FF8 story theory *massive spoilers inside*

[ZeroAX]

Very blatantly obvious. Painfully obvious. The first time I played it I had no idea what was in store for me. I finished the first disc pretty much in a state of awe at how amazing the story was getting, only to be let down horribly by how the presentation was handled on disc 2.

To be fair though, I think the scope of the game might have been too big to handle even if they didn't get cut short. It's truly a monstrous game. I hear that Xenoblade is the first game that Takahashi has made that's been "fully realized".

you got me interested in playing the game, and at the same time to decide not to, only cause of how disappointed I'd be in a never properly finished story.

[brunoafh]

you got me interested in playing the game, and at the same time to decide not to, only cause of how disappointed I'd be in a never properly finished story.

Well, like Ryuvis said, it's still a GREAT game that no RPG fan should pass up. The story still remains very compelling, if not completely insane and drawn out, which is more or less the main focus of the game. It's actually not the story that was unproperly finished, but the gameplay and presentation side of things.

There are still some dungeons and boss fights present, but the plot is just machine gunned at you through text screens with black backgrounds and screen shots. There's zero exploration until the very end of the game.

It probably won't be that shocking if you're expecting it, I wouldn't let it deter you from playing it.

[Flake]

I don't know if it's a game that no RPG fan should pass up, especially given the huge selection of RPG's the 32 bit era had to offer.

[Xeogred]

Basically look at Xenogears disc 2 as the final dungeon, maybe that'll help... maybe not.

@brunoafh: I've heard the very same thing about Xenoblade myself, finally the team were able to set some of their ambition aside and get a complete, full package out. And I've still heard from some people that played the Japanese version and understood it, that it's still got its subtle hints towards Gears and Saga, which is just another plus for me.

On a side note do you like Xenosaga? lol, I know it's extremely hit or miss... and I'll admit Shion sucked, but I almost felt like the last stretch of Episode III had a lot more emotional impact than anything in Xenogears did. I really enjoyed Episode III all around, even if the combat left a bit to be desired. Episode II I hated the first I played it, but a friend of mine sent me a guide that made the game a lot more understandable and more fun, so the second time around I actually kind of enjoyed it. That said I got to the final dungeon and just stopped for some reason, lol. Never finished Episode I either, guess that's pretty sad III is the one I beat.

[AppleQueso]

I liked most of Xenosaga's cast, including Shion. I liked the story too, it's just that for a game, it was way too cutscene heavy and it felt like the story took too much precedence over the gameplay.

Also, a vagely related but amusing coincidence:


This is not Shion, it's a character from a completely different franchise (and medium!). She has the same english VA though. They look eerily similar huh?

[brunoafh]

I had a buddy that got Xenosaga I back when it came out and I saw a little of it then, but other than that I've had no experience with it. I've always had some interest in it, but I've just never tried it. I'll probably give it a run some day. How's it compare to Xenogears, is it pretty necessary to start with the first game?

[Xeogred]

Is that... FMA, maybe Valkyrie Chronicles? Haha.

Well Saga had all those cuts and issues, like Episode 2 and 1 were supposed to be a single game (or maybe it was 2-3), and Shion's entire story was just one third of the whole thing and was only supposed to be 2 games. They had some ridiculously epic plans or something, and I guess the story just completely outweighed how much thought they had put into gameplay, haha.

For some reason I didn't mind Shion in the first two games... but in Episode 3, like during the whole hospital/past bit or whatnot damn was she annoying.

If I ever get around to modding out a PS2, I'd love to play the undubs someday.

I had a buddy that got Xenosaga I back when it came out and I saw a little of it then, but other than that I've had no experience with it. I've always had some interest in it, but I've just never tried it. I'll probably give it a run some day. How's it compare to Xenogears, is it pretty necessary to start with the first game?

I'd say it is to an extent. Episode 3 kind of starts off a bit detached from the first two games, but I'd say having played big chunks of the first two made the impact of 3 a lot better. I pretty much got to the end of the first game and didn't have a lot of issues with it, it was a pretty complete package and 40 some hours or so. 2 has a lot of issues but it develops one of the villains a lot that pretty much completely makes the game. This one was pretty dang short though, like 20-30 hours. 3 also only took me about 30-40 hours, so none of the games are as long as say most PSX RPG's back in the day.

I'd say yeah, at least give the first two a shot like I did. But if you can't finish them, you can still probably enjoy 3 just as much as I did, haha.

Like I said above though compared to Xenogears, I thought the final stretch of Episode 3, which was made up of like 3-4 dungeons, was insanely epic and well done. The pacing was great, and everything that huge story had worked up to was finally coming to a close, so it was all really epic and was a lot more powerful than Xenogears second disc for me. Overall, I could probably say I prefer Gears for some of the characters and whatnot, but yeah.

So out of Xenogears and Saga 1-3, they all have their issues, but 3 is probably the most complete game and was totally worth it. It's gotten a bit hard to find though, so might be a bit pricey.

[AppleQueso]

I had a buddy that got Xenosaga I back when it came out and I saw a little of it then, but other than that I've had no experience with it. I've always had some interest in it, but I've just never tried it. I'll probably give it a run some day. How's it compare to Xenogears, is it pretty necessary to start with the first game?

I can't speak for Xenogears, but Xenosaga can be had for pretty cheap (I think, at least it used to be cheap) so it's probably worth playing.

You can skip Xenosaga II. It sucks so much, everything about it was changed up for the worse.

Xenosaga III was pretty nice though, it has a nifty plot summary at the start that sums up what happened in the first two games. It's far less cutscene heavy and gameplay wise it's a nice upgrade from the first game that improves on most of its shortcomings.

Is that... FMA, maybe Valkyrie Chronicles? Haha.

It's Scrapped Princess, an anime. I remember when I first saw it and that character appeared, my first gut reaction was that she looked a LOT like Shion... Then she started talking and had the same damn voice and I just laughed. I kinda think it might've been some kinda inside joke between some of the voice actors involved, it's just TOO conincidental.

...you could probably come up with some zany fan-theories surrounding that I bet

[Xeogred]

I also loved the database in Xenosaga III. DAMN was that world detailed. History, religions, technology, factions, character bio's, relations, everything. The series Bible pretty much. It was hilariously awesome.

So if you didn't make it too far into 1-2, that'd be another way to catch up. Trust me, that database was hilariously huge and detailed on everything.

[MrPopo]

I found that Xenosaga II got much better once I figured out the battle system. It's all about saving up boosts to break enemies.