Xenogears - Review

The Cherry on Top

By: Zohar Gilboa

Review Breakdown
Battle System	8
Interface	9
Music/Sound	10
Originality	8
Plot	10
Localization	8
Replay Value	5
Visuals	8
Difficulty	Normal
Time to Complete	60-80 hours
Overall
Criteria

   Xenogears is one of the more controversial games Squaresoft has created. With a heavy religious theme, it managed to upset a couple of people when it came out in 1998. For example, the appearance of the evil Ethos (simply called "Church" in the Japanese version) who, while having many churches around the world, uses the people for its own purposes. Regardless, it remains one of my favorite RPGs right up there with Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy Tactics, mainly because of its excellent storyline.

   The battle system is interesting, though some find it tedious. It's turn-based battle with a twist - there are actually two battle systems in the game - the gear one and the human one. When in human form, you have three types of attacks differing in strength. You can do combinations of attacks in a way that is similar to the battle system of Legend of Legaia. Your limitation is your "AP" which rises as you level up (to a maximum of 7 APs). Your APs are recovered fully each turn, you can accumulate APs over a few turns to act out powerful chains of combos. A weak blow is 1 AP, medium is 2 APs and a strong blow (which can miss sometimes) is 3 APs. In the gears you can charge your attack power until you're able to execute a powerful move. The gear battles are restricted by fuel, which runs out slowly as you fight. There are also various spells each character has, in human as well as gear form. I believe that the inventory is limited, but I never had to use all of the available space. Also, all three characters in your party may use any item. You can equip a weapon for a character (unless the character doesn't use a weapon) as well as three accessories. Some accessories can affect your gear status. The reason why I don't find the battles bothersome is that they are acted out quickly and effectively. I, at least, learned in no time a simple way to beat each creature.

"Pretty!"

The only trouble were bosses, most of them aren't too tough. It is difficult to die in Xenogears, your only problem is fuel management when you are in dungeons designed for gears. I don't think the game is too difficult. There are a couple of battles that are tough and can be beaten with a little bit of strategy. At worst, you can log onto the net and read an FAQ.

   Xenogears' gameplay is excellent. It was the first game ever to give me a real feeling of being in a town when I entered it (using sprites over 3D polygons, much like many strategy RPGs). Never before have I been able to roam through a crowded desert city or an industrial capital. The menu system was interesting-looking, however the load time of the memory card is too long, and there are no configuration options (except for mono or stereo sound). One of the bigger drawbacks of the game is that the text speed is slow (you can't change the text speed). In dungeons you have random enemy encounters. There is also a compass to help you go through complicated areas. You gain money simply by winning battles. Sometimes you get rare items after battles which you can only sell in certain towns. Those are usually the fastest way to gain money. Even though the gameplay lacks in some areas, it excels in the navigation through towns, which is why I gave it such a high rating.

   The music in the game is fabulous. There are a few main themes repeated throughout the game but it doesn't sound repetitive at all. It is worth listening to on its own. The game also has an arranged CD (not in the actual game), which is one of the best I've ever heard. The sound is fair. Nothing spectacular but it is much nicer to concentrate on the battle animations than the variou