
Each button on the joypad begins a certain combination attack, and depending on how you start you can build up set moves by performing different button patterns. Early punch-ups have you dancing about swatting nasty animals while later on you'll be going nose to nose with the big robot "Gears." The system itself is very different in that it's about as close as you can get to "real time" without actually being so. Set in what appears to be the past, the game mixes some old-school "cows and chickens" RPG imagery with futuristic robots and technology.

The action centers on one particular character (a sprite this time, not polygons.the environments are all fully rotating polys though) and as with Final Fantasy VII you can build up a party to wander the lands with. We've been lucky enough to play the first few hours of the game (and you can see a playable demo of this too if you buy Parasite Eve.there's a fantastic demo CD in the box) and can report that it has the typical Square "feel" to it. While the back story is apparently more than up to Square's usual calibre, it's worth going into the way the thing plays here rather than spoiling the fun for you. So, by October you could be playing something that genuinely challenges issues that are often ignored in video games. Thankfully, Square has seen fit to face up to potential problems and just release the thing (after all, Final Fantasy VII had its share of dubious content-cross-dressing, a liberal scattering of swearing, etc). One scene in particular stays fixed in my mind: The central character stands looking into a vast cathedral with the wind blowing through his hair. Some of the more contentious stuff is actually pretty powerful-and that's not an adjective I use very often when describing a video game. Mentions of "the son of man" notwithstanding, from what we've seen so far it would appear that the game is raising questions concerning the roots of religion rather than actually tackling religion directly. The game opens with some religious lines, and there are references throughout that allude very subtly to the Bible. Rumor and speculation suggested that due to some of the religious content of the game, it wouldn't be released here. For a while though, it looked like we might not see this game on U.S. Proof yet again that Square Soft has the golden touch in this particular genre. Xenogears was released in japan quite a few months ago and has already proved itself to be a popular game, selling around a million units. It may be for the hardcore RPGer, but the story's so good you'll want to get through it. Presentation is up to the usual Square standard too, with cinemas and 3O environments only let down by the quality of some of the sprites.

Without giving the game away, much of the story deals with religion and the way it is handled is simply beautiful.
Xenogears emulator settings full#
That said though, the tale it weaves is full of intrigue, action and most importantly-some genuinely exciting and different themes. The similarities don't end there-much like Square's previous epic it is rich in story and character development, but unnervingly linear when you sit back and really think about it. A tortured soul makes a group of friends, wanders a land that's a novel blend of old-school swords and sorcery with super-modern technology, and gets into fights (maybe too often).

In underlying theme, it shares a lot with FFVII. There's a good deal more than 60 hours' worth of gameplay 's considerably larger than Final Fantasy VII and easily one of the most sprawling and contentious games yet on the PlayStation. If you've ever hankered after something that's really going to eat into a seriously sizeable chunk of your life, this is the game for you. There are big games, there are huge games and then there's Xenogears.
