Xenogears - Full Review

I actually finished Xenogears over a month ago, and it took a while to digest it. As I said in my previous review of the first 20 hours (of about 60), the game is extremely linear--there are almost NO SIDEQUESTS. And the game only gets even more linear in a bizarre and unprecedented narrative shift, where the actual plot is told to the player in an incredible bombardament of text. The popular internet connotation "TL;DR" [Too long; Didn't Read] is surprisingly accurate. The shift in delivery is a major turn-off when it first hits the player, but ultimately I have come to believe that it was necessary in order to cram all of the things that Xenogears wants to say into the game.

I do not want to spoil the game for those of you who may want to play it, and this may be what some consider blasphemous, but Xenogears is even better than Final Fantasy 9 (my favorite Final Fantasy). The plot, characters, and themes are that strong, and they greatly resonate with who I am as a person and what I believe. The game was almost not going to be published in the United States because of what it dealt with.

I spent $30 on this PS1 game, and I think it is worth far more than that. I was actually sad when I had finished it, because I had enjoyed it so much.

I realize this review is incredibly short, but there isn't much else to say about it if I'm not going to mention the plot. If I did, your jaw may hit the floor, but still the plot would be spoiled. I'm actually of the opinion that Xenogears is at once the most ambitious and the most beautiful game Square-Enix/Squaresoft has ever produced. Surely, though the graphics have not aged well unless you use texture smoothing, the depth of the plot, the meaning of the plot, and the character development is something I cannot at present describe.

The only major drawbacks to the game are if the enormous walls of text would bore you (it shouldn't if you care about the plot and characters), and the intensely frustrating Babel Tower--the jumping mechanics in the game are extremely flawed. Also, navigating the final dungeon (which seems much more labyrinthine than it actually is) the first time is frustrating. Learning characters' deathblows is also a chore, as I have yet to figure out exactly how characters learn new deathblows. Of course, you only need to know Fei's, Citan's, and Elyham's deathblows. And their Gear deathblows are learned automatically as you progress in the game. Lastly, spend the time to level F, C, & E to 80, though grinding is tedious and boring, because you will need the cash. I ended up with 3-4 million Gold, and I still needed more for Gear parts.

Xenogears receives an A+: If you can wade through the frustrating segments, you will be rewarded handsomely.