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Xenosaga (ゼノサーガシリーズ Zenosāga Shirīzu) is a series of video games released for the PlayStation 2 platform. The first game in the series was released in February 2002 in the Japanese market, and then in February 2003 in the American market. Released by Monolith Soft and published by Namco, it is Episode I in a six-part series, which "began" with the game Xenogears, released in 1998. Xenogears was originally released by Squaresoft (now Square-Enix). The series' creator, Tetsuya Takahashi left Squaresoft in 1999 along with his group of game designers. Using funds from Namco, they started Monolith Soft. However, because Squaresoft continues to hold the copyright for Xenogears, they could not continue the Xenogears project as Takahashi intended. Instead, Takahashi completely reworked the Xenogears story into what became the story for Xenosaga.
The full title of the game is "Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht", a reference to Nietzsche's concept of survival instincts and controllability as the main drive of human existence.
An anime based on the game premiered on TV Asahi in Japan on January 5th, 2005.
Also, a Nintendo DS game is said to be released.
Plot summary
It is the year TC 4767 (4,767 years after mankind abandoned the "AD" calendar, somewhere in the 2400's AD; "TC" means "Transcend Christ"), and mankind lives almost entirely in space, or on artificial colonies. The capital of all known space is Fifth Jerusalem, where the Galaxy Federation supposedly keeps watch over mankind. Nanotechnology is commonplace, but new frontiers are still being reached using it. Nanotech's largest use has come in the last ten years, when a mysterious enemy known as the Gnosis began to attack man's colonies seemingly indiscriminately. It is largely believed that the Gnosis were brought into the universe by a madman named Joachim Mizrahi, but there is more to that story than the public really knows.
Vector Industries, the largest corporation in existence, and the primary arms manufacturer for the Galaxy Federation, is currently researching new ways to use nanotechnology to build an unstoppable battle android, code-named KOS-MOS. This is quite controversial, since androids have been replaced for many, many years by artificial life-forms known as Realians, which have proven far more effective in combat. However, Vector Industries and their head of R&D, Shion Uzuki, have other ideas. Shion, a simple researcher traveling on the starship Woglinde, becomes involved in a conspiracy not only to control the mysterious Gnosis, but to reshape the destiny of all mankind.
Like Xenogears, Xenosaga liberally (and often superficially) uses religious metaphor and references, especially of the Western World. Obvious example are seen in character names: 'Shion', roughly equal to Zion; 'KOS-MOS', suggesting cosmos; and most obviously 'chaos' (whose name is consistently left uncapitalized).
One of the many themes in the game include the fate and decay of humanity, as some of the main characters challenge and subvert conventional definitions of humanity.
Game notes
While the timeline of Xenosaga does not correspond completely to that set out in Xenogears -- some fans speculate that Xenosaga's creators wanted to avoid any legal battles with Square Enix -- the two are largely synchronous. TC 4767 is indeed the year that this all goes down, according to the Xenogears Perfect Works Book, but in that same year the Eldridge is supposed to have been launched and no mention of that is made in Episode I. The most common explanation is that Xenosaga is the rewrite of Xenogears, and the story of the original Xenogears will also be reworked and re-written in a future episode of Xenosaga, featuring familiar characters and story elements under different settings and names. However, everything is up for speculation, as there is no official word on how Monolith Soft plans to deal with the story of the original Xenogears.
Many believed that the artwork in Xenosaga was not quite up to par with expectations, the characters often suffering from what some called the "glass eyes" phenomenon that poorly-drawn anime suffers from. The sequel will offer a noticeably different art style.
Others were not quite satisfied with the battle engine, or the use of the large mecha known as AGWS's (Anti-Gnosis Weapon Systems), the "gear lookalikes". Many were also frustrated at the game's casual name dropping without in-game explanations, arguing that the in game searchable glossary was a cheap device to avoid exposition.
Others were quite content with the game, and it sold very well as a sleeper hit. As of the date of this record, NAMCO plans to release Episode II in North America on February 15, 2005.
In mid-2003, Namco also released a special version of Episode I in Japan called "Xenosaga: Episode I Reloaded", which featured the English voice-acting and a few special features. On April 28 2004, Namco released in Japan Xenosaga Freaks, a supplementary game including a Xenosaga-themed word-puzzle game called Xenopittan, a comical adventure game Xenocomi, and a playable demo of Episode II.
In June 2004, Namco released the long-awaited Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose (Beyond Good and Evil). Continuing where the story left off in Xenosaga Episode I, players play the role of the heroine Shion Uzuki. Almost every character received a face-lift, with the most debatable and notable being KOS-MOS, whom many players complain look worse in Episode II than Episode I. Although Xenosaga Episode II answered many questions related to the U.R.T.V. and the Miltia Conflict in Episode I, there has been no word on just how connected Xenosaga is to Xenogears, except a slight revelation towards the end of the game relating to Abel's Ark. The rest is shrouded in mystery - such as chaos and Nephilim's true identity. The story of Episode II leaves off many threads of mystery and can almost be considered as a marketing ploy to entice players to purchase Episode III to find out the story, which is almost certain to feature the same cast of characters from Episode II and Episode I.
There has been rumors that the title for Episode III will be "Xenosaga Episode III: Thus Spoke Zarathustra" (or 'Also Sprach Zarathustra,' depending on how the which translation is used) but is unconfirmed. However, it is highly possible because the final sentence of the game, spoken by Wilhelm, CEO of Vector Industries, is 'Welcome, he who weaves Zarathustra|The Eternal Link.'
Featuring an upgraded battle system which involved the extensive use of STOCKS and BOOSTS, battle pace was said to have improved ten-folds from Episode I. AGWS has been replaced in Episode II by powerful robots known as E.S., which is equipped with Anima Relics, powerful artifacts that players of Xenogears may be familiar with. Battle in E.S. is now completely independent from character battles, like Xenogears, and also players may use E.S. to explore dungeons as well. Xenosaga Episode II features movie scene music composed by Yuki Kajiura.
Although the new and improved battle system and the upgraded graphics were well received by players, Episode II has its share of flaws. With the biggest complaint coming from its slow loading and saving speed. Also many complained that the game is shorter than Episode I; it can be completed within 25 hours, not including the movie scenes. Also another common complaint is the over-simplified skills system and the removal of shopping/money system. Players can no long shop for weapons and items, but instead must pick up items from breaking obstacles, opening treasure boxes, or after battles.
So far there are no words of a release date for Xenosaga Episode III.
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