PixlBit

I have mixed feelings about Xenogears. On the one hand, I really love it - it's a neat world, with good combat, and great characters. On the other hand, it can be extremely obtuse, with some poorly thought out platforming sections, and a story that's a little too ambitious for the close confines of a PSONE JRPG. I didn't own it when it came out - though I did play the demo for it that was included with Parasite Eve - but I did play it years later, during the PS3 era when I downloaded it for my PSP. I haven't finished it, and I've started it over and gotten about twenty hours in about three times now, and I think of trying it again all the time, as I do like it. But, like I said, it can be a frustrating game.

Of course, Xenogears also spawned the Xenosaga trilogy for the PS2, and the Xenoblade games for Nintendo systems. I loved Xenosaga as well, but I never finished that either. I have never been able to get into the Xenoblade games, mostly because of the combat, but I keep trying.

There are a lot of classic PSONE JRPG's, most notably the Final Fantasy trilogy. It's a genre that makes me love the PSONE more than any other console, and while I haven't played all these games, it's an ambition I hope to complete during my life. There were great games, with great stories, and while they each had their own flaws, it was a dazzling time for JRPGs.

I often fantasized, as indie games developed, that people would start developing JRPG's in the vein of old PS1 and PS2 games, and indeed some people have now. I believe this will be a living genre, that will outlast the hardware it was born on.