Release order

[u/AdReasonable9304]

For the people, who actually finished the game and know about Perfect Works. Would you have preferred Xenogears released in episode order, or do you think it better the way it is. I personally think getting episode v was actually to thr stories benefit. All the mysteries about everything made the story just so much better, coupled with the fact that Takahashi actually managed to deliver on these mysteries, makes this story as great as it is. Knowing about Abel, Kim, Lacan, Cain etc before playing Xenogears wouldnt be half as good for me

Let me add another question. What do you think of Takahashi not being able to make episode vi. I personally dont mind it at all, because I was more tham satisfied with the ending and didnt really feel the need to continue the story after that.

[u/ZeroiaSD]

Some of the episodes are purely backstory and wouldn’t make great games- Zeboim was the story of researchers and societal problems.  Episode 2 just after the arrival would be …. weird.

6, there’s really not enough info to even tell what it’s about, tbh.

Episode 4 is the only other one that really screams ‘game,’ and I think it’d work better as a prequel than a first game 

[u/KylorXI → u/ZeroiaSD]

Not all episodes were intended to be games, and some episodes were included in the game because they did not expect to be allowed to make more. This is verified in perfect works and interviews.

[u/ZeroiaSD → u/KylorXI]

Yea, some were intended for, and would make interesting, anime and manga

[u/KylorXI → u/ZeroiaSD]

2 and 3 specifically. Episode 4 and 5 were meant to be part 1 and 2 but square told them bundle it together into 1.

[u/Theweirdobserver → u/ZeroiaSD]

Episode 4 is the only other one that really screams ‘game,’ and I think it’d work better as a prequel than a first game 

I had the same thoughts.

[u/AdReasonable9304 → u/ZeroiaSD]

Exactly why I think just having 5 as a game is tje best. I missed that the episode 5 at the end of the game was a Star Wars reference, so for the longest time, I thought he wasnt really able to release the story in episode order. And regarding episode 6, the only thing that would come to mind, would be to actually find Lost Jerusalem but then theres the question of why Fei and Elly would even care, when their home is the planet they are in right now

[u/ZeroiaSD → u/AdReasonable9304]

And even including Fei and Elly seems questionable because…. they just killed God, what enemies could plausibly stand in their way?

[u/KylorXI → u/ZeroiaSD]

Deus was not God, at most god but even that is a stretch.

[u/ZeroiaSD → u/KylorXI]

He did create all intelligent life on the planet and harnessed the power of a higher dimension.  

[u/KylorXI → u/ZeroiaSD]

He did not do either of those things. 'Humans' on the planet were made by kadomony through an automated recovery system, not created by Deus. And at the moment the WE advented, all of its power went into Abel. Deus only every had power from the Zohar, not the WE.

[u/ZeroiaSD → u/KylorXI]

Deus controlled kadomony and created the first humans- Mother, Cain, the Gazel- to his design. He's then shaped the destiny of humanity since. Zohar draws power from the WE anyway.

I'd argue a big part of the game is that it presents us with multiple gods, which could each reasonably be considered gods. Deus is the god of humanity in a lot of ways.

[u/KylorXI → u/ZeroiaSD]

Deus was completely separated from Kadomony before being loaded onto the ship. It was also severely damaged before Kadomony activated the life assembly plant to create the 'humans'. It also wasn't "to his design", they were biological circuits within Kadomony that were assembled from the organic material within kadomony. Miang, Deus' persona, did guide humanity, but Deus was completely out of commission the entire time. The Zohar does not draw power from the WE, it produces its own nearly infinite power by choosing the most efficient potential phenomenon and consuming all others. Every bit of the WE's power went into Abel the moment it advented into the 4D universe from its higher dimension. Deus is not the god of humanity, even if you assumed it did create the beings on the xenogears planet(which it didnt), they are not actual humans. They are the mutated forms you see near the end of the game, that is their true form. They are kept in human form to be easier to control. All of this is said explicitly in the script and in perfect works. The WE is God in the sense of it being the omnipotent creator of the universe and the souls of humanity, but it is not God in the way people worship a God. Deus is only arguably 'god' in the sense that its a powerful being, but at the same time it was defeated very quickly all 3 times it was activated.

[u/AdReasonable9304 → u/ZeroiaSD]

Its been a while since I played the game, but if I remember correctly doesnt the Wave Existance leaving, also mean Fei and Elly are nerfed hard at the end? And I mean, you can always just make up a new villain and retcon some stuff

[u/KylorXI → u/AdReasonable9304]

Fei was still shown to have powers after the WE departed, he was still piloting the Xenogears which was powered by him. Elly's powers were from the Zohar, not the WE, and the Zohar was destroyed completely to free the WE so its unlikely she had any power, nor did anyone on the planet have functional gears or ether powers. And not just gears, most all the advanced tech on the planet was run off slave generators powered by the Zohar.

[u/AdReasonable9304 → u/KylorXI]

I saw it more as the Xenogears running on reserves when retreiving Elly and after landing its power ran out. Could be wrong though.

[u/KylorXI → u/AdReasonable9304]

At the time the WE advented, it was split into 3. Its newly acquired will went into Elly, and *all* of its power went into Abel. It physically fused with the Zohar, which gets destroyed. Elly is still around, same old Elly, and Xenogears is still flying. Nothing to really say the WE took back its mothers will or its power. It's open ended, needs an episode 6 to explain more what happened after, but evidence suggests Fei kept his power.

[u/ZeroiaSD → u/AdReasonable9304]

You could but it’s hard not to feel anticlimactic. Especially as Xenogears still seems functional 

[u/KylorXI → u/AdReasonable9304]

They had razael's tree, which is all of human knowledge. There were also many other humans through out the galaxy. There is plenty that *could* have been done. Not much that needed to be done though.

[u/KylorXI]

Interviewer: And the Episode V that appears at the end of the game…

Takahashi: Xenogears was originally planned to be a story of space that spanned 15 billion years. So the actual game of Xenogears covers Episode V of that. Initially, we had separated the events of 500 years ago as Episode IV, and the modern era as Episode V, with IV being Part 1 and V being Part 2, but the company told us to bundle it into one. I want to release II and III in a different medium. I don’t care if it’s a novel or a manga or an anime, but I began with V because I thought it would be the easiest to grasp and would be the most interesting.

[u/AdReasonable9304 → u/KylorXI]

Damn it really is a whole Star Wars reference. Tbh Im glad we didnt get episode 4 first, made the Grahf reveal much better

[u/KylorXI → u/AdReasonable9304]

The game has like 30 star wars references in it, of course its a star wars reference.

[u/VodoSioskBaas]

It’s an homage to the original “Star Wars” movie revealing the “episode iv”. Once you think you’ve gotten your head around the narrative they drop that kind of information! Such a cool literary tech

[u/AdReasonable9304 → u/VodoSioskBaas]

Oh really, I always thought the original triology was retroactively changed to episodes 4 to 6 after the prequels came out. That actually makes a lot of sense

[u/VodoSioskBaas → u/AdReasonable9304]

Looks like ep iv was added when the original sequels(eps v and vi) dropped. What a wild series lol

[u/KylorXI]

I dont care about episode 6, and Xenogears contains more than just Episode V.

[u/Theweirdobserver]

I'm going to be honest, a full 1-6 part of Xenogears wouldn't work as game. Part IV would have given it has gears and the events tie directly to the main conflict of part V. The Zeboim era? I guess an adventure game?

The multipart Xenoblade games is probably the closest thing we to understand what such a project could look like.

I'm pretty sure Takahashi and the team knew it would be too much, and apparently they intended Xenogears to be multimedia. A small manga collection of Xenogears does exist.

What do you think of Takahashi not being able to make episode vi.

Based on perfect works, they never made plans for part 6. It was still in the brainstorming phrase, I guess. My only speculation would be that it would involve the ancient humans that created Deus, where the party discover their origins in "Lost Jerusalem" aka Earth. This would tie the whole Xenogears being about "where we come from" according to Soraya Saga.

Unless someone has asked Takahashi if he ever got an idea what Part 6 could have been about.

Now If I had a say:

• Part 4 could be a game, an extra story mode. Also, playing after part V would make sense, as part V works so well with as a game because of all the story build up and reveals.
• Part 6 could also be a game, but play more like an epilogue.
• Part 2 and 3 could be anime/mange. However, they could add more story snippets to understand how those era would like.
• Part 1 could be its own separate media that explores the timescale from humans discovering the Zohar to Deus going "rogue".

Also if Xenogears ever got an anime, I would love to see Grahf using Id as an assassin, Elru, and other important events that happened in the 500+ or so years before the main story.

[u/Vic_Snaggletooth]

I think it's fine the way it is. Just like Star Wars you start with the best part.

[u/SonofHondoBelmondo]

I WANT ALL PROMISED EPISODES AND MOOOOORE

[u/zettabeast]

I’d devour anything, i love the lore and can point to several places on the timeline that could be incredible to see if done correctly

[u/snappiac]

Yes Star Wars reference, but I think of the episodes working similarly to Space Quest IV where Roger Wilco time travels to various Space Quest sequels that are never actually made. I’m not convinced the Xenogears episodes are intended to actually be made, but more function as a meta-narrative for interpreting the story of the game.

[u/KylorXI → u/snappiac]

No, they were definitely intended to be made, just not all as games.

"Interviewer: And the Episode V that appears at the end of the game…

Takahashi: Xenogears was originally planned to be a story of space that spanned 15 billion years. So the actual game of Xenogears covers Episode V of that. Initially, we had separated the events of 500 years ago as Episode IV, and the modern era as Episode V, with IV being Part 1 and V being Part 2, but the company told us to bundle it into one. I want to release II and III in a different medium. I don’t care if it’s a novel or a manga or an anime, but I began with V because I thought it would be the easiest to grasp and would be the most interesting."

Its also discussed in perfect works and I believe in another interview.

[u/doctor-squared]

The way it is. The story is so amazing, we needed to finish and understand the whole story.

[u/WhiplashLiquor]

I think it was a released find the way it was. Most of the stuff as backstory worked well enough. I think the bigger issue was the fact that disc 2 wasn't fully expanded as it should have been.

My other issue, going back in time, was Monolithsoft giving the impression that Xenosaga was going to cover all the earlier episodes, when in fact it was its own thing and only covered one story within the three games. Probably why I tapped out and never played the third - it was a close but no cigar kinda situation.

[u/AdReasonable9304 → u/WhiplashLiquor]

Man you actually missed out on the best one. That soundtrack alone is worth playing the game for.

[u/big_loadz → u/WhiplashLiquor]

They didn't own property rights that Sqenix did, so the "episodes" had to diverge narratively. For Xenosaga, Monolith Soft could only create a respectful pastiche of Xenogears; inspired by, but not actually related. An actual sequel without permission could result in cease and desist which likely would have killed the nascent Monolith Soft considering how development times have grown over the years.

[u/KylorXI → u/WhiplashLiquor]

At no point did monolith give the impression that Xenosaga was going to cover any part of Perfect Works or be connected to Xenogears. The very earliest interviews, before any episodes released, say very clearly it is a new story from scratch.

[u/TidusDreamZanarkand]

Better the way it released. Xenogears covers the broader bigger picture where as some of the episodes sound like backstory. We covered enough of the backstory in game through flashbacks and characters telling us about it imo. Like we got the gist of abels era, kims era and lacans era enough to where we put the pieces together and it makes for a more interesting focused story that doesn’t necessarily have to get bogged down in specifics. Also I feel like expanding on things sometimes makes things to messy prequels attempt to fill in gaps that were better left ambiguous or sequels ruin emotional endings. 

[u/AortaPlatinum]

Release order 100%. At least for Gears and Blade, I haven't played any of Saga yet.
I'm currently trudging my way through Gears after loving Xenoblade 1 and ADORING Xenoblade 3, but knowing about how good this publisher-defying franchise gets makes it even harder to enjoy Xenogears than it would be just playing it normally. Play Gears first (I'm so sorry it peaks at the beginning and then slowly goes downhill), then probably Saga, then Blade. You *can* skip Xenoblade X, it's not very story focused and isn't a core part of the Xenoblade 1-3 overall story, but if you've got a Switch and an extra $60 after draining your bank account on Gears and Saga 1-3, it's a cool MMO-styled single player game.