If you guys are planning on doing Xenoblade games as well, I highly recommend emulating the Wii U one, Xenoblade X. You can use some quality of life things like putting day and night cycle changes in the menu like other Xenoblades. You can force and access the now defunct online features. Cemu runs it super well, basically flawless. 60fps.
I wanted to leave this comment earlier, but I just got back from vacation, so if any of these comments have already been repeated ad nauseum, I apologize. - I so wish we knew more about the original plan for Episode 3, especially considering when you replay Episode 1 after playing Episode 3, you'll notice there's quite a bit of foreshadowing to be found even in that game. But that quote you read from Kaori Tanaka is literally the only statement about the game from Monolithsoft itself. I don't think I've ever encountered another RPG whose publically available development history is next to nonexistent in quite the same way. - With regards to why the Testaments have four circles on their cloaks instead of three, I know in Japan the number four has an association with death, so perhaps Takahashi is drawing from that tradition? That would certainly be fitting for what they are, but that's purely speculation. - As far as Abel is concerned, I'm also very curious with regards to what role he would have played in subsequent episodes, because on the surface, Xenogears-Abel and Xenosaga-Abel are very, very different. To keep spoilers entirely out of it, Xenogears-Abel appears to just be a regular human being, whereas Xenosaga-Abel is definitely not. - The area in Episode 1 where T-elos was introduced was the U-TIC Battleship, which is fascinating because she's supposed to be a design of Vector and the Galaxy Federation, who are (of course) U-TIC's enemies. Considering what we later discover about Wilhelm, I find this to be another brilliant example of Takahashi and Tanaka's penchant for planting seeds that don't fully grow until incredibly late in the story. - One quick note about Roth Mantel: his name in German literally means "Red Cloak," a very blatant hint regarding his true identity. I'm guessing Monolithsoft was being intentionally obvious here, kind of like what Konami did with Solid Snake/Iroquois Pliskin in MGS2. - OH GOD I THINK I'M THE SHION STAN THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT
08:42 This is how it should be, but unfortunately right now is that too much ideology is being pushed on the youth of today and discovering knowledge through empirical / scientific evidence is discouraged or frowned upon
Thanks for the meeting of minds! Late to the party but I just came to say I really enjoy your podcast, regardless of the series/topic. Your discussins, insights, and literal thoughtfulness always put me in a thoughtful mood. And I think that's a good thing.
They also could be because the entity attacking has its own troops. the same ones you fight when invading the final dungeon. So may be a mistranslation, but it doesn't have to be.
That "... by clowns in hell" comment you mentioned might have been mine :D It's probably been deleted as I can't find it anymore, but I can't take the credit anyway as I originally heard it from Pat Boivin of PatStaresAt and Castle Superbeast (formerly Best Friends Play). Maybe he also got it from somewhere else, idk. I'm just happy that you would concur XD
1:13:32 That's when you know you're working on something special. The depth of this game is unreal. I am blown away but also not surprised it took 20 episodes. An absolute masterpiece 25 years ago was created. This game does not get the recognition it deserves. The game was a religious experience. It honestly deserves to win a Pulitzer Prize.
No one ever talks about the FULL quotes which have a whole lot more meaning: "Thus spake the devil unto me, once on a time: 'Ever God hath his hell: it is his love for man." "And lately did I hear him say these words: 'God is dead: of his pity for man hath God died.'”
Got to say I never caught on to the Ouroboros and Moebius (Infinity symbol) symbolism in this game. Kind of neat that they brought that back and made it pretty important to Xenoblade 3.
Did Mike ever talk more in-depth about Childhood's End during this series? I just played Xenogears for the first time alongside the podcast and read Childhood's End too because he kept mentioning it but I don't remember hearing him get back to it. Anyway, even a few years later, this was an amazing series and I feel lucky I got to play the game for the first side along with your guys' analysis. Been feeling really lost within myself lately and everything about Xenogears has given me a lot to chew on and think about. Feels like I'm finally moving forward again.
One of the worst lists I’ve ever seen, don’t understand how you’re going to put the absolute masterpiece of Nier at FOURTY TWO & FOURTY ONE, Criminal and stupid, should have your list making licence revoked
I cannot wait for you 2 to play xenoblade 3 future redeemed. Im am just waiting for you response to be recorded and see how you forsee whats next in the "xeno-collection" by takahashi lol
Going through my N64 games is one of my favorite things. Every game you mentioned was something my childhood best friend and I would play every time we got together, and my sister and I played the hell out of Mario 64 and Mario Kart
I like the idea of the ring betraying Sauron. The ring represents ones capacity for evil and in the end evil betrays everyone. Theres a reason Sauron or Morgoth before him failed, because following the path of evil, never works out in the end.
By now I have given up on Latin pronunciations :(. This one always rubs me the wrong way!! Reconstructed consensus is: -“ti” followed by a vowel is pronounced /tsi/, unless preceded by “s”, “t”, or “x”. You can see how this evolved into “z” in Italian, “ț” in Romanian, etc…
In Lord of the Rings, Aragorn's race, the Numenoreans, lived hundreds of years. One of the abilities they had was that they could choose when to pass on whenever they wanted. The idea was that once they felt like they had lived a complete life and started growing weary, they would put their affairs in order and willingly let go and move on. That's the kind of extended life I could go for. Time enough to live at your own pace, see everything you want to see, and move on at a time of your choosing without any fear or regret. Once the Numenoreans were corrupted by Sauron, they started fearing their natural end and started clinging on to life to the very last scraps of their time. This actually caused their lifespans to start becoming shorter and shorter until they were destroyed for attacking the undying lands in search of true immortality.
I appreciate that, even if Mike didn't wind up liking Shion at the end of his initial playthrough, you guys are still willing to give her character an in-depth and thoughtful analysis down the line. I still want to throw my two-cents in though: Shion, to me, is a character that hits way, WAY too close to home. Not that I'm qualified to give any diagnosis of any sort, but Shion displays several signs of Bipolar Disorder, or some disorder of the like. Someone I've been very close to my entire life has BP and playing through Xenosaga for the first time last year, I was shocked to the degree and accuracy with which traits symptomatic of the disorder were present within Shion's mannerisms and her interactions some of the characters, namely Jin. There were moments in our lives where this person would act in an "unreasonable" way not unlike Shion, and I admittedly and shamefully never tried to understand them for the longest time and dismissed their behavior as unacceptable and frustrating without accounting for a lot of the trauma and abuse that had made them that way. This person has said and done things that've made me unhappy, but I had to come to terms with that because by being dismissive of them, it only tore a further rift in our relationship, one that's gotten much better with time but has never quite been fixed fully. All I'm saying is that I hope you guys afford Shion this same level of understanding in your future analyses. You don't have to like her by the end; she's certainly not conventionally likeable by any means, but I do hope you can grow to understand just how great and thoughtfully conceived of a character she is. She's not a character for everyone but Takahashi and the writing team at Monolith knew exactly what and who this character was for, and I have to give them real props for that.
I could write the exact same thing but you did it first and probably better than I can. I hope that is what people one day will say about Shion, a fantastic, realistic character that you don't have to like but at least respect.
Hey everyone! Sorry this is a very late comment but I've only recently discovered this show/podcast. I listened to the full FF8 series and this episode and was wondering if I missed mention of the apparent fact that Seifer is Cid and Edea's son? This is evidenced by Cid holding Seifer's Triple Triad card and Edea's despite being under Ultimecia's influence; choosing her son to be her Knight
Xenogears spoiler………………………………….Abel is a dead ringer of Fei and Nephilim is a dead ringer of Ellie. In a previous incarnation of Fei, he was a painter who painted the portrait of queen Sophia who is an earlier incarnation of Ellie. It’s like these two are forever entangled by fate and incarnation even transcending games.
Did you ever have an experience where someone came across as completely arrogant and unfriendly towards you and you eventually learn that that is not the case, but they are really just a shy person, but their evasive nature seemed to you like an aversion? The same problem is true for psychological illnesses. A person with borderline syndrom will often be mistaken as a narcissist, when in reality the exact same problem is true and they have alarmingly low self-esteem. The depiction of Shion‘s mental illness is so impressive, because it‘s realistic. There is the risk of losing a good chunk of the audience with her. And that’s exactly what happened. But it was an important lesson to show that a depressive person does not come across as „sad“ in the eyes of others. They will be evasive, build walls, not let anyone near herself and overall seem extremely unlikable. Because how could she be likable when she doesn’t even like herself. I can’t claim to know all works of fuction, but Xenosaga is the only piece that I know that represents depression right.
I would just like to say you have punted me right down a rabbit hole. I haven't watched the films since i was a kid, and never really delved into the books. now the audio books make up most of my work commute and im planning watch-alongs with my friends, I eagerly look forward to part 2 (assuming i dont bite the bullet and sub to the Patreon) if only because i want to play Xenosaga myself after finishing the Blade trilogy last year.
Wilhelm's comment about Scientia thinking that their "cage" is the entire world makes me think of Plato's Allegory of the cave. This allegory is more heavily explored in the Xenoblade Chronicles series.
I believe Carl jung has talked about the significance of the spine before in that its the inbetween of the mind and body or spirituality and flesh, so I think that's why the relics are in the shape of the spine as that has to do with their purpose
The reasons I both like and dislike Shion are the exact same as the case of Elma (Xenoblade X). Both are well written characters once you get the full picture but come off as ass until then. Both are the actual protagonists but they sure don't seem like it for the majority of their games (some people even finish Xenoblade X without realizing Elma is the actual protagonist, not your main playable character). Also, both leave A LOT unexplained which as pointed out makes it even harder to relate to them. And last but not least, having Shion story diluted in 3 very busy games is not doing her any favors, ditto for Elma's story being diluted into random side quests, easily missable events and even random NPC chat. There is a case to be made about the worth of purposefully writing protagonists where the audience doesn't know their objectives and motivation until the end of the story (Elma is even worse on this matter). When the audience doesn't know the protagonists motivation, how does that impact their perception on the themes? It muddies the water too much IMO.
Not going too much into spoilers, but the trilogy really benefits from a replay with some hindsight on your side, particularly when it comes to the character of Shion. She has a lot of tells (some of which you actually already picked up on and discussed a bit) that show how her life and mindset are really negatively affected by depression, loneliness, and trauma. It's a bit harder to identify and understand them in a first playthrough because you don't know where the character arc is heading, or the extent of her true feelings, and she's also pretty decent at masking most of the time. I think it also helps if you are good at recognizing psychological signs, or have experienced a somewhat similar state mind in your life. Regardless of any personal feelings towards the character, a lot of the writing for her is actually really impressive, at least in my opinion. I would recommend doing another playthrough eventually anyways (on your own times, of course) as I find there's even more to pick up and more connections you can make on subsequent playthroughs.
