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I now understand Xenogears and Chrono Cross and YOU CAN TOO!

I own a copy of Xenogears: Perfect works. Considering Xeno is my favourite series and all, it was very worth it. You can also get it by PDF though but it explains all you need to know and makes an amazing read. The level of detail in perfect works is absolutely insane. I played xenogears multiple times to understand stuff before getting the book.
 
Xenogears will forever be one of my favorite gaming memories.
If anyone has some cool art/wallpapers to share that would be cool.
I had elly portrait made as a painting.. It's hanging in my apartment in southern Italy.. Currently in lubiana for work, then back to Milan on the 19th, so no chance for direct pic more photos as i've just the strictly necessary in Lubiana, certainly not my Photo hard drive :/
But trust me, the guy knew his trade.. The result is ferrific :)
 
Hmmm... Some of those excuse work, some don't. One comment I read mentioned the games feeling different from pr virus entries if made by a different team. Well, Cross could have been any more different from Trigger if it wanted to.

Some of them probably didn't expect to be asked about the Chrono series and so may have answered unprepared (especially Shinji Hashimoto during the Front Mission Evolved interview).

Cross has a tons of similarities with Trigger. They just went for subtlety. They even went as far as making references to the CT beta version! (Pierre's tech "Slap of Cyrus" was a tech that Cyrus actually used in the CT beta but not in the final version.) A different team than Kato's could not possibly have made Cross.

Interestingly, Hiromichi Tanaka was the original producer for Trigger when the game was still a Super CD-ROM project (yes, that same project that later gave rise to Secret of Mana). So even his involvement in Cross isn't random.

I had elly portrait made as a painting.. It's hanging in my apartment in southern Italy.. Currently in lubiana for work, then back to Milan on the 19th, so no chance for direct pic more photos as i've just the strictly necessary in Lubiana, certainly not my Photo hard drive :/
But trust me, the guy knew his trade.. The result is ferrific :)

That's awesome.
 

JPon87

Neo Member
OH! I had watched these a while ago and completely forgot about them! Did a fantastic job in particular of explaining Xenogears in a reasonable amount of time!
 

Adam Prime

hates soccer, is Mexican
I was hoping this YouTubber posted on GAF. I would love to see him do more. I never played Xenosaga, it would be cool to see him so they series!
 

Anim

Member
Xenogears will forever be one of my favorite gaming memories.
If anyone has some cool art/wallpapers to share that would be cool.

I made a wallpaper with Emeralda for myself after playing Xenogears for the first time in 2006. You can have it if you want:

s3JVKYe.jpg
 

Supert5

Neo Member
wow this just reaffirms my hate for chrono cross.

Hey lets make a sequel to the best rpg in the universe and just completely shit all over it and package it to be consumed
 

B.K.

Member
I wouldn't say Xenogears is really that complicated. It just has a bad translation and it's one of those games that you have to pay attention. Just about everything that happens in the game is important and ties into to something later in the game.
 

Muffdraul

Member
I wouldn't say Xenogears is really that complicated... compared to the real world studies of quantum physics and string theory. Compared to other JRPGs in general, it ranks pretty high on the complication scale.
 

watershed

Banned
Wow, these videos were great but also jammed packed with so many names and places they gave me a headache.

Does anyone remember a similar series of videos done for Ico and Shadow of the Colossus? I tried looking on youtube but I could only find some much worse fan theory videos. I seem to remember there being a really high quality SoC and Ico theory/explanation video that someone shared on gaf a while back.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Well I beat Xenogears a few times and read up story summaries and while this is a good explanation, I knew most of it already. The whole Deus thing, miang... the Fei and Ellies throughout the ages.. I've always found Xenogears' story to be brilliant.

Just, Krelian's hair color, man.

As for CC. The story was barely there with all the focus on dumb party members. In the end its pretty good though.
 

DJIzana

Member
Well I beat Xenogears a few times and read up story summaries and while this is a good explanation, I knew most of it already. The whole Deus thing, miang... the Fei and Ellies throughout the ages.. I've always found Xenogears' story to be brilliant.

Just, Krelian's hair color, man.

As for CC. The story was barely there with all the focus on dumb party members. In the end its pretty good though.

While I agree there are a ton of stupid characters like NeoFio or Turnip... I never had any issues outright. I never used them. There are a TON of cool characters too.

Harle, Norris, Glenn, Karsh, Zoah, Riddel, Guile, Kid, Lynx/Serge, Grobyc, Radius... I think there's honestly as many good as there are 'bad'.
 

Moronwind

Banned
It's quite possible that Chrono Cross has the most relatable story of any video game ever.
Seriously though, even after watching that video I can't wrap my head around just what you were supposed to be doing in that game. It's like someone took a look at Chrono Trigger and decided that the most exciting thing about that game was not the act of time traveling itself, but rather the ridiculously contrived mechanics behind it. Chrono Cross starts of well, the idea of traveling between alternate timelines is very exciting and a cool way to follow up on Chrono Trigger's time traveling element, but partway through the game the story just loses itself in it's metaphysical mumbo jumbo.
I really enjoyed Radical Dreamers though.
 

gforguava

Member
Moronwind said:
It's like someone took a look at Chrono Trigger and decided that the most exciting thing about that game was not the act of time traveling itself, but rather the ridiculously contrived mechanics behind it. Chrono Cross starts of well, the idea of traveling between alternate timelines is very exciting and a cool way to follow up on Chrono Trigger's time traveling element, but partway through the game the story just loses itself in it's metaphysical mumbo jumbo.

I don't think that is very fair.

I would say that Chrono Cross, above all else, engages with the high concept at its(and Trigger's) core, namely time travel but whereas Trigger used time travel as plot fuel, Cross uses Trigger itself in the same regard. Its interest is in everything Trigger never said, in the ramifications that went unexplored. And it does so largely by restriction and reduction on the large scale which prompts growth on the small. That leads to the game having a small archipelago instead of the world and twinned realities instead of multiple timelines. And a large cast of characters to populate this small space so the effects are shown clearly and in sharp relief, Serge is dead here but not there, Fargo the pirate versus Fargo the shady luxury liner captain, etc.

This singular focus is occasionally problematic for the game, its use of such a large cast is to the benefit of this interest but is also a detriment to the fleshing out of said cast(although I would argue some of those characters are given more depth and feeling than a lot of JRPG characters who get loads more screentime), but it gives the game an unnaturally intimate core for a big, sprawling JRPG.

So the indifference and rejection given to its "mumbo jumbo" is kind of baffling to me, Chrono Cross' whole identity from moment one("What was the start of all this? When did the cogs of fate begin to turn?") was that "mumbo jumbo".

Cross is a sequel to a universally loved game that engages with its predecessor on a level very few games do and at no point does it ever take the easy way by just replicating the game that came before. I wish I lived in a reality where this way was the norm for crafting a sequel.
 
If there is one game that needs a fleshed-out remake, it isn't Final Fantasy 7 but Xenogears. A real disc 2 would truly make that one of the all-timers in my book.

I've been begging them for a full remake ever since the PS2 days lol. But since majority of the staff that worked on Xenogears moved out to form Monolith, chances was as dead as zero.

It'd be pretty difficult to do a full disc 2 remake without the original staff IMO.
 

Beatrix

Member
Oh man just watched both videos. Really appreciate what this guy did. I sort of want to replay Xenogears and Chrono Cross now lol. My memory is so foggy for both games, especially Xenogears cause that game took me forever to beat.
 

Yarbskoo

Member
I really should replay Chrono Cross and Trigger. There's so many plot points I missed, and it didn't help that I played them out of order.
 

Terra_corrupt

Neo Member
Wow, I was not expecting such kinds words from the people here at GAF :D

I'm blown away by your comments, thank you all for watching the videos. I hope I was able to help at least some people make peace with these games.

Just as a sidenote, because it's been mentioned here. While I respect Chrono Cross and Xenogears immensely, I actually wouldn't consider them "great games". Xenogears in particular I have huge problems with as a game, but as a universe filled with lore I find it fascinating.

I'm currently working on more videos, next episode is on Undertale and then I'm planning on tackling some of the main series Final Fantasy games, as well as maybe do "Universe" episodes (Gaia, Ivalice, Spira etc...)

Much love all!
 

TheContact

Member
I spent so many hours on forums talking about the xenogears plot. I've beaten the game quite a few times as well. This guy does. Stood job of explaining the plot. I re watch the video every once in a while but there are some things he left out
 
I wouldn't say Xenogears is really that complicated... compared to the real world studies of quantum physics and string theory. Compared to other JRPGs in general, it ranks pretty high on the complication scale.

Just for fun,
Xenosaga's print material cites string theory.
 
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