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This bounty is worth a whopping 250 points because this game is HUGE!

After a few more hours, I'll have Arc the Lad completionated so I will definitely be a part of this! One of my favorite games that later gave way to another great series (Xenosaga). Plus, I could really use all those points!

Since this is a really big one, I thought I would go ahead and create a list of goals for everyone to save time. Hopefully it will generate a few more candidates as well. If this becomes favorable, I may contribute like this for every Bounty I participate in. Good luck and enjoy this great game!

Xenogears Goal List

Chapter 01: Lahan Village - CLEARED

Chapter 02: Mountain Path - CLEARED

Chapter 03: House on the Hill - CLEARED

Chapter 04: Fallen Shadows - CLEARED

Chapter 05: Into the Woods - CLEARED

Chapter 06: Girl in the Forest - CLEARED

Chapter 07: Silent Break! - CLEARED

Chapter 08: Dazil - CLEARED

Chapter 09: Desert Attack! - CLEARED

Chapter 10: Stalactite Cave - CLEARED

Chapter 11: Pirate's Lair - CLEARED

Chapter 12: Operation Aveh - CLEARED

Chapter 13: The Tournament - CLEARED

Chapter 14: Margie's Rescue - CLEARED

Chapter 15: Road to Nisan - CLEARED

Chapter 16: City of Peace - CLEARED

Chapter 17: Recapture Aveh - CLEARED

Chapter 18: Desert Despair - CLEARED

Chapter 19: Kislev Capital - CLEARED

Chapter 20: Brave Battlers - CLEARED

Chapter 21: Sewer Horror - CLEARED

Chapter 22: Battle Champ - CLEARED

Chapter 23: Gear Dock Raid - CLEARED

Chapter 24: Night Purge - CLEARED

Chapter 25: Secret Weapon - CLEARED

Chapter 26: Escape Ignas - CLEARED

Chapter 27: Adrift at Sea - CLEARED

Chapter 28: Man of the Sea - CLEARED

Chapter 29: Friends Again - CLEARED

Chapter 30: Betrayal - CLEARED

Chapter 31: Ramsus' Attack - CLEARED

Chapter 32: A Young Priest - CLEARED

Chapter 33: The Orphanage - CLEARED

Chapter 34: Reaper's Ship - CLEARED

Chapter 35: Burning Souls - CLEARED

Chapter 36: Ocean Floor - CLEARED

Chapter 37: Deep Sea Girl - CLEARED

Chapter 38: Babel Tower - CLEARED

Chapter 39: Sky City Shevat - CLEARED

Chapter 40: Intruder Alert! - CLEARED

Chapter 41: Raid of Shevat! - CLEARED

Chapter 42: Protect Nisan! - CLEARED

Chapter 43: Gate 1 / Margie - CLEARED

Chapter 44: Gate 2 / Babel - CLEARED

Chapter 45: Gate 3 / The Deep - CLEARED

Chapter 46: Into Solaris - CLEARED

Chapter 47: Escape Solaris - CLEARED

Chapter 48: Lone Wolf - CLEARED

Chapter 49: Krelian's Lab - CLEARED

Chapter 50: Tears for Fears - CLEARED

Chapter 51: Shot Down! - CLEARED

Chapter 52: Break the Seal - CLEARED

Chapter 53: Soul Vessel - CLEARED

Chapter 54: The Stars Know - CLEARED

Chapter 55: Above Mahanon - CLEARED

Chapter 56: Paradise - CLEARED

Chapter 57: Promised Land - CLEARED

Chapter 58: Merkava Calls - CLEARED

Chapter 59: Dreams - CLEARED

Chapter 60: Fallen Star - CLEARED

Chapter 61: First & Last - CLEARED

Finished the game

Reached the maximum level with all party members

Collected all Badges & traded them in at Shevat

Collected all Rocks & visited the secret room in Aphel Aura

Won all games at Bledavik Fairgrounds

Defeated all Speed card players

Looted all items on display at Snowfield Picotiles

Dug up the Jukebox in Alphel Aura

Acquired 3 Dolls from the Imperial Games Battling Contest in Kislev

Received 3 treasures from Taura

Entered the Lighthouse & watched Emeralda grow up

Looted the Duneman Isle of both treasure chests

Defeated the elite Dragon at Duneman Isle

Are those chapters from a walkthrough or something? I have the strategy guide and it sort of lines up, but not completely. I assume the chapters aren't formalized in the game and you would complete the previous one once you reach the location of the next one?

I might add some extra goals for characters reaching certain levels (like 25, 50, 75, 100 or whatever...some very large interval) and / or learning deathblows (which I don't fully understand), acquiring gears (if there are multiple?), unlocking abilities, and recruiting characters (which I assume are all / mostly story-driven).

Thanks for putting this together and keeping it in a spoiler-free format! I've played this one before, but I never made it very far. I have no idea if I'll stick with it. @jwcooley is supposed to play too.

I've played for about an hour and a half so far and I'm enjoying it. I only have a couple of minor complaints:

• I hate having to hold down Circle to run. I wish the game let you configure auto-run like other Square RPGs.
• I seem to be getting pulled into random encounters when I'm not even moving, but rather just moving the camera around. That's really annoying, especially when the encounter rate is rather high (though on par with others from the era).

One thing I had forgotten about is how good the soundtrack is. I'm really enjoying it so far.

moho_00:

Are those chapters from a walkthrough or something? I have the strategy guide and it sort of lines up, but not completely. I assume the chapters aren't formalized in the game and you would complete the previous one once you reach the location of the next one?

They are. I pulled them from the most popular guide from GameFAQs (which is usually what I tend to do, especially for a new game that I want to preserve spoilers). Because of that, the "chapters" may not 100% in line with the official guide, but going off of the author's judgement, it tends to work. I did the same thing for Arc the Lad and it worked really well for me. The "CLEARED" sections indicate that the next story point is in motion, even if you end up revisiting the same area again later. For the sidequests, I actually read further into them and make sure I pulled the most straightforward stuff that is mostly focused on optional completion tasks.

Feel free to add anything extra of course, but as far as the deathblows, the leveling, and acquiring gears...I tend to leave that kind of thing out for a longer RPG simply because in order to complete any sidequest tasks it usually make sense to be at a certain level or have certain unlockables before even attempting it. But of course, that's just how I do it. The sidequest that involves collecting the 3 dolls...I don't think they even have any value in game but it seemed too ridiculous to add "collect all items" because that just seems too redundant, so I was going for something a little more noteworthy.

moho_00:

I've played for about an hour and a half so far and I'm enjoying it. I only have a couple of minor complaints: snip

I really don't mind holding down Circle to run in a game like this because when you're in smaller places, like villages, it's a bit more comfortable to walk up to NPCs rather than run, but again, that's just a preference!

With the comment regarding the camera...it reminds me of Breath of Fire IV being as the game is 2D on a 3D plane (which is why the game tends to drop frames a bit naturally) so the camera tends to rotate a bit slower and sometimes awkwardly around corners, but exploration is relatively slow-paced, so it doesn't damper too much. I don't think I noticed being pulled into encounters from rotating, but it has been quite a bit since I played this, so you're probably right.

moho_00:

One thing I had forgotten about is how good the soundtrack is. I'm really enjoying it so far.

The soundtrack really is monumental, isn't it? XD

I went ahead and added 2 additional goals to the list:

* Finished the game

* Reached the maximum level with all party members

I love Grahf's track in this game, but my favourite track by and far is The One Who Is Torn Apart

I'm going to try and implement the "bulk add goals" feature soon, so I'm holding off on entering all of the ones @DOBERMAN_AX posted for now since that'll be a good test I don't know if I'll get to it this weekend and next weekend is Thanksgiving...but soon.

Oooooh I like The One Who Is Torn Apart. I was listening to the full soundtrack on YouTube yesterday and there's A LOT of material.

Glad to know I could be of good use on a template! I haven't imported them either, but I plan to once I begin the playthrough. Knowing that, I'm gonna hold off until you're done with that cause it might save some time :P.

My plan is to accept this after Okami HD as my next RPG. I'd love to actually finish this one!

@jwcooley - How far did you make it when you played this before?

I can't really remember.....This will be next after Okami, though

I think I've reached the point I tend to reach in JRPGs where I start to lose interest. I'm about 20 hours into the game, but I can't seem to make myself sit down and play it. The story is excellent and I love the battle system. So what's the problem? Well, it seems like I just keep doing filler tasks and not actually progressing the story. I'm taking a break right now and hopefully I can get back into it.

moho_00:

I think I've reached the point I tend to reach in JRPGs where I start to lose interest. I'm about 20 hours into the game, but I can't seem to make myself sit down and play it. The story is excellent and I love the battle system. So what's the problem? Well, it seems like I just keep doing filler tasks and not actually progressing the story. I'm taking a break right now and hopefully I can get back into it.

I would suggest you keep at it and don't run out of steam just yet. Maybe it's just the particular plot point you are dealing with, or you are feeling slightly less motivated to continue, but I say you keep going regardless. It sounds like the root of the procrastination is from an urge to play something else (which seems to make sense considering all of the games that just went on sale for the holidays), but I know you will find satisfaction from seeing this one through!

I still have yet to start myself. The only reason I haven't yet is because I would like to finish up a couple of my other games first before I tackle this beast. I plan to pick it up by the end of the week if all goes well.

This bounty is so intimidating! Aghhhhhhhhhh! bites the bullet

So many people are doing this bounty. I just had to join in... plus it gives me a reason to get my old PS1 out of the cupboard and put it to good use. I'm excited, I've never played this series before.