Games That Defined Me...Xenogears

Xenogears "...what the hell kind of game is that?" I remember saying as I booted up the demo that was included with Parasite Eve (if my memory serves me correctly). I was amazed. Giant fxcking robots and martial arts in an RPG?!? Wicked!

The premise is simple you're just a simple little backwoods villager living your every day life in your quiet lazy village getting ready to attend your best friend's wedding celebration. When the shit hits the fan. Turns out your village is near the frontlines of a war between the armies of Aveh and Kislev and the carnage has spilled over to your lazy burg.

Unfortunately, the demo (like most demos), only contained a whisper of what would be included in the full retail version. For those of you who didn't have a chance to play this one when it came out; do yourselves a favor and find a copy somewhere. I'll tell you why...

Its not often that games make you seriously think, much less doubt your own religon. But this one had story points that made me think philosophically for the next two or three about my own role as a human cog in the big machine of society.

This game did it all, and it was pretty in the process. My favorite moments in the game were when *SPOILER ALERT* you find out that humanity wasn't created by God, but by a colony ship (ala and your character is in fact the re-incarnation (including all of the memories) of the only person to survive the initial crash-landing on the planet.

The game delves into Freudian psychology (the ego, the superego, and the id), Jungian psychology (dealing with the shadow), and some of the theories of Friedrich Nietzsche (god is dead, and the concept of the eternal return). Deep deep deep story which is only matched by the music.

The composer for this game was none other than Yasunori Mitsuda (my favorite composer). No idea who that is?!? Shame on you and get off my blog! The man singlehandedly made games like Chrono Trigger, Tobal No. 1, Mario Party, Chrono Cross, Xenosaga, and his newest game Blue Dragon memorable due to his ability to make some of the best video game soundtracks around. Though I know some of you out there will argue with me about this.

Graphically, the game is breathtaking for its time, 3D environments with 2D sprites (win), awesome PS1 lighting effects, and a few anime cutscenes. The effects in the battles are damn cool especially in the later levels when your character has all sorts of bad-ass bottled up.

One major reason that I think this game didn't make it as big as the other Sqeenix games that came out for the original PlayStation was that this one had the misfortune of coming out the same time as Metal Gear Solid. Nothing could stand up to the might that was Kojima in 1998.

This great example of gaming is one of the few titles that have lasted me to the well over 1,000 hour mark, the others being FFVII and Grandia. And c'mon the last boss is 'God' how could you lose? I still listen to the soundtrack nearly every night, even right now its playing on the iPod, thats how timeless this game is to me.

If you're ever looking for a challenging, long, truly classic JRPG that actually makes you think and will keep you satisfied, take a trip to Goozex, Gamestop, or Amazon and pick this game up! You won't be sorry!