The biggest problem with Xenogears is that its almost two different video games after you get by the first disc. The first disc is an absolute bliss, joy, and wonderfully done. The second disc is a thing that makes you bash your head against a wall, wondering "what did I do to deserve this?".
I don't even agree on that front, but I appreciate the lack of hyperbole that characterizes most Xenogears fans. The dungeon design was broken, with the horrible jumping mechanics making it a pain to navigate. Freakin' ugly 2D visuals. Suikoden craps all over it, and hard. Doesn't matter if it's sorta-kinda 3D. If it looks *and* plays horribly, being able to spin the environment around doesn't help. The combos that were used in the on-foot battle system was neat in concept, but kind of underdone. Saga had a much smoother, way more solid battle system, but I couldn't stand anything else.
I'm replying to this like really late, but this needs to be said. The graphics are (if you disclude the second disk) the worst point in the game. For 1998 it was okay, but honestly the only reason anyone actually played was for the story, battles (were fast and fun), mecha, and the fact the music is pretty damn great.
You know what part I hated the most? On the second disk (go figure), where you're in that cave and you have to jump up and across all those rocks in your Gears....I can't tell you how many times I kept falling back down to the bottom
The Cave? That's nothing compared to the Tower of Babel. Dear God that was annoying as fuck.
Again, back when Xenogears came out this game was actually really good for its time. But honestly, you go back and you can literially wince at things that you can't get away with now. Like the graphics, the disaster known as the second disk, short changing the development process which CAUSED the second disk, etc.
You know what? I don't know what was more annoying. Tower of Babel or Chu-Chu.
