Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra

"The third one is the charm"

Xenosaga III: Also Sprach Zarathustra was probably one of the best turn based RPG's I have played in a long time. It had all of the pros of Xenosaga I and II and none of the cons.

STORY 10/10
The story for Xenosaga III was unbelievable. New characters are introduced as well as old ones from the previous games. The story is about our main protaganist Shion and her friends as she tries to learn more about her past. Shion was very curious to know what started the Gnosis phenomenon and she suspects her father had something to do with it. The story is full of great writing,great characters, and very emotional. The storyline involves a lot of surprises and wasn't too predictable, and the moral of the story in my opinion was "Why do we exist?"

MUSIC 10/10
The music in this game is great. The music follows the story well. Each song went well with the events that were being portrayed in the story. Yuki Kajira does not fail to disappoint. The music was perfect for this perfect game.

GAMEPLAY 10/10
Ok now to where the game shines. In Xenosaga II, the main complaint was "the story was good but the battle system sucked". Well Xenosaga III's battle system was the best out of the whole series. In Xenosaga III you have a skill line that reminds me a lot of the Sphere Grid in Final fantasy X. As you defeat your opponents and level up you will receive skill points which you can use to buy skills from the Skill line. You can buy things like Tech attacks, or Ether(magic) , or even HP. During battle, the boost system is introduced once again. As you attack your boost bar will grow, it has 3 levels however later in the game you can have 4 levels. Using one level of boost will allow your character to attack again. If you are very strategic about using your boost it's possible for the computer AI to never get a hit in. Each character also has a special attack that does much more damage then a tech attack. But that attack isn't free. The special attack will cost you at least 2 boost levels to do. The boost gauge allows the player to be very strategic instead of just randomly pushing attack. There is also a break system. Each character(including the opponent) has a health bar and a break bar. As you attack the opponents health will go down and their break bar will begin to grow. Characters have Tech attacks that will allow the break bar to grow quicker. However the AI can do the same to the player so be alert. Once a character is in break state, they are immobilized for about 3 whole turns so make your attacks good ones. Now on to E.S.'s. What would a Xenosaga game be without E.S.'s. In Xenosaga I there were complaints that you could easily play the game without using the E.S.'s. Well in Xenosaga III you will have to play with E.S.'s. The E.S.' can attack, use Anima, or charge. Attack is pretty much Self explanatory. Anima will cause the E.S. to charge up. In the Anima state any bad status on the E.S. is removed, saving you from using an item. Also in the Anima state the E.S. can now use a devestating special attack. The E.S. fights can also be strategic ones. In many fights you will go up against an opponent who is strong against one element and weak against another element. The four elements are Fire,Ice,Lightning, and beam. If you have a special attack that is an element that your opponent is strong against than you will waste your attack either not harming them at all or worse healing the opponent. Don't worry there are shops were you can buy different items and weapons for each E.S., and each character. I love this battle system in my opinion it's flawless. Maybe not as good as my favorite Final Fantasy VII Materia system^^ but pretty close.

Buy or Rent
Definitely a buy. If you rent it, you'll end up buying it. They're are many things to do in this game including two hidden bosses. That will be very challenging. Unlike most RPG's I had fun beating it over and over. The story's are great, the characters are great, the music is superb. I have nothing else to say buy it because I'm giving it a 10 out of 10.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/09/07