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Xenogears 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.
Xenogears is a game about a young man who has no memories of his past
and is suddenly thrown into a conflict that will decide the fate of the
entire world. The story is very detailed, with references to a history
that spans thousands of years. See Xenogears terms for more about the story.
In terms of popular opinion, Xenogears is perceived to be one of the
most divisive
video games ever. Supporters of Xenogears believe its story is one of
the best ever; detractors believe Xenogears has badly flawed game
mechanics and overly pedestrian and linear gameplay.
The battle system is based on combinations that are executed using the
buttons on the Playstation's controller; it was probably the model for the
control in another Square RPG, called
Chrono Cross.
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
Legaia 2: Duel Saga. He was employed by Square from 1992-1998, after
which he went freelance.
Xenogears' story has many
religious references. There is a rumor that the game was almost not
released in the United States because of this.
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. Some of the original developers, however, have left and
created a company called
Monolith Soft, where they developed a prequel called Xenosaga: Episode
I The Will to Power. This was released by
Namco in Japan in February 2002 for the
Playstation 2. Eventually, they hope to bring out the entire six part
series of games - Xenosaga II: Beyond Good and Evil is currently under
development.
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