In the pilot episode of Retrograde Amnesia, a podcast series covering Xenogears in exhaustive detail, we contextualize Xenogears in the professional (and our personal) climate of 1998. We clarify why we’ve decided to make this comprehensive podcast series, whether we expect Xenogears’ themes and ideas to stand the test of time, and how to best…

In the first proper episode of Retrograde Amnesia, we frame the anime introduction in the context of the time it was made and Xenogears’ overarching narrative. We go on to debate the necessity and the rationale for an additional three layer-prologue before some discussion on Lahan Village and its freakish populace. We also talk the…

Hello! For our second episode, we’re coming to terms with the PlayStation’s size limit for polygonal levels, discussing Citan’s precarious position as a father figure and puppeteer, going over battle system basics, and cherishing the emotional necessity of Mitsuda’s “Knight of Fire.” Remember: if you’re a kid who falls into the cockpit of a giant…

Hello! Episode three consists entirely of rich narrative content experienced in Blackmoon Forest. We meet Elehayym Van Houten, a forest elf, a large boulder, and the Rankar Dragon. The trio of Fei, Elly, and Citan engage in self-doubt and determination around two (2) campfire sequences. A youthful reliance on Citan has, in our adult brains,…

Hello! After a brief spell of hot-blooded desert carnage, Fei and Citan make their way to the artifact-hunting boom town of Dazil. We discuss the ethics of the Ethos organization, Citan’s not very subtle manipulation of Fei, and the pointless but delightful omnipresence of Big Joe. Fei also has one hell of the time in…

Hi. Before spending an entire episode on Xenogears’ Desert Attack chapter, we inventory the accumulation of foreshadowing and its primary distribution method, Citan Uzuki. We go on to debate the logistical fallacies of Grahf’s costume, spin our propeller-hats at Citan’s conversation with “Emperor,” and meet a surely band of sand pirates. We must find god’s…

Greetings! The wrasslin’ boys Fei and Bart have fallen Gear-first into a dank cave system. We discuss the contextually appropriate but questionably alive organisms down there before we run into your classic old-sage-in-a-cave, Balthazar. This prompts a dive into the influence of gnostic Christian texts, speculation on the creation myth metaphor, Xenogears’ internal god-tier systems,…

Salutations! In our latest installment, we explore the expansive accommodations of the Yggdrasil, muse over whether or not Bart has actual respect or ironic respect, suspect Old Mason made an unwise investment in higher education, and receive another heaving heaping helping of lore from Mason and Citan. And then, our first boss gauntlet against Gebler’s…

Yes. This time we’re exploring Aveh’s capital, Bledavik, and plotting ways to bust Margie out of the prison she doesn’t know she’s in. We meet Ramsus, Miang, Shakhan, Vanderkaum, and an absolute wreck of a man who lives in the sewer. We wonder if gambling is the only human vice the stretches through time, speculate…