Hear me out: this game's less a tribute to Xanadu games before it and more like a modern-day re-enactment of Legend of Xanadu (aka Kaze no Densetsu Xanadu). That game, when it came out in 1994 on an ailing PC Engine, was Falcom's last project with development led by Dragon Slayer franchise creator Yoshio Kiya. "Xanadu", in the case of (Wind) Legend of Xanadu, doesn't literally mean a lot except to say the game has a story progression vaguely similar to games he made, like Xanadu and Sorcerian (one civilized labyrinth/region after the other's been harmed, let's go on a quest to resolve local issues while chasing a greater evil!). Considering that he left right after finishing the game, LoX uses the name mainly in reverence to Kiya, as it's otherwise an odd combination of mechanics and presentation from Ys and the first two Legend of Heroes games.
A brief recap of the Xanadu cycle:
When discussing about the link to the Xanadu series comes up, they are just citing Falcom themselves: That all games from the Xanadu series is the culmination of all they have learned by making games for that time period, which for this title means the newer Kiseki and Ys titles. Xanadu Next was made for their last period, Ys6, Trails6 etc.
My observation is that, a decade after Xanadu released and shot Falcom to fame and glory in the Japanese PC market, the company produced Revival Xanadu (II Remix) both to celebrate Kiya's departure and honor these ancient releases as deserving to feature alongside games like Brandish 3 and Legend of Heroes IV., given they're of the same blood. Xanadu Next was a full-fledged sequel and reimagining a decade later, after both Ys and Legend of Heroes returned to Falcom's pipeline following a focus on smaller games and remakes like Dinosaur Resurrection. "Xanadu", in this sense, acts like the company's proverbial barometer. You can appreciate trends in the studio's output and reaction to fans and the market around them by tracking developments occurring between each Xanadu-based stage.
LoX channeled otaku interest towards Western-influenced fantasy back after the bubble had burst; TX's doing much the same with urban fantasy. But the latter's also coming out ten years after Xanadu Next, muddling the concept of the Xanadu cycle at least in the short-term. It shares basic principles with Xanadu games of old, but uses a different audiovisual style and Persona-influenced approach to a fantasy adventure. Meanwhile, switching party members in and out of combat is certainly an evolution of the recent Ys party system, while Kiseki (the stand-in for Legend of Heroes) is the paradigm. I think TX is more like a Xanadu spin-off than something born from the Xanadu cycle; noteworthy enough's the fact that a new team is developing this game. While LoX marked the departure of talent, necessitating a summary of Kiya's past exploits, TX is a mission statement for new Falcom recruits who want a more standout way to prove themselves.
Personally I'm disappointed Falcom couldn't let this project wait until later while they worked on a sequel to Xanadu Next (there's more ancient ruins and mysteries to explore in the Lyndale region as hinted in that game; maybe we could play as Agnes?). That would better parallel the Xanadu --> Revival Xanadu progression and, using slightly-updated assets, provide an experience lacking from the company's upcoming lineup. Yet I'm open to playing and enjoying TX if it's consistent, well-built, and can provide the kind of extreme diversion that LoX gave to fans back more than 20 years ago. I'd love to see new Falcom games that can appeal to both old and new fans—what's to say a Popful Mail remake/sequel, using this character-swap mechanic and focusing a bit more on side-quests plus a more consistent world, couldn't do that? Until I know for certain Falcom's in decline I'm not going to pass judgment, as there's minor assurance from Kondo that he's considering ways to provide for multiple platforms. The most radical Xanadu game will be the one, developed by Falcom and maybe localized by XSEED overseas, that releases on console, handheld, and PC with no major compromise between versions. It's up to Falcom to integrate its age-old craftsmanship and traditions into new employees and, thus, give us games that befit their platforms and
...or the Slayers-esque style of Popful Mail.
It's more likely that Popful Mail and other works channeling Western fantasy led to the Slayers light novel series focusing on Lina Inverse's stories (since they often parody tropes used in competing fantasy series). PM came out in late 1990 with a light, humorous fantasy style and protagonist who could be a prototype for Lina.
Would've been nice if they had managed to keep Katsumi Enami as their designer.
Expensive, but yes, Enami's work is great and would resonate with me better.
This fact obscures that it's been a while since we've seen stuff looking like Vantage Master or Dinosaur (or XN) in a while. Most of us in the know KNOW this and KNOW how the current homogenous climate holds sway over there and that affects the domestic feedback reguardless. We could do with less Heroes in Hoodies (that someone called too many recent characters that I found funny), especially Adol (Ys 7 outfit back when!?!)
And like Mauricio stated, the lean on verbose Kiseki Fried story is getting thick on the ground at Falcom land. The quality of that sheer drenching of dialogue is a requirement and may (and apparently has with recent Ys games, can't say myself) impede the redblooded redass beatdown fun (or god forbid, be badly written and end up like Golden Sun: Dark Dawn was).
VM and Dinosaur, as peculiar as they seem compared to other Falcom games, may not have fumed up from the depths of their creators' minds as if to protest a reliance on viewing and chasing after the market. The former's a wargame from the Windows 95 era when digital wargaming, still a dependable niche market, helped competitors like Kogado and System Soft thrive. And the latter, though exotic by way of its lead developer, Kazunari Tomi, having arrived at Falcom after pioneering Japanese CRPGs at Xtalsoft, is more ambitious because of its story, the rest of it sticking to Wizardry-influenced principles. Falcom rarely pushed into the avant-garde even back at the turn of the '90s—maybe Star Trader on the PC-88 is unusual enough both for them and for anyone to have made, even considering its adventure/shooter game roots.
I agree that Falcom games are getting wordy and often for the sake of appearing big and more important/high-quality than such wordiness could be. Kondo, I hear, is the opposite to Tadashi Hayakawa, whose scenario for Legend of Heroes III says a lot more with little than most other Falcom games then and now.
