Max, around 18:11 you state that the goal would be to repress the negative traits into unconsciousness. To me, this sounds either like a not-too-cautious simplification or like a downright error. As to my understanding, the idea is to integrate all the existing tendencies, giving them their proper space and time. Those that could have previously been marked as negative and thus kept hidden from consciousness transform into a personal tool. For example, an individualized woman might manifest violence in certain critical situations, while avoiding it in most others.
This is a good point. It would have been more accurate for me to say "bring the negative traits under one's control so that they might as well be rendered unconscious". Thank you for pointing this out.
Carl Youngs' view of human psychology was infamously clouded by his worldview & preconceived notions. His ideas can be self-destructive but, with a greater understanding of the issues, can have a positive effect on the self & others.
@@maxderrat "Repression" is "gaining a lot of fans", but that isn't taking into account the much more important aspect of 'disavowal'. Freud was almost "there", as it were, he was considering this as a replacement for "repression" in his overall schema, before he kicked the bucket.
@@user-zp8kj2cl9g People are allowed to make mistakes. We grow when others point them out (kindly, we hope) and we are willing to consider the criticism calmly, being open to the possibility that we were wrong. This content creator seems to be capable of doing so.
Absolutely blown away by your dedication and thoroughness; it's great to see your take and thoughts on this game. I truly hope we see more from you covering Xenogears and Xenosaga alike!
@@chrislennon460 Spirital successor, which is as much of a connection as any of the Xeno games have to each other. You seem to have misread my comment as meaning they're something you go from in a sequence. I meant more so the overall themes and concepts that both share and build off of.
Only a true masterpiece, regardless of the medium, lives you with emptiness like Xenogears does when you finish it. Thank you for shedding light on it. It warms my heart.
Xenogears blew my mind at 14. It was the most engrossing, enthralling, and smartest thing Id ever experienced and still get tingly feelings when I remember it. And that ending Titanic ish song was great! This video makes me want to re experience it all. An absolute titan of a game but moreso the writing.
Actually, the song you mention Small Two of Pieces was recorded in 1996, according to a fellow Xenogears fan. The movie Titanic came out in 1997, a year after Mitsuda even knew of that song. So it’s not Titanicish, Titanic wasn’t even around!
Joanne Hogg is in a league of her own and in 2018 even reprised as the main vocalist for the 20 year anniversary concert for Xenogears alongside Yasunori Mitsuda.
I must agree with you Max, when you say that Xenogears was probably the most ambitious game ever made; Xenosaga did a decent job of getting the ideas of Xenogears to synergize, but even a three-game series like that wasn't enough (Xenosaga originally being planned to consist of six games!).
The point I am getting at is that Japanese literature usually takes the form of videogames; the ideas you would normally see in serials and novels in Japan are often contained in videogames.
Thankfully with Xenoblade 1 linking with 2, and 2 linking with -saga, it allows for the trilogy to become an ongoing series of 5 (approaching 6) games. The ideas of Xenogears and the ambitions it could never realize are slowly, gradually, approaching the ideal of what -gears was meant to be.
@@mythosinfinite6736 I haven't played Xenosaga yet, I was about to start it as I finished -gears. I've beaten Xenoblade 2 though, so without spoiling saga, how does it connect exactly? It's not just because KOS-MOS makes a Cameo as a blade right?
I didn't even know you were working on this project, but this is THE place I wanna hear it discussed! I was basically a kid when I played that game, but it blew every one of my friends away after playing it. We obviously didn't understand everything that was going on, but it still left a huge impact on us. Truly hope to see more discussion on this in the future.
Retrograde Amnesia(aptly named) also did a podcast analyzing Xenogears on a very granular level with hyper scrutiny, a while before Resonant Arc tackled it. Similarly it is also deep and lengthy(pun intended hehe). They were also featured on the Resonant Arc podcast too giving further supplemental insights, and both of them questioned whether or not they did Xenogears justice or if such a feat is even possible. Xenogears is one of those games where calling it a video game, almost seems criminal and at the very least, severely undervalues what it may "actually be". I feel the same way about FF9 and a few others, to me they go beyond formative experiences or art. Truly something special...apologies for the nerd out. And yes there are quite a lot of FF7 references and easter eggs scattered throughout the Xenogears world, same with FF7 if you know where to look and what to look for. Pretty neat stuff Anyhoo, thanks so much for taking a shot at Xenogears Max! I hope youll enjoy it as much as many of us do, should you make more content on it. We'll always look forward to it, thank you again
I have played this game many times and watched countless hours of discussions about it, and you've made the best Xenogears synopsis and general analysis ever.
And that's carried on to this day with Monolithsoft's work. I mean, just listen to Shulk's speech in the final battle of the first Xenoblade. Takahashi and his wife really like the trope of killing god to create your own destiny.
This is my favorite game of all time, thanks for doing a video on it. So heavy and dense with references and allusions, it’s definitely right up the alley of topics you usually cover. FYI, there’s a podcast called Retrograde Amnesia that covers this game in season 1 of their show (about 40 1hr episodes). The Retrograde guys appear on Reaonant Arc in a few episodes.
This game is a true Gem amongst Gems, one of my all time personal favorites, I still got the strategy guide and game tucked away in a moisture proof container. Great synopsis of a legendary game!
Lol, wow... this seems long overdue-at least in my opinion. 😂💯 It just feels like a video about the story of Xenogears would've been among Max Derrat's very first, given how perfectly it fits the overall content of his channel.
@@janrea3102 I dig this part, and he hasn't gotten into the finer Alchemical, jungian,Nietzschian and freudian themes. thats gonna be a blast, this game was basicly tailor-made for his taste
Xenogears is absolutely one of the most overlooked JRPG’s in history. Please do more! This game deserves so much more then what it was received or given.
Very thorough and clear analysis. You categorize and label concepts well without losing track like many others do. especially with this game as the content is massive
A childhood favorite that took on more meaning with my adult conversion to Catholicism. Excited to see this. Billy Lee Black was my favorite character.
Whoa, very deep. I thought I understood the story when I first played it, but you shined some light on details I missed. Also, good analysis. As a Xenogears fan, a Christian, and someone who studied Kabbalah; I have to say this video was on point.
Oh Lord, it only has 20k views so far. I need more Xenogears videos from you Max, you are just the most profound and methodical analyst in the video game, media and pop culture industry. Your videos have helped me to overcome a horrible existential crysis, so thank you and please keep them coming.
Having bought and played Xenogears (and still have the original game and stratagy guide!) when it first came out, it will always be one of my favorites. I've been into mecha and gunpla most of my life as well, and it wasn't until very recently that the Gears were made into kits! The mecha designers work(ed) on many Gundam series, so the similarities aren't surprising in my interests. It's a shame that Tetsuya Takahashi, the creator of Xenogears and the entire Xeno game series that is akin to Final Fantasy doesn't get enough credit like we give to Yoko Taro and Hideo Kojima. Please do more on this. It was over 20 years ago that I played and the game is so massive that even once I finished it... I was never 100% sure what was going on, only that it was awesome.
Xenogears as far as I'm concerned is THE final boss of videogames, the kind of experience that leaves a huge gaping hole in your heart when you finish it and truly understand it. Honestly, once you, at the minimum, have played Xenogears, Nier, Deus Ex, MGS and maybe a Zero Escape game you've pretty much seen it all, when it comes to deeper, more ambitious/twisty narratives in games, everything else is more or less just a variation. And it's kind of sad because that's not a very long list of essentials. Xenogears is far from my favourite game ever (ironically, Xenoblade 1 is easily top 3 but for very different reasons) but it absolutely towers above everything else as a ridiculous, tremedous achievement in terms of thematic depth in a medium where you're just supposed to push buttons to punch bad guys in the face and ask questions later. No other game tells a tale of such epic proportions and huge personal growth. There's just nothing quite like it. Try as I might I never found anything of similar magnitude condensed into one single game. Nothing surprises me, nothing excites me anymore, especially after the aforementioned list of games. And gameplay isn't something that can elicit a profound emotional response from me, ever, I'm all about story, always have been. It's a painful realization that I'm an old, jaded gamer and I simply ran out of sources of depth and profoundness inside my favourite medium. Video games can still be "fun" for me of course but those kinds of "fun" are very different. Books and movies are of course out there, but it's just not the same experience. No one is taking risks with games like Xenogears these days and it sucks. Even the creator of Xenogears himself went down the despicable waifu road in his more recent creations. Anyway, glad that this game is getting more exposure especially with that DOPE AS HELL analysis from Resonant Arc guys which I can't recommend enough for anyone who's interested in Xenogears. And sorry for being such a downer in my post lol. I just needed to vent really badly.
I am always impressed how Japanese look into other religions like Christianity and decided to make a video game based off some of the themes in their own way.
... It's not Christianity. It's counterfeiting real Christianity( Those who just follow the Bible teachings and nothing more) and creating a different narrative. A different gospel. And the comments about square not making xemogears a FF game because it would be too dark are true. Because those religions mentioned in this video that try to relate themselves to Christianity are very deceitful in how they tell you there existence
@@zekiel2533 actually based. Gnosticism isn’t Christianity at all by sheer virtue of removing Christ from the equation. It’s yet another works-based-salvation faith. The early Church shunned it when it arose.
@@trappercap, with all due respect, neither you nor @Zekiel know what either Gnosticism or Christianity is. Gnosticism refers to a certain school of thought that most scholars agree began with Christianity. That said, Gnosticism isn't necessarily Christianity, but Christianity is indeed Gnosticism. 💯
Thank you so much for this video. I'm playing through it again now as an adult and just seeing this synopsis has already opened my eyes up to things I hadn't even considered!
Oh I remember when this first came out, I bought it played for 20 hours and didn’t touch it for 6 years. Oddly enough it was those 6 years in I grew and matured in which made me enjoy it more so than I ever would have as a senior in high school when it first came out. Resonant Arc is a great podcast great to see them get a shoutout. 🖖🗽
@@chrislennon460 Why, main plot of the trilogy is pretty much complete by the end of Xenosaga 3. I'm aware of many changes, compromises, canceled games and all that, but that still beat infamous Xenogears Disc 2.
@@blaire4115 xenosaga has a ton of loose ends. Go play it again, you don't seem to remember. Xenogears wraps up all the main plot points by the end, the only cut content was gameplay and side characters story. You don't see what happened to like the Kaiser of Kislev or Yui, but who cares in the grand scheme of things, they weren't integral to any of the main plot. The ending of xenosaga leaves so much unfinished in the main story.
@@chrislennon460 While story was rushed somewhat in Ep 3, you certainly can't blame it of being inconclusive. The main arcs are resolved, and all of the characters receive some degree of closure.
God I wish they finished Xenogears...and I wish there was some sort of HD remaster. This game is the epitome of JRPGs, along with: - Persona 4/5 - Final Fantasy X - The Legend of Dragoon - Parasite Eve
Interestingly enough, both Parasite Eve and Xenogears happen to draw from the same "creative stew" that was the conception of Final Fantasy 7. Some major ideas and concepts from both games are essentially re-purposed elements of FF7 prototypes that didn't make the cut.
Whole analysis and linking Jungian references in a nutshell is just super cool man. I know your main focus is perusing video games, but I'd like hear your thoughts on 'Ergo Proxy' sometime.
Such a concise explanation of central elements you've had so relatively little time to digest. I so hope there will be more videos, Xenogears is a game that keeps giving and its the perfect match for this channel.
Glad you finaly got around to it in any form and am grateful that you have given us your insight on it, especially after my own and several other fans of yours kept pestering you about it for years!
I will always always always give love, likes and watches to anyone who gives this game publicity. So here it is. It deserves a remaster along the lines of FF7. Thank you.
Sadly it probably wont happen since the director tetsua takahashi started monolithsoft and works for nintendo now. On the bright side the xenoblade series continues these themes and are just as ambitious espically in their worldbuilding.
@@dragongamer4753 Though I had my issues with X and 2, I still think they were great games and I think Tetsuya Takahashi still has lots of great stories to tell
Hope not, at lest with the story adaptation, i played the original FF7 many time and have no idea of what is happening in the story of the new version, and Xenogears is really complex in its original version, so, when they try to "adapt it to modern audiences" probably will deform everything!
@@dragongamer4753 The only way I would accept a Xenogears remake is if Square got the cooperation of Tetsuya Takahasi, Soraya Saga and MonolithSoft. That way, they could completely realize Xenogears in the way it was originally intended. I don't think it's completely out of the question. Square and Nintendo seem to like working together, so I don't see an issue with the game being a Nintendo-exclusive (probably on a future system)
yea, xeno saga was suppose to cover teh time period after humanity colonize the milky way and lose teh zohar, then got attack by the gnosis and rediscover teh zohar, then weaponize teh zohar into dues to teh defeat of deus and end where the transport ship eldris crash into that lone planet.
22:46 I just like to note that, it's not just that they didn't have time to finish the game, personnel were pulled from the Xenogears development because Square prioritized the Development of Final Fantasy 7, which was being developed at the same time.
I don't know how to properly word this comment, honestly. I've been a subscriber to your channel for...well...years now, and your videos have been a source of wonder and comfort for me, from your videos discussing Silent Hill and Final Fantasy, to your videos on Autism and Aspurgers Syndrome(as someone who has it, it's such a relief to find someone who has videos on it that just...make sense). I'm a month late to watching this video, but... I've never before wanted to both cheer and cry with relief at one video. I can't properly describe how awesome it is to see someone like you dive even a fraction, properly, into Xenogears. Xenogears and Xenosaga have been a part of my childhood and life since i was old enough to comprehend video games, and just... God, I can't put this into words. This video was *fantastic*, and you're doing an amazing job, Max. Honestly. :)
@@maxderrat I am so sorry I missed this! Thank you so much! Honestly, Xenosaga is almost just as dense and deep as Xenogears, except it has some of the breathing room Xenogears really didn't. Fair warning, with emulating Xenosaga...2, I think, for a few segments there can be some shadow and skybox glitches, so just keep an eye out for that. And if you are able to, look into Xenosaga: Pied Piper, and Xenosaga: A Missing Year. It's extra content that helps flesh things out between the second and third games. I genuinely hope you have fun with the series as a whole, thank you so much for everything, and you just have a fantastic time in general. :)
I'm SO glad you finally did this! Xenogears is one of my favourite games ever and your video served a a great primer. I look forward to seeing more in depth analysis from you!
I love this Game and it profoundly impacted me. I remember getting done with FF7 my freshmen year of college and was looking for other in depth J RPG’s when I stumbled across Xenogears. I have never been so enthralled and felt so accomplished when the final scene played. I think I legit cried at feeling like I had come through an emotional journey I never expected. The Freudian references were a little on point but made me laugh as it fell inline with my psych classes at the time 🤣
My favorite game. So epic. Nothing can compare. I remember after beating it the first time, and then at the end of the credits it says "Xenogears episode 5"... I was so excited for all the prequels, but unfortunately that never happened, just another example of how ambitious this was, the fact that after 60 hours it was still "incomplete" with a rushed disc 2, but the entire game was really only 1 5th of the what it was meant to be...
this just backs up my query "why do Japanese creators know western esotericism better than most westerners", terms such as Zohar, Evangelion, Archon, gnosis, all the Jungian archetypes. On reddit four-casette says there was a fascination of Jewish culture in japan in the 80's which would explain their familiarity with these terms. the contraction of God that Max mentions is called Tzimtzum ("contraction")
It doesn't matter where they are from. I'm sure the creators (Takahashi and Saga) did a lot of research. Western writers also could have done the same research and applied it to their work if they wanted. Passion and due diligence are universal aspects of great creators.
In the 80s & 90s, religious paths & occultism or theology stuffs were a very popular topic to read/discuss in Japan. This is why you would find many of Japanese series/works during that time filled with religious iconography & themes. Not just games, but also manga, anime, novel, movies, etc (even freaking hentai LOL). This trend would continue on in early 2000s (just watch anime & manga of those period to know what I mean).
All you guys gave great answers, like everything there is multiple possible truths, it doesnt invalidate objectifity, it just expands the notion that anything humans have created will have been shaped by their worldview and reflect their flaws. Ive been studying esotericism since maxs video on alchemy x
Very glad you covered this game. I hope in the future you’re able to cover the Xenosaga and Xenoblade games. They all share the same the core 10,000+ year narrative that was created with Xenogears, but told in their own way. Also helps each series builds upons the previous series in terms of gameplay, world design, characters, etc.
I finished this game last night during the wait for XC3 and I never thought I'd say this but it truly does live up to it's legacy and all this buzz around how ambitious and how much of a masterpiece it is. Xenogears is genuinely beyond just a video game. It's really a journey that makes you question, learn and develop. Not to mention that it's also just a genuinely fun game with great gameplay.
i played this masterpiece when i was in college. bought it at a monday afternoon started it the same night and at friday night of the same week my save file was 64 hours while going to school and attending classes and doing daily things like eating etc.. 4 days 64 hours i was that much addicted to it.. good old golden times of jrpg.
No sabes donde te has ido a meter... Gracias por pronunciar tan bien en inglés y tan despacito, yo un humilde español que aprendió inglés con Xenogears (casi) he podido entenderte bastante bien y he de decirte que te lo has currazo mazo.
One of the best games i've ever played! The first CD is almost perfect! Sadly... The second part looks incomplete in some sense. But the story, ost, and ambientantion are truly magnificent! Nice work! Also: Deus is the portuguese/latin word for God.
Deus has etymological root of PIE root of Dyaus, usually associated with Sky father deities, one of subjects by "Gnostic" groups and religions to be among the ranks and types of Archons and Demiurge(s), all while Xenogears used sporadically of parts of interpretations of Sethians and Valentinians of Demiurges as either evil to malfunctionally flawed
Yet again, you've introduce me to yet another gem of a game that I have yet to play, Max, besides psychonauts and siren. Thanks for giving us something to reflect on and for some, reminisce. By the way, you mentioned something about the jung shadow in another video of yours in that it includes positive and not just dark, negative traits that are repressed. Could you elaborate on what those positive traits of the Shadow are or could be, Max? Once more, I can't thank you enough for your community and your passion for gaming, gaming analysis, your interest in psychology and the links to the traditions of gnosticism, christianity, hindu and bhuddist tradition, etc. I hope you had a warm, good Christmas
It's a repetitive thing to say but Xenogears would really be impossible to make in modern age, all of its philosophical, and psychological themes would be called pretentious by an endless wave of naysayers, its religious symbolism and concepts called edgy by those who are dismissive of art or easily offended, it's approach to romance and sexuality would be controversial and censored, its sci-fi inspirations from books and old anime would get it labelled as a rip-off and the tropes the story has (such as killing a god and uncovering the secrets of a manipulative religion) would be interpreted as a cliche amongst an sea of RPGS despite being the first one to dare make such a story. It truly is an unrepeatable treasure.
You should play the Yakuza games. They have a phenomenal story. Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen has a really philosophical ending, something close in intensity to the most profound moment in games that you presented on you channel. And is also inspired by Berserk. Anyway.. Thank you for the amazing work!!
@@TheFos88 It truly was an astounding experience and memorable.. nothing I have seen before in the game prepared me for it, even though the supposed „final boss” was also amazing, the true ending was like.. „Going all in”. It was perfect. Ending everything on a high note. No bullshit, just a fantastic conclusion to an weird, unique and phenomenal game. One of the GOATS in gaming history. Glad to see more people felt the.. I could say „power” of that ending, but maybe „truth” is a better word for it.
@@mihaipisica0785 hell yes! Really hope to see a well made sequel at some point. Honestly though, I also feel like it stands on its own and maybe it's better for it. Kind of like Breaking Bad ending after just 5 seasons was perfect for it and anymore wouldn't have held the same impact.
Yes, please, do more of it, my long-lasting wish is that one day this game maybe garners enough attention that a Team, with the blessing of SquareEnix, Tetsuya Takahashi and Soraya Saga, will make a remake, either in the 'complete' Episode 5 or a passing of the torch and Xenogears making a comeback in its entirety.
I rather wanna see the Episode 6 from Perfect Works be made a game at this point, wheter that be done through a different name like Xenoblade Chronicles
@@islandboy9381 I understand where that notion is coming from, since all other episodes are pretty much having a rough concept framed out for them while Episode 6 is a unknown. But, given concepts that allways repeated I have an Idea, a hunch what it may could have been: The creation of a Zohar/MAM, either in the frame of an Ouroborus cycle of eternal reoccurrence or the birth of a new universe through it. In that sense every Xeno part becomes another 'cycle' if you think about it...
I would love a remake of this game especially because of the 2nd half. It's such a rich masterpiece that never had it's chance to shine under the shadow of FF7
That's the problems with lore heavy games like that. They give you a lot of information, but they do a very poor job at connecting, unfolding and presenting this information.
I think xenogears did it really well in its grand reveals, but throughout the rest of the game was pretty confusing and sloppy (like all the gazel scenes and also when talking about nation history and stuff)
I was waiting for this release for the past month and never received any notification! WTF RU-vid, I have this channel on all notifications specifically for the kind of content I want to catch!
SPOILERS: i wish we could have seen Deus as being similar to Fei. I always read that single line from Deus "you shall be as gods" to be a socially awkward invitation from the newly birthed consciousness of Deus. we know in the end that a fully assembled Deus is capable of some kind of transmigration and this made me see Deus as similar to Frankenstein's creature in that both are artifical beings rejected by their creators. This of course ties in with the way in which Fei is exiled from his town as a result of his own misunderstood powers. I talked about it in my analysis, but i dont produce enough to appease the lords of the algorithm.
Xenogears > Xenosaga > Xenoblade. I was so disappointed when they decided to go with the Xenoblade weeb route. It is too bad when they decided to "reboot" Xenogears to the Xenosaga and Xenoblade. Xenosaga was ok but I never felt any emotion playing Xenoblade. Just felt like a super weeb game.
@@crowstakingoff they have similar motifs, objects, character tropes, and plot elements but they are wholly unrelated to each other. Think of them as parallel universes of each other. Even all three Xenoblade games aren't really connected to each other
I so need to play this again. Xenogears (and Chrono Cross) pretty much taught me English. I really loved that game but it was a struggle. Sometimes I had to read things over and over again because I had a hard time understanding the story. But the story still managed to impress me. So now I want to play it again just because my English is so much better than it was when I played Xenogears.
"Even if I go to hell, I will live till the end of this world. And if the world does not come to an end… I will destroy it with my own hands!" -Grahf Thanks for this video, Xenogears is my favourite game of all time.
