Eldridge_54

This game is bar none the most epic JRPG ever made and without a doubt my favorite of all time !!! It gets its inspiration from Star Wars, Akira, The Vision of Escaflowne, 2001: A Space Odyssey, etc... I've been doing a full play through at least every year since it was originally released on the PlayStation, and every time I seem to learn something about the story that hadn't quite "clicked" during my previous play throughs. The game is very well directed and the cinematography is amazing ! It feels like the team at Squaresoft were fond of Stanley Kubrick. The camera work is always surprising ; The long shots, the perspectives, the slow panning, the dynamic camera angles, the zoom-ins, the attention to composition, contrast and colors. I could go on and on... Xenogears really is a work of art ! Whoever can't handle this game's epicness and interminable story-telling most likely can't handle reading Frank Herbert's Dune. (I often compare the two) ; The dialogue is dense, the story is convoluted and some cut-scenes really drag on... As a matter of fact, the cut-scene that transitions between Disc 1 and 2 lasts about 1 hour !! The music is some of the finest ever produced for any videogame and the ambient sounds (birds, waterfalls, wind, etc.) complement very well the locations our heroes visit throughout the story. I highly suggest playing this game with a proper 5.1 Surround Sound setup ; it adds an impressive amount of depth and naturalism to the world of Xenogears, which is already full of life and charm. The 3D rendered world makes up for its (a lot of people whine about this) outdated graphics. I wonder what happened that people can't enjoy a game anymore if its graphics aren't hyper-realistic... Why don't we just go ahead and repaint the Mona Lisa because people find that it looks too outdated ?! NO !! Just enjoy it as it is. Xenogears is an absolute masterpiece !! It reminds me of a friend of mine, he never could for the life of him watch Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, just because it was shot in black and white... smh... p.s. Not only does Xenosaga and Xenoblade have nothing to do with the story of Xenogears, they both lack the essence that made the original a classic. Don't confuse them and don't compare them ; Saga and Blade can't even dream of being as good as Gears.

Lunar 2 : EBC doesn't quite come to par with the first game but if you've played Lunar 1 : SSSC then you'll most likely love this one as well. It just feels like the Return of the Jedi compared to A New Hope or Empire Strikes Back. If you know what I mean... Great game nevertheless ! I own both SSSC and EBC and I regularly do a full play-through of one or the other every year or so. Whenever I talk to someone who doesn't know Lunar, I like to compare it to "if Miyazaki had written and directed a JRPG". The relatively low sales of Lunar 1 and 2 for the PlayStation make them rather expensive to buy today, but for anyone looking for some good old '90s nostalgia, look no further !

Lunar SSSC is a masterpiece !!! The characters, the music, the whimsical locations... There is nothing I can say about this game that hasn't already been said. If you've never played it, I recommend that you do what you can to do so. You won't regret it !! Sure the graphics are outdated - they were even outdated by the time it was released on the PlayStation - but graphics are irrelevant !!! The storytelling is on par with some of Miyazaki's best animated work. (Yes, I like to compare Lunar to Miyazaki)