Xenogears

Xenogears is a science fiction RPG that combines traditional role-playing gameplay with hand-drawn and computer-generated animation. Its intricate story features a large cast of human and non-human characters. Explore detailed 3D maps that can be rotated 360 degrees, with jumping and climbing used to navigate the environment. Battles include controllable mega-robots, dramatic magic spells, and real-time polygonal robot-versus-robot combat. A real-time combat system replaces restrictive menus with fast, intuitive button commands, while dynamic camera angles and intense lighting effects shape the experience.

Full story spoilers: In the beginning, Deus was created, a decision that angered many people and was widely regarded as a bad move. Deus was created by an unknown spacefaring civilization as a biological weapon. Its engine, Zohar, contains the Wave Existance, an entity summoned from another dimension. Because Deus proves too powerful to use, its creators attempt to dispose of it by transporting it aboard the spaceship Eldridge. As a sentient organism, Deus discovers the plan and attacks the Eldridge in transit. After repeated evacuation orders, the Eldridge crashes on a nearby planet. The only survivor is a young boy, the first incarnation of Fei, who is left crying for his mother. Although trapped within Zohar, the Wave Existance gives power to the boy after he looks upon it during the attack. It does so in an attempt to destroy Deus and free itself. The Wave Existance also creates Elly in the image of Fei's mother and gives her its will. To defend itself, Deus uses part of itself to create the first humans: Cain, the Gazel, and Miang. Miang carries the Ouroborous, or Urobulos according to Professor Daravon, Gene. Because all women descend from her, the gene is passed to every woman in the world. It allows any woman to become Miang, ensuring her immortality. Fei and Elly next appear in their second incarnation, as the Wave Existance continually reincarnates them. Fei is called Abel, while Elly remains Elly. They flee from Cain, who kills Elly. Their third incarnation takes place in the Zeboim civilization, which may be present-day Earth. People live in flying cities and fight with giant robots called Gears, powered by energy emitted from Zohar. Genetic flaws leave many people, including Elly, unable to have children. Kim, this incarnation of Fei and apparently a scientist, creates Emeralda, an artificial human with self-healing nanomachines. Guards then burst in and kill Elly, and presumably Kim as well. By the fourth incarnation, only Solaris remains of the collapsed Zeboim flying cities. Emperor Cain and the Gazel Ministry rule Solaris, which controls the world below. Rebels oppose them, including Lacan, Fei's fourth incarnation; Sophia/Elly, known as Sophia in Nisan; Krelian; and Roni and Rene Fatima. The land-dwellers receive help from Shevat, a new flying city built atop the Tower of Babel, itself part of the Ft. Jasper weapons system, under Queen Zephyr's supervision. Shevat is home to the three Gurus: Gaspar, Taura Melchior, and Balthasar. Taura teaches Krelian about nanotechnology. Shevat reveals the rebels' position to Solaris in exchange for its own safety. Solaris attacks the Nisan rebel camp and catches its troops unprepared. Sophia/Elly sends her ship on a suicide run against the Gebler forces to defend her people. Her allies escape, but Krelian becomes enraged and declares that, if there must be no god, he will create one himself. Lacan also goes berserk. The Wave Existance divides him in two: his body becomes Grahf, while his soul passes to the next incarnation. Soon afterward, mysterious monsters called the Diabolos attack the world. Solaris and the land-dwellers agree to a temporary truce to fight them. Using Omnigears, including Roni's Andvari, humanity wins. During the conflict, the Gazel are killed, but their personalities are stored in Solaris's SOL-9000 computer data banks. After the war, Solaris creates the -Ethos-, a false religion used to control the earth-dwellers. It also uses the Soylent System to turn subjects of genetic experiments into food products or Wels. A drug called the Limiter is placed in food, leaving all land-dwellers who consume it unable to resist Solaris. As the defeated side, Shevat hides behind its Gate. Roni and Rene found Aveh, while Kislev is founded by an unknown person. Krelian joins Solaris and pursues his plan to resurrect Deus. Several hundred years later, Solaris still manipulates a surface war between Aveh and Kislev, preventing the earth-dwellers from becoming too powerful. Krelian, who controls Solaris from behind the scenes, seeks to create a Contact for the Wave Existance. He genetically engineers Ramsus, a clone of Cain with humanity's best traits, hoping Ramsus will contact the Wave Existance. He later learns Ramsus is unnecessary because the true Contact has been born to Wong Khan and Karen, Shevat agents. Miang possesses Wong Karen and subjects Fei to psychological tests to determine whether he is truly the Contact. Each time Solaris researchers try to probe Fei's mind, Fei destroys them. Grahf, who has occupied several bodies in his quest for destruction, learns of Fei's birth and travels to the Wongs' home in Lahan to claim the new incarnation of Lacan. He draws out Fei's inner power, causing Fei to release an energy blast that kills Karen. Grahf takes the awakened Fei away and makes him his right-hand man. In Aveh, Shakhan, an Ethos bishop supported by Solaris, overthrows the Fatima Dynasty. King Edbart is killed, but his sons Bart and Sigurd, along with retainer Maison, escape aboard Aveh's flagship, the Yggdrasil, and settle in Nisan. Solaris sends General Vanderkaum to command the Gebler forces. Sigurd is abducted by Solaris and forced into Jugend, its military academy. He eventually joins the Elements alongside Hyuga Ricdeau, also known as Citan; Miang in another body; and Jessiah Black. Hyuga/Citan and Sigurd support Ramsus's rebellion against Solaris's class system. Grahf and Id attack Elru on the surface, prompting Ramsus into action. Id destroys Ramsus's Gear battalion alone, and Elru is wiped out. Dominia is the only survivor. She joins Solaris and later the Elements after Jessiah leaves to live on the surface with his wife, Racquel. Wong Khan catches Id and Grahf and somehow seals the Id aspect of Fei's personality. He constructs a new persona over it: the Coward. Unable to face what he has done, the Coward creates a third persona, the normal Fei, to handle his problems while the Coward relives childhood memories. Grahf takes Khan's body, but his control is incomplete. During lapses, Khan returns to normal and eventually brings Fei to Lahan Village, leaving him with Chief Lee. Sigurd regains his memories of the surface, escapes Solaris, and returns to help Bart. With Maison and Hans the penguin, he uses the Yggdrasil to attack Aveh and Kislev forces, keeping either side from growing too strong and preserving the balance of power. Nikolai Balthasar, son of Shevat's Balthazar, also defects from Solaris. After learning that Krelian intends to use Gear research to revive Deus, he attempts to flee to Shevat. He is killed, but his mind is implanted in the Achtzehn Gear. His daughter Maria escapes in Siebzehn, Achtzehn's sister Gear. Citan remains in Solaris, but Cain later sends him to the surface to watch Fei and determine whether he is dangerous. Outside Khan's body, Grahf plans to regain control of Fei. He has the Kaiser of Kislev build a Gear to his specifications, then arranges for a Gebler force from Aveh to steal it and land in Lahan. In the resulting battle, Fei boards the Weltall as planned and uses Id's power to destroy Lahan. Driven from the village by its survivors, Fei travels south through Blackmoon Forest. There he meets Elly's fifth incarnation, a Gebler officer leading the group that attacked Lahan. After Fei saves her from weak monsters she could have defeated herself, she travels with him briefly. That evening, Citan arrives and advises Elly to return to her family in Solaris. She reluctantly agrees. While searching for parts for the damaged Weltall, Fei and Citan are captured by an Aveh transport looking for the Gear. The Yggdrasil attacks the transport, bringing Fei and Citan aboard. They agree to help Bart rescue Margie, who has been captured by Shakhan. Fei, Citan, and Bart free Margie and Chu-Chu from Fatima Castle, then return to Nisan to prepare their next move. Ramsus is appointed commander of the Gebler forces, while Vanderkaum is demoted to border patrol. Bart and Citan infiltrate the castle to overthrow Shakhan while Fei creates a diversion near the Kislev border. Shakhan anticipates the plan and surrounds Bart's group, but Maison rescues them in Citan's Land Crab. Fei succeeds in his mission by destroying the Gebler flagship Kefeinzel and Vanderkaum's Dora Gear. Grahf gives Vanderkaum "the power," forcing Fei to become Id. Id destroys Vanderkaum, Bart's troops, and the Yggdrasil, while severely damaging Ramsus's Gear. Citan evacuates the sinking Yggdrasil and heads to Nortune to find Fei. Kislev soldiers recover Fei. At Miang's request, he is transferred to the prison block in Nortune, Kislev's capital. Grahf has the Battling committee recruit Fei and arranges for Weltall to be given to him when he enters. Weltall has been rigged to overheat during a match, putting Fei out of commission. While unconscious, he becomes Id and kills Rico's men, believing they are responsible. After waking, Fei is confronted by Rico, who says Fei is responsible for the sewer guards' deaths. Rico, Fei, and Citan investigate the sewers and kill Redrum, a monster that is actually one of the Wels, seemingly solving the case. Rico injures his arm fighting Redrum, allowing Fei to defeat him in the Battling tournament and become the new champion. The Ethos plots to remove Kaiser Sigmund because he has become too independent from Solaris. It rigs Rico's Gear to go berserk and attack the Kaiser's box, but the Kaiser narrowly survives. Rico is sentenced to execution, but Fei, Citan, and Hammer rescue him. Desperate, the Gazel order Nortune bombed into oblivion. The Elements and Elly's Gebler squadron are assigned to the operation, but Elly defects to Fei's side. She helps Fei and Rico redirect the Hecht, while Grahf appears at the last moment to save Elly. In Aveh, Bart and his allies survive the Yggdrasil's sinking by reaching an underground cave containing another Yggdrasil from Roni's era. Built for sea travel, this ship takes Bart's group onto the ocean. They shoot down Kislev's new Goliath airship en route to Aveh, only to discover it was stolen by Fei and his friends as they escaped Kislev. The Thames, a floating town commanded by the Man of the Sea, rescues Fei and Elly. The Thames currently works for the -Ethos-, which is excavating Zeboim ruins to obtain technology that could let it break away from Solaris. Bart arrives in the Yggdrasil and apologizes for shooting down the Goliath. After several failed attacks, Ramsus finally injures Fei in combat. Since Fei needs medical care, the party seeks Ethos healers. On the Thames, they meet Billy Lee Black, an Ethos priest and exorcist, after saving his sister Primera. Billy agrees to help, taking Fei to Ethos Headquarters in Aquvy. Ethos doctors treat Fei, promptly release him, and return him to the Yggdrasil sick bay. To repay Billy, the party joins his mission to destroy a Solaris ship overrun by Wels mutants. The mission succeeds, but Billy returns to Ethos Headquarters to find everyone dead. His mentor, Bishop Stone, killed those attempting to break away from Solaris. Stone escapes in his Alkanshel, possibly intended to be "Archangel," Gear and attacks the Thames. During the battle, a black fishbowl-like device, believed to be the Soylent System, joins the Alkanshel and releases Wels. The Thames repels the attack but is damaged. Citan and the group follow the device to a supposedly abandoned Solaris dig site. They find Emeralda still inside the tube where she was created 4,000 years earlier. Stone captures her before they can free her so Krelian can use her for nanotechnology experiments. As the party pursues Stone, Fei appears as Id and demands that Stone release his daughter. Stone escapes, and Khan/Wiseman arrives to hold Id off while the group retreats. Back aboard the Yggdrasil, Fei reaches the Gear Dock with no memory of what happened. Stone, now merged with his Gear, attacks, but Billy and Jessie defeat him. The party travels to Shevat to ally with Solaris's rival, where they meet Maria and Queen Zephyr. Dominia infiltrates the city and disables its shield generators, allowing Solaris to attack. Fei and his allies repel the first assault, but Achtzehn arrives and freezes the Gears with its Psycho Jammer. Chu-Chu uses Churansformation to grow to Gear size and stop Achtzehn. Nikolai transfers his consciousness from Achtzehn to Siebzehn and has Maria destroy Achtzehn. On the surface, Shakhan's forces invade Nisan. Bart rushes there and enters the underground Ft. Jasper, discovering Roni's Andvari Omnigear. Ft. Jasper rises from the ground, forcing Shakhan to retreat after he attacks it. Bart pursues Shakhan to a cave, kills him, and destroys one of Solaris's Gate generators. Bart's soldiers retake the capital, and Bart assumes the throne. Billy destroys the second Gate by firing a beam from the excavated Ft. Jasper. The beam reflects from the Tower of Babel lens, which was designed for that purpose, and destroys the Gate beneath Ethos Headquarters. The final Gate is underwater at Sargasso Point. Fei and his allies dive down to destroy it, encountering Emeralda under Krelian's control. After the Gate is destroyed, they persuade Emeralda to return with them to the Yggdrasil. After all three Gates fall, Solaris appears in the sky. Fei and Elly infiltrate the capital district and evade Security Cubes on their way to Elly's house. They try to use Elly's father's computer but are caught by Erich. To Fei's surprise, Erich lets him leave and tells him to follow his own path. Elly remains at home, but Solaris soldiers soon arrive and demand that her parents surrender her for treason. Erich delays them while Elly escapes. She reunites with Fei and Citan as they enter the palace through a dust chute. In the palace, Elly confronts Citan with evidence that he works for Solaris. Before he can answer, the lights go out. Fei finds the SOL-9000 in the darkness and is captured. Citan frees Elly and the rest of the party, who were captured earlier, and removes their Limiters. Krelian threatens to mutate Hammer unless he follows orders to capture Elly, whom Krelian needs to resurrect Deus. Hammer complies. While the party escapes with Elly's parents, he points a gun at Elly. Medena steps in front of the weapon and approaches Hammer. He panics, shoots her, and flees. Grahf and Miang then arrive and kill Erich in an attempt to awaken Elly. They fail, but Fei awakens as Id and completely destroys Solaris, although the major villains escape. Shevat insists on carbon-freezing Fei to prevent another use of Id's power, but Elly frees him. They escape in Weltall, only for Ramsus to arrive. Ramsus has learned he was an artificial Contact created and discarded after Fei was found, and he is obsessed with killing Fei. Using his new Omnigear, Ramsus shoots down Weltall. After the crash, Taura Melchior, living in isolation on the surface, nurses Fei and Elly back to health. Elly, Citan, and Emeralda fire the Limiter cure from a cannon, spreading it around the world. Fei heads to Kislev to stop Solaris's final attack. He and Bart combine the Imperial District and the Yggdrasil into a Gear, then destroy Solaris's Fort Hurricane. Krelian activates the Soylent System, mutating people into forms that can be assimilated by Deus. While the Nisan sisters attempt to cure the mutants, Fei and his companions destroy the Soylent System and the Sufal Mass, a massive creature made from combined mutants. As Fei and his allies search for the remaining Anima Relics to enhance their Gears, Krelian persuades Ramsus to kill Cain. Because Ramsus is Cain's clone, he is the only one who can kill him. Krelian also merges Hammer with a Gear and sends him after Fei, but Hammer is killed. With Cain gone, the Gazel use the Gaetia Key to raise the Eldridge from the sea. Krelian then erases the Gazel from the data banks, leaving himself in command. Fei enters the Eldridge to stop Krelian from locating Deus's shell, but Grahf captures him and attempts to crucify him. Elly rescues Fei using her Omnigear, but Krelian and Grahf capture her. Krelian begins building Merkava, the ark of god, to return to the Wave Existance's dimension. Fei and Ramsus try to stop him. Ramsus kills Krelian and Miang, but Krelian has already merged with Deus, while Miang simply takes Elly's body. Fei becomes Id in rage and is carbon-frozen again. As Deus begins assimilating the planet's people, Id escapes imprisonment and destroys Shevat. Citan and the others catch up with him as he travels to contact the Wave Existance. With Khan's help, Fei resolves his multiple personalities. The Wave Existance then appears and transforms Weltall into Xenogears. Grahf takes Khan's body again and tries to kill Fei. Deus attacks as well, attempting to destroy Fei before Fei can destroy it. Grahf/Lacan/Khan sacrifices himself as a decoy Fei, allowing Fei and his allies to return to Merkava and destroy Deus. They destroy Zohar, Deus's core, freeing the Wave Existance. The Wave Existance's energy threatens to destroy the world, so Elly, now part of Deus, uses her power to move Deus into space. With Zohar destroyed, all Gears stop functioning except Fei's, which has evolved because he is the Contact. Fei flies into space after Deus and is pulled into another dimension, where he battles the Ouroborous Gene itself to restore Elly. He rescues Elly, and they return to the planet as Krelian dies. The end.