Square Enix Has Left Xenogears Disc 2 In Its Incomplete State Since 1998, But Project Animus Aims To Finally Complete It While Rebuilding The Entire Game

If you visit Wccftech often for RPG news, you may be aware of how much I love Xenogears. 28 years have passed since its release on the original PlayStation, and I still think it is one of the best JRPGs ever released, trumped only by two other heavy hitters by Square Enix: Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII.

Although I love Fei's story so much, it is undeniable that the game's Disc 2, which essentially turns the game into a sort of visual novel with limited gameplay time, remains a sore point of the experience, no matter how Tetsuya Takahashi and his team were forced into this decision after running out of time and not wanting to end the game on a cliffhanger. However, a fully playable Disc 2 could become a reality in the future, thanks to Project Animus.

"In 1998, the team making Xenogears ran out of time. So, for a big part of Disc 2, you don't really get to play the story. You sit here and someone tells it to you. I've played this game every year since I was 9 years old. Every year, I get to this chair and every year, I wish I could get up and play what he's talking about," said Harry "xHannyah", the developer behind Project Animus which aims to rebuild Xenogears. "Disc 2 is the plan and it's the reason I started and it's the part that's going to take me the longest. I'm not going to pretend it's done before it is. But one day you're going to face going to sit down in that chair and you're going to get up and actually play."

The two videos shared to date showcasing the Xenogears Project Animus focus only on the beginning of the game in Lahan, so there's still no footage of how Disc 2 will be rebuilt. However, the developer seems to have a solid idea on the form it will take: "You're going to have bigger areas, optional bosses, more to do towards the end of the game. And one more thing, there's an alternate ending."

The appeal of Xenogears Project Animus will go beyond just finally having a playable version of Disc 2. Purists will also be able to experience the original story with no changes to enjoy it with the new and improved visuals. "Nothing gets taken away. When you start a new game, you pick the story, the original or the extended version. Then you pick the gameplay. You can play the original rules or you can play the rework version. Any combination works."

As recreating the game's 682 locations is a daunting task, Harry "xHannyah" is working on Lahan by hand while doing a first pass on every other one ahead of a proper handmade pass. "Lahan is where I'm doing things by hand, but I didn't want the rest of the game to stay behind while I do. So, every arena in the game, 682 of them, got a first pass. Round the towers, rocks with real shape, edges that aren't knives anymore. The handmade pass comes area by area after that." Gear battles will also get some improvements, and will finally run at 60 FPS over the 30 FPS of the original PlayStation release. The new UI, on the other hand, doesn't look very good, but there's a good chance it will be changed and improved in the future.

While it's obvious that AI is being used for Project Animus, and rightly so, given the scope of the project and the one-person team, I am really excited about the prospect of finally experiencing the events of Xenogears' Disc 2 in a proper way. As the project is still in its early stages, I wouldn't expect it to release anytime soon, but still, as Square Enix isn't showing any particular interest in an official remaster, Project Animus and Project Atlas remain the best bets for fans like myself to enjoy the all-time classic with new features and improvements.

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