We ended up cutting this recording into two episodes (it was four hours long, lol). For the next episode, we'll be covering Bart's confrontation of Sigurd and Citan all the way up to Fei's battle against the Gebler pilots (who Elly commands).
The moment Casen realized Ramsus is not Fei's Father is pure gold! Mike shouldn' have told him and just await for the big reveal and Casen's mind to be blown.
The fade to white entails a memory that Ramsus is having. It's uncommon for a character to have a memory of just themselves talking. That's more or less why I figured Ramsus was talking to Fei's dad.
@@Hassler247 Yeah he has to tip toe a really thin line. I think he's doing as best as one can in that position. Say too much and it's a spoiler, but say too little and Casen might spend an hour discussing something we all know to be way off the mark, cutting the discussion time.
This has been an incredible amount of fun to play the game and listen to these podcasts. I may actually finally understand the story of Xenogears haha!
I laughed hard at around 53:00 when Myang was seemingly confused with Elly in that exchange. "Yes Fei said she had indigo blue eyes....and hair...yes I seem to recall that she had hair". Interpreting it like that was just too funny.
The scene with Ramsus and Fei after the fight always struck me as almost a flash of recognition. The way it fades to white, which is symbolic of birth or beginning, the text that comes up as a memory, then the flashing transposition of the red hair warrior over Fei as though Ramsus' eyes are playing tricks on him due to familiarity. That's how I absorbed it decades ago after several playthroughs.
The reason this episode was split in half.... is because Episode 7 is the 2 hour Chu-Chu character analysis right?... Right!? I'm looking forward to it!
A part of me wishes it were possible to let Casen keep thinking that Ramsus was Fei's father. It would've made for an amazing reveal for him later that the game wasn't even intending.
I tend to find that when I come to incorrect conclusions about things early in a work of fiction, it only diminishes my enjoyment. I either wait for a plot twist that never lands, or I get confused when presented with contradicting information, and it becomes even harder to follow the story due to not being sure which of two contradictory explanations is true. I think it is for the best to correct the misunderstanding.
Thinking the same thing as I was watching this. Ramses really might be the most interesting character in this game from start to finish. And I know that’s saying a lot.
Really enjoying Casen's journey here. I told Mike years ago that this was my favorite game of all time. I finished it in 1998. Played it again with a freshman year roommate in college. It is so dense. And I love watching Casen learn slowly things that will blow his mind later.
I absolutely LOVE this series so far! It brings me indescribable joy to see Xenogears getting the appreciation it deserves with respect to how much it resembles a piece of classic literature. A note of my own that might add to the discussion: I see Fei's reaction to the Portrait of Sophia's hair color as intentionally being disagreeable. Having played the game multiple times now, I see this line as Fei being able to perceive something about Sophia that the audience and supporting cast cannot. I see it as further characterizing Fei's connection to Sophia (which there will be a lot of later) as deeply familiar, picking up on something that nobody else would. Like a hair out of place or the difference between two extremely similar colors.
Thank you so much for these podcasts, I always get a smile whenever I receive the notification of a new episode!! On a side note, poor Casen, you're not alone on that part, I too thought Ramsus was his father hahahaha
Same!! It’s been so fun to play this again and then watching the podcast to get more context/detail of the story. After 20+ years I think I’m finally figuring out what’s going on in this game 😂
Thank you so much for this thorough dissection! I think Xenogears might very well be my favourite story of all time. I wish someone with the passion and funds made a mini series movie/anime just so my friends could experience it... cuz there's no way anyone's gonna get through it if they don't love jrpgs and that is such a waste of a wonderful story.
Exactly! And the game takes about 50 hours to finish! So many people won't sit to play 50 hours of a game made in 1998. I finished in 2018 on my phone using emulator while being in the army. It was such an amazing experience cause it was never released in europe so I only played the final fantasy games and breath of fire games
@@noctissama3146 well let's hope some wealthy director reads this... other wise it's up to us man! 😅 But i suppose many of life's memorable moments can't be shared and we simply have to be happy we were in the right place at the right time... i suppose... still... how amazing would it be if they covered the whole expanse of this 150 000 something year story: wow wow wow
One insteresting point at 2:00:24 discussion about the holy of holies in the Nissan Sect. No one called it a Holly of Hollies. The fact that it is a place of restrict access may come from another reason. Like to protect this from the Ethos, for exemple.
Right, I was trying to understand where Casen got the idea that the portrait of Sophia was a holy of holies sort of relic. If I am being honest, I have always viewed the line about needing to have some procedures completed first moreso as administrative red tape, like someone applies for leave to view the portrait, and the church of Nisan has to vet the applicant before allowing them access, in order to make sure the painting is preserved and not damaged. But I can see how someone could immediately jump to "religious procedures" as if one is preparing to enter an inner sanctum of a temple
If you didn't know, this game is fully mastered for 5.1 surround sound systems. The music, the battle effects, all of it. Including those footsteps at 25:30
Dorry: A person who is always in the know, a gossip queen, someone who knows everyone else's business Found this is an online "Australian word map", sounds like you guys might be onto something since Fei was called this while eavesdropping
Great episode ! About the fight with Ramsus and the "Fei... That is my child's name..." It's much clearer in Japanese because the word used for "I" in this sentence is 「私」(watashi) which is a formal way to say "I" and usually more feminine. Ramsus uses 「俺」(ore) to refer to himself, which is used exclusively by man in colloquial conversation or traditionally in fiction to show a masculine character is above in the hierarchy and therefore doesn't need to be formal to those beneath him. My opinion is that R.H. used the "that is" instead of "that's" trick you mentioned in a previous episode to show that distinction between the different speakers.
@@citan554 glad if that helps ^^ Japanese language has around a hundred ways to refer to "I", "oneself" or "I as part of a specific group" but nowadays, only about 5-6 are used in normal everyday conversation (watashi, atashi, watakushi, boku, ore, jibun) stretched to 20 if you count special occasion, work, etc If you listen carefully in anime or video games (fiction in general) you might hear some more like "washi" (used/ancient by old people) Son Gokû uses "ora" which is a rural way of saying "ore". Toriyama, the author of Dragon Ball comes from the country and loves to make fun of his kind. "Ora" sounds naive in the ears of people of the city. Which is a part of Gokû's character ^^ Bonus fact : when Gokû transform's for the first time in Super Saiyan, he does it from a rush of anger. Therefore in all his dialogues during that period he switches to "ore" (pronounce it "oreh") which is very rude combined with verbs conjugate with imperative. For native speaker, it was a shock ^^ That's something veeery difficult to convey in a translation, and japanese is just full of that stuff xD No wonder Richard Honeywood suffered on Xenogears 🤣
In relation to the common remark on how Xenogears seems to be giving obvious/large hints: when I was first experiencing Xenogears story, it was hard to feel confident about any theory I had. Maybe it was because I was watching let's play and knew there was a lot left, but I'd prefer to think it was more because these hints are way more significant when you already know the story.
I feel like I got called out for asking about the FF videos 😂 It’s all good, I’m loving the podcast as well. Finally starting to understand Xenogears story has inspired me to play it again. Keep up the great work! Love the channel!
A bit behind on the series because I took a detour to your Nier series (very excellent work!). Anyway, the Chu-Chu defender has logged on. Time to catch up!
I really do get a happy feeling every week i get a notification for this podcast after they got the patreon goal. I'm still all the way back to the Nier episodes but i still give you a muted watch to please the algorithm (and post shitty comments like this one). Best of luck
As an Australian, I've never heard "Sorry-dorry" anywhere but in Xenogears, so if the term does come from here, it must not be in common usage anymore. That said, I do kind of like it in the context XD Great episode as always guys! Really enjoying this.
The thing about yin/yang is that it is not actually supposed to be a static symbol, it is supposed to be in motion. The curved line in between the yin and the yang is the 'taiji', the balance between the two polar opposites that is always in flux. Caution not to conflate the yin/yang harmony with 'conflict'. There is no conflict in yin/yang. Yin/yang is about the balance of polarity that exists to create the harmony that allows physical existence to be manifest (the 10,000 things in the Tao De Ching). That is why Taoists say there is no way to be in harmony with the Tao, and there is no way to not be in harmony with the Tao. It is only our stubborn cultural viewpoint as 'individual agents' where we perceive ourselves to be separate from everything else, this gives rise to a false notion that we are out of balance.
Nothing better than hearing his analysis and interpretation of this game while playing first time through. He’s really good at picking up on things, but it’s funny hearing his possible theories that are wrong in certain instances as well. I’ll give him a pass on the Ramses “Fei’s father” thing though. I never interpreted it that way, but now I could see how someone might. It’ll be funny to see his reaction as Ramses character is further exposed:)
Yes. I played at a young age and didnt pick up on alot of things. I still read through perfect works and learn new things. I cant wait to get to the meat of things just to see his reaction.
About the "female aid" wasn't it "female aide" that they said? Aide means someone who is an assistant/support to an important figure, so there was no confusion there for me.
The best way to view the two angel statues is to go to the end of the 2nd floor balcony (either side) and use the diagonal view so they are both framed in the centre with the glowing fire between them lighting them from below with a warm red flickering glow.
That scene absolutely sealed me being hooked to this game. Already had enough to keep me playing, but I’ll never forget my first time getting through this game and that entire church part was just brilliant. I’d never played a game to that point that had me captured like that. Very cool and very unique
I'm glad I'm not the only one that raised an eyebrow with Citan -> Shitan -> Sheytan -> Satan Can't wait to see it through! Excellent way to experience the game thanks guys 😌
You have to remember that Sophia's painting has a lot of light shining on it directly, as well as herself when the painting was being drawn. This could have a large effect on what color her hair appears to be.
I don't know how I missed most of the stuff in Nisan... When it was showed in the video I remember it from my fist playthrough but this time I missed all of it. Glad you added it cuz it really helped the motivation of attacking Aveh.
1:25:30 Jung was an artist of very advanced skill and ability. He deliberately left this aspect of himself out of his professional life, because he strongly felt that if people thought of him as an artist, they would dismiss his scientific observations as a doctor of medicine. His artwork is astonishing.
The name "Fatima" is an Arabic name given only to females. It means "the woman who stopped breast feeding her child", indicating that he is now grown and strong to eat on his own. The name has many in-depth meanings but this is what I am remembering on top of my head. Naming a country or a dynasty by this name happened once in the Islamic history and its location was in Egypt. The name is pronounced "Faa-ti-mah". I hope this piece of information [or piece of a puzzle] was helpful.
I hope the Resonant Arc personel lives prosperous - you can tell how much work is put into each episode. A very impressive feat IMO. I believe Mike is the brain behind all of this? Its kinda awesome and it promotes intellectual gaming.
Awesome! It's great to have someone who's never played the game analize it on a first play through. I'm fascinated by the details you guys are putting together piece by piece, as even playing the game four times already I can't get all of the meanings and symbols it uses to build the world and characters.
Two thoughts from this episode: 1. Lots of talk about hair color this week; I’d have to say I consider Ramsus to be bleach blonde/white, Miang definitely more blue than purple, and Sofia looks slightly more orange to me than Elly 2. I’ve always pronounced Nisan like Nissan, the car company. However, I could see it possibly being an allusion to Nicean, like the Nicean Creed -> so, maybe it’s pronounced “Nigh-saan”?
I am really enjoying these! Played the game twice but very far apart and while I knew some of the overarching philosophies presented, I'm sure I never would have put a lot of this together on my own. Looking forward to continuing and playing the game through again with a new perspective afterwards! Keep up the good work!
Casen initially thinking Ramus was Fei's father and confusing the dialogue between Citan and Sigurd being about Elly was hilarious. In my first playthrough I don't remember struggling to understand the story it was pretty comprehensible. The second time I played it was the same thing but with a lot more context clearly.
Loving the podcast as it’s my first time playing this game. However, I have played xenoblade several times and Citan is starting to remind me a lot of Dickson and that makes me question him even more.
I also thought Ramsus father was Fei at that event. And I thought that the video of "feis father" would end up being someone who adopted you and took you away from this "dangerous man" Ramsus. Long time since I played on my chipped ps1 with an import copy to Sweden ;)
So I could be completely wrong, but when Bart says “Sorry-dorry”, it could be that it was just a typo and it was meant to be “sorry-sorry,” which would make more sense. And the letter S is right next to the letter D on the keyboard.
With a comma, I'd buy it; with a hyphen, nah, I think it's intentional, weird as it is. I think a better localization would have been "my bad," at any rate.
Finally watching this pod. It's funny how Casen is inferring wilds things based on the translation, though I kinda feel like I've been understanding it from what Mike's been reading. Lol.
Worth noting is that Margie was captured in the first place because she was lured away with a rumour that some of the captured sisters were still alive. This turned out to be false because 'Mother and Grandma had already been executed'. This is why Bart is very unimpressed when she says that she trusts Elly during the escape. One of them should be (was) the current holy mother but they are dead so it fell to Margie as the last of the line.
I have no idea how this plays out, but it has been quite amusing to listen to five and a half episodes of this podcast with them doing everything they can to avoid mentioning that a guy called Sa-tan might not be all he seems.
In my mind, I've always read Citan's interventions to push Fei in a subtle tone; I know Mike is exacerbating on purpose to make a point, but I like to think Citan would have a subtle touch even if what he is saying is pretty obviously laden with self interest.
Congratulations Ramsus... you are NOT the father!! Only 18 mins in this video but Tbh I used the Xenogears wiki as a companion piece to understand the story... I’m someone who doesn’t care much about spoilers. Really love the last episode about theatrics and takashi Tokita, I really see how theatrical the sprites are in Chrono trigger now and why it’s so charming compared to other 16/32 bit jrpgs! You guys are great, really love and appreciate what you do!
I feel like there needs to be a revisted version of this eventually that's full spoiler all the way through. Great stuff as always though! Edit: Yeah, Casen is maybe reading a tad fast... lol. Although, some of the things he's joking about and/ or misunderstanding are weirdly close to being accurate haha. Edit 2: Elly's hair is more vibrantly orange than the painting.
I thought Miang was the member of the former 'elements' they were talking about not Ramsus. The whole conversation is about her when Citan says all four elements are now on the surface. Though I did infer that Ramsus was the 4th.
@@michaelcoraybrown I have but it's been nearly a decade since my last playthrough. I remember the overarching stuff but not all the details. That is was just the way I took that conversation, since the comment was framed in the conversation about Miang.
@@DSzaks Yeah, based on the way the conversation is written, it does seem to implicate her as being one of the elements. Another example to add to the pile where the text could be much clearer than it is.
When you show the full size image of Sophia, I can see why you think the hair is orange-like. But to me it just looks like an image that is out of its lighting context, like it has a sunset glow cast on it. If you see the image as part of the scene in the game, or even in the thumbnail of this video, it's pretty clear (at least in my perception) that the hair is brown.
I color corrected the thumbnail image to be much MUCH cooler than the original scan. Someone on Twitter shared another art piece that shows Elly and Sophia side by side and it's much clearer.
@@michaelcoraybrown I remember my initial reaction when I originally played the game being similar to yours. At first glance, I couldn't tell that it was that much different than Elly's hair. But because I had that question, I paused there and pondered it, and it began to dawn on me that it was the lighting. I'm pretty sure there's at least one scene (not the flashback) where it doesn't have that sunset-like glow, though.
The way to make it really jump out is compare the hair colour to the skin in the two images. In the portrait the colours are a lot closer together which suggests the white balance is really shifted red. Also when you see Lacan painting Sophia in the flashback scene, the hair is brown.
I named my daughter Sophia because of the scenes here. I remember when I first played the game years ago I would do it and now I have an 8 year old Sophia :) Love this game
I love these videos. I wish you did the Xenosaga trilogy some time. maybe not inmediately afterthis so you won't go insane, but it would be cool to have this level of analysis about Xenosaga.
@@EBattousai I already watched the whole Xenosaga episodes and I'm planning to watch this and the Xenosaga episodes again. I think the xeno series are some of the best videos in the channel, I love their analisis and the conversations generated by the themes of the games.
I’m really bad at playing multiple games at once and for the last little bit I’ve been playing Fantasian, Final Fantasy VII (beat it), and Skyrim, but I’m also now playing Final Fantasy VIII and Xenogears and decided to follow both podcasts as well as Retrograde Amnesia’s podcast on both games too. It’s a little overload, but it’s been so much fun!
I made the same mistake as Casen, and in our defense, that part with Ramsus was very confusing. Without a character portrait in this flashback (even just the silhouette of the actual character who said this), it really does look like Ramsus is saying Fei is his son. There's no voice acting to help differentiate which characters are saying what most of the time, so that's why character names and portraits are important, neither of which were present in this scene. There was no "Character Name: Fei... that is my child's name...", or to add mystery to the scene, "???: Fei.. that is my child's name...", or like I said, a text box with a silhouette of the character saying this, so we're not mistaking Ramsus as the person saying this.
since casen isnt reading the comments here i just want to express my curiousness on if he is going to notice the red/green filters when it comes to the kislev sewers. i know even on a second playthru of the game i didnt notice that. he seems exceptionally observant for a player on a first playthru, so i am excited to see that.
Love that you guys brought up the Yin-Yang, Masculine-Feminine. This is so true. The Yoga symbol in the Yogic culture is also depicted by a body of someone who’s both male and female. It is about how tp nurture the lesser innerself to bring balance and become whole” within one-self. And maybe the comparison between masculine’s Rationality / logic should be spiritual, emotion, or intuition. Just a thought. Love you guys for doing this episodes. Cheers. :)
It is hard with the translation, but the part about Miang I don’t ever remember misunderstanding. It becomes pretty clear in due time. I’d say on the spot though I never had to give my interpretations like Casen is trying to do. So I get it
Love the breakdowns on collective unconsciousness and other Jungian principles. Feel like I went over this stuff back in college and highschool, but it's a great to go over the stuff again and learn some new facets that I don't think I ever knew about. You guys really do bring a level of analysis that is unparalleled.
I think my 13 year old self playing this game for the first time interpreted Ramsus' line the same as Casen. I might not have even connected the man in the anime flashback as Fei's father. I can see how you can easily assume that, but the game doesn't explicitly tell you who that is.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who was confused at Ramsus being Fei's father. I somehow completely overlooked the fact that we'd already seen his father fighting Grahf and the red haired man so for the entire first disc I was baffled by Ramsus' behavior towards Fei and it wasn't until the end of disc 1 that I realized the mistake
The fire being between the two statues could also be symbolic of (SPOILERS) the "burning" love "between" the contact and the antitype, since this is a love story, after all. It could also be simply symbolic of the masculine and feminine, in general, where this fire or "spark" that's literally and figuratively between them is related to finding god.
Even though it wasn't relevant to the plot I was hoping you'd call attention the weird NPC who says something like "No matter what happens I will not move from this spot." I feel like it's this game's Zelda II "I am error" moment. And I think a good way to remedy the confusion with Ramsus seemingly saying Fei is his son is to show a silhouette or a neck down view of the person saying "Fei is the name of my son". That would show that it's not ramsus and also not spoil who it really is. In a modern video game that wouldn't happen because we would have simply heard that the voice speaking doesn't match ramsus at all
I really thought that they were mentioning the "fear" in Elly and how Fie and her are "the same" and also referencing the anime scenes we've seen with Elly and murdering everyone in that hallway. I'm glad you guys cleared all that up. Fixing the translation makes so much more sense.
Elehayym is most likely supposed to be a variation on "Elohim" or possibly further, "Elohim hayyim" which means "the living god." Additionally, the surname Miang is a variant of the surname Min or 閔, which in Chinese, can, interestingly, also mean both "to mourn/grieve" and "to urge on/incite" which, anyone who has already played the game can see the significance in both of these names for both characters.
We ended up cutting this recording into two episodes (it was four hours long, lol). For the next episode, we'll be covering Bart's confrontation of Sigurd and Citan all the way up to Fei's battle against the Gebler pilots (who Elly commands).
This whole thing is gonna be like 20 episodes long.
@@Elvisbackpack We better start some betting lol
@@fanmovie357 I'm betting high teens - low 20's :P
@@MugenHeadNinja if they keep eps 2h long then I say 30!!
I’ll go 30. There are so many different reveals in this game I can’t see it being any shorter.
The moment Casen realized Ramsus is not Fei's Father is pure gold! Mike shouldn' have told him and just await for the big reveal and Casen's mind to be blown.
I always look forward to hearing Casen's comments. It's really fun to hear the POV of someone who is playing it for the first time.
litlle did casen know is we did see his father.
The fade to white entails a memory that Ramsus is having. It's uncommon for a character to have a memory of just themselves talking. That's more or less why I figured Ramsus was talking to Fei's dad.
Chu-Chu's existence is justified in a darkly hilarious way later on.
MIKE: How could you reconcile the earlier cutscene with Ramsus being Fei's father???
CASEN: Man, I dunno, I have 3 kids.
ramsus has silver hair.
most sqaure fans see him: bad guy.
He's just super-progressive. The idea of a kid having two fathers gets presented to him and he doesn't even think twice about it.
@@catalan8241 what the f
I wonder how hard it is for Mike to talk in depth about this game while at the same time not trying to spoil things for Casen.
Thinking same thing. It’s gotta to be difficult not to reveal certain things. Give him a lot of credit for not spoiling
@@Hassler247 Yeah he has to tip toe a really thin line. I think he's doing as best as one can in that position. Say too much and it's a spoiler, but say too little and Casen might spend an hour discussing something we all know to be way off the mark, cutting the discussion time.
This has been an incredible amount of fun to play the game and listen to these podcasts. I may actually finally understand the story of Xenogears haha!
Yeah stoked that these fellas will unearth many insights into xenogears over the course of this series
I laughed hard at around 53:00 when Myang was seemingly confused with Elly in that exchange. "Yes Fei said she had indigo blue eyes....and hair...yes I seem to recall that she had hair". Interpreting it like that was just too funny.
The scene with Ramsus and Fei after the fight always struck me as almost a flash of recognition. The way it fades to white, which is symbolic of birth or beginning, the text that comes up as a memory, then the flashing transposition of the red hair warrior over Fei as though Ramsus' eyes are playing tricks on him due to familiarity. That's how I absorbed it decades ago after several playthroughs.
The reason this episode was split in half.... is because Episode 7 is the 2 hour Chu-Chu character analysis right?... Right!?
I'm looking forward to it!
LOL
That would be chu easy.
LET'S GOOOO
A part of me wishes it were possible to let Casen keep thinking that Ramsus was Fei's father. It would've made for an amazing reveal for him later that the game wasn't even intending.
I tend to find that when I come to incorrect conclusions about things early in a work of fiction, it only diminishes my enjoyment. I either wait for a plot twist that never lands, or I get confused when presented with contradicting information, and it becomes even harder to follow the story due to not being sure which of two contradictory explanations is true. I think it is for the best to correct the misunderstanding.
Thinking the same thing as I was watching this. Ramses really might be the most interesting character in this game from start to finish. And I know that’s saying a lot.
Arthirias Hey it’s hard to even debate it. This story has so many interesting characters.
@@Rodlikespants I was. So I guess that's why I was never confused, lol
Yeah. It's fun having Casen here he looks pretty disappointed too lmao
SLIGHT SPOILERS:
>Thought Ramsus was Fei's father
>Didn't think Miang was Fei's mother
*Oh boy, are you in for a ride, Casen*
Really enjoying Casen's journey here. I told Mike years ago that this was my favorite game of all time. I finished it in 1998. Played it again with a freshman year roommate in college. It is so dense. And I love watching Casen learn slowly things that will blow his mind later.
I absolutely LOVE this series so far! It brings me indescribable joy to see Xenogears getting the appreciation it deserves with respect to how much it resembles a piece of classic literature.
A note of my own that might add to the discussion: I see Fei's reaction to the Portrait of Sophia's hair color as intentionally being disagreeable. Having played the game multiple times now, I see this line as Fei being able to perceive something about Sophia that the audience and supporting cast cannot. I see it as further characterizing Fei's connection to Sophia (which there will be a lot of later) as deeply familiar, picking up on something that nobody else would. Like a hair out of place or the difference between two extremely similar colors.
So glad that Casen is avoiding spoilers!
Its definitely fun to get a first-time perspective in parallel with the more veteran perspective.
12:00...Lol! That Ramses dad part.
Brilliant XD
The confusion is definitely not weird though.
I could hear the sweat pooling as they desperately attempted to clarify Freud and Jung without getting cancelled.
The best part of this podcast is watching Casen trying to put the pieces together.
He comes so close and then he flies off in the wrong direction. Just like 16 year old me did.
"My father? You mean my dad Ramses?"
Thank you so much for these podcasts, I always get a smile whenever I receive the notification of a new episode!! On a side note, poor Casen, you're not alone on that part, I too thought Ramsus was his father hahahaha
Same!! It’s been so fun to play this again and then watching the podcast to get more context/detail of the story. After 20+ years I think I’m finally figuring out what’s going on in this game 😂
Thank you so much for this thorough dissection! I think Xenogears might very well be my favourite story of all time. I wish someone with the passion and funds made a mini series movie/anime just so my friends could experience it... cuz there's no way anyone's gonna get through it if they don't love jrpgs and that is such a waste of a wonderful story.
Exactly! And the game takes about 50 hours to finish! So many people won't sit to play 50 hours of a game made in 1998. I finished in 2018 on my phone using emulator while being in the army. It was such an amazing experience cause it was never released in europe so I only played the final fantasy games and breath of fire games
@@noctissama3146 well let's hope some wealthy director reads this... other wise it's up to us man! 😅
But i suppose many of life's memorable moments can't be shared and we simply have to be happy we were in the right place at the right time... i suppose... still... how amazing would it be if they covered the whole expanse of this 150 000 something year story: wow wow wow
One insteresting point at 2:00:24 discussion about the holy of holies in the Nissan Sect. No one called it a Holly of Hollies. The fact that it is a place of restrict access may come from another reason. Like to protect this from the Ethos, for exemple.
Right, I was trying to understand where Casen got the idea that the portrait of Sophia was a holy of holies sort of relic. If I am being honest, I have always viewed the line about needing to have some procedures completed first moreso as administrative red tape, like someone applies for leave to view the portrait, and the church of Nisan has to vet the applicant before allowing them access, in order to make sure the painting is preserved and not damaged. But I can see how someone could immediately jump to "religious procedures" as if one is preparing to enter an inner sanctum of a temple
If you didn't know, this game is fully mastered for 5.1 surround sound systems. The music, the battle effects, all of it. Including those footsteps at 25:30
On ps1? Holy crap!
@@kreecebarton yeah, you select the "wide stereo" option in the menu. It's bonkers, and way ahead of it's time.
Can't wait for Kislev part, one of my favorite part of the game. I'm getting ready to defend it. My notes are all ready lmao. Great episode.
57:26 10-year-olds who played it in '98 rise up!
Dorry: A person who is always in the know, a gossip queen, someone who knows everyone else's business
Found this is an online "Australian word map", sounds like you guys might be onto something since Fei was called this while eavesdropping
Great episode !
About the fight with Ramsus and the "Fei... That is my child's name..." It's much clearer in Japanese because the word used for "I" in this sentence is 「私」(watashi) which is a formal way to say "I" and usually more feminine.
Ramsus uses 「俺」(ore) to refer to himself, which is used exclusively by man in colloquial conversation or traditionally in fiction to show a masculine character is above in the hierarchy and therefore doesn't need to be formal to those beneath him.
My opinion is that R.H. used the "that is" instead of "that's" trick you mentioned in a previous episode to show that distinction between the different speakers.
Very interesting insight
@@citan554 glad if that helps ^^
Japanese language has around a hundred ways to refer to "I", "oneself" or "I as part of a specific group" but nowadays, only about 5-6 are used in normal everyday conversation (watashi, atashi, watakushi, boku, ore, jibun) stretched to 20 if you count special occasion, work, etc
If you listen carefully in anime or video games (fiction in general) you might hear some more like "washi" (used/ancient by old people)
Son Gokû uses "ora" which is a rural way of saying "ore". Toriyama, the author of Dragon Ball comes from the country and loves to make fun of his kind.
"Ora" sounds naive in the ears of people of the city. Which is a part of Gokû's character ^^
Bonus fact : when Gokû transform's for the first time in Super Saiyan, he does it from a rush of anger. Therefore in all his dialogues during that period he switches to "ore" (pronounce it "oreh") which is very rude combined with verbs conjugate with imperative.
For native speaker, it was a shock ^^
That's something veeery difficult to convey in a translation, and japanese is just full of that stuff xD
No wonder Richard Honeywood suffered on Xenogears 🤣
@@jcv8 Nice information
In relation to the common remark on how Xenogears seems to be giving obvious/large hints: when I was first experiencing Xenogears story, it was hard to feel confident about any theory I had. Maybe it was because I was watching let's play and knew there was a lot left, but I'd prefer to think it was more because these hints are way more significant when you already know the story.
Thank you guys for what you do. These podcasts make my week
I have really been enjoying this story analysis for Xenogears, thanks so much for putting in the effort to provide us entertaining content!
I feel like I got called out for asking about the FF videos 😂
It’s all good, I’m loving the podcast as well. Finally starting to understand Xenogears story has inspired me to play it again.
Keep up the great work! Love the channel!
A bit behind on the series because I took a detour to your Nier series (very excellent work!). Anyway, the Chu-Chu defender has logged on. Time to catch up!
So cool to see that people still remembers the masterpiece!
@@jackbatay4692 haha 😝
Now go sing Eyes On Me, Fei Wong.
@@MillenniumEarl014 Thats Faye Wong the singer.
I really do get a happy feeling every week i get a notification for this podcast after they got the patreon goal. I'm still all the way back to the Nier episodes but i still give you a muted watch to please the algorithm (and post shitty comments like this one). Best of luck
As an Australian, I've never heard "Sorry-dorry" anywhere but in Xenogears, so if the term does come from here, it must not be in common usage anymore. That said, I do kind of like it in the context XD Great episode as always guys! Really enjoying this.
The thing about yin/yang is that it is not actually supposed to be a static symbol, it is supposed to be in motion. The curved line in between the yin and the yang is the 'taiji', the balance between the two polar opposites that is always in flux. Caution not to conflate the yin/yang harmony with 'conflict'. There is no conflict in yin/yang. Yin/yang is about the balance of polarity that exists to create the harmony that allows physical existence to be manifest (the 10,000 things in the Tao De Ching). That is why Taoists say there is no way to be in harmony with the Tao, and there is no way to not be in harmony with the Tao. It is only our stubborn cultural viewpoint as 'individual agents' where we perceive ourselves to be separate from everything else, this gives rise to a false notion that we are out of balance.
Love how Casen is just all of us in our first playthrough
I am so jealous that this is his first time through the game. Id give anything to wipe it from memory just to play again.
Nothing better than hearing his analysis and interpretation of this game while playing first time through. He’s really good at picking up on things, but it’s funny hearing his possible theories that are wrong in certain instances as well. I’ll give him a pass on the Ramses “Fei’s father” thing though. I never interpreted it that way, but now I could see how someone might. It’ll be funny to see his reaction as Ramses character is further exposed:)
Yes. I played at a young age and didnt pick up on alot of things. I still read through perfect works and learn new things. I cant wait to get to the meat of things just to see his reaction.
i have not played xenogears since like 2008 so it may as well be new.
About the "female aid" wasn't it "female aide" that they said? Aide means someone who is an assistant/support to an important figure, so there was no confusion there for me.
The one winged angels are a beautiful depiction of so many things.
The best way to view the two angel statues is to go to the end of the 2nd floor balcony (either side) and use the diagonal view so they are both framed in the centre with the glowing fire between them lighting them from below with a warm red flickering glow.
That scene absolutely sealed me being hooked to this game. Already had enough to keep me playing, but I’ll never forget my first time getting through this game and that entire church part was just brilliant. I’d never played a game to that point that had me captured like that. Very cool and very unique
I'm glad I'm not the only one that raised an eyebrow with Citan -> Shitan -> Sheytan -> Satan
Can't wait to see it through! Excellent way to experience the game thanks guys 😌
You have to remember that Sophia's painting has a lot of light shining on it directly, as well as herself when the painting was being drawn. This could have a large effect on what color her hair appears to be.
I don't know how I missed most of the stuff in Nisan... When it was showed in the video I remember it from my fist playthrough but this time I missed all of it. Glad you added it cuz it really helped the motivation of attacking Aveh.
1:25:30 Jung was an artist of very advanced skill and ability. He deliberately left this aspect of himself out of his professional life, because he strongly felt that if people thought of him as an artist, they would dismiss his scientific observations as a doctor of medicine. His artwork is astonishing.
Absolutely. His "red book", Liber Novus, that was released a few years ago would be a great example.
@@johannystrom-persson2966 Indeed. That’s exactly the example I hade in mind.
Elly's hair. The first purple and gold optical illusion.
Truly, Xenogears is a game way ahead of it's time.
This keeps getting better. I the weeks are quite long waiting for the nex episode
The name "Fatima" is an Arabic name given only to females. It means "the woman who stopped breast feeding her child", indicating that he is now grown and strong to eat on his own. The name has many in-depth meanings but this is what I am remembering on top of my head. Naming a country or a dynasty by this name happened once in the Islamic history and its location was in Egypt. The name is pronounced "Faa-ti-mah". I hope this piece of information [or piece of a puzzle] was helpful.
I hope the Resonant Arc personel lives prosperous - you can tell how much work is put into each episode. A very impressive feat IMO. I believe Mike is the brain behind all of this? Its kinda awesome and it promotes intellectual gaming.
I’m living for this shit btw. Watched every episode
Another great episode. Look forward to the second part of this one.
15:10
Me: slowly raises hand...
For real though, I thought the same thing when I read it. Definitely made me scratch my head haha
53:15 "She had indigo blue eyes... And she also had hair"
I laughed out loud at that line :D
Love these. Thank you guys.
Awesome! It's great to have someone who's never played the game analize it on a first play through. I'm fascinated by the details you guys are putting together piece by piece, as even playing the game four times already I can't get all of the meanings and symbols it uses to build the world and characters.
Two thoughts from this episode:
1. Lots of talk about hair color this week; I’d have to say I consider Ramsus to be bleach blonde/white, Miang definitely more blue than purple, and Sofia looks slightly more orange to me than Elly
2. I’ve always pronounced Nisan like Nissan, the car company. However, I could see it possibly being an allusion to Nicean, like the Nicean Creed -> so, maybe it’s pronounced “Nigh-saan”?
Hair color is very important in this game
Yeahhaa Part VI is here😃😍😱🎉👏
I am really enjoying these! Played the game twice but very far apart and while I knew some of the overarching philosophies presented, I'm sure I never would have put a lot of this together on my own. Looking forward to continuing and playing the game through again with a new perspective afterwards! Keep up the good work!
Casen initially thinking Ramus was Fei's father and confusing the dialogue between Citan and Sigurd being about Elly was hilarious. In my first playthrough I don't remember struggling to understand the story it was pretty comprehensible. The second time I played it was the same thing but with a lot more context clearly.
Loving the podcast as it’s my first time playing this game. However, I have played xenoblade several times and Citan is starting to remind me a lot of Dickson and that makes me question him even more.
The podcast set looks prime! Love the content. Keep it up 👍
“I did not think Miang was Fei’s mother” :o
Technically she was not.
Yeah lol, and Mike seems very eager to switch to another topic when thzt comes up
@@azerty1234567890qw Also when Casen mistook Miang for Elly in the discussion between Sigurd and Citan... if you know, you know
Wonderful episode as always!
The purple hair. I can’t believe I never caught onto it considering the intro was always on my mind the entire time I played this game.
I also thought Ramsus father was Fei at that event. And I thought that the video of "feis father" would end up being someone who adopted you and took you away from this "dangerous man" Ramsus. Long time since I played on my chipped ps1 with an import copy to Sweden ;)
So I could be completely wrong, but when Bart says “Sorry-dorry”, it could be that it was just a typo and it was meant to be “sorry-sorry,” which would make more sense. And the letter S is right next to the letter D on the keyboard.
With a comma, I'd buy it; with a hyphen, nah, I think it's intentional, weird as it is. I think a better localization would have been "my bad," at any rate.
@@WildMatsu Lol, I think a lot of the game's weirder script parts can be attributed to the translation
I thinks it's cutsie maybe like "sowwy dowwy"
I was thinking maybe he meant to say whoopsy daisy and just had a brain fart lol
That's what I've been waiting for.
Jung also gave us synchronicity
And said that Adolf Hitler was the embodiment of Germanys shadow. Very fitting characterization
11:55 Ramzes is our dad - I love it on so many levels xD
Finally watching this pod. It's funny how Casen is inferring wilds things based on the translation, though I kinda feel like I've been understanding it from what Mike's been reading. Lol.
Worth noting is that Margie was captured in the first place because she was lured away with a rumour that some of the captured sisters were still alive. This turned out to be false because 'Mother and Grandma had already been executed'. This is why Bart is very unimpressed when she says that she trusts Elly during the escape. One of them should be (was) the current holy mother but they are dead so it fell to Margie as the last of the line.
I have no idea how this plays out, but it has been quite amusing to listen to five and a half episodes of this podcast with them doing everything they can to avoid mentioning that a guy called Sa-tan might not be all he seems.
In my mind, I've always read Citan's interventions to push Fei in a subtle tone; I know Mike is exacerbating on purpose to make a point, but I like to think Citan would have a subtle touch even if what he is saying is pretty obviously laden with self interest.
He was tasked by the emperor to test Fei. He always does it in a subtle manner.
Congratulations Ramsus... you are NOT the father!!
Only 18 mins in this video but Tbh I used the Xenogears wiki as a companion piece to understand the story... I’m someone who doesn’t care much about spoilers. Really love the last episode about theatrics and takashi Tokita, I really see how theatrical the sprites are in Chrono trigger now and why it’s so charming compared to other 16/32 bit jrpgs! You guys are great, really love and appreciate what you do!
I feel like there needs to be a revisted version of this eventually that's full spoiler all the way through. Great stuff as always though!
Edit: Yeah, Casen is maybe reading a tad fast... lol. Although, some of the things he's joking about and/ or misunderstanding are weirdly close to being accurate haha.
Edit 2: Elly's hair is more vibrantly orange than the painting.
I thought Miang was the member of the former 'elements' they were talking about not Ramsus. The whole conversation is about her when Citan says all four elements are now on the surface. Though I did infer that Ramsus was the 4th.
I'm providing this link because I'm assuming you've played the game before--if you have not do not click it. xenosaga.fandom.com/wiki/Elements
@@michaelcoraybrown I have but it's been nearly a decade since my last playthrough. I remember the overarching stuff but not all the details. That is was just the way I took that conversation, since the comment was framed in the conversation about Miang.
@@DSzaks Yeah, based on the way the conversation is written, it does seem to implicate her as being one of the elements. Another example to add to the pile where the text could be much clearer than it is.
I think Ramsus was one, when Billy’s dad was the leader or something in Judgend
Guys I love that talk and gotta watch the other episodes I missed 🙂
When you show the full size image of Sophia, I can see why you think the hair is orange-like. But to me it just looks like an image that is out of its lighting context, like it has a sunset glow cast on it.
If you see the image as part of the scene in the game, or even in the thumbnail of this video, it's pretty clear (at least in my perception) that the hair is brown.
I color corrected the thumbnail image to be much MUCH cooler than the original scan. Someone on Twitter shared another art piece that shows Elly and Sophia side by side and it's much clearer.
@@michaelcoraybrown I remember my initial reaction when I originally played the game being similar to yours. At first glance, I couldn't tell that it was that much different than Elly's hair. But because I had that question, I paused there and pondered it, and it began to dawn on me that it was the lighting.
I'm pretty sure there's at least one scene (not the flashback) where it doesn't have that sunset-like glow, though.
The way to make it really jump out is compare the hair colour to the skin in the two images. In the portrait the colours are a lot closer together which suggests the white balance is really shifted red. Also when you see Lacan painting Sophia in the flashback scene, the hair is brown.
I named my daughter Sophia because of the scenes here. I remember when I first played the game years ago I would do it and now I have an 8 year old Sophia :)
Love this game
I love these videos.
I wish you did the Xenosaga trilogy some time. maybe not inmediately afterthis so you won't go insane, but it would be cool to have this level of analysis about Xenosaga.
I have good news
@@EBattousai I already watched the whole Xenosaga episodes and I'm planning to watch this and the Xenosaga episodes again. I think the xeno series are some of the best videos in the channel, I love their analisis and the conversations generated by the themes of the games.
I’m really bad at playing multiple games at once and for the last little bit I’ve been playing Fantasian, Final Fantasy VII (beat it), and Skyrim, but I’m also now playing Final Fantasy VIII and Xenogears and decided to follow both podcasts as well as Retrograde Amnesia’s podcast on both games too. It’s a little overload, but it’s been so much fun!
Bart: (informally) Sorry Bro.
Fei: Don't call me bro cuz you ain't my fam.
Forget developing my Anima & Animus, I'm developing all 4 Stages of Anime.
I made the same mistake as Casen, and in our defense, that part with Ramsus was very confusing. Without a character portrait in this flashback (even just the silhouette of the actual character who said this), it really does look like Ramsus is saying Fei is his son. There's no voice acting to help differentiate which characters are saying what most of the time, so that's why character names and portraits are important, neither of which were present in this scene.
There was no "Character Name: Fei... that is my child's name...", or to add mystery to the scene, "???: Fei.. that is my child's name...", or like I said, a text box with a silhouette of the character saying this, so we're not mistaking Ramsus as the person saying this.
since casen isnt reading the comments here i just want to express my curiousness on if he is going to notice the red/green filters when it comes to the kislev sewers. i know even on a second playthru of the game i didnt notice that. he seems exceptionally observant for a player on a first playthru, so i am excited to see that.
You don’t really have too, the game spells it out for you, in the clinic
Love that you guys brought up the Yin-Yang, Masculine-Feminine. This is so true. The Yoga symbol in the Yogic culture is also depicted by a body of someone who’s both male and female. It is about how tp nurture the lesser innerself to bring balance and become whole” within one-self.
And maybe the comparison between masculine’s Rationality / logic should be spiritual, emotion, or intuition. Just a thought.
Love you guys for doing this episodes. Cheers. :)
It is hard with the translation, but the part about Miang I don’t ever remember misunderstanding. It becomes pretty clear in due time. I’d say on the spot though I never had to give my interpretations like Casen is trying to do. So I get it
Love the breakdowns on collective unconsciousness and other Jungian principles. Feel like I went over this stuff back in college and highschool, but it's a great to go over the stuff again and learn some new facets that I don't think I ever knew about. You guys really do bring a level of analysis that is unparalleled.
11:00 I interpreted "my child's name" to mean, "the name I had when I was a child". Does this make any sense?
Ramsus is as TF2's Sniper puts it "Professionals have standards".
I think my 13 year old self playing this game for the first time interpreted Ramsus' line the same as Casen. I might not have even connected the man in the anime flashback as Fei's father. I can see how you can easily assume that, but the game doesn't explicitly tell you who that is.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who was confused at Ramsus being Fei's father. I somehow completely overlooked the fact that we'd already seen his father fighting Grahf and the red haired man so for the entire first disc I was baffled by Ramsus' behavior towards Fei and it wasn't until the end of disc 1 that I realized the mistake
When they say Miang has a fear in her, I believe they meant that she's scary, nor scared.
"I thought I had this game all figured out." Eh-heh. Eh-heh-heh-heh. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
The fire being between the two statues could also be symbolic of (SPOILERS)
the "burning" love "between" the contact and the antitype, since this is a love story, after all. It could also be simply symbolic of the masculine and feminine, in general, where this fire or "spark" that's literally and figuratively between them is related to finding god.
Chu Chu is the Jar Jar Binks of Xenogears (It even has the double name)
Ty for this ❤
Even though it wasn't relevant to the plot I was hoping you'd call attention the weird NPC who says something like "No matter what happens I will not move from this spot." I feel like it's this game's Zelda II "I am error" moment.
And I think a good way to remedy the confusion with Ramsus seemingly saying Fei is his son is to show a silhouette or a neck down view of the person saying "Fei is the name of my son". That would show that it's not ramsus and also not spoil who it really is. In a modern video game that wouldn't happen because we would have simply heard that the voice speaking doesn't match ramsus at all
Wish Mike would have let Casen keep going on that Daddy Ramsus rant lmaoooo
I thought Sigurd and Citan was talking about Elly as well.
I really thought that they were mentioning the "fear" in Elly and how Fie and her are "the same" and also referencing the anime scenes we've seen with Elly and murdering everyone in that hallway.
I'm glad you guys cleared all that up. Fixing the translation makes so much more sense.
Elehayym is most likely supposed to be a variation on "Elohim" or possibly further, "Elohim hayyim" which means "the living god." Additionally, the surname Miang is a variant of the surname Min or 閔, which in Chinese, can, interestingly, also mean both "to mourn/grieve" and "to urge on/incite" which, anyone who has already played the game can see the significance in both of these names for both characters.