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XENOGEARS
SCPS 45170-1
Copyright © 1998 Square
Sony PlayStation, 1 player
Genre
1 memory block/save
Availablility
¥6800
—by Rika Takahashi
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While SquareSoft USA was busy pushing polygons for
PARASITE EVE,
the developers in Japan were busy putting their finishing touches
on a game that started development right alongside FINAL
FANTASY VII. In mid-February the two-CD game XENOGEARS hit the shelves with the catch phrase
"God Only Knows" and soon led many players into a new type of
adventure.
The game starts with a stunning full motion video sequence
that feels rather reminiscent of NEON GENESIS
EVANGELION. It starts by quoting Revelations 1:8, "I am the
Alpha and the Omega... who is, and who was, and who is to come, the
Almighty."
Most cutscenes in the game are rendered using the
in-game graphics.
Unfortunately, they often use pixilated enlargements of the sprite
characters, making the screen look grainy. However, a few key points
are drawn in the anime style like the opening movie, complete with
spoken dialogue.
The characters walk, run, and jump through a series of fully
rotatable maps—sometimes the characters are very small, to depict
the extreme enormity of the maps. The menu has a clean format and easy
controls. However, it takes a little longer than is desirable to switch
between menu screen and the playing field. The File option in the menu
screen has a great feature: it allows the player to do all the usual
memory card functions as well as saving the game, as long as the player
wants to wait for the system to check memory cards before each and
every operation.
Battles are on a weighted turn system similar to FINAL FANTASY TACTICS. Each character's turn consists
of a set number of Activity Points (AP), where the player can choose
any number of attacks using 1-3 AP per attack. As the characters fight,
they will learn special combos that do significantly more damage for
more AP (4-7). Any unused AP
at the end of the turn become "stored
AP" which can be reused for combining special
combos. The largest
feature of battles in XENOGEARS, however, has to
be the battles in the "gears." Each character's gear/mecha is given a
fixed amount of fuel as well as hit points depending on their tune-up.
The player must fight with the fuel level in mind, as any physical
attacks while on a gear cost fuel.
The plot is full of what we expect from an RPG these days:
meetings and partings, loyalty and betrayal, ulterior motives and acts
of kindness, love and hatred. However, the method of storytelling is
unique. During the first disk, the player roams all over the land,
leaving many plot questions unanswered despite the many events he sees.
Then, most of the second disk concentrates on explaining all the
questions and telling the whole story using monologues. (A friend of
the reviewer noted, "It's just like the last 2 TV episodes of EVANGELION!") This keeps fighting to a
minimum—other than bosses, there are only 3 mandatory dungeons in
the second disk. Since the second disk is massively text-intensive, if
you do not have a solid knowledge of Japanese, your Japanese-English
dictionary becomes your best friend in revealing the mysteries.
Another thing of particular note is that the overall story has a very
religious tone, as illustrated in the beginning of the opening sequence.
The story revolves partially around the "creation" of humans on that
land, their evolution, the role of the Church to preserve the current
state, the beliefs of those who oppose the Church, and the identity of
their God.
The music is very fitting to the general atmosphere of the
game. The main field music has a Celtic feel, and is very easy to
listen to. Town-specific musical pieces have unique flavors as well.
For example, when you are in a desert town of Ave province, the music
gives a Middle-Eastern feel; and when the metallic sounds of the
harpsichord combine with rich vocal choirs, the resulting sounds
provide a relaxing background for the impressive cathedral at Nisan.
Important events can be noted by recurring themes, but the player does
not get tired of listening because they use more than one (depending on
the type of event).
Overall, the game is well worth the money and time spent
playing it. There were a few minor difficulties in the menu screens,
but the dense plot and the beautiful music make up for
it. 
Rating: **** out of 4 |
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