"World To Be Born: A Linear Legend"

Back in the height of the Sony Playstation days, Squaresoft released a relatively obscure title by the name of Xenogears. The game, which barely even made it to the United States in the first place (because of various religious overtones), met with a relatively lukewarm reception, thanks in part to the release of what would arguably become the Nintendo 64's last hurrah, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time a scant three or so days later. Xenogears told an epic story that has rivaled most anything else Square ever conceived. Indeed so expansive was Xenogear's plot that the game itself was billed as Episode V (5) in a six part series. Sadly, Square never made plans to create any of these sequels to a truly fine product, and in time, those who developed it went on to leave the company and form one of their own: Monolith Soft.
Xenosaga, a kind of pseudo-prequel to Xenogears (since Square owns the Intellectual Property of Xenogears, there is only so many similarities ‘Saga can share so as not to incur copyright infringements or imply a direct relation) is in fact, as the title proclaims, Episode I in the expected 6 part series. (Monolith has said it will actually “re-release” Episode V). Xenosaga is a VERY linear game. Xenosaga is a VERY uninteractive game. Xenosaga is a VERY story oriented game. However, Xenosaga is a VERY good product.

Xenosaga is kind of a marvel in what it seeks to do: tell a story surpassing even the Star Wars galaxy level of complexity over the course of (as with SW) six installments. As with any start to such a lofty goal, much background, exposition, and explanation is necessary to create the groundwork for what is to come. As a result, Xenosaga features “Final Fantasy” factor beyond one's wildest dreams. It is not uncommon at all to sit through periods of twenty minutes or more not doing a single thing, watching the story unfold through a series of cut scenes. Indeed as many have observed, the first 10 hours of the game or so consists of maybe 2-3 hours of actual “game” itself. While the game lets you fight relatively soon after beginning, it won't be for quite some time until you get to experience the wonder of battle again.

Battle is one of the areas where Xenosaga shines the most: using a battle system that will be exceedingly familiar to those who played Xenogears, Chrono Cross, or Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter, the game determines action via a stamina system, referred to as AP in this game. Each player's turn starts with 4 AP and allows them to expend it at their will. Should the player choose to attack, they may make 2 attacks per turn (each using 2 AP), the attacks themselves varying in nature from physical assaults to magic (known in this game as Ether) projectiles and the likes. The player can also chose to expend their AP on casting Ether spells, using items, defending, moving their position, or even suiting up in A.W.G.S. units (more on this later). Should the player conserve AP by defending or other means, they will have a full 6 AP available on the next turn and a bunch of additional options open for them such as a three part combo attack or a “super” move. Battle turns are determined by a system similar in design to Grandia, but sharing more in common with the CTB system of Final Fantasy X: the game displays a small window on the bottom right of the screen that shows the line of battle order and thus allows the player to visualize when they can next act, as well as possibly attack the enemy before the foes get a chance to do the same.

Visually, Xenogears surpasses previous record holder Final Fantasy X (hereafter referred to as “X”) in every way possible. While X may have created a beautiful and realistic looking world, there were still a variety of issues that plagued it's realism: for one thing, Tidus' necklace was an inanimate object glued onto him. With all the advancements Square made in graphics, it still failed to take into account common place things such as this; Monolith Soft however, did not. One of the most striking things about Xenosaga is the sheer level of detail and refinement put into it. Watching the characters eat like human beings, seeing them actually pick up food on their clearly distinguishable fork and putting it into their mouths, and even seeing the plate clearly finished afterwords are just one example of the unprecedented amount of intricacies littered throughout the game. Even the environments themselves, which despite being not as visually resplendent as those of X, are of higher quality. The only game that can be compared to the level of detail in Xenosaga is actually the recently released Star Ocean 3: Till the End of Time (in my opinion at least).

The story of Xenosaga is truly top notch. The game excels in creating a story that serves two distinct purposes: to establish the framework and setting for which the remaining five episodes will be set, and to create a microcosm scenario by which players will feel they have actually accomplished something during the course of the game. The best way of comparing this is to a franchise I care little about, but makes an excellent point: that of Star Wars. As anyone who saw Episode 1 will attest to, the movie contained its own plot (however contrived one may take it to be) however at the same time set up necessary details for the remainder of the series. While the ending to SW Episode 1 solved some problems, many were left unresolved. The same is quite true of Xenosaga, and more than likely of the upcoming Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, however that is for another review. To detail the plot contained in Xenosaga would be a crime to the reader, as everyone should feel compelled to play through ‘Saga and experience it for themselves, not having it spoiled for them. To give a *extremely* brief overview however, Xenosaga is set thousands of years into the future where mankind has given up a terrestrial existence and instead taken to space. In this far off future, a mysterious race known as the “Gnosis” (which means knowledge in the Greek language) seeks to terrorize the progress of humanity by a variety of means, usually all violent in nature. To combat these extraterrestrial creatures, science developed a combat system called “A.G.W.S., an acronym for Anti-Gnosis Weapons System. These machines consist of anything from simple weaponry to massive exo-skeleton machines (fans of Xenogears will know these as “Gears” such as Weltall and such). Xenosaga begins with a government reconnaissance mission to collect any remains of a destroyed planet, during which the staff of the main vessel sent to investigate finds a strange monolith in space (the likes of 2001: A Space Odyssey nature) and countless questions being asked. This is but a *brief* overview of events that occur even before the player gets to start playing game; something that should give readers a good sense of the scope contained in Xenosaga's extremely deep and complex plot. Nothing more will be said of this element because to do so would seek to downplay the very experience that is Xenosaga.

Xenosaga seeks to accomplish far more than just entertaining the player in its doings. The game actually reaches far deeper than most any other products, offering the player an almost endless supply of ethical and spiritual questions to mull over throughout the course of the game. For example, in the game's world, science has managed to create humans (similar to the world of Huxley's Brave New World) which are known as Realiens. These Realiens are for all intensive purposes, human beings, however of an artificial existence: they are not machines nor are they conceived by conventional methods of birth. The question the game asks however, is not necessarily the more obvious one of “is this practice ethical”, but further that of “what kinds of ethics should be applied to these creations?”. Realiens are used for many purposes in life, even military ones. Is it correct for society to create organisms designed solely for the purpose of battle and yet at the same time, obeying legislature that recognizes these individuals as human beings? Is it correct for technology to genetically engineer these Realiens to only have certain emotions and not others? Is it right to treat these Realiens as entities other than human beings while at the same time upholding a therefore dichotomous existence of their fundamental rights as such? In these and many other matters, the player will be confronted with issues of true concern directly; the game does not seek to tip-toe around controversial issues with a feather slipper, but rather instead force them with a cemented boot.

One of the only areas where Xenosaga truly fails is in its musical score. Fans of the original Xenogears (as well as Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross) will be delighted to know that Yasonori Mitsuda once again has taken the helm of music composer for this title. Furthermore, the venerable Mitsuda even once again enlisted the vocal talents of Joanne Hogg (who sung the theme songs to Xenogears; yes, songs as the game contained two, despite only one being used in it. See the game's OST for the song and info) to sing the two theme songs of Xenosaga: ‘Kokoro' (Japanese for ‘heart'), and ‘Pain', both of which songs are in full English since Hogg hails from the UK. With this all in mind, how then could the soundtrack possibly be lacking? Sadly it's not from the compositions themselves-all of which are excellent pieces-, but of the number of them. Xenosaga features a scant 45 tracks, many of which are repeated a countless number of times. (The use of one battle theme for all but the final fight in the game is of particular concern even though said music is not at all poorly done). Moreover, the problem is not even of the lack of compositions, as Xenogears had around the same amount, but the lack of their presence in the first place! There is no “overworld” music in Xenosaga. Instead, players will walk around the vast recesses of space hearing only the humming of machinery, not any kind of aural candy. It's of a rather disappointing nature that actually seeks to reaffirm the belief that Monolith created a movie and thus the interactive segments were things they decided to throw in afterwards to prevent a “Sprits Within” product. (What this means is that essentially, only the story segments are scored with most of the interactive portions musically devoid; Monolith threw these interactive segments in as a “bonus” to players who did not simply want to watch Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. It's a sarcastic joke, however in truth is somewhat applicable). It's a shame that Mitsuda's talents could not have been further realized, as Xenosaga could only have benefited positively from such.

Challenge wise, Xenogears proves to be quite formidable for the casual-gamer. The battles themselves are in general, more difficult than those in other RPGs and thus many a player will experience numerous occasions of “Game Over” or such. This issue can easily be overcame by leveling up, however doing such requires a “Dragon Quest/Warrior” type approach and thus some players may be dissuaded by the desire to spend an hour or so devoted entirely to fighting, however others (such as myself) have no such problem.

Extra-wise, Xenosaga has a cornucopia of features to offer. The game has the most basic mini games ranging from card collecting, and gambling, to an A.G.W.S. battle competition (once again something that will strike an air of familiarity to fans of Xenogears) to the odd and far reaching Drill segmenets, whereby the player's goal is to guide a drill to a desired target and proceed to smash it. (It's similar to the old fashioned “crane game” that can be seen outside food stores, for those confused). Additionally, the game also features an expansive PDA network feature. Called the U.M.N. (Undis Mundus Network), this feature is essentially an uber-sophisticated wireless network interface. The U.M.N. can be used to send and receive e-mail (a feature that is directly linked to many of the game's extras) as well as access previously traveled areas and an extremely comprehensive Keyword Database (more on this shortly) and Gnosis listing. Additionally, despite what one would believe, there are optional side quests, such as unlocking a series of mysterious doors, finding ultimate weapons, and even helping out some in need.

The Keyword Database is of particular need for elucidation since it's use is entirely player optional: To call Xenosaga confusing is an understatement. One would be hard pressed to recall any title (not even Xenogears) that can match or surpass the level of sophistication reached in Xenosaga. Everything that can be conceived of in a real world (as well as a fantasy one) exists in Xenosaga and as such, the player will undoubtedly be confused beyond their belief. As a result, Monolith implemented a Keyword Database system whereby each and every significant word, event, person, or location will receive an entry serving to explain what he/she/it is and more likely than not, its use or pertinence to the game. The developers will even throw in an odd comment or two directed at the gamer which serves for comic relief or such. (Did you know, for example, that at a recent gaming show someone asked about what the characters in the game were eating? It was curry!). While there is no need for the player to ever access this database listing, the only way to properly understand many of the terminology (wondering what Undis Mundus Network means?) and elements of the Xenosaga world is in fact to consult the database. Be warned however, as each perusal can last for almost an entire hour depending on how many new entries are listed and one's own individual reading speed. (To give a brief example, by the time you reach the third area of the game, there are over 130 different entries logged in).

Those that may have read my review of Final Fantasy X will no doubt be shocked and chagrinned at this oddly uncalled for praise of Xenosaga. In truth however, I have perfectly good reasons for doing such. (Call this the “Why is Xenosaga superior to Final Fantasy X section if you desire).

1. Unlike Final Fantasy X which claims to be an traditional RPG and then would serve to indicate otherwise with its never ending cut scenes, non-interactivity, and linearity, Xenosaga makes no such claims whatsoever. In fact, the manual itself openly states the game is divided into three different methods of direction, then furthering this arbitrary notion with the direct “warning” that the story portions are told via non interactive cut scenes. Thus, no where does Xenosaga, Namco, or Monolith Soft seek to disillusion the player into thinking the product which they purchased is something it's not. Yes, Xenosaga is far less interactive as a whole than Final Fantasy X, but then again it does a better job in the limited amount of interactivity than Square managed to do with the entire Final Fantasy X project as a whole. More over, unlike Final Fantasy X which had no real need for such linearity (there is no excuse whatsoever as to why the characters had to take a linear path towards their goal. If they could get thrown into the desert there is no reason they could not have gotten “thrown” into the rest of the unexplored world map), Xenosaga has a specific need to be linear; of best precedence perhaps the simple fact that the game is seeking to tell a story via a movie like presentation and thus it is important to keep that in focus. There would be rather large issues had the game allowed the player to wander manually around the entire cosmos and visit side planets that had nothing to do with the game whatsoever. (Notice I am not saying this would have been a bad addition, just that given Monolith's goal, this was not a feasible venture).

2. The voice acting in Xenosaga is, unlike that in Final Fantasy X, actually well done and seemingly professionally cast. While I strongly believe that no American effort on the voice acting department will ever manage to reach the Japanese standards (at least not based on the current trends), Xenosaga goes a long way to at least attempt to do so. All of the characters in Xenosaga have voices that fit their personalities (and even looks), and are voiced to a relative degree of perfection. Furthermore, the voice actors themselves sound as if they are naturally performing their tasks. At no noticeable point in the game will the player hear the forced (and just plain fake sounding) laughter that “graced” Tidus and Yuna in that “poignant” scene upon leaving Luca, instead all of the concern, laughter, and inflections caught in the voices are done with great care and attention to detail. Again, while I am hardly arguing that the voice acting in Xenosaga is excellent, when compared to Final Fantasy X and indeed various other games, it's quite a well done effort. In fact, the only area where I am convinced that Final Fantasy X exceeds Xenosaga in this department is that the timing is of much better quality in X; often times the voices match up with the mouth movements, something that does not occur in Xenosaga. A trivial and minor issue at best, however, this is hardly need for concern (especially since I stress that said occurance was “often” in X and not “always”. Square's lack of time in translating X is greatly evident by this little detail.).

3. Xenosaga has *far* more production values than Final Fantasy X does. Unlike Square, which seeks to churn out Final Fantasy games as if they were Rockman or Tomb Raider titles (truly evident by Square's often reluctant approach to acknowledge that multiple Final Fantasy titles are developed simultaneously), Monolith actually took the time and effort to make sure that Xenosaga actually became the product they wanted it to be. The aforementioned attention to detail for example, the massive spanning plot line, even the sophisticated language and concepts employed in the game all serve as testimony to the player that Monolith spend a great deal of their lives in recent years to producing a product that is worthy of their name, worthy to serve the Xeno series, and a worthy release on the Sony Playstation 2 game console. In truth if other companies would expend even one-fifth of the amount of time and effort Monolith did in creating ‘Saga, perhaps “crapware” would not be an operant reality when one seeks to describe the majority of software released.

Aside from the music, the only other noticeable problem that serves to hurt the overall Xenosaga experience is that that of the game's loading issues. Perhaps a result of my playing the import back when it came out with the use of the HDD and thus shorter loading times (hey, I spent the money on it the LEAST I can do is use it for purposes other than Final Fantasy XI), the English version of ‘Saga has rather intrusive loading issues. There are numerous battles often of great significant that take about ten or so full seconds to load, thus leaving the player staring at a frozen screen as the laser frantically attempts to load the data as quickly as possible. Additionally, each new area takes far too long to load (I'm talking about loading that reach near Okage-Shadow King nature) which also seeks to somewhat downplay the continuity of the game. It's just a bit too annoying to be in the middle of an escape and have to wait for the next area to load up as you enter it.

Finally, as one may have heard, Xenosaga is indeed censored from the Japanese release. While this presents no real issue as it's only a very short scene, I generally like to see games released without any censorship: there is no reason a product should be dummied down simply to accommodate the needs of any particular individual or such. In respect to Xenosaga however, I can completely understand the need to censor the game, especially when one considers Japan's rather…shall I say “lesser” concern over issues involving children and “adult” situations. Rest assured that Xenosaga is not marred by this censorship and Monolith Soft itself performed the act, not Namco USA, thus it's essentially a fully sanctioned doing.

It goes without saying that Xenosaga is certainly not for everyone. In fact, Xenosaga is not even for all who played (and enjoyed) Xenogears. Xenosaga is, praise aside, an *extremely* linear title that will leave the player feeling unrewarded at the end; completing a grueling movie whose ending raises far more questions than it answers. Truly the best way to describe this game-for those who played Xenogears-would be to simply say it amounts to Disc 2 of said title. Should one seek to pursue a love of Xenosaga with this knowledge in hand however, they will find one of the most intricately designed, complex, confusing, and rewarding videogame experiences they will even get the privilege of being offered. Xenosaga is a wonderful product that is not for everyone, however those that do seek to give it a try and do so willingly, will be ultimately pleased in doing so.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/01/03, Updated 03/17/06