Xenogears lockup / PS1 MC issues

Fellow digital beings,

From a Google search, I found a year-old thread about people having lockup problems while playing through Xenogears.

I don't know if it matters to anyone, but I'm playing the game on my modded PS2 with new, but off-brand memory cards. I haven't tried the game emulated. My file never got deleted, but it did show up as "corrupt data" once in the PS2 browser. I was able to load my (hours behind) file every time it locked up.

I tried to post there, but since the thread was "expired", I thought'd I'd post here.

I believe I have solved the problem.

TWO (PS1) MEMORY CARDS.

The first time it happened to me, it was the first time you fight Ramsus. Then it started happening again; the dreaded lockup. It invariably happened right after the most important cinematics, but would work fine for most other save points.

It always annoyed me that the memory card detection took a while. I never had a problem with the game freezing at a vital save point while I had memory cards inserted in both slots. After a while, I took one out to make the card detection go a little faster. It would work for a while, but then I got to the end of disc 1, and I had to redo the fight with Grahf like FIVE DAMN TIMES because it would always lock up when you save before the disc change.

I even went and bought brand new PS1 memory cards, like some of the other posters suggested, and I realize now that it probably did no good. But ever since I put in my new cards in both slots, the game will save at any save point. The downside is that since both cards are packed full of various game saves, the card detection takes like 45 seconds. That's an eternity when you're at a badass part of the game and you want to see if Fei finally bangs out Elly.

Now that I've dealt with that, I can editorialize a little bit. FANTASTIC GAME. Easily in the league of Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, which are the two best games ever made. Coded by Jesus Christ himself, and passed down to the demigods at Squaresoft, who is now one with Enix, the same group of geniuses that brought us the Soul Blazer Trilogy. PHENOMENAL game written by astronomically intelligent people.

I'm looking forward to the rest of disc 2 now, wherein Fei slips Elly the boner, and some other bad guy embraces the glorious Mother of Destruction. And then he gets a robot foot in his ass.

One thread per topic please.

Sov, the original thread is most likely expired. Voll's topic is probably over six months old. If he'd gone posting in that other thread, you'd have bitched at him for thread digging. Simmer down, pup.

And yes, Xenogears is unfathomably cool. Xenosaga, on the other hand, has yet to impress me thus far. I'm nearly finished with Episode 1, and I really don't see what all the fuss is about. It's good, but not the be-all-end-all that so many people have tried to tell me.

I'm hoping Episode 2 is better.

When I get some cash, I'll find out.

According to most reviews, it isn't. Apparently it's far too short and focuses for too long on Jr. and Albedo rather than the rest of the cast. On top of that, apparently, they re-cast a lot of the voice talent. Shion isn't voiced by the same woman, along with several other key players.

And is it just me, or does the entire AGWS system feel tacked on and sloppy? The Gears system in Xenogears was great, and was pretty easy to navigate. As opposed to the AGWS system in Xenosaga, in which I have to buy one of every weapon at each new shop I encounter because A) I can't remember the goddamn "serial numbers" for all of the stuff I've already bought and sold, and B) because the shop system doesn't display any change in stats, regardless of whether the selected weapon is weaker or stronger than what I already have! It's just a giant fucking mess, and it doesn't work at all.

*cough* http://zelaron.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36955 *cough*

Aha. My bad.

I hate the AGWS system for Xenosaga.

Seriously, Xenogears was far superior in implementation.

Can AGWS even do deathblows? It's been forever since I picked up Xenosaga.

No, the closest thing the AGWS can do are W-Act attacks, and those only apply to certain weapons.

The mechs in Xenosaga are more of a novelty than anything else. There isn't a single situation in which their use is mandatory, and it's not like even using them adds any extra strategy or depth to the combat system. Seriously, all it does is prevent you from Boosting, using Tech Attacks, gaining support from other character's Ether and it allows for a little more damage and a lot more health. They were little more than really fancy accessories.

The Gears in Xenogears were implemented so much better because they were characters unto themselves. They were extensions of the individual party members, and using them added a completely separate layer of strategy and technique to the experience. The Gears were vital to the plot, whereas the AGWS participation is barely noticeable.