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Xenogears (ゼノギアス Zenogiasu) is a role-playing game for the Sony PlayStation. It was released by Squaresoft in February 1998 in Japan and October 1998 in the USA.
In terms of popular opinion, Xenogears is considered one of the most divisive video games ever. Supporters of Xenogears believe it is the best Role-Playing Game ever, with its relatively deep and well-rooted history involving politics, love, and religion, among others; detractors believe Xenogears has badly flawed game mechanics and overly pedestrian and linear gameplay, as Xenogears was notorious for its overly lengthy cut-scenes - a trait shared with the Metal Gear Solid series; though it can be proposed that Xenogears' storytelling strength may have been severely weakened if the lengthy cut-scenes were cut.
Xenogears' story centers around Fei, a young man who has no memories of childhood and suddenly thrown into a conflict that will decide the fate of the entire world. The storyline is highly detailed, with references to a history that spans thousands of years. See Xenogears terms for references about the story.
Xenogears uses both 2D and 3D graphics: Character use traditional 2D sprites while the Gears(the mecha of Xenogears) and the backdrops use 3D techniques. Xenogears also uses traditional Japanese cel-animated scenes and pre-rendered CGI movie clips, a common trait in Square RPGs during the PlayStation One era.
The game's music was composed and arranged by Yasunori Mitsuda, who also composed and arranged the music of Chrono Trigger, Radical Dreamers, Gunhazard, Tobal No. 1, Mario Party, Bomberman 64 2,
Chrono Cross, Shadow Hearts, , and Xenogears' first prequel, Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht. He was employed by Square from 1992-1998, and is regarded as one of the best composers who was ever associated with Square(now Square-Enix). His musical score on Xenogears has been regarded as one of the strong points of the game; and it can be said that it greatly impacted the storytelling of the game. He is currently a freelance artist.
There are hints that Xenogears was rushed in production; the major basis of such is the particular gameplay (or lack of it) found in the game's second disk, where players watch the characters recap the story rather than play through it; though this method of storytelling may have actually been intended. Rumors say that it was going overbudget, and beyond production schedule. Others say that Square lost interest and confidence in the financial value of Xenogears; as portrayed by the foundation of Monolith Soft, a company founded by ex-Square employees who, most of which, worked on Xenogears and is also the current developer of Xenosaga(the prequel to Xenogears).
During the game's early production, the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion became very popular, and may have influenced Xenogears's creative direction. Xenogears and Neon Genesis Evangelion both contain copious and sometimes incongruous references to Judeo-Christian theology. A persisting rumor has it that Xenogears' release in the United States was impeded because of its religious references. There is no substantial evidence to back this up, however.
Xenogears is actually the fifth installment of a series of six, but no Xenogears games were made before this one. Square declined to ever develop a sequel/prequel(though there are several other media providing background for the Xenogears Universe; the most valuable and sought after being the history compilation book, Perfect Works). Some of the original developers have left and created a company called Monolith Soft, where they developed a prequel called Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht (The Will to Power). This was released by Namco in Japan in February 2002 for the PlayStation 2. Xenosaga II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse (Beyond Good and Evil) was released in Japan on June 24, 2004.
See also: Xenogears terms
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