I played Xenogears and beat it 3 times in my teen years and I bought the Xenogears OST because I loved the game so much and the music brought back memories of the epic storyline (I still listen to it from time to time, it gives me butterflies in my stomach). I also beat Xenosaga 1 and got halfway through Xeno 2 before the game got stolen from me.

I wanna take a break from WoW and I want something to fill the void, and I think im gonna buy Xeno2 and 3 and replay the whole thing.

When I started playing Xeno1 and 2 I was under the impression that the storyline is going to lead up to the XenoGears story. I saw nothing in Xeno2 except for Zohar that showed anything leading to the Gears storyline. Are the sequels ever gonna make a solid push towards the Gears storyline? That would be very gratifying to me as a lover of the Gears story.

I'm with you there, and there are hints of certain things leading to Xenogears, but ultimately the storylines do not go together so well. If anything, the references in Xeno III are kind of like little gifts to the fanboys. I guess like what Crisis Core and Advent Children is to FFVII fanboys and girls except less obvious. If you want an obvious wrong, find an Episode III pic of Jin. A true Gears fan will see the obvious.

I tried to find a connection for quite awhile, but by the end of Episode III, you'll realize Xenosaga and Xenogears are meant as seperate entities. I'd elaborate more but even saying references that don't affect the story, it would give some things away. It was inevitable I suppose since Xenosaga was developed by Monolith, a company from former SE employee's. I suspect they couldn't legally make a direct connection since Xenogears is owned by SE. Not to mention if they intended to place Xenosaga into the Xenogears timeline, a remake would have made sense, which could happen if hell froze over haha.

Anyway, you should finish the games and see for yourself. Its widely believed there is no connection however. But play the games, maybe you'll see it differently and prove Xerno wrong. =p

Omg! Every time I see someone saying that Xenogears and Xenosaga might be connected, I come closer to an outburst of madness! D:

Seriously now, you will find that even Xenosaga Episode I already states some things that are contradicted in the Xenogears Perfect Works plot guide. That, and the director specifically mentioned that Xenosaga is a retelling of Xenogears. Hence the many similarities. But no, Xenosaga is not in any shape or form directly connected with Xenogears.

And if they ever change their minds and officially make that connection, I will send my own-made URTV-bunnies after them.

Hey I was thinking Xenosaga and Xenogears were connected a while ago until I played Xenosage Ep.2 and 3. Then I realized that Xenosaga had no connections with Xenogears, just shared some elements such as the kick ass mechs and the infamous Zohar. That damn thing has always been a mystery.

Though I'd like to point out that the design of the Zohar in Xenogears and Xenosaga differs: in Xenogears it has an eye in the center, which is missing in Xenosaga (and has some sort of jewel instead). I'm sure most people noticed that difference, but I'm only saying so because it further points towards the two games not being connected.

If it's a "retelling" then they are connected.

Eh? Your logic seems to fail there. If it's a retelling, then how would it be connected? Really, that makes no sense.

If the two games take place in the same universe for one thing, that can easily be considered a connection. The shared character is another.

It doesn't take place in the same universe. There's nothing in the game that points to this being the case. And there are no "shared" characters. For example: Jin is not Citan, they're 2 different people. Jin is just the "retelling-version" of Citan. But again, they're 2 different, unrelated people.

(This topic brings me on the verge of insanity, hihihi!)

Whoops, I guess I read wrong then.

ITS CONNECTED!! same menu sounds and simlar setup... freakin combo battle system is the same XENO is the same, thats all i need to know.


Maybe theres no direct connection in the story but the actual game shares the same vibe, i'd say Saga has more of a Phantasy Star feel.

I could swear that Xenosaga was originally supposed to be part of the Xenogears universe when it was first announced and developed years ago. I was a huge fan of Xenogears when I was in high school, so I followed the news about Xenosaga very closely, and it was that kind of connection that made me interesting in Xenosaga more than anything else. (Hell, Xenosaga was what made me get the PS2 originally.)

Despite all of that, it is obvious that the two games are not the same story, though I find it a shame that the series was not allowed to tell its full tale. Even though Episode III was full of awesome, it still felt short compared to what Episode I was promising the saga to become.

I doubt it Vilagen... Square Enix hold the rights to Xenogears and are holding onto them tightly so due to legal issues Xenosaga couldn't really be in the same universe as Xenogears... not sure on all the details but I think it was just easy to move on... Anyway I could imagine that the creators were never very happy with the way the Xenogears turned out (referring entirely to the second disc, I've yet to play it but it's quite infamous) so a "Re-telling" probably made more sense.

There is no more of a connection between Xenogears and Xenosaga then there is between Final Fantasy games and Star Wars. FF games are heavily influenced by Star Wars (Biggs, Wedge, Red XIII) just as Xenosaga is heavily influenced by Xenogears, and FFXII is basically a re-telling of Star Wars (Ashe - Leia, Blatheir and Fraan - Han and chewbacca ect. ect. Small rebel alliance ect. ect)

The only difference is that Xenosaga was a lot less subtle, and that a writer from one game was involved with the other (although not the whole way through). Different companies created Xenogears and Xenosaga. They have no significant connection (Although the possibility is of course dangled in front of our faces to create further interest.)

I did remember reading somewhere that when the Japanese PS3 Online store opens, one of the first PS1 titles you can download onto your PS3/PSP will be Xenogears. Totally hope they have the sense to put that up on the US site.

I doubt it.

There's so many games I'd love to DL onto my PSP that we're not getting on the US PSN.

Not sure about that one, last I heard Square Enix wasn't going to put any of their decent games on the PS3 online store, but you could get hold of some of their crappy shooters... Rejoice?

Still it would be good, especially if it hit the European store. It'd be nice to have the game on a console in the UK...

Xenosaga I even has the same blood splatter effect after you kill an enemy as Xenogears

I thought that a lot of the team behind Xenosaga (Monoloth Soft I think) was behind Xenogears as well. Different companies, yes, but I thought it still involved a lot of the same team. (With significant members leaving after Episode I of course.)

The creator of both Xenogears and Xenosaga is Tetsuya Takahashi, who left Squaresoft in 1998 along with Hirohide Sugiura. Using funds from Namco, they started Monolith Soft and the Xenosaga project

I think there's some slight connection in the context that there are similarities not that they're connected by story, but more that they're connected by certain themes. Zohar, Jin is a swordsman, battle button combos yada yada yada. The story is unrelated however.

Lol at FF12 being like Star Wars maybe that explains why Balthier was the only character that could "act"(Han Solo was the only person that could act in Star Wars).
I don't know who Basch would be, but I can tell that Vaan is not Luke; along with Penelo they are the droids =P