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Xenosaga PS2 Whoever made it
There are some games that you must enter into a certain mindset in order to truly enjoy them. If you try to play Splinter Cell like you would Half Life, you are not going to last long. I hate to mention this, but in Valkyrie Profile, you need to start the game with the realization that there is a time limit, and you are given little leeway, so you need to save often and never run from battle. I think if Hawke had done this he would have enjoy…
Xenosaga is a prequel to Xenogears, one of my favorite games and the first review I did on this site. When I heard that Namco bought the rights and decided to continue the story I was ecstatic. Then I heard that the “Xeno” series was to have 6 parts, Xenogears was part 5, Xenosaga was part 1. I danced around the house squealing like a little schoolgirl until my wife shamed me into stopping.
XS is just as wordy, philosophical, and religious as XG was. To give you an idea of how sophisticated the dialog is there is an in-game dictionary with all the battle system terms, organization names, and other miscellaneous big words used throughout the game. The game has it’s own Cliff Notes!!
But in this game the developers were a little more forgiving to those of us who would like to see the outside world from time to time. You can pause and skip scenes in XS, which was SORELY missing from XG. It is bad enough fighting a boss for 15 minutes and dieing, it is another to have to watch 10 minutes of dialog, a 2 minutes cut-scene, THEN lose to a boss 15 minutes into the battle. And there cut scenes are everywhere! After every dungeon and at every plot turn, there is a cut scene waiting for you. Stalking you in the darkness, just waiting to keep you from the next save point. Thankfully, instead of watching three-inch sprites with only 5 different facial moments, XS offers full screen, beautifully rendered, CGI cut scenes. It is like watching anime, good anime, in between gaming.
In truth, going through the cut scenes is not THAT bad, with the right attitude, like I said. If you hurry on to the action you are going to miss half of the game.
While it is true the XG did have a lot of cut scenes as well, it had a good balance with it’s action and allowed you more freedom to explore. This is not the case for XS. Like most of the latest RPGs, there is no over world and a very linear plot. Yea, most RPGs do need to restrict the player in order to develop the story, XS does not do it very well; leaving you feeling very confined to one the one path of the game. This linear plot also does not allow for very many side quests or sub plots, and almost no exploring outside of a dungeon.
I am not going to get too much into the plot, because frankly there isn’t enough space on the server, but this game focuses on new prototype android, KOS-MOS, who (of course), is more then she appears, and 13 monoliths with strange yet powerful powers called Zohar, each with a name of a Christian disciple, except for one, but we all know who the last represents, don’t we? And let us not forget the evil alien race that has a beef with humanity (for some reason) that can not be killed by conventional means.
Now, what really pissed me off about the game.
The first disappointment is the Gears, or lack there of. Instead there are AGWs, (pronounced Eggs). AGWs are not nearly as powerful, big, or cool. Add to that the expense of keeping them upgraded AND the fact that they can not be repaired in battle AT ALL, and you may not want to even want to bother with them. I have heard of many gamers who did not, and beat the game fine. I should point out that XS occurs about 10,000 years before XG, so of course an AGW is not going to be as good as a Gear, but that is a high sacrifice for continuity.
Another annoyance is the use of XG characters in XS. There are cameos of XG characters in XS for no other reason then to PISS ME OFF. Now you are probably thinking, “wait, this game is supposed to take place 10,000 years BEFORE XG, how is that possible?” and I would say, “It’s not possible, and that is what pisses me off!” I get 6 seconds of joy, let out a little shriek, and then realize that it is not a XG character (yet), but one who LOOKS like a XG character for the purpose of toying with me. Not since Final Fantasy X have I felt so used. Heck most of them don’t even speak! They just come out of the fog then go back in never to be seen again!
Finally closure. There needed to be more of it. A lot more of it. Sure you save the galaxy, for now… (and no crap about spoiling the game you all KNEW that!), but at the end of XG they had explained everything and you knew that the cycle had ended and that everything was going to be just fine. XS, which Namco knew they would be making sequel of, left a lot of things open, and worse unexplained, so they would have material for the next game. The problem is the next game is supposed to come out next year, (2/2005). I played the first one soon after it was released in 2001 and I have already forgotten all the stuff that confused me. Which means it is REALLY going to confuse me when they explain it. Why couldn’t they just hold off on the some of the loose ends until the second game? It was a ploy to get me to buy the next game isn’t it!?! ISN’T IT!!! (shakes fist)
Speaking of next games, one other feature of XS that I did like was the fact that after you beat the game you can create a special save file to be used in the next game. I thought that was cool when I first saw it in Quest for Glory, and I think it is cool now.
What I liked: This game has everything I liked about Xenogears, just not as much of it. If you like RPGs and Sci-Fi you will enjoy it, even if you don’t entirely understand it.
What I disliked: The fact that this game has NO relation to Xenogears and will not have any for another four games. Lack of closure also takes away from the satisfaction of finishing the game. Maybe I should have waited 5 to 10 years until they were all out. I also really didn’t care for the battle system. It was a plain turn-based system, and to do any real damage you take to power up for a few turns, and/ or change positions, which also took up a precious turn to do.
What to expect: A 30-hour interactive anime Movie.
What not to expect: Xenogears 2.
What's so different from this and other games of it's genre: It is a game you watch, or a movie you play, take your pick.
Ratings on:
Control: 8 – This game had a pretty straightforward interface, although some menus were difficult to navigate, but that was partly due to the fact of the sheer amount of data they contained.
Graphics: 9 - The graphics are really top notch throughout the game: the level design, the battle system, and of course, the cut scenes. There are a lot of cool special attack scenes, and the character models are amazing.
Sound: 5 – Really nothing special, Namco did not seem to focus on the music as much as say, ohhhh, Square would have.
Style: 7 - Although I still prefer Xenogears over Xenosaga, It is still a good game. In fact if you got it now, you would not have to suffer as I have, for the next one will come out soon! Better yet, play Xenosaga and THEN Xenogears, then you will not be let down, plot- wise and be occupied until well after Xenosaga 2 is out.
1st hour: KOS-MOS training and running around ship.
5th hour: Still running around the ship. Dear god it’s on fire! Let me out! I can’t find the way out!!!
6th hour: Stupid hidden-behind-the-bottom-of-the-TV Hallway!! They would have a sign up or something.
1st week: Wow the “Overworld” is two space stations. But the plot is pretty good so far, very Xenogears-esk.
3rd week: Got me a few cool looking, (but nearly useless) giant killer robots, the transforming power-ranger reject robot I can summon, and two different transformation scenes for the “magic girl” in my group, any other anime clichés I can equip?
1st month: Well the galaxy is saved, but I still don’t know what the Zohar are, why they keep calling them ‘emulators’, what that freaky guy is up to, what the master plan of the bad guys is, why one of my allies has demonic references, what Ziggy is going to do now, or how that one guy came back to life as a Xenogears character, or what drinking clone blood has to do with ANYTHING, or…..
#1 reason why I hate this game: Why 2-second shots of Citan and Fey at the end? They are not even PRETENDING like they have anything to do with the plot at this point! When will the torment end!
By Banthor
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