QueenLyssa's Full Review: Xenogears for PlayStation 1
Squaresoft's rpg epics are legendary and I've never met one I didn't like. This includes Xenogears. As usual, the wide variety of characters gave you a choice of ones you liked and ones you didn't. The storyline was deep and the philosophical questions intriguing.
Although by current standards of Final Fantasy VIII and the upcoming Final Fantasy IX, the animation is low-key, the artwork is nonetheless impressive and attractive. The soundtrack is also one of the best, with great mood music for the varied cities and areas you visit.
The game does have its faults, however. The dialogue is overdone by a longshot. At times you are lulled to sleep and stop paying attention and miss what may be a vital bit of information hidden in conversations that are repetitive and not extremely interesting. There are long periods when you are forced to play certain party combinations and if its with characters you don't care for, it can get painful. The jumps and mazes are perhaps a bit more challenging than they need to be for an RPG and can lead to frustration.
Add to this the romance plot, which is entirely sappy in this one. Unfortunately, it's forced upon you for long periods in which you must endure the two least interesting characters in the game whining at each other. Fei and Elly were not particularly well thought out, and make a sudden and unexplained leap in maturity towards the middle of the game that will leave you wondering if its still the same characters. And Squaresoft saw fit to suddenly switch to narration of the plot by these two characters rather than roleplay in Disc 2, a story method that becomes extremely boring, especially when they both keep saying the same thing.
If you can endure this, however, you will find some of the most intriguing characters Squaresoft has put out surrounding these two. By far the best is Citan Uzuki, a man with so many mysteries surrounding him he steals the show as you work to uncover the real him. Bart Fatima and Billy Lee Black are also well-written and entertaining. Minor characters like Sigurd Harcourt and Jesiah Black also keep your interest and give you something to look forward to while you scroll bleary eyed through Fei and Elly's conversations.
Overall, the game is worth the buy, but you'll find yourself most likely only replaying Disc 1 and jumping to a save late in the game from Disc 2 to play out the ending.
Xenogears provides the elements that made Final Fantasy VII popular, and adds original features such as giant fighting robot action, dramatic hand-dra...More at eBay
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