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LTTP: Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht

F

Fou-Lu

Member
As a big fan of Monolith Soft and Takahashi (I've played Xenogears, Baten Kaitos, Xenoblade and Xenoblade X previously) I knew I would have to play the Xenosaga trilogy one day and I have finally started it! I am really enjoying it so far, it might be the most thorougly sci-fi JRPG I have ever played. It doesn't have the more fantasy feel of say Phantasy Star. The story gets REALLY dark, especially with Ziggy and Cherenkov which is something missing a bit in later Monolith Soft games compared to Xenogears.

The combat can actually be pretty tough, especially since I didn't notice that you could level up techs and stats, transfer and evolve ethers, and extract skills until the Cathedral Ship. The boss there was rough at first, but after I transferred and evolved some ether skills it became pretty easy. The systems are actually pretty indepth!

Now I am in the Kukai Foundation and trying to get this stupid pink doll to talk to me, but it just keeps saying it wants to see Tom, so I go talk to Tom and he tells me to be nice to the doll, then the doll just whines about wanting to see Tom again, I looked it up and it should be working so not sure what's wrong there! So far my main disappointment is with the party members, Shion and KOS-MOS are interesting and Ziggy was at first but hasn't done anything in a while, everyone else I have zero interest in as a character at this point. Who thought TWO child characters was a good idea? Not hurting my love of the overall storyline though.
 
L

Luminaire

Member
Recently started replaying this. I've always liked these games, even 2. I wish the whole plan for the Xeno series actually went through. The overall project was very ambitious.
 
cucuchu

cucuchu

Member
I quite enjoyed this game when it released but I remember a lot if people being turned away by all the cut-scenes. Really wish I would of finished out the series (or as far as they made it)..hopefully one day we get a compilation remaster.
 
T

Taruranto

Member
I wouldn't call Jr a child character. Just look at the way he's introduced.

Ep. I is not a bad game, but it's honestly too slow and some story parts felt unnecessary and poorly handled.
 
P

Pandora012

Member
The kids are fine, though that's probably because I played through all 3 so I know their story. Don't remember how I felt about them at first. Shion, KOS-MOS, and chaos where my main team.
 
W

witchedwiz

Member
Fou-Lu said:
As a big fan of Monolith Soft and Takahashi (I've played Xenogears, Baten Kaitos, Xenoblade and Xenoblade X previously) I knew I would have to play the Xenosaga trilogy one day and I have finally started it! I am really enjoying it so far, it might be the most thorougly sci-fi JRPG I have ever played. It doesn't have the more fantasy feel of say Phantasy Star. The story gets REALLY dark, especially with Ziggy and Cherenkov which is something missing a bit in later Monolith Soft games compared to Xenogears.

The combat can actually be pretty tough, especially since I didn't notice that you could level up techs and stats, transfer and evolve ethers, and extract skills until the Cathedral Ship. The boss there was rough at first, but after I transferred and evolved some ether skills it became pretty easy. The systems are actually pretty indepth!

Now I am in the Kukai Foundation and trying to get this stupid pink doll to talk to me, but it just keeps saying it wants to see Tom, so I go talk to Tom and he tells me to be nice to the doll, then the doll just whines about wanting to see Tom again, I looked it up and it should be working so not sure what's wrong there! So far my main disappointment is with the party members, Shion and KOS-MOS are interesting and Ziggy was at first but hasn't done anything in a while, everyone else I have zero interest in as a character at this point. Who thought TWO child characters was a good idea? Not hurting my love of the overall storyline though.
Click to expand...
i liked the first xenosaga, with all its limitation..
xenosaga 2 was an hit or miss.. good beginning, solid ending.. rest of the story was bad... combat system was also sort of a mess.. it had a lot of GOOD ideas, but the poor execution made it so that even normal combat turned into a long slugfeast..
xenosaga 3... it was VERY, VERY, VERY good.. solid story, improved battle system in every respect, and a terrific ost..
unfortunately, no xenosaga4 and they rushed the ending in a way that leaves you like "wtf did happen in the last 5 hours?"..

their last titles are good, but none of those reached xenosaga3...
xenoblade chronicles felt too much like a mmo, tons of fetch quest, etc.. still a good game..
xenoblade x had just one glaring defect.. the story was told via "optional" missions, as the backstory of party characters was almost never explored unless you did such quests.. and <-- contextual spoiler, won't tell you anything about the story, nonetheless up to you -->
i don't like the ending with a cliffhanger..

let's hope for xenoblade 2 :)
 
F

Fou-Lu

Member
Luminaire said:
Recently started replaying this. I've always liked these games, even 2. I wish the whole plan for the Xeno series actually went through. The overall project was very ambitious.
Click to expand...

My dream is that Takahashi gives it another shot one day, convinces his wife to come back for it and has Nintendo behind it so it will actually get completed.

Pandora012 said:
The kids are fine, though that's probably because I played through all 3 so I know their story. Don't remember how I felt about them at first. Shion, KOS-MOS, and chaos where my main team.
Click to expand...

I don't hate them, they are inoffensive so far, just not interesting yet. That's the party I've been using too!
 
A

Anteater

Member
i love ep1, spent hours reading the database, honestly the negative about it is that it's the first game and paced slowly and it felt like it's cut short
 
P

Pandora012

Member
Fou-Lu said:
My dream is that Takahashi gives it another shot one day, convinces his wife to come back for it and has Nintendo behind it so it will actually get completed.



I don't hate them, they are inoffensive so far, just not interesting yet. That's the party I've been using too!
Click to expand...

Later in the game they'll become more interesting. Actually, you are kinda close to the start of it. Then Xenosaga 2 goes into more of their history.

Yeah, best team confirmed!!
 
B

B.K.

Member
Fou-Lu said:
Ziggy was at first but hasn't done anything in a while
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, it's like the through the series. They cut his entire backstory form the main series and used it as the basis of the mobile game Xenosaga: Pied Piper. There was a translation of it online, but it looks like the site is down. I have the PDF of the translation saved. If anyone knows a good, free file hosting site, I'll link it to you.
 
S

SixMachine

Member
This game is actually super short, I did a 2nd run through some years ago and skipped the cutscenes, you can beat it in a few hours (less than 10) while getting stuff like superbosses done.
 
P

Pandora012

Member
raven777 said:
I really hope they do HD remaster of the trilogy like they are doing with .hack G.U... although it's not likely...
Click to expand...

Don't say that...keep hope alive!!! I just really want them to fix the hands in 2 and add blood in 3. That's all I need. Maybe get the Shion and kos mos va back for 2.
 
C

Cess007

Member
Can I get an HD remaster? I remember playing the first one, but never finishing it and never bothering with the rest due that :(
 
W

Wagram

Member
Xenosaga 3 remains my favorite Xeno. Damn that was so good.

Xenosaga 3 > Xenosaga 1 > Xenoblade Chronicles > Xenogears > Xenosaga 2 > Xenoblade Chronicles X

(for my taste anyways).
 
N

neoemonk

Member
This is on my list of games I need to go back to, and I even have a copy of Episode 1 I picked up from my local used games store. They said they never see Eps 2 and 3, so I may have to resort to eBay. I've also played through all of the other Xeno games and enjoyed them.

This series, Trails, and The Witcher are all RPGs that I've missed and really want to revisit.
 
W

Waji

Member
Finished the trilogy twice.
Pretty good games. What could it have been if everything went well : / .
At some point I hope the X series (if it's really a thing) takes back even more story to get closer to Xenosaga.
The end of X gave me some hope.

Enjoy the games and don't let people tell you Xenosaga 2 is terrible. It has its issues but once you understand the battle system it's still great.
I miss the long scenes
most people don't like...
 
F

Fou-Lu

Member
After I finish this trilogy I'll probably play Baten Kaitos Origins and hopefully by then Xenoblade 2 will be out in the wild. Then I will have a complete view of the big Monolith Soft/Takahashi games!
 
T

Taruranto

Member
Also this thread reminds me we'll never see a complete fantranslation for Xenosaga 1&2. Sad.

Wagram said:
Xenosaga 3 remains my favorite Xeno. Damn that was so good.

Xenosaga 3 > Xenosaga 1 > Xenoblade Chronicles > Xenogears > Xenosaga 2 > Xenoblade Chronicles X

(for my taste anyways).
Click to expand...

I would probaly rank them

Ep. III >Gears> Ep. I = Xenoblade Chronicles>>>>Ep. II.


Story-wise Gears is probably better due to how complete the story feels, though I think Xenosaga has significantly better playable characters (Inb4 Shion hate).

Ep. III's gameplay just blows everything out of water, it's just so fun to play.

Fou-Lu said:
Does Bamco completely own the rights?
Click to expand...


Pandora012 said:
Yup they do. No ones sure if they are willing to work on it without Monolith. And If they do, it would be for switch, I guess.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure Monolith and Bamco actually parted amicably, I mean, Monolith still used Xenosaga characters in their games after going to Nintendo.
 
R

raven777

Member
Wagram said:
Xenosaga 3 remains my favorite Xeno. Damn that was so good.

Xenosaga 3 > Xenosaga 1 > Xenoblade Chronicles > Xenogears > Xenosaga 2 > Xenoblade Chronicles X

(for my taste anyways).
Click to expand...

For me it would be:

Xenogears > Xenosaga III > Xenosags I > Xenoblade > Xenosaga II > Xenoblade X
 
M

Malyse

Member
MogCakes said:
Well....about one of those kids...
Click to expand...

giphy-facebook_s.jpg
witchedwiz said:
i liked the first xenosaga, with all its limitation..
xenosaga 2 was an hit or miss.. good beginning, solid ending.. rest of the story was bad... combat system was also sort of a mess.. it had a lot of GOOD ideas, but the poor execution made it so that even normal combat turned into a long slugfeast..
xenosaga 3... it was VERY, VERY, VERY good.. solid story, improved battle system in every respect, and a terrific ost..
unfortunately, no xenosaga4 and they rushed the ending in a way that leaves you like "wtf did happen in the last 5 hours?"..

their last titles are good, but none of those reached xenosaga3...
xenoblade chronicles felt too much like a mmo, tons of fetch quest, etc.. still a good game..
xenoblade x had just one glaring defect.. the story was told via "optional" missions, as the backstory of party characters was almost never explored unless you did such quests.. and <-- contextual spoiler, won't tell you anything about the story, nonetheless up to you -->
i don't like the ending with a cliffhanger..

let's hope for xenoblade 2 :)
Click to expand...

To be fair, Xenosaga 3 was always going to end the way it did. XS4-6 would have replaced everyone in the cast save chaos and KOS-MOS. The dump of info would have for the most part went the same way.

-----

Controversial ranking
XS3
XS1
XBX
XG
XB
XS2

Xenoblade felt too safe and it wasn't as sci fi as Xeno games usually are. After XS3 it was a massive disappointment. XBX conversely is massively underrated. Also, ranking XBX lower than XS2 is crazy talk.

That being said if the spoiler theory about Pyra is true, then XB2 will rocket to the top of the list easy.
 
F

Fou-Lu

Member
Taruranto said:
Story-wise Gears is probably better due to how complete the story feel, though I think Xenosaga has significantly better playable characters (Inb4 Shion hate).

Ep. III's gameplay just blows everything out of water, it's just so fun to play.
Click to expand...

People hate Shion? I am loving her so far.

Really glad to see all the Episode III love, would be sad if the trilogy didn't end on a high note.
 
L

LordGorchnik

Member
Loved the Xeno trilogy despite all the hiccups and faults it had. Both Takahashi and his wife Soraya Saga have a database/website out there that has been fan-translated to tell you about the entire process and grief they went through with the series.

Also best team for XS1:
Shion, KOS-MOS, chaos

XS2:
Anyone who can attack in the air (Sorry Ziggy and chaos)

XS3:
KOS-MOS, Jin, chaos
 
W

Waji

Member
Fou-Lu said:
After I finish this trilogy I'll probably play Baten Kaitos Origins and hopefully by then Xenoblade 2 will be out in the wild. Then I will have a complete view of the big Monolith Soft/Takahashi games!
Click to expand...
Nope. You're missing on Soma Bringer. And it's a very nice local coop RPG on DS.
 
S

SatoAilDarko

Member
I love Xenosaga a ton but it's well-known there's cut content from the first two games. I feel like Takahashi said the Japanese-only version of Episode 1 + 2 is his definitive version of those events.

I see both of the first game as roughly half of a the overall ploy that should be in each. The first third of Xenosaga II really should have been at the end of the first.

This results in the concluding III feeling like it has the plot of two games in it. Revelations come so, so quickly at points. It was clear they were setting up a loy in the first two games with lots of hints and teases but then they only had one game to wrap everything up.

Also please do yourself a favor and before the third game a read a summary of the Japanese-only cell phone game involving Iggy and the fansubbed flash animation.

The former is very important to understanding Iggy's role. He really felt super disconnected from the plot until the last part of 2 and even then it's just confusing. This game explains his backstory and that moment from 2 and much more.

The latter is ridiculously important with how much the beginning of 3 refers to events of the flash animation. Including all of a sudden having a new character and everyone being a completely new situation.

It still blows my mind it was never translated.

It actually appears to me to meant to be part of a game with how many descriptions of "they fought the soldiers and reached the location", like there are battle encounters.

III is a great game (the best one) but it really should have had been two games with the first having the cell phone game and animation content.

I can understand why after Xenosaga and Xenogears Takahashi gave up on multiple episode episode epics and made the self-contained Xenoblade Chronicles.

Still, I need a follow to Xenoblade Chronicles X with how much there's still left to explore.

That game, with it using the character designer of Xenogears and Xenosaga: Episode I and the return of mechs to combat, felt was a nice return to the more straight sci-fi (at least compared to Xenoblade and Xenoblade 2) of the earlier Xeno games which also took place in the future of our world.
 
G

Graciaus

Member
I really enjoyed the first one but didn't really like the second. I never got around to playing the third which I hear is the best though. That was years ago and I can't say I remember much about them. I thought about just watching the cutscenes to catch up but when I saw the total runtime I gave up.

The card game in the first could be terrible but I remember putting tons of time into it.
 
N

NYCmetsfan

Banned
I really want to replay this. But I will never find the time.

I remember this game was so huge. It has like an a psuedo internet in it.
 
S

Shahed

Member
Fou-Lu said:
People hate Shion? I am loving her so far.

Really glad to see all the Episode III love, would be sad if the trilogy didn't end on a high note.
Click to expand...
Shion is good in Episode 1. However in III, even though they tried to explain and justify it, the way she acts in it can get real annoying. I can't remember II much to be honest

Episode III is awesome, like one of my favourite games of all time. I is a good game. II has it's isueas though but III is fantastic. I may as well give my rankingw as well.

Xenogears > Xenosaga III > Xenoblade > Xenosaga I > Xenosaga II > Xenoblade X
 
M

Manzoon

Banned
I always wanted to play 2 and 3 but never got around to it, mostly because of the bad press around 2. The ending for 1 was
very sudden, I was going to meet some friends and told them I had one boss to beat first, had no idea it was the final boss. I thought the cutscene was going longer than usual after beating it and whamo, credit crawl.

Edit, autocorrect continues to be my bane.
 
F

freeofgreed

Member
Dammit I want to play these games sooooooo badly. Takahashi is probably my Favorite director of all time. Xenogears and Xenoblade are both in my top 10 games of all time. And Xenogears had it been properly finished would've been my favorite Game of all time. I've been waiting for an HD re release for ever but it doesn't look like it's happening. I've never owned a PS2 but luckily so far almost every game I wanted to play on it has been remastered for the PS3 or PS4. Jak, Ratchet, Sly, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Star Ocean, and now .hack. But of course the one I wanted a Remaster for the most is nowhere to be found. I'm this close to just saying fuck it and loading up an emulator to play it that way.
 
D

DarkConfidant

Member
I got like 20-30 hours into that game and quit.
I think I just got the Cyborg (Ziggy) into my party....and got stranged on some ship...or something. Damn this was well over a decade ago. I forgot the game existed until I saw this thread.

I thought episode 2 looked good, but felt too bad about not finishing 1 to play it.

So basically, I watched a cutscene.
 
T

TRUE ORDER

Member
Xenosaga III is the best of the bunch, though I like the others 2 very much.

Shion had her moments, I hated the character some times but she's likeable for most of the time (imo)
 
S

SeanTSC

Member
I hope you make it all the way to Episode III. Xenosaga 3 is one of the best JRPGs ever made, imo. It's probably my third favorite (right after Xenogears and Skies of Arcadia).
 
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