Tell me about Xenogears

I read an article about the game in the latest Gameinformer and it really piqued my interest. I'm a huge jrpg fan, but I've never played it. What's the story like, the combat, side quests? Is there a world map to explore?

1) The story is easily the best part of Xenogears. You must pay attention because some things can be a bit confusing. Some scenes don't even make sense till the later parts of the game. It deals with stuff from Judeo-Christian mythos, the Kabbalah, psychology, existentialism etc.

2) The combat is turn based. You use AP to pull off weak, medium and strong attacks. Save enough AP and you can use Deathblow attacks. It's not a very hard game and the only times you'd probably grind is to unlock more Deathblows.

3) Yes, the game has sidequests. A decent number of them, in fact. Be sure to check them out if you wanna learn more about the plot and characters.

4) And yes, the game has a world map to explore.

After you finish playing the game, search online for a translated copy of the Xenogears Perfect Works.

Awesome. How are the characters? Do any side quests revolve around character development?

@Ragnarok1051: Characters are great. Because the devs were running out of time, they had to cut out some story bits and some Gears (aka, the mechas in the game). Even then, character development is excellent. All your characters have most of their back story fleshed out over the course of the main storyline. Doing sidequests and reading Perfect Works will fill whatever gaps are there in the plot and character development.

I played Xenogears back in 2011 and I loved it to pieces! Cherish your time with the game. And for goodness sake, don't get the game spoiled for you.

Pretty much everything fend_oblivion said is spot on.

Though I'd disagree and say it is a bit difficult concerning turn-based RPGS, mainly because of the consecutive boss battles at times with no saving in between.