If an idea can be expressed using five words or fifty, the latter often trumps the former. Characters needlessly repeat themselves on countless occasions. The first sign of trouble appears in the game's opening when an unknown being declares itself "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." Apparently, it's necessary to repeat the same message three times if the audience is to understand the point. Still, this would be entirely forgivable if it were an anomaly. Sadly, such is not the case. Even small and seemingly insignificant conversations are converted into epic monologues. Upon receiving some information about his family, the protagonist inquires, "My father?" immediately followed by the same question again, this time reworded, "You mean, my dad?" Coupled with the deliberate text speed, superfluous repetition such as this serve only to annoy bored gamers. Alas, the problems with the writing extend still further.

Inserted within the text are far too many trite colloquialisms. One character informs, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." Sadly, he's not intentionally quoting one of the NRA's ridiculous slogans; rather, the character proclaims this in all seriousness, as if it were his own thought. Another example of Xenogears' terrible writing: "Master, sir, did you see my MAD SKILLZ!?" Such comments are better left to the half-wits of certain Internet forums.

Nevertheless, an engrossing story would compensate for the dialogue's flaws. To its credit, Xenogears is a tale of incredible vision. Clearly, the writers intended to produce an immense story. The game follows the life of an enigmatic youth named Fei. He enjoys a quiet life in a small town until a mysterious attack prompts him to journey on a quest to unravel the secrets of his past. The welfare of the world hangs in the balance as Fei discovers his true purpose and ultimate destiny. The story may have been amazing, if not for a few problems.

While there are a ton of issues explored in Xenogears, many are presented poorly. Rarely has so little thought accompanied so many ideas. Some plot twists, while often interesting, fail in execution. Rather than exist to further the plot, they unnecessarily convolute it. For example, Fei learns that a food source called "soylent" is made of people. It's not exactly a shocking revelation for anyone acquainted with the film Soylent Green. At worst, it's blatant plagiarism; at best, it's a reference that ruins the surprise for anyone familiar with the 1970's movie. Since it's not even an integral part of the plot, one has to wonder why it's there at all. As it is, the reference feels tacked-on with no real importance or purpose. In the same fashion, symbolic names are strewn throughout the game, reaching a point of overkill.

Many of these relatively minor flaws could be ignored provided the game maintained a constant storytelling style. Upon completion of the first disk, the game abruptly changes. Throughout the first disk, gamers are able to choose where they wish to venture next. While the story will not progress until a certain chore is completed, gamers have the choice when to complete the required task. It's entirely possible to explore a cave or dungeon, should the desire arise. In short, gamers have freedom to move their character wherever they wish.

In the second disk, there is no choice. The narrative dictates when and where the characters move. In fact, there are large strings of time in which the only player interaction comes in the form of an occasional boss battle. Most of the second disk is spent watching other characters recount their experiences. In a visual medium, this is unacceptable. In general, visual media should show, rather than tell, the viewer. It would seem Xenogears' vast scale ran above what the developers could accomplish. To cut development time, the game's second disk received little time and effort. As such, it comes off as hurried and sloppy. Essentially, the game becomes a digital novel, supplemented by the odd visual aid. For some looking for an anime-style story, this may be tolerable; for others looking for an interactive experience, it's tremendously disappointing.

Aside from the second disk, Xenogears' gameplay stands up well. Potentially annoying random encounters are made much more interesting by the innovative battle system. Characters begin each turn with a full gauge of "action points." Weak attacks consume one action point, medium-powered attacks use two, and the strongest blows drain three. Certain combinations yield special attacks that inflict more damage than regular hits. If some action points remain at the end of a character's turn, they are added to an "attack point" counter. Attack points can be used to string together massive combinations of special attacks. In addition to the AP system, many characters have access to some form of magic. While the offensive magic is laughably weak, curative spells are invaluable. Character battles require intelligent strategy and allow for brilliant flexibility.

For especially powerful foes, characters can summon large robots called "gears." Similar to the character battles, gear battles require strategic balancing of certain variables. Gears are limited in their power by fuel. Nearly every action requires fuel to perform. Increasingly severe attacks burn increasingly more fuel. Once a gear's fuel runs dry, it is virtually useless. To gain fuel, gears must either sacrifice hit points or waste a turn recharging. Conversely, a surplus of fuel can be used to hasten the time between turns. Gear battles require just as much strategy as the character battles and they're both equally enjoyable.

Also enjoyable is the excellent music. With the music of Chrono Trigger already to his name, Yasunori Mitsuda proves his composition skills once again with Xenogears' excellent score. Stirring music adds drama to the toughest boss fights and enriches the most emotional moments. It's hard to complain about any aspect of the sound; it's all dripping in quality. Of the two most important technical features, graphics and sound, the aural far surpasses the visual. While the graphics aren't bad, they aren't great either. Colors blend into each other, creating unclear images. It's not a huge problem but, on occasion, objects lack definition and distinction. Still, it's less of a problem and more an annoyance.

Sprinkled throughout Xenogears are 20 minutes of hand-drawn anime scenes. In terms of artistic quality, they're more than acceptable. The voice acting is a little weak but the lip-synching is downright awful. These scenes don't hurt the overall product but they don't add a whole lot either.