Sometimes, one comes across a piece of media that eclipses all that preceded it. Xenogears is by any definition just such a game. I would call such a work geniune art; indeed, one does not know the true depth of presentation’s importance until one experiences this game.
I say “game”, but it is hardly such. It is only a game in that you must emulate the characters’ own struggles to overcome to see their stories continue. The piece is an immensely human work: the kind of thing one experiences, and afterwards if one understands the work at all, has no doubt of the importance of typology to an accurate understanding of the human condition.
Picture this: a biocomputer intelligence designed to terraform entire planets into weapon systems awakens from its dormant slumber and seizes control of its transport vessel’s very physics. After losing the ship’s crew of thousands to the computer’s onslaught, the ship’s captain takes one last look at the locket containing photographs of his wife and daughter, and destroys the ship. The debris falls to a nearby planet, where from the wreckage a lone woman emerges. This woman, Miang, will be mother of a new race of humans whose specific purpose is to one day be harvested for parts on behalf of their fallen “god”, Deus.
Xenogears asks profound questions about human nature. Why are humans violent? What is their purpose? Because the humans in Xenogears are designed, many of them, to fulfill specific functions, they have very one-sided — and thus determined - personalities. These personalities make for interesting case study. For example, the Gazel Ministry are the first humans given birth to by Miang. They are genetically purposed to return to Deus as his “parts”, and long for the “paradise” this purposed wholeness will grant them. They are both mechanical units, in that they are aspects of a larger defined whole, and persons in that they have consciousness, fear, hopes, dreams. Could it be that we are just like them: pawns in a system designed to produce a greater “good” that is beyond our imagination?
The plot centers around a young man named Fei. We aren’t told who Fei is or how he came to be until much later in the story. Fei’s village is attacked by giant robot weapons called “Gears”. (think Gundam Wing, though Neon Genesis Evangeleon fits the psychology behind them) His best friend, who was going to be married the next day, is killed in a fight between Gears. All of a sudden, everything goes black for Fei.
When Fei comes to, his village is utterly destroyed. The younger brother of his slain friend, Dan, tells Fei that he is the one who destroyed the village. Dan and the rest of the community turn against Fei, leaving only the village doctor on his side. Fei, having no idea who he is or what he has done, has no choice but to leave the village for the world beyond.
Comment: Fei is most likely ENFj. He has a very nontechnical way of speaking and is plagued by memory problems. It is a problem of creative Ni that ENFjs often blot out traumatic experiences which would otherwise grip their Fe in despair. As ENFjs mature, they learn how better to confront their emotional pain and with that confrontation unlock their sealed memories.
In the forest beyond the village, Fei meets a young woman who survived the carnage. She was a pilot of one of the Gear robots who attacked the village. After some venting, the two agree to put their contempt for each other aside for the purpose. They eventually make camp, and share each other’s thoughts. The woman, Elly, becomes angry when Fei blames her for the destruction of the village. Elly shouts back that it is Fei who is to blame for the destruction for getting inside the Gear. Fei is crushed by this realization; meanwhile, Elly goes off on her own, and is attacked by a giant lizard.
This is the first of many turning points in the remarkably complex story. Fei is no match for the lizard until the village doctor, Citan, retries the Gear Fei used to destroy the village. Fei hates and distrusts the machine, but risks its use anyhow to save Elly’s life. Afterward Citan, who secretly hails from Elly’s native land, asks that she should forget about Fei and return to her country.
Comment: Citan is an INTj-ENTj. (like Lezard Valeth, just not crazy) He is very technical in his speech, yet explains himself well. He enjoys tinkering with various gadgets, mostly for purposes of repair. It is difficult to imagine a non-Ti type taking on the roles he does over the course of the game, many of which require impeccable objectivity and self-control. He is highly theoretical and is capable of quickly proposing an answer or explanation to just about anything.
Fei and the “Doc” travel onward to an excavation community in the midst of the desert, where Gear robots are being excavated from 500 year-old ruins. Fei’s Gear, named “Weltall”, has been damaged in the fight with the monster and needs a new part. The part can only be found in the ruins, they are told, and Citan goes off to find it. On advice from the locals, Fei goes after him into the desert. When night comes, a group of Gears surround Fei. Fei escapes on a motorcycle and drives deeper into the desert, when he meets up with Citan at last, who has repaired Weltall. Fei defeats the Gears, but is soon confronted with a new foe: the Seeker of Power, Graf.
Graf’s Gear stands atop a stone spire in the scarlet moonlight as he describes to Fei many arcane things. He speaks of Fei as having a “nature”, and refers to him with the pronoun “you” as though Fei is a technical instrument of sorts. Then he tells Fei he must destroy “Mother God” and pits him against a giant sandworm. Fei defeats the worm, but Weltall breaks down again from the stress of fighting it and Fei and Citan are captured by Graf’s associates, who have been looking for Weltall.
Comment: this is one of the game’s more impressive moments. The use of camera angles throughout this scene lends it a sense of the abject supremacy and omnipotence that comes to be associated with Graf.
Citan is seen talking to Cain, the leader of Solaris and the first child of Miang. Cain, who is surrounded by what appear to be floating cards, is over 10,000 years old: he is like unto a mummy in his own body, which has aged almost beyond recognition. He talks ominously of a fate destined at humanity’s genesis, and of the importance that it be avoided.
Weltall’s transport ship is attacked, and amidst the swiftly rising sand Fei and Citan escape to Weltall. No sooner do they escape, however, than they encounter the leader of the “sand pirates” who attacked to transport, Fatima crown prince Bartholomew. (Bart for short) Bart and Fei start off rough, but their feud is quickly rendered moot by the common crisis of falling through quicksand into an underground cavern.
Making their way through the cavern, the two meet an old man named Balthasar. (yes, a reference to the astrologer from the Christian Nativity). Balthazar informs them that there are no records of humans living on their planet from beyond 10,000 years ago. Balthazar is dumbstruck when he sees Weltall, calling it “the Chariot of the Slayer of God” and declaring that “Calamity” will see to them.
Calamity does indeed befall the pair in the guise of a giant robot. The two destroy the robot and escape, having forged a friendship through crisis and put their differences aside for the time being. They are met by Bart’s Sand Cruiser, the Yggdrasil, which takes them to the pirates’ base.
At the base, Fei and Citan learn of the substance behind this determined and surprisingly well armed band of pirates. Bart was the prince of Aveh and heir apparent when his house was overthrown by Shekan, a close adviser. Bart escaped with the help of his loyal retainer, Mason, and with the help of the influential Sigurd began hobbling together a resistance army. Until Fei’s arrival the pirates had no hope of challenging Shekan, who has been backed up by a military force called Gebler. The Gebler have space-age technology and have enacted a strategy to keep both the kingdom of Aveh and the Kislev Empire to the north firmly entrenched in hostility. Now with Fei’s Weltall gear and his own phenomenal skill, the pirates have a new opportunity to defeat Shakan.
Fei is torn by his potential to do good for his friends and his hatred of fighting. Before he can reach a decision, however, Gebler infiltrates the pirates’ lair and launches a suprise attack. Fei is forced to ride Weltall once more to save his newfound friends.
Comment: the scene of Bart conversing with the memory of his own father atop the Yggdrasil is one of the most moving moments I’ve ever witnessed in a videogame. Bart offers a frank observation of what people look for in friends and what friendship means to us.
Fei realizes that he cannot ignore his troubles at the expense of his friends, and resolves to help Bart and his crew retake Rekjavik, Aveh’s capital. Fei enters a tournament to distract the populace while Bart infiltrates Fatima Castle through its waterway. Fei encounters Dan in the tournament, who still hates him for the death of his sister. Although Dan is no match for Fei, Fei is thereafter met with the mysterious Wise Man, who is cloaked in black and wears a fish mask.
Bart infiltrates Fatima Castle in search of his cousin [name], who is being held by Shekan for her knowledge of the treasure of the Fatima dynasty, the Fatima Jasper. Bart finds Margie but is cornered by Gebler’s leader, Kharan Ramsus and his leutenant/girlfriend, Miang. Bart resists Ramsus until Fei arrives and knocks Ramsus silly.
Upon seeing Fei, Ramsus is reminded of a terrifying experience. He was one of the gear pilots who attacked Fei’s village, and there experienced combat with “another” Fei. However, Ramsus is further troubled by deeper issues in his past….
The company escape from Fatima Castle and return Margie to her rightful place as Holy Mother of Nisan. At Nisan, Citan and Sigurd offer a daring scheme: destroy Aveh’s sand fleet, and Shekan’s regime might well crumble.
Comments: the Church of the Holy Mother is a striking scene of two angels, each with one wing, reaching out to each other amidst a horizon of pure, radiant light. It is meant to emphasize the co-dependence of humans on each other, especially specialized dependences such as gender. In this sense, it is a representation of the deeper genetic concept of complementarity or duality. It is a statement that the way of complementarity is the deepest and holiest experience we can realize.
