You have JUST arrived? As in not seen any cutscenes (Of which there are a LOT) in Nisan yet?
And the list is gonna be pretty long it seems 
Yeah I just got there and saved without advancing. No long cutscenes for me yet
Just play the game. Everything eventually falls into place, you’re much too impatient.
[SPOILER]
Very important characters so far:
[ul]
[li]Fei Fong Wong. An amnesiac kid brought to Lahan Village by a masked man three years ago. He recalled having martial arts training and is an amateur painter.
[/li][li]Citan Uzuki. A doctor living near Lahan with his wife Yui and his daughter Midori. Has a high knowledge on machinery and seems to be a pretty good martial artist too.
[/li][li]Ellehaym “Elly” Van Houten, the mysterious chick that almost shot Fei. Citan said she probably works for Gebler.
[/li][li]Barholomew “Bart” Fatima. Rightful heir to the throne of Aveh, currently doing piracy on board the sand cruiser Yggdrasil. Seems to know where the other piece of the Fatima Jasper is.
[/li][li]Kharan Ramsus. Gebler head commander and extremely skilled tactician.
[/li][li]Miang Hawwa. Ramsus’ second in command and apparently girlfriend.
[/li][li]Grahf. Obscure dude with a mask.
[/li][/ul]
World info:
[ul]
[li]The beginning dream is irrelevant and I can’t possibly say anything about the opening FMV that won’t ruin the story.
[/li][li]There is a war going on between the kingdom of Aveh and the Kislev Empire, both situated in the Ignas continent. A mercenary force of unknown precedence called Gebler allied themselves with Aveh.
[/li][li]There is also an eminent religious group called the “Ethos” that seems to have control over most excavated ruins, Gear technology recovered and ancient documents. They appear to be nice people though.
[/li][li]The other most common religion is Nisan, allied with the Yggdrasil.
[/li][li]The important dates that are mentioned repeatedly trough the game are: 10.000 years ago, 5000 years ago and 500 years ago. Memorize these.
[/li][/ul]
Stuff that has happened:
[ul]
[li]A group of armed Kislev Gears landed on Lahan while battling foreign Gears of unknown precedence that had stolen one of their prototypes. A battle breaks out in the middle of the village.
[/li][li]Fei has a freaky vision that doesn’t have any relevance until later and you’ll see again anyway. The prototype stolen Gear, which was not piloted, opens it’s cockpit and lets Fei in. The confused guy goes inside out of a reflex.
[/li][li]Fei somehow knows how to pilot it, even though he didn’t even know what a Gear looked like fifteen minutes ago. He leads the Gear (Called “Weltall”) against several of the invading forces and beats a few of them.
[/li][li]Another unknown Gear of a different source than the others appears and shoots Timothy (Fei’s bets friend).
[/li][li]Fei enters a shock state. Weltall has a strange reaction and triggers an enormous explosive wave that destroys the whole village and kills a good amount of the population, alongside the invaders.
[/li][li]Fei is chased out of the village. Citan tells him to go to Aveh to search refuge, since he could identify one of the groups that attacked as Kislev Gears.
[/li][li]Fei meets Elly. Elly first speaks in an unknown language, but then switches and mentions that he is a “Lamb” and has the authority to kill him if she pleases. Fei saves her from some monsters while somehow shouting her name (Which she hadn’t told him yet). He also has a vision of a girl that looked like her and that cross pendant again (This isn’t really foreshadowing, but if you pay attention you will see the form of that pendant all over Nisan).
[/li][li]Fei tries to take the guilt out of himself by accusing the invaders of causing the destruction. Elly reprimands him and calls him a coward, but then recalls someone telling her more or less the same thing. She also recalls crying while being surrounded by dead bodies.
[/li][li]A monster appears and attacks Elly, Citan brings Weltall and Fei reluctantly agrees to pilot it again. He wins, but the Gear is damaged in the fight.
[/li][li]Citan and Elly have a conversation in Elly’s language and she reveals that she was part of the unknown Gears that stole the prototype from Kislev (They say this in Fei’s language, so he heard it all while he was pretending to be asleep). They also talk about the “Surface Dwellers” or “Lambs” and another group that calls themselves the “Abel” and are somehow superior. Note that the use of the word “Abel” might be a mistake, since they use “Gazel” to refer to this group all the rest of the game.
[/li][li]Citan asks Elly to take off during the night. Fei wakes up in the morning and reveals hearing everything. They both see an airship which Citan says must belong to “Gebler” and also tells Fei that Elly was probably part of that group too.
[/li][li]Fei chases Citan around the desert while trying to gather parts to fix Weltall. The desert was a common place for battles, so it would be easy to find parts to repair a broken Kislev Gear. Weltall is also a military combat model, in case you haven’t figured that out.
[/li][li]Fei sees a flying saucer that just passes by and meets some Aveh Gears that attack him. Citan repaired Weltall while Fei was wandering and brings it to him.
[/li][li]Weltall defeats the enemies, but then the Gear that shot Timothy appears. It’s pilot is the Darth Vader wannabe “Grahf”. You’ll learn more about him later, but he mentions knowing Fei’s dad and somehow empowers a monster to fight him before taking off.
[/li][li]Fei and Citan are captured by the Aveh forces and Weltall is taken. Fei has a vision of an old Chinese-looking dude, a pale guy with long red hair and Grahf.
[/li][li]Citan recalls talking to a skeletal guy he refers to as “Emperor”. The discussed something about the “Time of the Gospel”.
[/li][li]The Yggdrasil pirates attack the Aveh ship. Stuff happens and Fei/Weltall falls down a sandpit with Bart/Brigandier. Citan is rescued by the Yggdrasil crew and the first officer (Sigurd Harcourt) seems to know him. He also calls Citan “Hyuuga”.
[/li][li]Bart and Fei make a truce and meet old man Balthasar while wandering the underground. Old Man Bal tells them an old legend about the “evil people” and the “good people” chosen by God, and how God submerged into the ocean after killing the “bad people”. He also mentions that there is no evidence of men existing before 10.000 years ago (Which contradicts the evolution theory given by the Ethos) and the existence of some legendary Gears called “Omnigears”. Finally, he freaks out after seeing Weltall and calls it “The throne for the Slayer of God”.
[/li][li]Fei and Bart are attacked by a giant Gear called Calamity. Fei/Weltall finishes it off with a technique he has no idea how to perform and wont be able to again for a LOOOOOONG while.
[/li][li]They all meet up in the Yggdrassil and reach the base. Bart is the rightful heir to the throne of Aveh but he had to flee when his father (the king) was assassinated by an ex-member of the Ethos called Shakkhan (The current Aveh ruler). Shakkhan kidnapped Bart’s cousin, Margie.
[/li][li]Marguerite Fatima (Margie) was kidnapped because she had one half of the “Fatima Jasper”, the key to finding Aveh’s ancient treasure which in turn has something to do with a giant. You are not told what the “Jasper” is yet.
[/li][li]Fei refuses to join Bart. Bart whimpers.
[/li][li]Gebler attacks the Yggdrasil’s base. Bart boards his Brigandier and Citan, with Sigurd’s permission, fixes and boards an unused Gear called Heimdal.
[/li][li]Shinji Ikar-I mean Fei finally decides to fight and boards the Evangel-I MEAN the Weltall. They defeat the Gebler. Citan mentions the existence of a combat-enhancement drug called “Drive” that Gebler uses.
[/li][li]Kharan Ramsus, a Gebler bigshot, takes command of the Aveh forces and sends the previous commander Vanderkaum to guard the frontiers. Ramsus’ second-in-command Miang Hawwa is also introduced.
[/li][li]Rescue Margie Operation. Fei meets with Dan (You know who the kid is) and fights with a mysterious masked man (Wiseman) that seems to know him. Obi Wiseman Kenobi spurts some philosophic babble and takes off.
[/li][li]Ramsus seems to react strangely at seeing Fei and recalls something that happened in a place called Elru (This name isn’t mentioned yet but the game brings it up later as if you had known it all along, so might as well tell you).
[/li][li]Fei and crew are saved by Elly, now a confirmed Gebler who aids them because… well, they are all pretty confused and she does owe him anyway.
[/li][li]Get a notepad or something, a lot will happen in Nisan and after this.
[/li][/ul][/SPOILER]
That’s as clear as I can put it. Don’t worry, the story kind of slows down after Nisan and things begin to be explained one by one like Epic said.
Also, if you have the money, try to buy two Holy Pendants from the Nisan store right now, they are rare to find and VERY useful much later on (Not that great now though). The maximum you should need is two, but get at the very least one. The Ether Doubler is useful once you get a character with good offensive ethers, but it is not that great, too expensive and you probably don’t have the cash anyway.
That doesn’t help me when I don’t understand what’s going on thus far. And since there seems to be no plot analysis for XG on the net, there’s no harm in me being impatient and asking someone to explain it for me. Really. 
Off to read. Thanks Seraphim!
Ahahahahaha, that’s a good one! There are entire communities (PLURAL, as in MANY) dedicated to analyze the Xenogears and Xenosaga plot. Here is a recommended one FOR WHEN YOU FINISH THE GAME. Just don’t read my analysis, it’s filled with mistakes that I corrected on a newer version but the webmaster/mistress hasn’t uploaded yet.
Thanks Seraphim!
No problem, I had to refresh my memory anyway.
I should have said no decent plot analysis. The ones I’ve tried to read are fairly straight forward but contain terms and names that I haven’t discovered yet and they just use them as if every reader has a basic understanding of what they are…
Okay I have a question now. Sigurd and Citan have mentioned something called Elements and how they are all gathered on the surface now. Is this just the beginning of this, or are we supposed to figure out who they are at this point in the game?
It’s no big deal, really. “Elements” is the code name for the elite group of soldiers in Gebler. They are talking about the former members of this team, not the current ones under Ramsus’ command.
Spoilers abound, beware.
Alrighty, now I have a gameplay-related question. Am I missing something or is it nearly impossible to heal your gear? I have 3000 HP in Weltall, but as high as that is at this point in the game, I am getting annihilated by Vanderkaum because I can’t recover. As well, after several attempts at doing so, the items stop working. What is going on?
It’s possible to heal your gear. You do have to wait for awhile before you can get the equipment to do it. FrameHPs aren’t that useful until you get the FrameHP 30, though. (Recovers 30% of gear HP for a few hundred fuel points) In that respect, the FrameHP 30 is the best one you can get. It’s the best balance of healing and fuel cost that’ll be useful to you throughout the game. The 10 doesn’t heal enough to be useful, and the 50 and 90 use too much fuel to be worth it, especially when it’s rare you’ll want to heal 90% of your HP at once; in my opinion, it’s best to stick with the 30 for healing your gears.
Vanderkaum isn’t an easy boss. The best advice I could give you is to use your boosters to speed yourself up and to just keep pounding away at him; sooner or later you’ll beat him.
He’s got 3000 HP. Perhaps try to keep track of your damage so you know how close you’re getting?
Also, items can’t be used in Gear mode. Aquasol isn’t going to repair a damaged gear. :hahaha;
If you’re having trouble just level up a little more, there’s a full heal bot and save point just before Vanderkaum so, knock yourself out. Actually, after Vanderkaum you will be using Fei’s gear a lot so make sure it has the best equipment and your level is respectable. 
Are you having trouble with Vanderkaum before or after he gets high on crack?
The only tip I can really add is that it’s suicide to attack Vanderkaum when he picks up one of your allies’ Gears. Attacking him during this time will only result in a mean counterattack.
It’s possible to heal your gear. You do have to wait for awhile before you can get the equipment to do it. FrameHPs aren’t that useful until you get the FrameHP 30, though. (Recovers 30% of gear HP for a few hundred fuel points)
A few HUNDRED?!
Also, items can’t be used in Gear mode. Aquasol isn’t going to repair a damaged gear
Then why does the item option appeeeeear
If you’re having trouble just level up a little more, there’s a full heal bot and save point just before Vanderkaum so, knock yourself out. Actually, after Vanderkaum you will be using Fei’s gear a lot so make sure it has the best equipment and your level is respectable.
I saved with Bart, and in the next scene, Fei attacks the fleets. So that means I can’t go back to the bot, because the scenes run right into each other :\
The only tip I can really add is that it’s suicide to attack Vanderkaum when he picks up one of your allies’ Gears. Attacking him during this time will only result in a mean counterattack.
Yeah I realized (read) that. Anyway, i beat him a few minutes after I posted that. I wanted to see how far I could get without getting a game over during my first play through, grrr.
By the time you get FrameHPs, your fuel limit will have increased… well, not significantly, but substantially. Expect to spend about 200-600 fuel on it throughout the game with the 30. Any higher FrameHPs start getting into thousands of fuel points instead of hundreds.
Have fun in Kislev. Advice: Avoid the sewer like the plague until you have a group of people.
About the elements, that’s called foreshadowing, which I seem to recall you mentioning there was none of. Stop asking so many questions and play the game - there are up to maybe 50 hours of gameplay on the first disc, you haven’t even scratched the surface yet.
Three pieces of general advice for the game:
[ul]
[li]Gear parts cost a lot, but they are absolutely vital. SAVE CASH.
[/li][li]Frame HP parts are also vital but remember that as the amount of HP they regenerate increases, so does the fuel consumption. There are FrameHP 60, and FrameHP 70 parts that recover a lot but drain your tank like a leech, you are better off sticking to a moderate part like FrameHP 50.
[/li][li]Gear fights in general are exhaustion matches. Drop whatever you have on the enemy and just hope to take him out before he kills you.
[/li][/ul]
Um… One more thing, you shouldn’t run out of fuel ever on the first disc as long as you keep your gears upgraded so don’t be afraid to use booster on every boss and every high fuel consumption combo you have, in fact the only way you would run out of fuel is if the boss keeps using drain fuel moves so it would be in your best interest to finish them off fast. Also if I remember anything about Vanderkaum it’s that he was a push over so I suggest you do a lot of levelling after you beat him…
Leveling does next to nothing for Gear fights, it just lets you use higher level Deathblows which are not always better anyway. The only way to get more powerful in Gear fights is to buy shit for your machine.
I thought that Vanderkaum was the hardest boss for a good while, to be honest. He was still a pushover but compared to 99% of the rest, he was pretty though. There are like… three or four harder battles in the entire game.
My problem was that I can’t understand what’s going so far. I realize there’s a lot to Xenogears, but in order to make heads or tails of it, I need to figure out what has been going on in the scenes presented to me up until the point I mentioned in the game. I didn’t ask Seraphim to give me a game summary, but to describe what has been going on thus far, and to only give me information that can easily be picked up…but since this is my first playthrough, I’m having trouble understanding who he is and she is and what they’re doing over here, and so forth. I wanted someone to easily explain the things that I was supposed to know, but missed because I got confused.
Leveling does next to nothing for Gear fights, it just lets you use higher level Deathblows which are not always better anyway. The only way to get more powerful in Gear fights is to buy shit for your machine.
Yeah that’s what I thought too. I’ve been buying every new piece of equipment available- my problem with Vanderkaum was that I was attacking him when he had the two other gears, thus the counter attacks were killing me. Once that was figured out, then he was a breeze.