Xenogears is one of the few games that have taken my breath away. But it's the only game that has stolen my heart ^_^
Maybe I'll retype this sometime in the distant future. For now, though, I will simply mourn the things I did six years ago.
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Kappagoddess' 12-year-old self's review of the game Xenogears
(Which she honestly dubs far too painful to read now)
It all started early February of this year. My brother has been telling me to play Xenogears since late December, and I regret not playing it sooner, as I am already 8 years too late, and I've been missing out on one of the best experiences of my entire life. I put off playing it because the title didn't appeal to me too much, and I thought, it would be boring. But how wrong I was! After two months of thinking if I should play it or not, I decided to play. I took out my PS, inserted the disc, took a deep breath, and turned the power on. Sat down on my chair, and watched the intro. The thumping drum beat, the beautiful display of light as the huge "X" came in and turned into the word that I would be saying most for a really long time, up to now, Xenogears. Although I thought the intro was cool, I wasn't really convinced. After I pressed new game, and was waiting for the clips to start, I thought that, whatever I'm getting into now, I might as well get to it. After the clips, (which gave me the whole, oh kewlie! Star wars and crud.) I went on and pondered what the text that followed meant. It didn't seem clear then, but it does now. So forward march and onward with the rest of the review.
Storyline.... 12/10
That doesn't seem very likely, but it is. The storyline of Xenogears is a tough, complex one, and even though it is quite complicated (some can't understand it until their 3rd play through), it MAKES you keep going, as it just has so many plot twists and turns. The story of Xenogears can be quite boring at times (or so they say. I haven't gotten myself to agree), but I think otherwise. The storyline is quite mature, with quite a bit of religiousness thrown in, although it doesn't make it any less brilliant (credits to Mr. Takahashi, and all the kewl people down at square-enix for creating this awesome game in the first place ((although, sadly, mostly everyone who worked on Xenogears has left the team..;_;)) ). Xenogears' storyline is a work of art in itself and is one storyline that has become one of my favorites and didn't have to exert any effort to make its way to the very top.
But with a great storyline comes great characters. All of the characters in Xenogears were created uniquely and were fully and wonderfully developed. Each of these characters has a special storyline that reveals their truth, their secrets, and their past. Okay, that doesn't sound TOO original, but who ever said that I was the world's greatest writer??? ^_^. Game play….10/10
The….Battle….System….
The….AP…….Combos…
The….Deathblows……
KABOOM!
I tell you, the battle system is one of the coolest things to hit my PS. The AP combos are the coolest. See, you gather these things called AP while fighting, and if you use weaker attacks, you lose less AP. Now, when the AP bar is full (which is when it gets to 28), or at least when you get to the desired amount, you simply go over to the combo menu, select as many deathblows as your saved AP can take, and just enter. When that's through, now you can go, POW! SPLAT! KABLAMMEY! Okay, that wasn't too original as well, but believe me; you will enjoy that once you get to try (just wait 'till you get to the elemental deathblows!). Oh, I'm sorry, if you have no idea of what deathblows are, then let me tell you. They are special attacks and moves that instantly spell death for your opponents (depending on the way you use them, and how strong your opponents are.), especially if you use the AP combo system…. ^^. But otherwise, the character control is smooth, the controls are easy enough to learn, and everything else is pretty sweet. Don't forget the minigames as well! They rocked hard!!! ^_^
Graphics…. 9/10
Okay, Square didn't do too good a job here, but considering that Xenogears was created in 1998, you'll have to admit, the graphics WERE quite stunning. The mechs, or gears, were animated well, and the characters looked nice, the face portraits were amazing! But who could forget the stunning hand-drawn anime? XD God, that was beautiful. I fell in love with the anime; they gave cut scenes so much character… although the dubbing was horrid. Meh, I guess that's life. Oh yeah, Square also tried out a camera control thing, where you can rotate the map so the fussy camera views wouldn't ruin your precious game play (I use that whenever I'm talking to a person, and it makes it look a lot more dramatic.).
Sound….8/10
Now, don't get me wrong here… it was nice that the sound fit every situation, it's just, the voice dubbing wasn't good. Okay, screw that thought. IT SUCKED! The voices suited the characters FINE but during the anime cut scenes…well, let's just say that the mouth didn't move with the words… which is sad…but I don't think they had much of a budget…so.
Music….20/10
BEAUTIFUL MUSIC. JUST ETERNALLY BEAUTIFUL. Almost every track has become my favorite, and most will have you sniffing the first time you hear it. I tell you, Yasunori Mitsuda is an awesome genius… he is the best composer evarr. I'm saving up all my money to go and buy all the versions of the soundtrack and head over to Japan and get Mr. Mitsuda to sign them. I mean, who could forget, "The Treasure Which Cannot Be Stolen"? or "Ship of Regret and Sleep"? "Gathering Stars in the Night Sky" was gorgeous... The songs have moved and inspired me to go and write stories and poems and crap...its just really beautiful... and I'm about to go and head over to my piano in a minute to play a bunch of songs because i feel the utter need to recreate the music, although it wont be as wonderfully awesome...
And so………
I hope you liked reading my review, and I am wishing that it got you to go and rush to the nearest store and get yourself a copy. If you want nostalgia, and a lot of it, go ahead and play this game. Or, for those who stopped playing because they thought it was boring and they weren't even through HALF the disc, *ahem*you know who you are*ahem* you should slap yourself so hard that a big red mark appears on your face, and ask for forgiveness. Okay then, so that just about wraps it up for Kappagoddess' review, and I hope you've pondered what I have worked so very hard on. Oh yeah, by the way, you can go ahead and pm me any time because I need other people to talk to, as I am extremely bored most of the time…and I need you to go and share your comments with me…alright, I've gotta fly right now, so thanks for reading!!! ^_^