One of the most well-regarded series in the entire Square arsenal, Xenogears was released on the Sony Playstation in 1998 to extremely positive responses. Despite never venturing to European shores, it continues to feature on nearly every list naming the greatest games of all time and is one of the most requested remakes Square are possibly sick of hearing about. What sets Xenogears out from the pack is its storyline which, when broken down, is possibly the largest and most complicated of all those on this list. It has heavy religious and philosophical meanings hanging on every word. It features mechs known as Gears and revolves around the protagonist known as Fei Fong Wong. In amidst the culture and religious connotation, the game effectively boils down to investigating different religions throughout the game world. Though the game is more about the combination of human beings and robots - the most obvious being the human and gear integration being symbolic for the cohesion between the two - it's heavily explored in the existence and meaning of synthesised humans in-game. Telling anything else would be spoiling too much of a great game; one filled with rich characters fleshed out with more sensitivity and class than many a Hollywood movie. If Square want to go back and release games that were heavily inspired by JRPGs of the past they couldn't do much better than looking back on Xenogears.
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I am a middle aged Yorkshireman obsessed with Bad Religion, The Simpsons, movies and anything to do with gaming. I love everything to do with Final Fantasy, Metal Gear and will hold a discussion with anyone about anything in games.
