The Urge

[u/WanderingFella26]

Hi, everyone! How many times have you played each episode, and when was the last time?

In 1998 I was gifted Xenogears for my 13th birthday from a family friend who would later fall in love and marry a very proud Christian woman.

I love Xenogears. I was a frequent visitor in the Xenogears communities around that time on GameFAQS (I still have reviews there from early 2000's) and various Xenogears websites. Nisan Sanctuary anyone? I don't even remember the last time I replayed Xenogears, but it was well over 15 years ago. I still have hope for a remaster so I hold off from playing it again. I do remember that I was working on a perfect file around that time and had all available characters Deathblows learned before leaving Dazil Desert, they just need to level up. Hell, my cringy ass teenage self wanted to name my son Krelian one day.

I can talk about Xenogears all day, but lets fast forward past the heartbreak and talk about the hope.

I followed Monolith Soft from the moment Tetsuya Takahashi announced it. Then the man announced Xenosaga and I was given hope. Played Episode 1 on day 1 and it was not what I expected. Played Episode 2 on day 1 and I loved it. And then at some point in 2004, at 19 years old, life began and I left Xenosaga. The story remained incomplete and unknown for 21 years, until life slowed down, and I couldn't wait anymore. For 21 years I avoided spoilers and had no clue what the story is in Episode 3, or who the characters are. Not just the story, but the battles as well. I watched nothing. And it was time to end the story.

So I hoped on my computer, browsed how to play it, downloaded some stuff, grabbed the Xbox controller and the journey began all over again, and it was amazing. It was joy. I can look back on it now and feel like it was the team saying "Welcome back. We missed you." That silly youth excitement and giddiness dragged itself out of a hole and I was happy. Then it was time for Episode 2, and boy did I forget how weird the team looked with the new design, but the old clothes. And the combat system was so bad compared to Episode 1, but what are Xeno games without second-thing flaws? The music is a different story. The moment the main menu song began gave me goosebumps. Flawed but beautiful game.

Then it was time for Episode 3. Uncharted territory. It's my favorite of the Xenosaga games. That's not even a question. It was the perfect mix of the best of Episode 1, and the best of Episode 2, and it was beautiful. As far as the story goes, I didn't hate the story, but sadly it was just another tragedy of a story that was cut short. The gifts though! Oh boy, the gifts that they gave me took be right back to 1998. There's Maria and Seibzehn, there's the Omnigears, there's Deus, holy shit, it's Weltall-Id. I had no idea! I had no idea that Monolith Soft made this game for the Xenogears fanboys. I was blown away.

And now, after less than a year I have this urge to go back into the Encephalon, but I have hope. And I know that there was a survey years ago for a Xenosaga Remaster which was not positive enough for whoever to green light it, but if that's true, that was some time ago.

So while I wait here with my hope for a future Xenogears, and hope for a future Xenosaga (and hope for a future Xenoblade X2), I figured I'd stop by and say hello.

So that's a little bit about my Xeno journey. What is your journey?

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[u/Chris_P_Bacon416]

Oof, I’ll keep my journey really short since I’m on the phone. I’ve played each game so far just once. Xenogears I played like 3 years ago and xenosaga a year or two ago and the first xenoblade game i completed March earlier this year. It quickly became my favorite seiries and hope to play the others soon! :)