X
- T
- Square EA
- T
- Square EA
- T
- Square EA
- T
- Square EA
Xenogears
PlayStation
Released On: Oct 20, 1998
84
9.1
All Platforms
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
84
93% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
84
93% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Combining good action, dark drama, a splash of anime, and lots of Really Big Robots, this game is the must-buy Playstation RPG of the season... Square's greatest masterpiece since it started producing for Playstation, and I highly recommend this game to anyone who's even heard of "Final Fantasy."
With an intricate storyline, beautifully designed characters and mechs, and some of the most innovative features in an RPG, you simply can't afford to pass this game up.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 397 User Ratings
9.1
92% Positive
364 Ratings
364 Ratings
3% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
6% Negative
22 Ratings
22 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 397 User Ratings
9.1
92% Positive
364 Ratings
364 Ratings
3% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
6% Negative
22 Ratings
22 Ratings
It has its rough sides in terms of character diversity, but the few developed ones (i.e. Fei, Elly, and Bart) are excellent and Fei particularly is probably the best character I've ever seen in a video game. The antagonists are fantastic (i.e. Grahf, Myyah, Ramsus, Id, and Deus) and the under-developed characters such as Billy have solid groundwork even if nothing was done with them after their respective arcs.
The themes possess a diversity, depth, and wealth of implications par excellence covering Gnosticism, the philosophy of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung (some of Jacques Lacan, too), Karballah, Judeo-Christian mythology, and more in addition to a wealth of social themes with the aforementioned inspirations often added onto them (e.g. the Master-Morality of Solaris contra the Slave-Morality of the land-dwellers which explores a master-slave dialectic marked by slavery, Machiavellianism, brain-washing, and more), creating a deeply inspired story in which each component is beautifully interlaced with one another.
Report
PlayStation
I played through this in my early 20s when it first came out. I was so obsessed with this game that I took my PS1 with me when I traveled for work. To this day, I compare every action/rpg to it. I hope someday we get a remaster. I would love to enjoy this game again with updated visuals and sound, and it's theme is still as relevant as ever.
Report
PlayStation
Xenogears' reliance on story, subtlety, and mood make it Square's most anime-like RPG thus far, in many ways making the game one of its best.
An extremely popular anime-style role-playing game of epic proportions. [Jan 2004, p.189]
Playing this game is kind of like getting into a good book. The first few hours may be boring or even painful, but once you get into it, you'll be up until the wee hours of the morning flipping pages (or pressing buttons) trying to find out what happens next. And let me tell you - the story is first-rate and the plot gets thicker than a pint of Guinness straight from the tap.
A deep, long (70 hours!), story-driven RPG that tackles some of the weightier issues out there... Yet another winner from Squaresoft. [Nov 2001, p.54]
A relentlessly slow plot, plodding dialogue, and the unfortunate fumble of the robot interfaces's potential keeps Xenogears out of that stratosphere enjoyed by its far superior cousin, "Final Fantasy VII."
This game continues to explode my mind even after so many years. Considerably the best game, best RPG and best plot that i've plkayed in my whole life, just got offuscated by FFVII because squarealways will favour their main franchise other than deep meaning and great character development.
Xenogears brings matters as religion, psychology, ethics, politics and sociology and existencial debates as a prime discussion all over its history and to this day no other game from a majhor company brought such heavy and meaningfull discussion to the table.
If you want to dive into some good history do not hesitate. and avoid peopletalking bad about 2nd CD, the gameplay is reduced because of budget issues, but there were no cuts in the history and the plot is in its integrity in it.
Definetly worth the time spent,I play anbd finish the game at least once per year in my channel.
Report
PlayStation
Report
PlayStation
I played Xenogears right after beating Chrono Cross, Grandia, Breath of Fire 3 and 4, and my expectations were very high because of all the positive reviews about this game. Unfortunately I caught myself on thinking "when will this be over". I just couldn't force myself to finish last 30% of the game (major disappointment starting with disk 2).
Gear combat is boring and fuel management system in my opinion is probably the worst mechanic in Xenogear. I almost never used ether in this game, because it almost never did any difference, and physical combos always hit harder.
Non gear combat seemed fun at first, but got boring pretty soon, because after you learn a few deathblows it just comes to repeating them again and again, because there's no reason to use weak attacks.
Playing as different characters seemed like a cool idea, but in the end it comes to leveling up only main characters, because they are the ones who take the beating most of the time so have to be strongest.
Many people praise music. After 50 hours, I vaguely remember any tunes from the game, even though they repeat very often.
Yes, plot is interesting, though too complex at times even for me as an adult. Cut scenes are directed well (except Disk 2 which feels like an addon). There's no option to speed up dialogues unfortunately for those who read faster than text appears.
In the end, I wish I could get more from this game, because it has potential to be great. But it never hits each mark 100%.
Report
PlayStation
Fighting in a gear is fun but thats all what is special in xenogears. The plot my be good but it is so unbelievable bad paced. The first CD is slow like anything else and the second CD is just skipping from one scene to another, while the main character sits on the chair and tells you what happened and what the group did and where they did go. Thats ridicilous. The battle system is average having minor plus for the gear fighting.Srsly maybe it could have been great game if square had not rushed with the game but it did not turned out to be.
Report
PlayStation
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
Report
PlayStation
Summary A mysterious organization is turning the tides of a century-long war with ancient technology - giant combat robots known as Gears. A failed attempt to steal one of these powerful weapons places it in the unwilling hands of young Fei and his dubious allies. Now he is pursued by military governments, royal pirates, spies, the emperor, and ...
Rated T
for Teen
Platforms:
- PlayStation
Initial Release Date: Oct 20, 1998
Developer:
- SquareSoft
Publisher: Square EA
Genres:
