Xenogears is Unhinged

[@rpdt96]

Ah yes, Xenogears, the final boss of Video Game analyses.

[@timothyhill5140]

Its like the Venus De Milo of great and lost works. There's so much to say and each long video like this brings us closer to some kind of new content from Square Enix. Xenosaga is nothing like this game and should not be compared

[@destinyfr9787]

@@timothyhill5140 xenosaga is better

[@juliuscasar7202]

You guys realize thats only 1/20 ? Matthew and the Triforce will do a Dragon Quest for their Final Fantasy

[@pablohorst]

​@@destinyfr9787 you wish... story, combat, character development, everything in xenogears is better

[@destinyfr9787]

@@pablohorst how is character development better in xenogears when every character in xs gets developed over the three games and characters in ur party like billy, maria, chu chu and rico exist? the overall sotry of xenogears is a bit better or more interesting i think but thats foolish to say abt character dev

[@xevious21]

Xenogears lives rent free in my head. It's given me a lifelong friend I still hang out with since 9th grade in 2003. Definitely in my top 10 games of all time.

[@rizzo1215]

Literally the same!

[@noble61483]

Best story in a video game... period

[@brandinjohnson325]

Bought this game in ‘99. Till this day it is still my favorite JRPG of all time.

[@FalseNomen]

Since '98 or '99 for me, friend. Can't believe it's been that long. Truly the greatest.

[@attila2946]

I just started today and I'm blown away, this game is truly a gem.

[@pt_samurai474]

"The more I turn video games into a career, the more the frames smear." Damn, that hit different.

[@Dr.Meme-Man]

So I’m gonna say this while I’m early. For those that aren’t aware, there was an interview with Takahashi, Hashino and Eguchi surrounding Jrpgs. There was a segment early on in the interview where they talked about Xenogears and considered it a legend among the Japanese game industry.

[@cam9144]

And it most definitely is legendary!

[@zotanica]

What interview is it? And who are these you named(ik them probably but I can't remember their works, except for takahashi)

[@Dr.Meme-Man]

@@zotanica Satoshi Eguchi is responsible for producing or managing multiple anime projects and lps. While Katsura Hashino is a game dev at Atlus. Worked and directed several Shin Megami Tensai and Persona games.

[@zotanica]

@@Dr.Meme-Man oh okay appreciate that

[@recombinantgestalt]

Spoilers: Something I've always loved to death in this game is that scene where Elly tries to sacrifice herself to divert the bomb-ship. We see her do this same thing over and over in every life and she tries to do it again, with Fei too weak to save her. But Lacan, driven to seek the power he had needed to save Sophia, swoops in to save her. Even Lacan has a full character arc with pay-off.

[@ShallBePurified]

Takahashi totally reused this plot for Xenoblade 3 lol.

[@danielhadida3915]

@@ShallBePurified Takahashi can't get beyond Xenogears. The first Xenoblade has scenes that are basically copy-pasted form Xenogears.

[@vandalg282]

Literally the whole theme Xenogears, is being powerless to prevent loss. From Citan to Fei, they never get what they want, simply what they need to be stronger. Its bittersweet, and epic.

[@georgehatzimanolakis1904]

@@danielhadida3915 I'm ok with that, aren't u?

[@danielhadida3915]

@@georgehatzimanolakis1904No, I'm not. Dude keeps on telling the same story, except not as well.

[@KevinSkye1]

Before I start this video, one thing Xenogears taught me as a kid was if somebody is talking about something you don't care about. Just walk away until the dialogue bubble goes away, works every time.

[@SnakebitSTI]

If anything, it's because the director of Xenogears left Square. Square and now Square Enix have kept the SaGa series going since 1989. There's got to more to it than "Xenogears isn't Final Fantasy".

[@georgehatzimanolakis1904]

@SnakebitSTI oh there is way more to it, they are making a Mario rpg remaster, that's way older than xenogears, probably 10% of the staff from mario rpg are still there or less

[@SnakebitSTI]

@@georgehatzimanolakis1904 Wow, given the split IP ownership I never would have guessed that one. SaGa, Mana, Front Mission, Chocobo Mystery Dungeon, Live a Live, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross… I guess Square Enix hates Xenogears fans in particular lol.

[@georgehatzimanolakis1904]

@@SnakebitSTI well, I actually think the pool of people who want that game doesn't justify the enormity of the task. It would dwarf ff7r in size as a remake. Actually, it's story is probably far far far to complicated to make a remake because you have to remember that certain elements of Jacques Lacan, Carl Yung, Freud, and others were picked because of how the ps1 would be able to express them. I bet that if you made the game look really good, it would ruin certain aspects. For example, the battle scene, it goes from cracked glass to flowing water to start the scene. In a ps5, u wouldn't shift to a different scene for a fight. Also, there would probably be a harder time hidding ID's identity, re-creating a scene where ID picks up a submarine and breaks it in half I bet would be a bitch to do. I just don't think anyone wants to touch the most ambitious game in history with a 50 foot pole. I bet there enough fans to make an amazing fan made version though, I would kill for something like that.

[@SnakebitSTI]

@@georgehatzimanolakis1904 I'm going to have to invoke Poe's Law on that comment.

[@The_Pikaboi]

Its crazy how this game can be labeled as "Another rushed out unfinished game" yet is still a product far superior to many of its kind by sheer scope

[@glc_zashi9541]

As a kid, I realized they ran out of time half way through disc 2. Like a real oh shit moment. First time ever. But somehow totally understood and thought they did a WHOLE LOT of game before they had to rush it out.

[@DivineNaruto]

Because the second disk is rushed to all hell and the ideas/lore is presented but go beyond a info dump.

[@Ashamedofmypast]

I'd say it can't be labelled as such. It's just another example of an unfinished work that could have been. Like many other works that imploded under the ambition of the author. It was never rushed. Because even the parts one may call rushed are not representative of the intended whole. Even as an abridging

[@georgehatzimanolakis1904]

@michaelodonoghue7356 it's confusing to me how u r trying to explain it but it was absolutely rushed. Like, the higher ups told him to wrap it up

[@Ashamedofmypast]

@@georgehatzimanolakis1904 cool,

[@SwordsmanOrion]

This is my favorite RPG of all time bar none. I was just a teenager when I first played it, and I could never even begin to piece together the real full meaning of what I was playing. But even back then I could tell Xenogears was something more than other RPGs. There was always something about it that made me want to always learn more, always figure out more of what it was trying to say. As an adult I was able to study more about it, learn about the history of the game development, learn all about the full intention of the plot online, and it only made me love this game more and more. I never had issue with the combat, but I was playing every JRPG on the PS1 back then so maybe it was just par for the course to me at the time.

[@Unquestionable]

This is definitely up there for as far as RPGs go with only a few changes I would make to the experience a bit more engaging. It also help I played it back when I was in my last year of high school and aside from school had unlimited free time making some of the more painful dungeons merely a matter of effort.

[@xx_pit_xx8492]

Loved when Matthew (Xenoblade) discovered the xenogears after getting into contact with the conduit and said "it's xenogearing time" and xenogeared all over N

[@mylesobrien7477]

These were indeed, the Xenosagas

[@alexparker2432]

You forgot to mention he was full of beans all the while

[@erikochristy8161]

Seriously how can anyone still manage to find this meme funny?

[@mylesobrien7477]

@@erikochristy8161 From what I've heard it's caused by having a sense of humor and a desire to enjoy even simple dumb fun. Crazy I know.

[@Viper-py4pg]

@@erikochristy8161 sheeesh your priorities are that fcked up?

[@digitaldevilgirl]

This kinda embarassing to admit but I’ve been an atheist my whole life and I’d say I still am I think, but genuinely playing Xenogears when I was 17 like opened up some part of my brain that made me finally understand and appreciate spirituality and religion.

[@omensoffate]

How is it embarrassing ?

[@Unquestionable]

No shame in that, everyone has their own certain things that trigger those kinds of feels and introspection. I know the Xeno games have done similar to me along with stuff like Neon Genesis Evangelion. It's that questioning and look at the human condition through a weird lens that makes these sorts of works resonate with me.

[@neronerotico]

Not embarassing, that's just your choice. I say that as a christian myself.

[@Ghalion666]

Honestly I think alot of atheist's would have this happen more often if they listened to religious stuff with interest more often instead of the all-too-common 'huhu, imma show this dumbass why he's dumb' mindset. Not saying people should be religious if they aren't, but if you're not interested, don't waste everyone's time listening something with a pre-conceived notion of pointing out why it's foolish. There are lots of smart people out there, some religious, some aren't. But if you just up and assume all of them under one or the other's category is stupid and beneath interest, you're the one acting stupid (and I'm not talking about you directly here, just saying on principle). I'm not religious btw, I consider myself agnostic.

[@radicalantitheist]

@@omensoffate being an atheist is embarrassing, if you have any self respect call yourself agnostic.

[@Dethmaster64]

KBash is ready to grind my gears with this video

[@archithrough]

🥁📀

[@alexanderdubon6904]

Replace the like button with a 😂 and im golden

[@akabancopop]

Every time someone plays Xenogears for the first time and needs hours on KZbin to sort themselves out, the world is a better place lmao

[@georgehatzimanolakis1904]

Dude, deep and underrated

[@exidy-yt]

Well said and very true mon ami.

[@peen2804]

wow brother i cannot even ur so right bro 2 deep 5 me something something shallow generalized generic psychology references something something bro my mind done got blownt 2 bits LOL bro did u see da part where da game did a Young Carl bro Young Carl iz my fav phychologer so deep i cannot even bro wow trauma = deep bro I can’t believe fei did a trauma bro

[@exidy-yt]

@@peen2804someone's jealous and bitter this morning.

[@Aragorn7884]

Definitely _needs_ a remake or remaster 🥰

[@xevious21]

Hell, I'd take a directors cut

[@tecanec9729]

Or just a change to actually buy this game.

[@soulflame5635]

And made looking like Xenosaga 3 - would be so good. With great ES fights / battle system etc. With disk 2 realised properly.

[@exidy-yt]

I'd be over the moon happy with a completed second half of the game.

[@nebojsajaric184]

On one hand, I agree. On the other hand, I'm afraid they'll just ruin the damn thing and just make the original far less popular.

[@ds-vf3bl]

Xenogears is handsdown my favorite video game, I started with it on a demo disc I dont even remember getting, I played that continuously until I finally got to rent it at a hollywood video and I was captivated. Playing it as a kid i could use my imagination to fill in the blanks so the holes didnt bother me as much. That being said I love this video you perfectly conveyed all my frustrations and even added more contexts to things I wasnt even aware of almost 20 years later! Thank you Kbash for another amazing video

[@lpfan4491]

There was a demo?

[@SteveRudzinski]

​@lpfan4491 Yeah it came with Parasite Eve. It was awesome you play Fei in his village up to the mech battle. But Elly and Bart join you. When Fei mentions they are ruining the script they both say "Who cares it's just a demo' You also start the demo with all of your deathblows.

[@maraganger]

Absolutely love this vid, you really struck the perfect balance between fun, informative and true to yourself. Especially in the way you talked about Fei and Elly later on, very good shit !

[@aaronphelps9591]

Sweet. I didn't think I'd see you here. Love your videos they're great.

[@maraganger]

@@aaronphelps9591 Aw thank you !

[@BinaryDood]

Xenogears is about shattering, fragmenting. The fragmenting of history, of space, of psyche. And putting them back together. The game itself fragmented, imperfect, for the player to imagine those broken pieces together. Like Kintsugi, Xenogears is more beautiful for having been broken, it is powerful because and not despite its imperfections. By playing it, you glue with the filaments of gold as your mind puts together those pieces. More complete due its absence. Xenogear is trully a treasure which cannot be stolen.

[@lpfan4491]

And then some madman eventually gets rid of the imperfections and everyone lives heavily ever after, the end.

[@BinaryDood]

@@lpfan4491 "lives heavily" thats a good one

[@lpfan4491]

@@BinaryDood That was actually a Typo, lmao. Nice.

[@nohar9953]

Thanks for the shout out. Hyper literal translations are indeed a massive problem with a lot of fan projects and I feel we have gone out of our way to avoid this. Also, I hard agree with your points about Fei's dynamic with Krelian. A truly fascinating hero/villain relationship.

[@NikiWonoto26]

Xenogears is probably still the deepest & most philosophical game that I've ever known. It even changed my life to become more interested into philosophy. There is NO other game even today that has the same massive scale as this game. A true masterpiece.

[@jacobmonks3722]

I appreciate Xenoblade so much for exposing the Xeno series, and this game in particular, to so many people. I want this game to get the attention it deserves, because it is one of the most unique, complex, and legendary pieces of media ever made.

[@artoriuslima]

I already knew it was gonna be a great video, but the hobgoblin joke elevated it into legendary (I am gonna watch the whole thing because I love Kbash and Xenogears)

[@Ghalion666]

I forgot Blanka is the way he is because he's Brazillian.

[@TubeTAG]

In my opinion, the way Gnosticism and Gears are entertained really only happens at the very end. The gears represent the false power that is ultimately tied to the demiurge. However, Weltall and Fei never receive an anima relic, and thus maintain the narrow spiritual path until it culminates with him receiving the Xenogears, which is the only true path to the true god.

[@36inc]

I actually like that theyre pretty hamfisted- its makes some of us roll our eyes but like I was 9 when I played this- I have the full xenosaga games because of it. Do you think without mechs and anime tropes Id dig deep into the subject? we often see the game speaking at us rather than conversing with us because were at best talking at a screen if we do; which is hy that bluntness and layering feels tedious for you- but for me- it got me excited pretty much exclusively. quickly after this game Im adopting its curiosity and excitement to share. its not the art fully responsible for your feelings about it- its also the context of how you receive it.which is why I think reviewers seem to dislike these- a particularly jaded one say Adam sessler may even just think his audience is clearly behind him in school- accidentally adopting the energy they think the games telling them. what thats all about- is I have autism and 60+ hour ambition projects like this are basically made for me- it satisfies that hyperfocus while also placating to my need to organize something from chaotic states. you dont go for the big league chew when ya prefer icecream. of course the reviewers favorite games will be swift and elegant, and thats where the perspective split in media audiences truly comes from- were all simultaneously adopting what we see while imposing on it what we are aswell. an energy transfer as it were- like the Zohar.

[@samfivedot]

I first played this game when I was 12 and the most story-rich game I had ever played was Crash Bandicoot 2. So I was absolutely unprepared for Xenogears, and decades later I'm still reeling from it. It kickstarted my love of RPGs and I've spent the rest of my life trying to find another game that blew my mind the same way Xenogears did. So far nothing truly has. Maybe nothing ever will. It's easy to laugh now at how it sits you down and explains disassociative identity disorder to you, but as a kid that was the first time I'd ever heard of it (I was very proud that I'd been able to predict the Fei-is-Id twist just from piecing clues together). It was also how I learned about Gnosticism and Freudian psychology. Xenogears is a flawed game, but I'll always cherish it for how it expanded my world.

[@TyGuy9001]

When you hoo’d so loud the mic died I couldn’t stop laughing lol. Proud of you KBash, you da best

[@urbanasupernova562]

I feel like this game was an experience that shaped me as a person. It left a massive impact on my psyche, and honestly for that aspect alone I am grateful to it! A personal top 10 game 🔥

[@nauth123]

What makes me upset with new RPG tittles, is that they seem to aim towards the early days, the simplicity of smaller sprites instead of the more daring and complex looking RPG games of this era, i love the blend of Pixelart and 3D background that we see in FF Tatics, even Ragnarok Online and here with Xenogears

[@erikochristy8161]

It’s cuz they’re lazy and uninventive.

[@neronerotico]

Big budget games? Sure. Indies? Indies just don't have enough budget for that most of the time.

[@ataridc]

the ones that go for a retro style usually also have smaller budgets so they do the best with what they have

[@SteveRudzinski]

Even the 70% finished version of Xenogears still firmly places it as my favorite game of all time. Nothing has surpassed it in decades. The fully complete version would have been too powerful. I also love the combat system, still my favorite combat system in any RPG. Love those deathblows.

[@EugeneKurlikin]

When this came out I was a freshmen in HS. This game was very controversial. Even the dude at EB games told my mom it was anti religion. She didn’t care. We mowed lawns so we got our games lol. Because of this title I became a bit obsessed with philosophy and even more obsessed with anime as a whole. Up until this I didn’t see blood in animation before. Let alone in games. These cutscenes were visceral for the time. We all talked about it on the bus. FF7 was king but Xeno had a cult following even then. Mechs and turn based RPGs were like fan fiction unicorns in NA. When we finally got one and it was good, we savored it. Keep in mind this thing sold 900,000 units while being banned in Europe. That’s kinda impressive even by todays standards. They were never in stock when my friends tried to pick up copies. A gem that more people should experience. If for nothing more than just the music.

[@XanderVJ]

One thing though: "Xenogears" wasn't released in Europe, but it wasn't banned. There were tons of JRPGs that made it to the US while not coming to Europe, to the point that it was a full-blown meme among European fans of the genre. "Xenogears" was one of the most popular examples.

[@noble61483]

It barely got released in NA because of its religious content

[@doxiedomian]

1:02:30 In regards to the soylent system as a reference to popular culture: it should be noted that soylent green (and the novel Make room! Make room!) was not nearly as popular in Japan. While the name is definitely a reference, the idea was not a common one Love the video though. Always happy to see that this work still has some relevance

[@danny_dinthead8858]

Xenogears looks like a game that would absolutely benefit from a HD2D remaster.

[@Ghalion666]

Yes, but a high-effort remaster probably wont happen because if someone thinks about doing it, they will also be expected to flesh out disc 2. Otherwise the fans will revolt I'm sure =P. You REMADE this game after THAT many years, and you didn't even bother to fix disc 2?! RHEEEE. Simultaneously, Any dev that would like to remaster Xenogears, probably sweats under the pressure of making a disc2 on the same level. That said I think it's more intimidating than challenging. I actually thought disc 2 was better than 1 in terms of story. So the work is actually pretty much done. Oddly enough, it needs filler more than anything else =P.

[@noble61483]

Fleshing out disc 2 would be the only reason to do a remaster or remake otherwise leave it alone 😅

[@lpfan4491]

@@Ghalion666 It's less filler and more just air to breathe. One can't just minigun these lorepoints out at the speed of Sanic and expect everyone to follow.

[@TheJillers]

​@@noble61483I'd argue another reason would be to make it available to buy and play again.

[@coreyander286]

A Xenogears remake with the resources of FFVII Remake 😫

[@stevemitchell4663]

i feel very blessed that i was able to experience this game back in the day. It was one of the most amazing stories i've ever experienced in game format or perhaps any format.

[@travisfair9573]

Xenoblade and Xenogears...now, at last, there's nothing stopping KBash the Xenosaga video I've been dreaming of!

[@fenix0seraph]

I'm glad you pointed out the game's political themes of class struggle, anti-hierarchy, and anti-fascism, because I feel that side of the writing gets glossed over a lot in favor of the abstract religious side despite being equally prominent. Hell, it feels like a lot of the religious references were put there primarily to reinforce the game's political messages (and that might be why they aren't always cohesive). Regarding Abel and the Zohar: this is one of the more confusing aspects of the lore, but the intro animation is actually out of order. Abel made contact with the Zohar BEFORE the Eldridge launched, back when it was first being built on the planet Miktam04β. When you talk about Elly being into yaoi, I assume you're aware that one official noncanon comic where she talks about her love of BL? Cuz that's a thing.

[@chrislennon460]

the scene with abel in front of the zohar isnt in the intro at all, it is in disc 2 when fei is speaking with the wave existence. but yes it took place on miktam. the eldridge wasnt built on miktam, it was a colony ship sent to terraform and colonize miktam.

[@dansmith1661]

You do know that Solaris and the Cain plus ministry are literal juice chosenites. They fill all the tropes. It's not criticizing Fascism at all.

[@TonyFontaine1988]

It isn't anti fascism. Communist is just as authoritarian

[@sokumotanaka9271]

*Kbash was whipped for his crimes.* HE'S RIIIGHT! THOOOOO! LEAVE MY MAN ALONE!

[@rafaelolivares7917]

43:27 In the battling tournament at Bledavik fighting Dan, don't attack, but instead defend until Dan gets irritated and leaves, he will give you Alice’s wedding dress.

[@NikiWonoto26]

I'm from Indonesia. Xenogears to this day probably still the deepest & most philosophical game (or anything really!) that I've ever known. It even changed my life to become interested more into philosophy in my later years now. There is NO other game even until today that has the same massive level & scale as this game. A true masterpiece.

[@StandStillRushing]

Try Disco Elysium

[@chrisdavey5530]

best basically unfinished game ever and unlike today when they release an unfinished barely playable piece of shit, they basically just ran out of time/money as opposed to sheer blind greed/laziness. I think that why Xenogears has the fanbase it has, there are great bones here, unique (for the time) battle system, amazing story/characters, its clear people actually gave a shit, contrast this with like Gollum/Redfall where it was clear 10 minutes in no one gave a crap about anything and just pushed it out asap.

[@brainydiode]

Similarly to what you've pointed out, Xenogears has seemed to me since I played it like the work of an incredibly talented but also fairly immature team: there are so many ideas in the game that are absolutely fantastic in isolation, but they're all shoved in there in a way that just isn't viable for a work intended for commercial consumption. "Your first game won't revolutionize the genre so don't try to start with a game that you want to revolutionize the genre with" is probably the most common piece of advice that I've heard directed toward new developers, and Xenogears feels like a game that either never heard that advice or just ignored it. I played Xenogears just a few months before Xenoblade 3 came out, so that really highlighted to me how much Xenoblade 3 feels like a version of Xenogears where the team was willing to "kill their babies", so to speak. They knew exactly what they were capable of doing with a game, and executed that at the peak of their capabilities. Also, Xenoblade 3 recycles a lot of aspects from Xenogears in a way that I suppose could've been subconscious repetition but I'm pretty confident was intentional. It makes me real happy that something so Xenogears-y gets to exist, gets to be finished, and gets to be such an amazing ride.

[@Unquestionable]

I always felt the Xenosaga titles did a great job with taking a lot of the concepts here and making them far easier to follow and flesh out. I adore Xenoblade as well but also understand why all the indepth Xenogears style plot is generally all dumped at the end, by that point the player is invested because they've explored those worlds and want to derive meaning from it all while in Xenogears at so many moments the plot gets dumped all at once before the player even has a chance to even understand the game world at large.

[@lpfan4491]

Xeno is really the posterchild of "Hey, I managed to be revolutionary, but I paid the price for it". They basically tried to reinvent the wheel every time. Xenoblade 2 was the first game to not do this due to being rushed onto new hardware and even tho it is plenty jank itself(One needs a whole seperate guide just to understand how to *begin* with the combat system, it's rediculous), the series has been way more stable since because it got them to settle down into a rythm and limited scope they are still in currently.

[@2.0.1.0.]

Every couple of years I lore binge on xenogears, and rewatch sopranos. It must be done.

[@noahsmith9025]

Dude, I re-watch sopranos in its entirety ever 18 months too.

[@Xenosei]

This game changed me, suddenly gaming got raw, followed it up with the xenosaga trilogy...never got into xenoblade games since I stopped buying nintendo consoles. The 2nd disc thoroughly confused me, but I had intrawebs and learned the game was unfortunately incomplete. Lets hope the rumors of a remaster are true....or at least PS+ adds it to the classic library since copies are so expensive now....RIP my long lost ps1 collection you coulda paid my rent this month🤣

[@HeavenlyKnight96]

I've always said, for 32 bit systems you gotta have sprites on 3D. It's such a classic look. Man you can't just show Riovanes Castle with out a trigger warning?! That's preteen PTSD material there.

[@sukamadik5983]

I like to think there's a timeline out there where this game gets a remake that finally finishese the second-half and does this game justice.

[@Unquestionable]

Much as I would be interested to see how a fully formed disc 2 would be I think the video makes a good point about how painful some of the longer parts of disc 1 are to the point a lot of the "tell don't show" stuff comes as a relief. In a remake the main things I would want are a relocalization along with some kind of in game encyclopedia (much like XenoSaga Episode 1 had) as to not get lost about some plot points that come dozens of hours apart from each other.

[@DivineNaruto]

​@Unquestionable A remake can fix disc 1 and give us the two complete games or one long game that's allowed to breath properly.

[@skywardlii]

I loved Xenogears when I was a kid. I have fond memories of playing it with my older brother. So glad to see it get such an in-depth review from one of my favorite KZbinrs.

[@turismofoegaming8806]

I immediately loved this game when I got it in the 8th Grade and I still Love and play it to this very day!! Truly a timeless Classic unlike any other!

[@individualywrappedcheeseslices]

This is my favorite game of all time and its not even close. Can’t thank you enough for this 🙏.

[@pikaboom6539]

It’s not even close to what

[@mambu3630]

@@pikaboom6539 To his second favorite game, I suppose.

[@pikaboom6539]

@@mambu3630 oh lol

[@GuardianNewtonTurner]

As usual, I am proud to be a very tiny part of something this well-made. Thanks KBash!!!

[@shinokyouku]

35:24 i had to stop the video. While the word "Sensei" is used to refer to teachers in Japanese, it can and is used in the contexts of doctors, professors, politicians, authors. Like it's used as honors for higher academics and in the context of the game, Citan at the start of the game was the literal village doctor. That localization of "Doc" wasn't a mistake, that's really stupid.

[@Mikey-zj8bn]

KZbin randomly showed me this...played it when it was released loved it then...replayed it during the pandemic and I completely missed the story as a teenager lol but that robot combat could have been its own thing

[@Tenchigumi]

As a fan of Once Upon a Time in China as a kid, I could NOT believe that Wong Fei Hung somehow made it into a SCI-FI JRPG. I don't think people understand just how frickin' wild that was.

[@ciscornBIG]

Not that wild but ok. Hyperbole is tiresome.

[@jjhh320]

It was definitely wild. I grew up on old kung fu movies too, and Wong Fei Hung's theme lives rent free in my head

[@Tenchigumi]

@@jjhh320 Man, to me that theme is like the anthem to growing up Asian in America. It can go with ANYTHING.

[@2Dee4ever]

Yo! Hope you are doing well mentally. Keep doing your thing bro. This game is legit too much and you've done it yet again. Congrats on finally getting this uploaded and out there!

[@kosak7059]

Incredible game that defined my childhood. Love to see the coverage!

[@Gamerextra1029]

The Shitan > Citan situation was obviously because the translator didn't want a pivotal character's name to remind people of excrements, that would have been ridiculous.

[@jkhedghog128]

My first (and currently only) playthrough of Xenogears took me over a year to finish, because I ended up taking multiple multi-month long breaks. By the time I finished the game, so much of the plot had faded into the back of my mind that I only sort of understood what was going on. However, in a weird way, my tenuous understanding of what was going on is kind of a vital part of my enjoyment of the game. I somehow still cared about the story and wanted the characters to succeed, even while I was swimming in proper nouns I had forgotten about 20 hours ago. While watching this video, I realized just how much of the plot I had forgotten in the 8 years since I finished the game, but I still remember so much of the environments, music, and bosses. The emotions I felt throughout the game still ring out all these years later when listening to the music and watching gameplay footage, even if the plot is still kind of fuzzy. I may still prefer the xenoblade series, but there is something about this game that hits different. Also this was the first game I ever played where I did 9999 damage to the final boss and I still remember that moment fondly, followed by the absolute banger of an ending. Man I need to replay this game some day.

[@computaterjones]

Oh boy was I looking for some self-actualization today. Thanks bro.

[@NemesisTWarlock]

Ah, Xenogears. The protagonist's soul has been ressurected time and again for millennia in an eternal fight to kill god - I SLEEP The cute rat boy who's been fixing and refueling our mechs has a nervous breakdown and pulls a fucking gun on the party - REAL SHIT

[@exidy-yt]

Yes. Yes Xenogears WAS jaw-dropping in it's time. I am beyond glad of the timing that had me working at Electronic Arts Canada during the short duration of Square/EA, allowing us below-cost purchases of all games published by any EA studio and taking a chance on buying this masterpiece for $20cdn. I can tell you it took me a LOT longer then 60 hours to complete, more like 150 over the course of months but it was worth every second. I never had more respect for the JRPG method of telling a story and putting you in it as opposed to the CRPG method of creating a world and you making the story yourself. To me it was and remains the greatest JRPG of all time. Never to be matched. It's sequel series Xenosaga may have been bigger, but never better.

[@Dogbold-Rue]

Add Krelian to another one of those video game Villains who basically technically truly won at the end...and even escaped all repercussions for all the warcrimes & is now hanging out w/ basically a higher power. Also its ED song lives in my brain rent free forever.

[@StewNWT]

Broken miiiiiirors...

[@dansmith1661]

Citan is also an anti-villain. He killed millions of people.

[@bobjones4469]

I love the exposition narrative stuff, which is why I LOVE Disk 2. You just sit back and enjoy the story and poetic dialogue. Not that I didn't enjoy the combat or gameplay, I replayed the game a few years ago and the gameplay was sufficient enough to not keep me bored, but it's definitely not why I play the game.

[@AuspexAO]

Great vid, Kbash. My one criticism was a comment you made at the very end. "It doesn't speak particularly well to the work on display that I needed an external lore book to piece together some of its history at all." I think this is kind of a silly thing to say because things like The Silmarillion exist almost solely to flesh out vast, complex worlds. It's not good storytelling to cram the entire history of the Xeno universe into what was going to be just one in a series of games that would eventually flesh out all the answers you found in Perfect Works. You did an analysis, and had to do a little outside reading. The average gamer just played a fun anime game that didn't answer 100% of their questions. I love your work so please don't take this as hate. You have a real keen analytical eye and I think you did Xenogears justice.

[@goranisacson2502]

I played Xenogears when it was new... on my older brother's friend's borrowed Playstation, modded to play pirated games, and due to it being set up for NTSC instead of PAL somehow, it could only be in black and white. But I was STILL sucked into the story unlike anything I'd ever seen until that point, because an intro like that at a time like that... Breath of FIre 2's start where everyone just forgets you was scary, but the player character being the cause of so much death? HARROWING. Took me years until I saw a Let's Play that walked me throuhg the whole story, so truth be told I haven't actually PLAYED it yet... but Dark Id taking me through the story was still a ride worth taking, so I've no regrets. And to this video, I say that your perspective on Krelian was far kinder than mine, but it's at least interesting to see.

[@JackAsmo]

I love so much xenogear and the xenosaga series. Thanks for the video.

[@VegaNCalleDQuesT]

I hate how quickly I’ll click on anything related to this game. It’s probably therapeutic for my 14 year old self going “wtf is happening”?! You’re funny and thorough - easy sub, great vid

[@backlogburning]

A fantastic essay on one of my favorite games ever. I am glad to see a piece on this monster of a game that didn’t just drag it.

[@LobselErik]

It is good to see another save state user out in the seas ngl I'm sure there's plenty of folks who survived without them somehow and I feel so sorry for what they went through

[@robertusmaximus42]

I've been hoping for this video for a few months now since I first discovered your channel. I also started the game a few months ago too. I'm only 30 or so hours in so I'll probably have to come back to the last 2/3 or this. The game captivated me for sure, so it's always great to hear your opinion on it

[@astonishingmelanie]

I appreciate your point about the love poured into the setting.

[@jlhaven333]

I played this as soon as I finshed Final Fantasy 7...After playing 7 I was afraid I would not be able to get into a game like I did with Final Fantasy 7....Boy was I wrong and infact this surpassed Final Fantasy 7 in every way besides Final Fantasy 7's story....Xenogears game play was the butter.....Hand to hand turned based combat with section's where you can fight inside a mech....The combat was very,..... very unique....Combos and death blows.....The story as awesome but nowhere near as good as Final Fantasy 7's....Got this on day 1 back in 98....The graphics at that time were insane....I would love a remaster of this game....

[@qrowthebird7496]

Great video Kbash if anyone is interested in more Xenogears content i recommend Resonate arc coverage on Xenogears

[@doxiedomian]

Majuular as well, though resonant arc goes into way more depth about the philosophical themes

[@simontan9950]

I was 11 when this game was released and grabbed a copy. It was an amazing experience that left me confused and dazzled. I'm 36 now and still come back to Xenogear videos to see if I've missed anything

[@crisaybar4895]

I still have my original copy of the game. The music in it is phenomenal, Yasunori Mitsuda really put his all into it. I sang some of the songs as lullabies to my kids when they were babies.

[@carlorenneraraujo]

This was phenomenal Pretty daunting to take on a xenogears analysis, but you nailed it Any possibility for a xenosaga one?

[@Jacksonvault]

One of the most rewarding experiences in video games!

[@derrickpanciera5644]

I’ve always appreciated that this is one of the only RPGs I’ve ever seen where the villain wins. Krelian got exactly what he wanted and isn’t killed or punished at the end because he can’t be. People often say Kefka won. Not really. He destroys the world sure. But human kind isn’t extinct. Life goes on. And in the end he is killed so he isn’t actively still ruling. What other RPGs are there where the villain truly wins?

[@jacobmonks3722]

I would say Kefka still wins. He successfully created a world where everything is doomed to be destroyed again no matter how many times people rebuild it. He removed all magic from the world, making it impossible for people to rely on it for healing, technology, etc. He made the world according to his mantra, "Why do people insist on creating things only for them to be destroyed?" The heroes coming to stop him do not restore the world. That has to be done over a very long time, if it's even possible. Everything will die eventually, with no magic left in the world to stop that from happening. The silver lining and the reason the heroes stop Kefka is that his perspective on life is twisted. Because everything ends eventually, he believes life is pointless. When really, it is BECAUSE life ends that it has purpose. What makes today so special when you have infinite tomorrows? Why have children if the people already here could just live forever? Kefka believed the fleeting nature of life made it meaningless, but in reality, the opposite is true. This is a philosophical failure, but not a failure of ambitions. He still accomplished his goal.

[@CobaltContrast]

Dungeon and dragons dungeons were formed by mad mages, ilithid, and beholders. It's built into the lore. Games like dark souls and xenogears make their dungeons just opposed places and it's so real and rewarding.

[@DaviddeBergerac]

For a long time I had only played the demo disc of xenogears. Didn't get to play the full game until I was like 25 and I gotta say, it lived up to the hype for me.

[@dillasoul2228]

Dan is truly the most cursed child by God in anime game history

[@cannibaletiquette5038]

Cursed and blessed. Aint no magufffin like his mcforeheadin. One swipe with a lil polish and he could blind the zohar the wave presence and the whole god damned universe.

[@Dogbold-Rue]

The "special rare item" you get for letting him wail on you was totally worth it though!

[@celerywheat]

Saw you were playing this on twitter and played the game myself in like 3 weeks to prepare for this lets fucking go

[@Bjorick]

as a christian, my three favorite games of all time are final fantasy 4 (number 1), xenogeaars (number 2), and final fantasy 10 (number 3) - top twenty is more varied, including 7 days to die, project zomboid, MGS3 - but when you mentioned christians not liking this game, i get where you're coming from - but you can't be afraid of seeing something as what it is - the church seems to be the catholic church - and the thoughts of faith are interesting, but you come to realize that what the game calls 'god' isn't the christian God, but a flesh like being the 'god' or 'deus' in xenogears reminds me more of the 'gods' from eternal darkness: sanity's requium then anything out of the bible - and i love this game

[@Truegrade]

Thanks for the hard work on this! There is nothing like or ever will be like Xenogears

[@FateTearsStudios]

Space Runaway Ideon is a must watch for this content creator.

[@Hawkatana]

55:37 This made me laugh harder than it should have. Congratulations, KBash. You destroyed my sense of humour.

[@88bsides]

God I miss graphics like these. This was such a masterpiece.

[@Vulgarth1]

Hell yeah. Majuular did a great retrospective of this game, but I'm really looking forward to your take on this classic.

[@Vulgarth1]

Okay so, another cracking vid by you, KBash, but do you have to keep flashbanging me with the Patreon jingle before the final line of your script even finishes entering my ears? You can't just go from the last syllable of "Chuchuification" to "BWAAAHN DE DE DE DAHHHNN" In serious critique though, the Gnostic stuff went way over my head when I was younger, and I really appreciate you digging into the metatextual stuff and bringing all these lifts and parallels to my attention. Great stuff as always dude.

[@nathanbreen1495]

I was fifteen when this dropped. Can confirm it blew everyone's mind. A year before this we'd thought FF7 looked good with those rendered backgrounds and popeye arms. This and FFT may have taught my generation the art>graphics lesson

[@briansilva3765]

I will forever defend this as one of the best stories ever written, it doesn't come together that well, it's poorly explained and presented, but it was so fascinating, deep and engaging. Unfortunately actually playing Xenogears is a chore, the sound and combat are great, especially the art, this is a visual masterpiece, but the game progression and pacing are abhorrent, I was actually glad when disc 2 came and had no gameplay, so I could just enjoy the story more. Though funnily enough, at the very end when the game let's you free and put side-stories around the world, it was probably the first I had fun with the game, a shame it was 50 hours in already.

[@omensoffate]

Nonsense.

[@Virjunior01]

Completionist, 80.5 hours? Yeah... that's not accurate. As someone who has over 999:59:59 on my last save, I still never found a stat cap. But pumping all those drives into my team has given me a Fei that can kill angels in two deathblows, _on foot,_ and before they even get a turn.

[@jzblue345]

This used to be my favorite game of all time. I still play it once a year.

[@StiffAftermath]

I would buy this game on sheer visual spectacle alone. Like Grandia, Breath of Fire III, Tail Concerto and Threads of Fate.

[@bobbyhumphrey199]

The sound Thermo dragon made whenever you dropped it on something was just so satisfying

[@snazzydrew]

ngl, i was sitting around yesterday like "i wonder when kbash is gonna drop some more hot goss" and here you are. Ya know, I missed this game growing up, so I'm goinna remedy that is start playing soon.

[@nairbtj]

LMAO 40:40 “she is a white woman, you don’t have to try that hard for her”

[@doxiedomian]

Is there a particular stereotype/joke I'm missing or is this line just racist? It didn't ruin the video for me but that line is kinda wild

[@omensoffate]

@@doxiedomianI mean look at the dude that made this video.

[@serielmcleod1900]

For all fans of Xenogears… check out the 20th anniversary symphony of the OST. It like.. made me cry. It’s so good

[@Dionaea_floridensis]

Square took a lot of it off KZbin 😢

[@Michael_Print]

@@Dionaea_floridensis soulseek ;-)

[@jasonmclaughlin6130]

This was a great listen while I was cooking and cleaning this evening. You have a gift kbash

[@lethargy4098]

"Stroke slow or you'll chafe"(but it's an analogy for story pacing) oh yeah, daddy's home.

[@Virjunior01]

Old Man Bal didn't say human fossils stopped appearing 10,000 years ago. He said that going _back_ til 10,000 years ago, we see human fossils, and suddenly no more. As he says in the clip you put there, his guess is that humans weren't on this planet til then. It's just a direct reminder to the opening cinematic of the game, confirming that this is NOT Earth, and man is a spacefaring race. This is just the story of how one human accident caused them to spring up on another world and were left alone.

[@TheTolnoc]

I appreciate she has an attack that's just "Yellow Devil Entrance Attack"

[@stevemanart]

Majuular's Xeno video: Cozy pastoral exploration of Lahan village. Kbash's Xeno video: Going through Babel Tower blindfolded.

[@haveagoodday7021]

This game is easily one of my all time favorites. While I wasn't around for its release, I somehow found it through an AMV of all places, and I was hooked. Even though the final product isn't technically finished and was rushed out, it's still such a captivating and amazing game. Honestly I can't even comprehend the scale had the devs been able to reach their original idea. I hope one day they will be able to do a remake that can fulfill those ideas. But even if it never gets remade, it's still timeless. I'm currently studying art and writing for visual narratives, and this game, and series as a whole, is a huge inspiration for my ideas and writing.

[@cameronmills3599]

Xenogears single-handedly brought me out of my edgy atheist phase, and brought me to a much more introspective place. It was the beginning of my self reflection that has led to lots of inner healing from the pain of my childhood. It means more to me than words can describe.

[@manv69]

"It's Gears time" - Xeno probably idk