Xenogears

Article by Sereith

Xenogears is the predecessor of the Xenosaga series. Developed and published by Square in 1998 for Sony’s Playstation with Tetsuya Takahashi at the helm and the musical score by Yasunori Mitsuda, it parallels many of Xenosaga’s allusions to philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche, Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. Like its successor it maintains similar elements with regards to combat systems and plot details such as the Zohar, Wave existence and the use of ether. However it is officially regarded to as Episode V in Xenogears Perfect Works and in the ending credits.

Plot

Xenogears takes place in a world with Ignas as the largest continent of the and the site of a centuries long war between the nations of Aveh and Kislev, the floating continent of Shevat resisting Solaris’ domination, the existence of a church-like organization known as the Ethos; and Gebler a special army of Solaris: a hidden city with advanced technology ruled by Emperor Cain and the Gazel Ministry. The plot begins with Fei Fong Wong the game’s protagonist who has no immediate recollection of his childhood and life before he was brought to Lahan 3 years by a mysterious man simply known as the Wiseman prior to the events of Xenogears. Soon he is forced to leave with Citan Uzuki the village doctor when he accidentally destroys the village in an attempt to defend it from a Gear attack. Soon Fei is joined by Elly, a Gebler officer of Solaris and Bart a spunky desert pirate who is the rightful heir to the throne of Aveh. He then meets Rico a Gear battling champion, Billy, a priest for the religious Ethos group, Maria young girl from Shevat, Chu-Chu the last of her race which can grow into a size of a Gear when her limiter is removed and Emeralda, is a colony of nanomachines from the ancient civilzation Zeboim. Through his journeys, Fei discovers his past and role while battling with his own internal self-conflict of identity.

Combat/Gears

The combat system follows traditional turn-based RPG style with the each character’s stats dictating the active time gauge and allow combo attacks that enables your party members to string together a series of different physical attacks based on how many AP points you can use resulting into varies combos eventually learning deathblows which are similar to Xenosaga’s special attacks. During gear battles, The AP system is substituted with Attack Levels that increase with the use of low-level attacks. Unlike Xenosaga, gears can only act when fuel is available which is replenished through the charge command and hit points via items know as Frame HP. Occasionally, players can rotate between gear/normal modes through the Get ON-Get OFF option allowing opportunities to confront enemies without wasting fuel unnecessarily.

Relation to Xenosaga

Many elements of Xenogears share striking similarities with Xenosaga and vice versa. The physical appearances of characters such as Fei and Elly have similar looking counterparts in the Xenosaga trilogy namely Abel and Nephilim. Most notably the two share a common original timeline; both Episode I and Xenogears begin in T.C. 4767. However is it series creator Tetsuya Takahashi, has maintained the two stories are not meant to exist in the same timeline or universe despite Perfect Works suggesting that Xenosaga as the reimaging of the early chapters.

Below are some parallels between the two games:

Xenogear’s Anima Relics and Xenosaga’s Vessels of Anima

Wave Existence and U-DO

Maria Balthasar, Old Man Bal and Seibzhen were the basis of Mai Magus, Aizen Magus, Lupold

Weltall and Weltall-Id reappeared in Xenosaga as Omega Universitas and Omega Id

Both Fei’s gear Xenogears and Omega Res Novae absorb the Zohar

Deus’ final form, Weltall, and Vierge are referred to in Xenosaga as Omega Metmepsychosis and the two mechs

Jin Uzuki in Episode III shows physical similarities to Citan Uzuki

The Elridge which carried the Zohar in Xenogears bears a resemblance to its Xenosaga incarnate Abel’s Ark