[Kanji_The_Wanderer]

Originally Posted by CrimsonNataku

I have heard of Xenogears and Legend of Legaia, but don't know much about them. Are they good?

They are more then good. ^_^ In my opinion, they are 2 of the best RPGs of all time!

I'll give you a summary on Xenogears first. Then I'll do Legaia 2nd.

Xenogears initially takes place on the continent of Ignas, where the nations of Aveh and Kislev have been waging war on each other for centuries. An organization known as the Ethos, which is a church-like organization preserving the world's culture, has excavated giant fighting robots called Gears. Gears had a major effect on the war and have almost entirely replaced man to man combat. While Kislev was gaining the upper hand in the war, a mysterious army known as Gebler appeared and started providing assistance to Aveh. With Gebler's help Aveh not only recovered their losses, but began making their way into Kislev's territory.

Our story begins in the small town of Lahan, which is near the border of Aveh. We are introduced to Fei Fong Wong, an eighteen-year-old male who was mysteriously brought to Lahan by a "Masked Man" three years prior. Because of the events surrounding his arrival at the village, Fei has no clear memories of his childhood.


Xenogears' gameplay combines the traditional and innovative, utilizing two-dimensional sprite overlays on three-dimensional backgrounds, as well as two different battle systems, one which is martial-arts driven and the other which takes place in turn-based 'Gear' battles.

Battling is a variant of the ATB2 active time battle system found in Chrono Trigger and various Final Fantasy games. Once a battle starts the screen quickly changes to a combat scenario. Characters fight with martial combat, and special Deathblow moves that are learned through combinations of strong, moderate, and weak hits. Attacks use Action points (AP) and cost, 3, 2, 1 respectively. You begin with 3 AP per turn (which is not enough to execute a deathblow) and as you progress in level you will eventually have 6 AP per turn. When the story is progressed to a certain level an additional AP (7 AP per turn) will be acquired and you will also be able to learn Elemental Deathblows. These are also available before the story progresses to that level, with exceptionally high levels. AP may be saved and used as Attack Points for combo attacks. A total of 28 AP may be accumulated for combo attacks, powerful sequences using multiple Deathblows to inflict massive damage.

Characters can also use "magical" abilities that either aid the party or damage enemies. These abilities are limited by the number of ether points (EP) that are available. Unlike AP, EP do not replenish between attack rounds. For most characters, these abilities are called 'Ether,' although some characters' abilities have a different name, implying differences in their origins. For example, Fei's magic is called 'Chi,' and Citan's is 'Arcane'. Unlike the main characters of most RPGs whom specialize in either physical or magical strength exclusively, the main characters in Xenogears generally are competent in both areas, although few characters have more than one or two direct damage spells. While in Gears (mechanized fighting machines) 'Ether' abilities are amplified, though some change or become unavailable.

In addition to the small-scale, hand-to-hand combat, the characters sometimes fight from within their respective combat robots, called 'Gears'. These fighting machines are often similar in fighting style and appearance to the characters that pilot them. Gear combat differs from regular combat. The combination style is reduced to a selection of strong, medium, or weak attacks that build up the attack level of the Gear with each turn until it can unleash a special, more powerful attack. While in gears the limiting factor of AP is replaced by the Gears' amount of fuel, with each attack consuming an amount relative to its power.