Should I play Xenogears?
Probably, but if you do remember it has some pacing issues and it takes a while for the 60 hour story to get going.
Why would you even ask something like that?
If you want to know if if a game is worth playing, play it.
not really
I mean, at least it's not Xenosaga.
>>337563446
yes you shitfuck. its pivotal
First Disk is pretty good. Some issues here and there but it feels fully formed. Disk 2 however is where all the problems happens. The game is more "what could have been" rather than what it is.
>>337565510
2 is really the only really bad one. And I feel they did that so 3 would actually work. Since they were cut from 6 games to 3 they had to make everything work. So they went out of their way to make 2 just a awful tie-in so 3 would feel good.
>>337566374
Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't aware ten hours of fucking nothing leading to the "start" of the game, which is then thirty fucking hours of "we have to get to Second Miltia!" and "HAHAHA I'M CRAAAAAZY AND STOPPING YOU FROM GETTING TO SECOND MILTIA, LET ME IMPLY THINGS THAT WILL BE RELEVANT IN THE SEEEEQUEEEELLLLLS!" counted as a good game.
My mistake. I thought being good required things like adequate pacing, a story worth investing time in, or combat that isn't dogshit boring.
>>337563446
If you liked Xenosagas or xenoblade, I don't see why you shouldn't at least try it. I'm told it's the best but I personally haven't sat down to play it yet so take that as you will.
it's not bad but it's a PS1 JRPG so it suffers from universal issues like just being slow and cumbersome as fuck to play
they tried to add a cool combo system into the game but all it really does is make you use the best move over and over because there really is no reason to use any move that isn't your strongest one
mech combat sucks too
the story is interesting but there are a lot of pacing issues and points in the game that are just ridiculous amounts of padding (Nortune is an obvious culprit) and it makes it really painful to play
>Deus battle music starts playing
No. Overrated trash.
No, just read a story summary and then imagine what an amazing game you could make out of it.
That's about twenty times more fun than playing the game.
>posting Escaflowne
Aw yeah my ni-
>the Escaflowne movie
Dude what the fuck.
>>337563446
I just saw Escaflowne like two days ago, what a coincidence.
The movie felt a bit rushed imo but had some god tier animation.
No. No one here actually plays games.
>>337569248
What's wrong with the movie
>>337569248
the movie was gud mate
waht didnt you like aboot it though?
>>337563446
yes, one of the best video games ever made. from writing and area design to gameplay, it's really incomparable.
>>337568829
the way best way to cheat the system was by using 1 point attacks to stack combo points and then spamming your strongest attack, also if you couldn't spam many attacks using just the strongest, you'd pepper the CP distribution with weaker combos. so yes, there was a reason to use weaker combos.
>>337569398
>>337569416
Great animation and interesting art style, pointless reinterpretation of the plot that is incredibly inferior to the original, and pretty much the entire last half of the movie is just terrible.
>>337569724
well yes, but the only time you would want to do that is to skip the boss's desperation form by hitting him in the face with 10 attacks in a row. so really, the only reason to use the combo system is due to an oversight in the combat
>>337569815
even on it's own you couldnt enjoy it huh? that's terrible
i think you just mad the hitomi STILL didnt taste vaan's dick before she left
>>337563446
definitely,is a great rpg
>Enjoying Escaflowne for the most part
>Hit around the 70% point where they deal with the shota prince
>Hitomi goes from tolerable to "ABLOO-BLOO I DONT WANT TO USE MY POWER FOR WAR" even though everyone would fucking die if they didn't fight and her power didn't even require her to be near combat
Really rustled my jimmies.
>>337569980
Dude I gave you my reasons, don't make shit up.
>>337570535
honestly that was the only thing anyone could complain about with escaflowne - it wasnt a happy ever after type ending it was a OK BYE NOW ending, which seems to piss a lot of people off in general
>>337569815
I watched them both these past few weeks. I liked the first half of the TV show, but the second half had a lot of exposition that wasn't interesting at all and the characters (particularly Van's brother) pretty much fell apart.
The movie removed the things I didn't like from the TV show, but also some of the characterization I did like. All in all I think it's superior to the TV show though, as it wasted less time with uninteresting shit and was ridiculously pretty to look at.
TV - 6/10
Movie - 7/10
>Gameplay
X > Blade > Gears > Saga 3 > Saga 1 > Saga 2
>Story
Gears > Blade > X > Saga
>Timesink
X > Saga > Gears > Blade
>DEEEEEP
Saga > Gears > X > Blade
>Replayability
X (Returning to play for another week) > Blade > Gears > Saga 3 > Saga 1 > Saga 2 >>>>>>>>> X (Starting over again)
Use this to weigh your options.
>>337570939
Dude, not that anon, but X is one of my favorite RPGs and it's Fuck Resolution: The Game. I have no problem with imperfect endings. I actually like them.
Even I think Escaflowne's later half kinda sucks.
>>337563559
>it gets good 40 hours in!
>>337563446
Holy shit the girl on the left has a flat chest.
>>337572490
No, it's good from the start, it just takes five hours for the story to actually get rolling.
And eventually it starts rolling out of fucking control.
>>337572490
No it's good 2 hours in
Faggot
>>337572490
It's the opposite, actually.
Game is good from the start, but it completely shits itself during the last third. Like the devs suddenly remembered it was supposed to end, so they rushed through everything.
I was hyped to play it, but I gave up about 30 hours in.
Story full of le deep christian symbols.
Lot of forced drama
Shit battle systems
Shit dungeons
Obnoxious encounter rates in dungeons when you need to do something tedious etc.
Play a better jrpg.
Honestly, I even liked FF 13 a lot more then Xenogears. One of two jrpg games that I started and dropped
>>337563446
Yes, do it for her
>>337563446
Yes but don't fall for the xenosaga meme.
>>337575891
tfw you will never marry esmeralda
>>337576210
>esmeralda
A real man never misspells his waifu's name.
Shame on you
>>337575367
>"I like FF13 better"
>It's everything you just described aside from the last one, except even fucking worse.
I can't cure your shit taste, anon. I'm afraid it's terminal.
>>337574886
Weird, because I remember dropping it around 20 something hours because nothing interesting had happened and they wanted to force that shitty mech combat down my throat.
>>337576494
*emeralda
FUCK
>>337576814
>The entire tournament arc and political rescue mission, hitting its crescendo with the duel with Ramsus.
>"Nothing interesting."
Again, nobody can cure taste THAT shit, anon.
>>337563446
That fucking chin though
>>337577125
>ywn beat the fuck out of Ramsus and soak that sexy bitch Miang's panties during
>>337575891
>second worst character in your entire party
Gears > Blade > X > Saga
>>337577325
Still best daughter
>>337577325
Her speed alone makes her top class.
Bart wouldn't compare if you couldn't cheese everything with Wild Smile. Citan is OP for 90% of the game and Fei is better than anyone with his final combos
>>337577325
Literally the best next to Citan, I don't know what you're smoking.
ESCA
>>337565992
i love a lot of jrpg, final fantasy, grandia, skyes of arcadia, valkyrie profile, vgrant story...etcetcetc.
but i fucking hate xenogears
>>337577763
>>337577781
I don't mean her combat usefulness.
>>337563446
Nah, it's a pretty shitty game. Better JRPGs out there.
>>337578105
Billy, Rico and ChuChu exist.
>>337575367
>Story full of le deep christian symbols.
What? I can't think of any other than the 13 Zohar emulators. But that's not even revealed until Xenosaga.
You mean Deus creating people? I'm really not following you, anon.
>forced drama
What the fuck does this even mean?
>Shit battle systems
Still better than FF4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, and Chrono Trigger. ATB is fucking ass.
>Shit dungeons
What does this even mean?
>Random batttles
Okay, yeah. This kinda sucks. But at least it was par for 1998. It was a rare gem when JRPGs didn't have random battles.
>>337578105
Then you're putting her under Rico, Maria AND Chuchu, which is objectively wrong.
Barely any character but a good design is better than no character or shit character.
>>337578093
>Likes Final Fantasy
>Likes Grandia
>Likes Skies of Arcadia
You have shit taste.
>>337578347
Rude. There are good games in all three of those series. Especially the last one since it's only one game.
>>337578195
>Talking shit about Billy.
>Not the fucking-nothing character that took Margie's slot.
Fuck you too, anon.
>>337578195
Rico is much less shitty than her.
Billy is marginally less shitty than her.
ChuChu is the 1st worst character.
I think part of the problem is, the last time I played this game I was already super tired of that little girl anime/video game trope character, but I just didn't see much worthwhile point to her presence.
Maybe another replay will show me something to appreciate that did connect with me before.
The real question is,did they fuck?
It's an ok game. If you like JRPGs, give it a try. What people say about the second disc is definitely true though. The story gradually progresses up to this point and then all of a sudden it's a clusterfuck and you sort of lose track of what's going on. Also the game has a lot of fanatical fans because the story is a bit 'deep', and so people think the game is superior somehow, but it's not. All that said, it's still a fine game. Having not played it in a while, the best things in it are the futuristic town that's sort of like a home for the elite of the world, and the combo system that adds creativity to combat.
>>337578197
>Still better than FF4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, and Chrono Trigger. ATB is fucking ass.
Xenogears is ATB... except, you know - actual strategy is replaced with spamming button combos and healing.
>Shit dungeons
>What does this even mean?
It means they lack polish in design. A lot of this has to do with the clumsy platforming mechanics that Square tried to shoehorn into the game. They just don't work.
>>337578556
After 10,000 years of dying in front of each other, I sure hope so.
>>337578286
>Then you're putting her under Rico
Yep
>Maria
Wait, who? ...Nope. I'm looking her up and I still don't remember.
>AND Chuchu
No, Chu is worst
>>337578556
Of course they did. Numerous fucking times over thousands of years. That includes the current incarnations.
>>337578347
>not liking Grandia
>criticising someone else's taste
>>337570439
It was revealed when they reached Atlantis that the visions was just her fears, not the real future. So in some way, just like the hueg machine that the good old Isaac had, she had the power to make those visiones real, because unkowingly she played herself into them.
>>337578647
Wait, not sure which one you're saying has "actual strategy." Neither game does.
Xenogears doesn't really have ATB. It moves so fucking fast, characters get their turns almost instantaneously. And there's no "active" setting like there is in most FFs.
Xenogears system is honestly closer to Shadow Hearts or FFX, where characters queue up then wait.
>lack polish
That's such a generic complaint. Can you expand further using more specific language?
Xenogears is very, very much a product of its time while the Blade games are innovators that make other games in their genre look like poorly crafted, amateur work.
If you want the most fifth gen game to ever exist, embodying all the pros and cons of that era, XG is a pretty fun time capsule. It's not a masterpiece, though.
>>337563446
The gameplay just isnt interesting enough, I made it out of the sand caves then just lost interest when it wanted me to wander the ship to find new dialouge
>>337578197
>What? I can't think of any other than the 13 Zohar emulators.
You've forgotten about the crucifixions?
>>337578703
The very worst you could say is that she's third worst. Maria and Chuchu have her beat by not even coming remotely close to being characters.
>>337579230
You literally stopped right before one of the best parts.
I'm not saying to go back and play it, but I mean that very literally. The next chapter is one of the best.
>>337578556
There was a scene that clearly implied that they did.
>>337571208
>Dude, not that anon, but X is one of my favorite RPGs and it's Fuck Resolution: The Game. I have no problem with imperfect endings. I actually like them.
Man, fuck X's ending. It was the first time I actually felt insulted by a game's ending.
Thankfully I haven't played a lot of games with awful endings.
I can only imagine how bad Mass Effect fans felt.
>>337563446
that fucking jaw holy shit. looks like a western female chara design
>>337579804
They had to compensate for the long faces from the series.I loved them noses
>>337579761
It's just back to the norm for the franchise, X happened to be kind enough to not keep most of the story around for the eventual let down.
Kinda wish they'd continue it purely because I want more of L and the alien races.
It's true that it has one of the best stories in the videogame-rpg medium. While there are jrpg tropes in it, the amount of sci-fi, spiritual, and psychoanalytic elements or influences made it stand way out from your usual at that time. There are similarities with Escaflowne in terms of the feel and world, but it actually has a lot more to do with being like Evangelion.
I assume a lot of anons here would know Xenogears was, roughly putting it, originally dreamed up as the direction for the next FF game after VI, but Sakaguchi and crew felt it was too heavy for FFVII. Didn't stop them from borrowing tons of ideas and aspects from it though, into the FFVII we know today.
It is an amazing game, despite all the really extremely tedious and awkward parts. The ancient "2nd disc is shit" meme, well you can't argue the pacing and actual parts with gameplay take a nosedive until you reach the final chapter. But really, the biggest draw for many rpgs is the story and characters they provide, and I never really minded taking in those few hours of pure plot.
The "you kill god" (or attempt to) trope wasn't originated by Xenogears (SMT and probably even earlier ones I can't recall went there before), though I feel it did so on a much deeper and even "scientific" level. And many more games afterwards seemed to try and follow that.
>>337579804
You fuckers realize it's not the jaw, but the fact that her head is perpendicular to her neck, right?
>>337579197
>Wait, not sure which one you're saying has "actual strategy." Neither game does.
So, exploiting weaknesses, applying buffs and debuffs, and making use of status ailments isn't strategy? Okay.
>Xenogears doesn't really have ATB. It moves so fucking fast, characters get their turns almost instantaneously. And there's no "active" setting like there is in most FFs.
It's just ATB without an "active" option. Attack turns are based on a gauge, not a set-in-stone order.
>That's such a generic complaint. Can you expand further using more specific language?
The design of the dungeons is just subpar, ranging from awkward platforming sections like Babel Tower to shitty puzzles in like that disc 2 ruins dungeon to straight up hallways and copypasted rooms like in the Nissan Mausoleum or Solaris.
>>337575367
>likes XIII that much more than XG
Why does Chu Chu exist?
>>337575367
>"forced drama"
>they didn't just give up and play video games and jerk off all day like i did
???
>>337580072
It was a step forward for mainstream video game storytelling, but that's not saying much. It's actually pretty shallow outside of a few iconic moments like Fei's theological dispute with Krelian. It's not very creative, either: most of the key scenes, their visual direction, and even some of the character arcs are pretty directly ripped from existing work.
>>337581526
Cute creature party member that was not new but becoming more a common staple in games/anime at the time.
In story, IIRC its race was native to the planet, unlike most everything else. And they could grow building/Gear size, somehow for some reason.
>>337581526
To give you alternate skill sets (in this case a Gear that can heal), same reason chaos and Ziggy exist in Xenosaga.
Thankfully Takahashi and Monolith learned the value of making branching/customizable skillset with Xenoblade...and then mixed this with even more useless characters in X for some reason?
>>337563446
Tried watching that movie a few years ago, but I was too bored and stopped. I'm thinking of picking it back up, is it worth watching?
>>337582772
Just watch the show unless you're really into animation.
>>337581807
You're speaking pretty authoritatively, but I don't entirely disagree about parts of it being outstanding when a great deal is decent. Still, you sound like someone who's played the game.
I think the whole package had a lot more original value and ideas than you have confined it to, but these are ultimately opinions which could use a bigger better discussion area. I played Gears when it came out, after like a decade of force-feeding myself anything from the medium, and I'll admit I was in high school then, plus only played once more since. Been ages though so I'm overdue.
>>337583125
But I already watched the show.
>>337583125
>>337582772
Overall, Escaflowne series > > > > the movie.
The movie is a lot darker, with obviously nice production values, but it's just such a quick condensed story. Very little to connect with for an audience, IMO. And it's crazy how many animefans know Escaflowne as that, and not the classic tv series.
It has some stumbles in a few episodes, in animation quality and maybe some plot progression. Damn though, the music and style are gorgeous, plus all cliches aside, it has a fine story to tell.
>>337583984
I prefer the series to the movie as well.
One aspect of the movie I couldn't stand was the blood and bone aesthetic of the guymalef's. Way to edgy and grimdark for my tastes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czUcj3-I_l8
>tfw no game will have mech combat that feels as good and weighty as Escaflowne
