This portion of the game is jaw-dropping. We have been waiting for these moments, and they do not disappoint. This, right here, is why we play Xeno games. The depth and the source material are just too captivating. We cover Nietzsche’s Death of God hypothesis, Jung’s collective unconscious, and ancient ideas on what a god, angel, or demon really is.
Time Codes:
1. Intro (0:00)
2. Dr. Mizrahi Reciting The Bible (0:36)
3. The Church (12:01)
4. Inside The Door (28:55)
5. The Death Of God(54:10)
6. You Are Not Yet Ready (1:25:49)
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48 Comments
Why do you hate Xenoblade 2?
Existential space game make my tiny brain hurt. But really, you guys have been nailing the analysis so far and it's making me want to go back and give this series another try. I remember playing through Xenosaga years back and thinking that it was decent, but not amazing. Your enthusiasm (especially Casen's!) on the connections and references the game has is infectious, I gotta say.
I actually would love to hear Mike's rant on Xenoblade 2, mostly because I'm interested to hear his thoughts on the issues with the story. I definitely understand criticisms of the character designs and certain specific character interactions, but I actually really liked the story as a whole, so I would be interested to hear why Mike thought it didn't work.
Commenting because you told me to. Just kidding, actually love your guys videos and really appeciate the crazy deep insights on these games. Thanks again and Cant wait for the next video!
Fantastic episode! Definitely one of the best sequences in the game. Its great to hear your perspectives on this stuff and nail the imagery and references being made and the thoughts the author was trying to get across. This series got me into reading Nietzsche and various philosophies and religious texts back in the early 0's. We only got XS2 in europe so had to import it back in the day which was no easy feat D: Btw, XS2 is my favourite in the series despite what alot of others think (oh I've had some fun debates with people on that haha); I believe it is unfairly criticized for many reasons I wont go into until you all get to that game. I'm THIRSTY for the next episode! GIMME 🤩
It's unfortunate that people are so stuck in being polarizing with viewpoints that they aren't capable of parsing each others information. Instead they just disagree and say that other view points are wrong regardless of how great an idea from another belief can be.
Happy to like and comment. These videos are genuinely fantastic and I watch them religiously.
Thanks again guys.
Hmm, at 1:15:18 you mention that it's important not to run from potential painful ideas but that comes right after saying "adopt the things where you think they got it right and reject the things where you don't think they got it right" which just feels like a reassurance that it is okay to run from painful ideas as long as you justify and excuse it on "well I don't think they got it right", but like, if you openly acknowledge Nietzsche et altera as smarter than you, then by what metric do you even consider yourself qualified to make that statement, to disagree with him, to know you're not just taking what's convenient for you and ignoring the rest? It's not enough to just 'theoretically' acknowledge they are smart ideas if you don't apply them to yourself at all, or only do so when it suits you, now is it. And well, all I heard is that there are things you disagree with, not what, or why, or what has led you there. Bit unfortunate that you went directly back into describing further events in the game instead of going into this a bit more; I find it all too common to have Jung or Nietzsche or whatever brought up but purely theoretically in these sorts of analyses instead of giving practical examples of what their statements mean. "You should be facing painful things in your past" is a good idea, so have you done that yourself? Do you have lessons from that to impart on others who might find themselves in a similar situation? Do you relate to what's going on in Xenosaga because of it? Has it impacted your life or given you a new perspective on other things? It's like these are the things we talk about as what we all "should" be doing as these great thinkers and works referencing them point at, and yet it ends there, it never actually gets to "doing it".
I dont want to argue with tj, liked his videos but xenosaga 2 is a very good game, interesting crossroad for the series and much better than other jrpgs of that time. There are many things in it that i thinks works better than in the first game. Interesting ideas and cool cinematics with good ost (for me at least). I clocked out at 30 hours without any forced farming. I think thats a good value. Guide is useful, but i feel every classic game require it one way or another.
I believe Xenoblade 2 was another extension of his philosophy of tailoring the package to the audience such that the message would be internalized. When consumed through that lens I grew to really admired XBC2. It is basically all the same themes but presented in a way that many younger gamers would appreciate. It seems like XBC2 was alot of new xeno fans’ jumping on point. Glad you guys are digging XS1. I think XS2 will still be interesting to talk about. An unsuccessful game will yield alot of content to talk about and XS2 still has its moments (mostly in the beginning and ending of the game IMO).
Crispin Freeman voiced Albedo. He has been in a ton of anime and video games and always does a phenomenal job.
The truest thing you said on this show might have been the part about google and sacrificing children lol. If you research the ruling class on this planet you get into some very dark subjects, interesting how Takahashi handled the subject with using "realians" instead of real people to make it seem less evil.
As always, thank you guys! This show is one of the most awesome things I'm looking forward to every week. Xenosaga is my favorite series in any media and I just love it, watching two people enjoying it so much.
1:42:50 🙁 never forget.
Small detail, when Shion wakes KOS-MOS with the "ye shall be as gods" password, Shion makes the sign of the cross upon KOSMOS From the latter left shoulder to the right one, then to her forehead ending in her midriff.
For the Catholics this sign invokes the Holy Trinity.
When Shion "activates" Kos-Mos by saying the 'Ye shall be as gods' line, does she signal the cross over her? Her hand does a weird motion from right to left then moves down before the glowing kicks in.
"I don't see how the sequel will suck" Oooof. Yeah. There's so much good stuff in episode 1, but then all these new people took over episode 2 and it felt like being underwater, swimming to the surface, but it just keeps being right out of your reach.
Dude you should use footage, this conversations are way too long and you guys are not as entertaining…
Since the Catholic Church is pretty heavily referenced in the Xeno games, I thought it would be a good idea to write what it believes the Book of Revelation to be. I went Catholic grade school and high school. We were taught that the Church does not believe the Book of Revelations to be a prophecy at all. It was all code for Christians to use during the time in which they were being persecuted by the Romans. The church believes that the codex to understand the Book of Revelations has been lost though and no one live really knows what it means.
I forget there is a like button. I need to go back and like all your videos.
Damn! You guys go very deep in the analysis of the lore! These podcasts are amazing! Congratulations from Brazil!
On the subject of despising the way Youtube "works". We're on the same page, and we've likely been here for some time. It's something of a sad reminder that generally, people are not present enough in the moment to provide due courtesy to those things which you've taken time and effort to create, so… you have to remind them. It is, what it is.
Realistically, for the time and effort you guys have put into this thing you've created, you aren't asking for much. As an individual who thrives on spite (semi-unserious in this claim), I exist on the opposite end of the spectrum, and am far less likely to "obey the call". That said, I am not offended by your adherence to form, and perhaps appreciate all the more the vehement protestations on this front.
I am extremely enthusiastic about what you gentlemen are accomplishing here, and I sincerely look forward to hearing what you have to say about the rest of the Saga (trilogy, whatever).
You absolutely should read the script of Pied Piper and watch a Missing Year
Liked and subscribed, you got me
I can’t wait till you guys get to the next part of cutscenes.
So excited, that discussion is going to be amazing!
Keep up the great content guys.
Just went and watched all of your FF8 videos and wow….the hair….that was a surprise haha
This series has been SO valuable to me. I didntn ealise how much my soul craved this analysis series!! I can seriously watch you guys talk about this all day. 🙂 Several hours a week still doesn't seem like enough! Lol
This is my favorite series on YouTube and I just Liked one of your videos for the first time… damn it, it worked.
I've been playing Xenosaga 1 and just got to this part tonight and boom this was recommended. I didn't even know you guys were doing Xenosaga! I absolutely adore your Xenogears videos and well all your videos by extension. As a massive Xeno head finishing up my Xenosaga journey to complete the whole series I'm so thankful for your incredible analysis and insight into this series I hold so beloved. Awesome coincidence!
Perfect podcast! i'm currently in proto merkabah now
The lone tree in the field… Xenosaga Chronicles 2? Where does this allegory originate?
Mike Brown is INSANELY hot. My gawd, can barely pay attention to what they are saying
To be honest Mike, 90% of the times hear a call-to-action I don't do it. I myself don't do it on my own videos because it feels to me like I'm begging for attention. The only few times I do it, is when I make a video that takes weeks of work so I call for action there, or when I make a video about a topic I would like to get a wider audience to hear about. For example, very recently I made a video about an old kids show that's almost impossible to find today, so I called to action for people to help me search for any materials we can find of it, or just liking the video to have it reach more people and have a better chance to reach someone who can help.
The show you're thinking off is Moon Knight and he is the avatar of Konshu, Egyptian God of the moon.
36:30 I love that part. Yes, Albedo is such a psychotic villain, laughing like Joker. But at the same time, it's not just a cliché, but you also see that there is a lot of complexity in his character and the way his mental state is portrayed. On top of that Crispin Freeman does SUCH a great job performing Albedo (maybe not in these child-memories, but as the adult Albedo). Other than Allen he is the only voice that consistently stays and offers a consistently high quality throughout the whole series. Even in episode 2.
I love you talking about telomerase. The secret of immortality is cancer. What an irony!
Mind blown listening to you guys here. Nothing to add, just can't wait for you to get further (espescially Ep 3)
its really interesting to hear how you didnt enjoy Xenoblade 2 and its story. I found it to feel alot like Xenosaga myself. XC2 also really helped me enjoy and understand Xenogears and Xenosaga alot more than without it. Making all the connections between them, especially with the Zohar, was such a cool thing that enhanced my experience, and made me appreciate all of them so much more.
There are Bart and Emeralda costumes for two of the party members in Xenoblade 2 that I now keep equiped 😭
Based on the excellent analysis you two have done on Xenogears and Xenosaga, I think you would love Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco.
It was fun listening. I made beef stew and homemade bread. While listening to episodes 8 and 9.
Yes! Please continue to remind us to like the videos. I have forgotten entirely too many times, and all it takes is a reminder. LOVE your work.
I never remember to like a video until creators ask me to.
I've adored Xenosaga since originally playing it as the first game I bought for my brand new PS2. (Forever grateful to that gamestop employee that recommended it to me.) Replaying it with these videos has been great. Obviously I know the series fairly well so there's a lot that I know that they don't, yet. But at the same time they're pointing out lots of things and allusions I missed/was unaware of. The Marienkind story, for example.
So thanks a lot!
I remember seeing somewhere many years ago that T.T. also meant the Realians to be a refrence to "Raëlism" – the French UFO cult, but can't manage to find any sources on this…
Y'all need to post a bibliography for all the books you read
This comes into play more so in Xenosaga Ep. 2 & 3, but the plot will lead further away from this notion of shadow concurring and dragon slaying and further into the notion of the syzygy. Here a good primer to get people started in regards to that: https://youtu.be/32GKODAeETA
Dude this is one of the best podcasts ever, you guys make me want to give Xenosaga another go. (I unsurprisingly understood NOTHING when I played through it the first time without pausing during the cutscenes)
Tulpa.