
Trigger, but as various arguments with the publisher piled up, some practical difficulties
came upā¦ Thanks to Sakaguchi-san's great efforts on
our behalf, we were allowed to make an original title. As the team was given the greenlight to move
forward on an entirely new IP, codenamed Project Noah, Final Fantasy VII was already in production
alongside it, and the budgetary difference became immediately apparent to Takahashi. I can imagine how frustrating it would be
for him - attempting to create something so visionary and ambitious - with what I think
we can safely assume was a much smaller allocation of funds. With an inexperienced team, limited capital,
and an idea that was likely too expansive for its own good, itās no surprise that
the team had a number of setbacks, which unfortunately is apparent in the final product. In addition to the pacing issues and very
rushed presentation on disc 2, the visuals also had to be altered from Takahashiās
original vision. At the outset he had wanted to make the entire
game in full 3D, but due to limitations of the hardware for a game of this size ultimately
decided to make the environments in 3D while representing the characters with 2D sprites. In the end I feel this was a blessing in disguise,
because I actually appreciate the look of Xenogears quite a bit more than FF7, which
basically took the exact opposite approach. I honestly think Xenogearsā visuals are
the perfect answer for the PS1 hardware when it comes to large scale rpgs like this, and
while FF8 and 9 made incredibly effective improvements on the visual style of 7, thereās
just something about the hybrid design of Grandia and Xenogears that I find especially
charming. I also found the cinematic techniques employed
here, like camera movement and composition of specific shots, to be notably impressive. I think itās clear that not only the content
of the story, which is excellent in and of itself, but also the method of delivery of
that story was critical to Takahashi, which is why I feel the second disc feels so clumsy
in comparison to the first. There are dozens of rumors that have attempted
to explain the discrepancy, and sifting through what has been confirmed by developers and
what is simply hearsay can be difficult, but one thing is certain; as deadlines began to
draw near, the team felt a great deal of pressure. āGod that was hell,ā described Yasuyuki
Honne, āI can tell you that Iām not going to go through it againā¦ How we ever finished it is still a mystery
to me.ā āIt was tough and only a total nut would go through it,ā added chief art designer Koh Arai. Then of course, we have Takahashiās own
words. āFrankly, I remember not having a very good
feeling at the beginning of development. We were squeezed in between the two big titles
Square were promoting heavily... In that situation, if weād had an owner
who showed the proper sensitivity, we might not have fallen into a mental state where
we were liable to get everything from stomach ulcers and twisted intestines to hernias and
spot baldnessā¦ All that said, considering how it all ended
up, while I honestly thought I might go bald, in the end I didnāt lose any hair, and my
health wasnāt ruined.ā With all of this in mind, it is understandable,
but I certainly wouldnāt say excusable, that the game ended up as such an uneven production. While having little support and unreasonable
scheduling expectations from the company certainly limited what they could accomplish, it's first and foremost the responsibility of the director to manage the scale of a production in accordance with the time and resources available. In this case there is evidence to suggest
that not only was the game an enormous undertaking from the very beginning, but that Takahashi
continued to expand the story as the game was being developed, and persisted even
after it was released. In my opinion it was Takahashiās ambition
and mismanagement, in addition of course to Squareās lack of support, that lead to many
of Xenogearsā largest issues. If youāre going to give this game a try
it's important to understand just how drastically it changes between disc one and disc two. While disc one plays as you might expect from
a jrpg of this era - with world map exploration, towns and shops filled with npcs, hidden treasure,
and random enemy encounters - disc two is almost entirely narrated by the characters,
to the extent that in a couple of instances the path through a dungeon is explained exclusively
through text with the player being dropped into a boss fight at the end. This is certain to turn some players off,
which is understandable, but keep in mind that despite this strange shift in direction
and total hijack of player control, I still genuinely and wholeheartedly recommend that
you play this game! There are several reasons why I say this. The battle system is really cool, the art
and visual presentation are outstanding, but the story and symbolism are what really set
it apart. Iām not going to talk about any details
of the story here, Iāll save that analysis for a separate video, but understanding the
numerous sources of inspiration for Xenogears can go a long way toward helping decipher
a layered and labyrinthine plot that can easily confuse players on their first run of the
game. As mentioned previously, Xenogears was a passion
project for Tetsuya Takahashi and his wife, who wrote the story together. They had several shared interests, most notably an enthusiasm for psychology and particularly psychoanalysis. Freudian and Neo-Freudian influences are instantly
recognizable, and several philosophical ideas from some of the greatest thinkers of the
last 200 years - people like Friedrich Nietzsche, Karen Horney, Carl Jung, and Jacques Lacan
- are often referenced and brilliantly woven into the fiction in such a way that not only
leaves a profound impact, but also feels believable. Being even lightly familiar with these people
and the theories they explored in their collective works will go a long way towards understanding
what Xenogears is trying to present with its story. Iāll share one example that I found particularly
effective. Karen Horneyās theory of neurosis differed
from what her contemporaries believed except in cases involving the effects that parentsā
actions can have on their children. She heavily emphasized that it was the childās
perception of his or her parentsā actions, more than what those actions really were,
that were fundamental in shaping or shattering a childās psyche. This concept is perfectly explored with Xenogearsā
main character and his parents - but most specifically with his mother Karen. Yes, that name is certainly not a coincidence
in this case. It is clear that Karen from Xenogears was
named after Karen Horney, and explicitly embodies her ideas about neurosis. This is one example of many that demonstrates
how Takahashi and Soraya were able to implement subtle but powerful layers of depth into the
storytelling of the game, and even if the underlying concepts are not understood, the
impact of those ideas can be felt through the violent and tragic nature of its delivery. It canāt be understated that the thematic
content of Xenogears is heavy. It was inspired a great deal by the works
of Arthur C. Clarke, especially Childhood's End, as well as other science fiction stories
like Soylent Green. There are strong messages that criticize systematic
racism and class warfare, the abuse of children by parents, and even some that question established
religion and the blind faith of followers. The last is what Iād like to focus on now,
because there are some people who believe that Xenogears carries some kind of contemporary anti-religious message, which I simply donāt agree with. Itās important to understand that the religious
content of Xenogears is inspired by gnosticism, and the religions that branched from that
school of thought, rather than traditional Christianity The concept of the demiurge, or a lesser (and
in many cases a malicious or evil) godlike figure who fashioned the material world, but
is not the ācreatorā in the monotheistic sense, is what is referenced as āgodā
throughout the game. So when the characters talk about āgodā,
what theyāre actually talking about is a demiurge, rather than a Christian inspired
creator figure. The potential confusion was actually a great
sense of anxiety for Richard Honeywood, who was the sole translator for the project for
a large majority its development. It was because of the possible controversial
backlash to these religious concepts in western countries that all other translators initially
interested in the project quickly walked away, and so the work of translating one of the
longest and most difficult scripts to come from Square at that time fell on one man, making some of the late game concepts more difficult to understand,
as well as delivering dialogue that can sometimes feel silly. This wasnāt necessarily uncommon for western
localized projects at the time, and certainly isnāt any worse than other Square games,
but because the script is so massive I found myself noticing it a little more than I remember
in other titles. This is by no means a game breaking problem,
and considering it was all done by one person I actually think Honeywood performed a small
miracle that deserves praise. For the most part the script feels intelligently
written and appropriately composed for the tone the game is going for, which is what
matters most to me. In service to that tone, the music and sound
design are also expertly crafted. One of my favorite aspects of the game is
actually how punchy the sound design is, which makes the deathblow attacks feel immensely
satisfying. The music though, is what some players Iāve
spoken with consider to be the gameās most impressive feature While I agree itās wonderful, I must admit
that I still think thereās one glaring problem with the soundtrackā¦ there just isnāt
enough music here for such a long game. For a comparison, the average playtime to
complete Final Fantasy VIIās story is just under 40 hours, and the soundtrack for that
game contains 85 tracks. Xenogears on the other hand, takes 56 hours
to complete the main story, yet only has 44 tracks. This means that a game with a story that is
roughly 25%-30% longer has half the number of songs to draw from, which unfortunately
leads to a lot of repetition, something I found both fatiguing and sometimes immersion
breaking. There are one or two instances where the reuse
of a song is not only tiresome but also just completely wrong for the context of the scene
in my opinion. The footage youāre seeing now of an enemy
gear transformation during a pivotal boss fight is strangely accented by a hopeful,
almost joyous melody that had come earlier in the game during an important character
moment. This is clearly not meant to be used as leitmotif,
and is likely just the result of having no other music to draw from, but it is a great
example of how quickly music can become associated with specific characters, themes, and moments
in a story, and how misusing that theme later on can do a lot to hurt the delivery of important
narrative beats. This of course is no fault of the composerās,
but rather of the event planners and director, beckoning back to my criticism of how the
game as a whole was mismanaged. Yasunori Mitsuda did a remarkable job with
the time he was given, and even to the admission of Takahashi, really made the cohesion of
the gameās various parts possible. During a time when he felt that the game simply
wasnāt coming together in the way he had envisioned, Takahashi saw that once Mitsudaās
music was in place everything began to move closer to what he had been conceptualizing. āYasunori is one of the people who heavily
supported me in Xenogears. Without his music, the game would have been
a lot worse than our goal. My determination wouldnāt have continued
either. This soundtrack holds everything that enhanced
me and this project.ā To that end I definitely agree. When the music is used right (which to be
fair is a majority of the time - especially early on), itās absolutely magnificent. It unifies and brings the gameās messages
into clearer focus, delivering the emotional impact that is both crucial and appropriate
for the subject matter. Itās the kind of music that has a long lasting
effect; that will stay with you throughout the day and cause you to think about the game
even when you arenāt playing it. To put it simply: itās effective, so much
so that despite the fact that it can become repetitive, I still think itās one of the
best soundtracks Mitsuda has ever produced. If nothing else, it certainly has more weight
and maturity than the Chrono Trigger soundtrack, even if I like that soundtrack a little more
overall. This did not come without a repercussions,
however. Just as was the case with Chrono Trigger,
Mitsuda worked at the cost of his health on Xenogears. āThe developing took time as I predicted,
and I had the most difficult time. I anticipated it, of course, because I was trying to do beyond what I had done. I often thought āAgh! I canāt do this anymore!ā followed by
ā..no! I CAN do this! I must!ā and advanced little by little everyday... Creating something out of nothing requires
the most power. I havenāt done anything but composing, but
I think the same thing could be applied to anything. I often wonder āWhy am I doing such a painful
thing?ā During his time at Square, this was simply
the way that Mitsuda operated. After Chrono Trigger, he worked on Radical
Dreamers, Front Mission: Gun Hazard, and Tobal No. 1 before Xenogears, and on each one of
those projects he suffered significant health complications due to stress from overworking. While he had told Square upon being hired
that he considered this job a stepping stone to something greater, Iām sure that his
desire to take better care of himself also played a part in why he decided to leave the
company after finishing Xenogears. āBy the way, this should not be viewed as
an expression of my love of music, because honestly I was making up for a lack of skill. In any case, I clearly was not allowing myself
enough time between work to allow my body to recover. As a result, by the end of each project I
invariably was rushed to the hospital. (laugh) Having suffered through those experiences,
I now place a higher priority on maintaining good health. In particular, I take care of what I eat,
and though I once was a heavy smoker, I've since given up the habit.ā He returned in a freelance position to compose
Chrono Cross for Square, but since then he's not worked with them on a single project. He did, however, work with Takahashi again
on the first Episode of Xenosaga. While Xenogears is clearly focused first on
story, the gameplay mechanics are actually quite unique and overall fairly satisfying. In terms of exploration, the world is designed
in full 3D, and the player is given freedom to pivot the camera while looking for hidden
paths and treasure. For the most part this works beautifully,
but there were a number of times when I felt like I couldnāt get a very good look at
where I was and what was around me due to large objects high above the ground that obstructed
my view. There are also a number of areas that can
be rather confusing to navigate because everything in the environment looks so similar. Hallways and doors and more hallways that
are essential carbon copies of each other can make getting through certain dungeons
really arduous, but from a design and world building standpoint these decisions actually
make perfect sense. There are also some platforming elements that
many players hate. I donāt personally feel theyāre as bad
as a lot of people make them out to be, but the controls certainly donāt feel very tight,
so I can understand why a lot of people struggled during these sections. The battle system is certainly where the gameplay
feels a bit more refined. The classic turn based system of past rpgs
from Square is accented with a button combo component that feels reminiscent of many 2D
fighters of the early 90s if not also a great deal simpler. In essence, while the command menu is basically
the same as what you would expect from any other jrpg, the attack command doesnāt just
send the character into an automatic, generic melee animation. Rather, once selecting the attack command
the player then has a certain number of 'moves', represented by ability points, that can be
performed depending on the characterās level. At low levels characters only get three ability
points per turn, which can be used by selecting either triangle, square, or x. Triangle is
a weaker attack, but only uses one ability point, which in this example means it could
be used three times per round. Square is slightly stronger, but has a lower
chance of success and requires two ability points. X is the strongest attack of the three, but
has the lowest hit percentage and requires three ability points. This seems simple enough at first, but it
actually goes a lot deeper than that, and most of it isn't fully explained within the
game itself. Basically the way the system works is that
each time you perform one of these attacks, the game is keeping track behind the scenes
and accumulating a hidden form of experience that goes into locking deathblows. Deathblows are powerful, visceral attacks
that require specific combo inputs, but before you can perform a deathblow you have to unlock
it. Unlocking deathblows requires gaining experience
from inputting specific combinations of the triangle, square, and x comands. For example, there are actually four different
animations for the triangle attack, hereās what they look like performed in sequence. Iāll refer to each of these four triangle
attacks as T1, T2, T3, and T4. The square attack has two animations, which
Iāll refer to as S1, and S2. X only has one animation so that one's pretty
easy. What this leaves us with are seven different
experience pools, and each of those needs to be focused on when unlocking deathblows. Essentially what you have to do is gain experience
not only in T1, but also in T2, T3, and T4 to unlock certain deathblows. Youāll also need to gain experience in both
S1, and S2 if you want to unlock others. So for instance, weāll take Feiās Kakei
deathblow, which is executed by inputting triangle, square, triangle, and x. To unlock this deathblow, you would need to
obtain a set amount of experience in T1, S2, T3, and X. To unlock Suikei, which is executed by inputting
square, triangle, triangle, and x, you would need to accrue experience in S1, T2, T3, and
X. None of this is explained in the game, which
can lead to progress in learning new deathblows feeling erratic or random. Itās also important to understand that while
you may have gathered all the experience you need to unlock your next deathblow, there
are still level requirements that will keep them sealed for low level characters. Once you understand how it all works though,
unlocking deathblows becomes a lot less tedious, and itās always a satisfying feeling to
finally put a new deathblow youāve unlocked to useā¦ because these moves are freaking
awesome! Another really cool thing you can do is cancel
your turn when it comes up, which actually takes all the AP from that turn and stores
it for your next turn. By canceling for multiple turns in a row,
you can build up a great deal of AP, then decide to unleash it all in one round by stringing
multiple deathblows together, which can be very useful against enemies that automatically
counter deathblow attacks. Itās seriously so satisfying to unleash
a bunch of your most powerful attacks all at once for ridiculous damage, especially
against some of the gameās toughest bosses. In addition to this though, you have gear
battles, which function a little differently from the standard ones. In the gears you have a fuel gauge which is
depleted as you use your triangle, square, and x commands; and deathblows only become
available as you unlock them on foot for each of your characters. On top of this, you have to build up your
attack level in order to use the more powerful deathblows in the gears. A lot of these smaller intricacies either
arenāt explained very well, or simply arenāt explained at all in the game but with enough experimentation, or a quick visit to gamefaqs, itās not terribly
difficult to understand and it's a lot of fun in practice. My favorite aspect of the battle system was
the importance of equipment and accessories for the gears. There were certain fights where I got completely
obliterated on my first attempt, but by paying attention to the types of attacks the boss
used, and equipping my gears accordingly, I found myself having a much easier time. Thereās also a lot of strategy in how the
player chooses to upgrade the gears, with certain parts greatly increasing attack power
but also providing a very low fuel gauge. Other parts would greatly increase your fuel
gauge, but would only slightly increase attack power, which puts the player in a position
to choose whether they want to go all out and finish a boss quickly before running out
of fuel, or playing more conservatively and taking their time. This ability to take several approaches to
battle leaves room for experimentation and different strategies, which makes
the more important battles rewarding. One could certainly argue that the standard
battles arenāt as stimulating, and donāt require the same level of strategy due to
the fact that each deathblow the player unlocks more or less makes the last one obsolete,
but there are a few of them that have elemental damage attached, which comes in handy against
a small number of fights late in the game where elemental weaknesses can be exploited. Xenogears is an incredibly unique and deeply
introspective game with lots of great ideas, but unfortunately it didnāt have the time
or resources required to see those ideas come together in a complete, adhesive fashion. Much like the shattered mirror imagery that
so perfectly characterizes the gameās central message, the experience of playing also feels
fractured; but while certain aspects of the game left me feeling frustrated, I canāt
overstate how satisfied I was overall despite those grievances. The delivery of the story (especially on disc
2) feels clumsy and rushed, but the content of that story is so fascinating that I found
myself willing to forgive it. There are enough of the battle mechanics left
unexplained that it can make things a little confusing, but the ideas behind all those
mechanics were interesting enough to keep me engaged. The design of certain areas feels so samey
that it can become easy to get lost, but being able to swing the camera opens up a lot of
possibilities for exploration, and like I mentioned earlier, often these design choices
made sense from a narrative standpoint. Iāve heard several players positing the
theory that due to the gameās themes, these miscues might have been intentional, and that
the feeling of incompleteness actually makes the game more powerful and endearing (more
human even) than it would have felt otherwise. Iāll allow Tetsuya Takahashi to speak for
himself on this. āIt is now 6 months since Xenogears was
released. Looking back on it, there are things that
appear rushed and I must admit sheepishly, make me a little embarrassed.ā I find it hard to believe that he would feel
sheepish or embarrassed like this if it was done intentionally. Additionally though, if the game had been
given more time to deliver the story in a consistent way, would its messages really
have felt less impactful? Would a greater sense of completeness really
diminish its humanity? I for one donāt believe so, which is why
I feel that this game, more than any other Iāve played, would benefit so much from
being remade; this time being given the proper support and resources it deserves. However, whether or not a hypothetical remake
is ever approached by Square, I must emphasize again that even in its original form Xenogears
is a wonderful game that I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of old school jrpgs. Despite all of its imperfections, it left
a profound impression on me, and like I said earlier, inspired research and discussion
on a level that surprised me. It is layered and complex in its philosophical
content, keen and effective in its emotional power, and ultimately fun to play a majority
of the time. It has an endearing cast of characters, unforgettable
set pieces and scenarios, and some genuinely effective twists. Itās an experience that once it sets its
hooks in you is difficult to walk away from. and itās one that Iāll not easily forget.
Despite it's many, many, many flaws, Xenogears is probably my favorite game. I'm glad to see it get some attention and respect.
It's time for an HD remaster and/or a true sequel. I really wish Square would sell this franchise over to Monolith.
[removed]
MGSV Phantom Pain, half of the game without proper ending. When devs of Xenogears run out of funds they at least tied up everything storywise with more or less satisfactory ending. Kojima made players repeat all missions and left some tapes to listen to.... Still dont understand how MGSV was received so well by gamers, I was just left fumming after so called 2nd "Chapter".
This game is such a rich experience to play. It deserves a play through by everyone. Even though disc 2 has less game play, I was glued to the screen due to the story and was able to overlook any flaws. Xenogears set a standard that makes it hard for me to play other JRPG titles.
What's the best way to play Xenogears now? I tried on my Vita, but the screen was really small probably due to the 4:3 Aspect Ratio.
This thread is like a Stockholm Syndrome convention. I finally played this after years of people saying it's the best JRPG ever.
It's not even top three on it's console. You people are fucking crazy.