Xenogears is the redemption of the current trend of RPGs

by Evan Khaleghi

Many people today, in various columns and editorials (including RPGamer's), seem to believe that new RPGs "suck", or are of less quality and character as the previous counterparts. Now, I completely disagree with this, but for the sake of argument, those who scorn the games of the new era should find relief in one of the newer presentations by Squaresoft; that of Xenogears.

The problem of the new era of gaming does trouble me, but not because the games "suck", but because of the trend towards glitzy and graphical games over the traditional in-depth plot. Now, I'm not saying new games have no plot, nor am I stating that graphics are bad, but a realization came to me when my love remarked about Final Fantasy 7, "It's like playing a movie." Now, my qualm is that RPGs used to be like reading a story, rather than watching a movie, with the inherent difference being that most stories require, or cause, more thought, reflection, emotion, and creativity, than most movies. That's not to say that there aren't any beautiful movies, either, because current wonders, such as American Beauty, are marvels in their own right, and are both cinemetic and story masterpieces. However, most new games tend to take on the movie, rather than story, approach to games. Well, the solution, and a hope for the future, lies in Xenogears.

You may ask how so, or why, but it should be obvious, if not by the number of editorials that have been posted about its complexity, but also by the way it confused/made the gamers think more than they ever had. Few can say they completed Xenogears and knew everything, especially the symbolism. There is only one thing that the plot, and format, of Xenogears reminds me of--a well-written story. Several have complained that Disc 2 of Xenogears "sucks" because of the extreme change in format. But what did the format change to? Why, a story-- with the gamer proceeding through a few levels and advancing the story page by page. Although many games are very story like, or plot-driven, none have had the direct story approach that Xenogears does. Xenogears is saying, "Yes, I look like a movie, but I'm not! Ha! Wait till you get to Disc 2!", taunting us with its amazing and brilliantly executed duality.

Another example of the higher level of story that Xenogears uses is evident in the vast symbolism and confusion involved in the plot. Now, confusion is rarely a good thing, but in Xenogears it wasn't confusing because it didn't make any sense, but rather because it was so complex, and had so many facets to consider and comprehend to be able to understand the complete package. Xenogears reminded me of my initial reading of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's masterpiece, "Chronicle of a Death Foretold", and I hope he doesn't resent me for comparing his brilliant work to a video game. When I first read it, I thought, "Wow, this is a cool story, it has murder, sex, scandal, mis-placed justice, and a very wonderful plot, very excellently written." However, after examining all the symbolism, and seeing how much of a masterpiece it truly was, I was in awe. I mean, Marquez recreated the Crucifixion story in a small town, where small paragraph descriptions and people's names were drenched with symbolism. How does this pertain to Xenogears? Well, it's the same sort of thing. You play Xenogears through, and it seems as if it's about saving the world and a simple love story. But, through examination, you can see how much symbolism, how complex the story is, and how many different interpretations there, of the same game and the same story (which is evident in all the theories expressed on the RPGamer site alone). It causes so much complex thought, requires so much understanding, and it really makes you think.

Xenogears brings the novel, brilliantly portrayed in 32-bit graphics, incorporates human interaction into the story, with character development, and thus is the most incredible game ever made. Few games have the depth that Xenogears does, and I believe it is the final hope of role-playing games returning to stories rather than movies.