Xenogears is a 1998 role-playing video game created and published by Square for the PlayStation. It is the first game in the Xeno series. Players explore 3D environments on foot and inside large, humanoid machines called "Gears." Combat uses a version of the turn-based "Active Time Battle" system. The story follows Fei Fong Wong and others as they travel across the world to challenge the powerful rule of Solaris and discover secrets about their world. The story uses ideas from Jungian psychology, Freudian thought, and religious symbols.
Tetsuya Takahashi and his wife, Kaori Tanaka, created Xenogears as a proposal for Final Fantasy VII. It was later developed as a separate game, first as a sequel to Chrono Trigger and then as an original game with a science fiction theme. Character designs were done by Kunihiko Tanaka, and Gears were designed by Junya Ishigaki and Yoshinori Ogura. Anime-style cutscenes were used in the game to show these designs. Because of time limits and the team's lack of experience, the second half of the story was mostly told through cutscenes.
Because of its religious content, the game was almost not translated for other countries. SquareSoft employees and translator Richard Honeywood handled the localization, which he called one of the most difficult projects of his career. Xenogears received high praise for its religious themes, story, gameplay, characters, and psychological ideas. However, some critics said the second part of the game moved too quickly, with too much narration and not enough gameplay. By 2003, the game sold 1.19 million copies worldwide, gaining a cult following and being considered one of the greatest video games ever made. Although no direct sequel was made, Takahashi later founded Monolith Soft and created the Xenosaga trilogy and Xenoblade Chronicles games as spiritual successors.
Gameplay
Xenogears uses traditional role-playing game structures, like Square's Active Time Battle system, and adds new features based on martial arts combat. The game has two battle systems: one where players control human characters in turn-based combat by arranging learned move combinations, and another that uses "gears" to give each character unique stats and abilities. The game includes both traditional anime and pre-rendered CGI movies by Production I.G to show important story moments. Players guide the main character and his allies through a 3D fictional world.
Battles in Xenogears are a version of the Active Time Battle system used in games like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy. Most enemy encounters happen randomly. When a battle starts, the game switches to a separate screen with a combat interface. Players use martial arts moves, "Ether" (magic) attacks, and special "Deathblow" combinations, which are learned by repeating specific patterns of strong, moderate, and weak hits. All attacks cost Action Points (AP), with costs of 3, 2, or 1 points depending on the attack's strength.
Characters can use magical abilities for attacking or helping allies. These abilities depend on Ether Points (EP), which are restored using items during exploration. Most characters' magic is called "Ether," a mysterious power available to all humans. Some characters have different names for their magic, like Fei's "Chi" and Citan's "Arcane." During gear combat, Ether abilities become stronger, though some may change or disappear.
In addition to hand-to-hand combat, characters sometimes fight inside giant robots called gears. In gear battles, Action Points are replaced by fuel, with each attack using fuel based on its power. To use "Deathblows," players must first build up the "Attack Level," shown as a number in the bottom-left corner of the gear combat screen. One Deathblow is allowed for each point on the Attack Level gauge. Normal gear Deathblows have three levels, and beyond the third level, an "infinite" level unlocks with its own Deathblows. To reach "Infinity Mode," a character must stay at Attack Level 3 while performing other actions. Infinity Mode lasts three turns and allows fuel to be restored in larger amounts, giving access to "Infinity" attacks. Gears can regain fuel using the "Charge" command and activate "Boosters" to act faster, though this costs extra fuel each turn.
Plot
Xenogears begins on Ignas, the largest continent in the Xenogears world, where a long war has lasted many years between the nations of Aveh and Kislev. A church-like group called the Ethos has discovered giant robot suits, known as gears, and uses them to protect the world’s culture. Although Kislev had the advantage early in the war, a secret army called Gebler helped Aveh. With Gebler’s help, Aveh’s army recovered and started moving into Kislev’s land. As the story continues, the setting expands to include the entire world and two floating countries, Shevat and Solaris. Solaris is ruled by Emperor Cain and an AI group called the Gazel Ministry, which controls the Gebler army and the Ethos. They secretly use both to dominate people who live on land. Shevat is the only country that has not been controlled by Solaris.
Much of Xenogears’ story and background is explained in a Japanese-only book called Xenogears Perfect Works, published by DigiCube. It describes the history of the Xenogears world from the discovery of the Zohar to the start of the game. According to Perfect Works and the game’s end credits, Xenogears is the fifth part of a six-part series, with events that span thousands of years.
Xenogears has nine playable characters from different parts of the world. The game starts on Ignas, where Aveh and Kislev are located. Fei and Citan seem to be from this land, but later it is revealed they are from the capital cities of Aphel Aura and Etrenank, which belong to the floating countries of Shevat and Solaris. Fei is the main character and has forgotten his past. Elly, a Gebler officer from Solaris, is close to Fei and falls in love with him by the end of the game. Citan is a man who knows a lot about the world and helps the group on their journey. Bart, a desert pirate, is from Ignas and is the rightful ruler of Aveh. Rico, a strong demi-human, lives in a Kislev prison and fights in gear battles. Solaris, a city with advanced technology, is home to several characters. Billy, a worker for the Ethos group, was originally from Solaris. Maria and Chu-Chu are from Shevat, the only city resisting Solaris. Emeralda is a being made of tiny machines called nanomachines by an ancient civilization. She was found in the ruins of Zeboim. Important non-playable characters include Krelian and Miang, leaders of Solaris who want to bring back Deus, a powerful ancient weapon. Grahf, a mysterious man with great power, is a major enemy. He follows Fei and his group but keeps his goals secret until late in the game. Fei and Elly are reincarnations of past lives, while Miang, the Complement, has appeared in many women throughout history.
Xenogears follows Fei Fong Wong, a young man raised in the village of Lahan by a mysterious "masked man" three years ago. Fei cannot remember his past because of events that happened when he arrived in the village. During an attack on Lahan by the Gebler army, Fei pilots a gear and accidentally destroys the village. He and Citan, the village’s doctor, leave with the gear to take it away. Fei meets Elly, a Gebler officer, and Grahf, who claims to know Fei’s past and caused the attack to unlock his abilities. Later, Fei and Citan are rescued by Bart, a desert pirate and heir to Aveh’s throne. Fei loses control of his gear again when Bart and Citan are attacked by a red gear. Fei wakes up in a Kislev prison and meets Wiseman, the masked man who brought him to Lahan. Fei escapes with help from his friends, including Rico, a prisoner, but he and Elly are separated from the group and shot down by Bart.
They are rescued by the Thames, a floating city. After finding Elly, Gebler attacks Thames to kidnap her, but fails. Gebler’s leader, Ramsus, who hates Fei, attacks Thames to find him. Billy, an Ethos worker on Thames, lets Fei use Ethos’ medical technology. Bishop Stone, the Ethos leader, tells the group that Ethos’ real goal is to control people on land for Solaris. The group goes to Zeboim, an excavation site, where they find a girl made of nanomachines, which Krelian, a Solaris leader, wants. Stone takes the girl while the group fights Id, the pilot of the red gear, who is stopped by Wiseman. The group returns to find Fei awake but with no memory of the future. They join forces with Shevat, the only city resisting Solaris, and meet Maria and Chu-Chu. Bart regains his throne and makes peace between Aveh and Kislev. Stone is destroyed. In Solaris, they meet Emeralda, the nanomachine being, who attacks Fei at first but recognizes him as "Kim." Fei learns that Citan has been working for Emperor Cain and that Solaris uses mutated humans to make food and medicine. The group finds out that the Gazel Ministry wants to bring back their God and achieve immortality, while Krelian wants to take Elly. They escape Solaris before Id destroys it, as Citan was secretly helping them because Cain opposed the Ministry. Back in Shevat, Citan tells the group that Id is a part of Fei’s mind, causing his gear to turn red when he switches to Id.
After Krelian tricks Ramsus into killing Emperor Cain, the Gazel Ministry uses the Gaetia Key, an artifact that changes people’s DNA into mutants called Wels to rebuild Deus, a powerful war machine that landed on Earth 10,000 years ago. During this time, Fei and Elly fall in love and learn they are reincarnations of Sophia and Lacan. Lacan, a painter, blamed himself for Sophia’s death during a war between Shevat and Solaris 500 years ago. He became Grahf with Miang’s help and wanted to destroy the world. Though defeated, Lacan and Miang have been reborn many times. Krelian captures Elly, the "Mother," to sacrifice her and revive Deus. Miang is killed by Ramsus, who realizes he was tricked, and Elly becomes Miang. Before being absorbed by Deus, Miang reveals that Deus is the core of a dangerous space invasion system created by humans, which was destroyed for being too dangerous. Fei, as Id, tries to contact the Zohar, a mysterious object. Wis
Development
Xenogears was created by Hiromichi Tanaka, who had previously worked on the SNES game Secret of Mana. The story was written by director Tetsuya Takahashi and Kaori Tanaka. Yasuyuki Honne was the art director, and Kunihiko Tanaka designed the characters. Tetsuo Mizuno, Tomoyuki Takechi, and Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Final Fantasy, were executive producers. Koichi Mashimo, an animation director and his studio Bee Train, created the anime cut scenes. The CGI sequences were made by Shirogumi. Xenogears began as an idea by Takahashi and Tanaka for Final Fantasy VII. Their boss at the company thought the idea was "too dark and complicated for a fantasy," but Takahashi was allowed to develop it as a separate project. The project was first called "Project Noah." Takahashi wanted to make Xenogears a sequel to Chrono Trigger, but after disagreements with the company and other challenges, it became an original story. Because of this, the game combined fantasy and science fiction elements.
Development took about two years, with thirty developers working on the project. Planning and creating the backstory started several years before the game was made. The word "Xeno" meant "something strange or alien," and "Gears" was chosen from many suggestions. Early versions of the game did not include "Gears"; instead, they used traditional summoned monsters. Anime cut scenes were used because it was hard to make Tanaka's Gear artwork into 3D CGI. The game's engine was designed for 3D maps and battle arenas. Takahashi wanted to make the game fully in 3D, but the PlayStation's technology limited this, leading to a mix of 2D sprites and 3D backgrounds. The story and themes were influenced by works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, and Carl Jung, as well as science fiction films like THX 1138 and Soylent Green. Tanaka said the connection was because of shared interests with her husband. She described the story as exploring "where we come from, what we are, and where we are going." Many story and artwork ideas were not included in the final game. The second disc of the game mainly featured narration by characters Fei and Elly after their escape from Solaris. Some people thought this was due to budget issues, but Takahashi explained it was because the team needed more time to finish the game, so they added the second disc to meet deadlines.
Square announced Xenogears might not be released in the United States because of "sensitive religious issues." The English translation was the first time an English team worked directly with Square developers. It was the first major project for translator Richard Honeywood. He found the translation challenging because of scientific and philosophical ideas. He took over after other translators left or asked to be reassigned. Honeywood said the biggest challenge was translating religious references and the idea of "killing God," which had to be adjusted to avoid offending people. He also influenced the Japanese name of the boss "Deus," which was originally going to be "Yahweh." He said, "It's dangerous," and the Japanese team found the similarity amusing, so they named the boss "Yabeh" instead.
Square Enix released Xenogears on the Japanese PlayStation Network on June 25, 2008, and in North America on February 22, 2011.
The music for Xenogears was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda. The original soundtrack was released in Japan in 1998 on two discs. It includes 41 instrumental tracks, one choral track, and two songs. Mitsuda said the music is traditional and has influences from Irish or Celtic music. Two songs were sung by Joanne Hogg. One song, "Stars of Tears," was not in the final game. It was meant to play during the opening scene but was removed because it would have made the introduction too long. The other song, "Small Two of Pieces ~Screeching Shards~," was the first ending theme with lyrics in a Square game.
An arranged version of the soundtrack, called Creid, was released later. Mitsuda expanded on the Celtic influences in the music, creating a mix of vocal and instrumental tracks. The album includes five vocal and five instrumental tracks. The lyrics for four songs were written by Junko Kudo, and Mitsuda wrote the lyrics for the title track, which were translated into Gaelic. Joanne Hogg did not return for Creid; instead, Tetsuko Honma and Eimear Quinn sang the songs. Another album, Myth: The Xenogears Orchestral Album, was released in 2011. It features music from the game arranged by Mitsuda's company, Procyon Studio.
A Blu-ray album called Xenogears Original Soundtrack Revival Disc – the first and the last – was released in Japan on April 4, 2018. It includes remastered music, outtakes, and other content. A 20th anniversary concert was held in Tokyo on April 7 and 8, 2018.
Several books and comics about Xenogears were published in Japan. A series called Xenogears God Slaying Story was written by Masatoshi Kusakabe and published by Shueisha in 1998. DigiCube released Xenogears Perfect Works and a memorial album named Thousands of Daggers, which includes the full script and screenshots. Movic published two manga books, Xenogears Comic Anthology and Xenogears 4koma Comic. They also created merchandise like wall scrolls, notebooks, pins, keychains, stickers, and postcards featuring characters from the game.
Reception
Xenogears sold well in Japan and North America. It received a "Gold Prize" from Sony in May 1998, which means it sold more than 500,000 copies in Japan. By the end of 1998, the game had sold over 890,000 copies in Japan. By March 31, 2003, the game had sold 1,190,000 copies worldwide. Of these, 910,000 were sold in Japan, and 280,000 were sold in other countries. Because of these sales, the game was re-released as a popular title in December 2003. In 2006, readers of the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu voted Xenogears the 16th best video game of all time. In 2005, users of GameFAQs voted Xenogears the 32nd "Best Game Ever." In 2006, readers of IGN placed Xenogears in the same position in their "Top 100 Games – Readers Choice" feature. In 2008, Xenogears was listed as number 28 in IGN's rankings.
Xenogears received high praise from critics. Electronic Gaming Monthly said the game's story, characters, gameplay, graphics, and soundtrack were excellent. IGN called it the "best RPG" of the year, praising its storyline, gameplay, graphics, presentation, and soundtrack. GameSpot said it was one of SquareSoft's best role-playing games, praising its story, gameplay, and audio, but noted the graphics were not fully polished. Allgame said the character battles were different from most role-playing games from SquareSoft.
The game's story and characters were well received. Electronic Gaming Monthly said the story and characters were rich in development. Game Informer and Next Generation said the plot was one of the game's highlights. Game Informer compared the story to Star Wars, Star Blazers, the Old Testament, and other Square games, calling it a must-play for RPG fans. IGN said the story was complex and engaging, though sometimes confusing. GameSpot said the story was excellent and thought-provoking, though it could be a bit preachy. Game Revolution called the story "epic" and "fabulous," with many twists and a large cast of characters. RPGFan said the story was unique and the most complex in any RPG, giving it a 99% rating for the story. Edge later praised the story's ambition and the main character's complexity but noted the script had flaws and the translation was unclear. Years later, Jeremy Parish of Electronic Gaming Monthly called the plot "wacky" but said it made sense if players ignored sideplots. IGN said the story's confusing parts were eventually explained. After its release on PlayStation Network, RPGFan's James Quentin Clark called Xenogears' story the best in any video game, giving it a 100% rating.
Reviewers praised Xenogears' gameplay. Next Generation said SquareSoft's Active Time Battle system was impressive, and the inclusion of an AP meter and combo attacks made battles more interactive. IGN said the most impressive feature was the ability to use large "Gears" or mechs, which were visually satisfying. IGN also said the ability to jump and climb made exploration more interesting, though the rotating camera was sometimes hard to use.
The game's soundtrack was well received. Electronic Gaming Monthly said the music was as beautiful as the graphics. GameSpot said the music helped tell the story, though some parts of the game had little sound. Xenogears was the first Square game to include voiceovers and anime cut scenes. Electronic Gaming Monthly called the cut scenes "some of the best animation" they had seen. Game Revolution praised the hand-drawn anime cut scenes but said they were not used often and were not well synced with the voice acting.
Edge later said Xenogears was one of the most praised PlayStation RPGs, even though some thought it was too complicated. The magazine also said it was Takahashi's most challenging work and that the Xenosaga series never matched Xenogears' quality.
Soon after Xenogears was released, people talked about making a sequel, but it never happened. In 1999, Tanaka said a project related to Xenogears was being developed. He also said a sequel was planned but never made. In 2000, Sugiura Hirohide, president of Monolith Soft, said a sequel was being considered but canceled because the company was working on Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.
Xenosaga was first thought to be a prequel to Xenogears, but Takahashi said it was hard to call it a direct sequel or prequel because of Square's involvement. About 20 members of the Xenosaga team had worked on Xenogears.
Xenogears has appeared in other Square Enix games. In 2016, it was included in World of Final Fantasy as a mirage. In 2017, parts of the game were included as pre-order bonuses in Figureheads. In 2018, figures of characters from Xenogears were released to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The characters also appeared in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius as part of a special event.
Despite its popularity, Xenogears was never released in Europe. In 2011, Ross McGrath, who managed PlayStation Store content, said the lack of a PAL disc version caused