I must admit, the first time I touched this game, I was quickly turned off by overly long CG sequences. What actually made me stop playing, a “break” that took more than a month to get out of, was the fact that I found myself running away from creatures that I should be fighting. I completely despise chase scenes, but it was good that my sister and cousin found the game amusing enough to lead me back into the Xeno circle.

Gameplay and Story
I will no longer discuss the battle system, as it has already been tackled by the previous reviewer. I must commend the creators, though. Despite the lack of actual gameplay—I call this a 3D bishoujo game or, in other words, an “interactive movie”—there are enough interesting moments that effectively push a gamer to plow through the cinematics and finish the game.

The characters, for one, are…well, let’s just say that a lot of them are artificial, in the literal sense. Ironically, the cover description says that Xenosaga is about the struggle of humanity, when those who are actually struggling aren’t even humans. It’s somehow fascinating to see androids, cyborgs, genetically engineered humanoids experience angst and all that melodrama. Nothing new that you haven’t already experienced in Xenogears, but definitely touching. The problem? There are so many characters that even as they all pique your curiosity, many of their lives don’t really get any closure at the end of the game. Even villains suddenly just disappear, with no traces of explanation as to what have become of them. The focus shifts from one character to the next in such an erratic way that by the end of it, you wouldn’t be sure as to who’s the lead anymore.

As for the gameplay? It suffered from its own complexity. In fact, I got by with minimum requirement. I didn’t buy or sell anything, except weapons, throughout the entire game. What for? You get everything after battles. I didn’t purchase AGWS (I fondly call them “eggs” or “itlog” in my language) parts nor upgrade any of those mechs that supposedly made the Xeno series very popular. What for? Your party members are stronger than any of those mechs put together, unlike in Xenogears when pilot battles are distinct from mech battles. I also didn’t take the time to develop more than 3 characters. In fact, I only concentrated on KOS-MOS, Junior, and chaos because they’re either fast or they don’t look like airheads. I remember just evolving Shion’s Ether so I could transfer her Medica All (heal all) and Revert (revive + heal medium) to my three favorite characters. You don’t need to develop party members that don’t appeal to you. Again I ask, what for? There are so many things that they put in here that you can actually do without, sacrificing the actual gameplay and leaving us with too short an RPG. Skip all the FMVs and you’re left with less than 10 hours of actual play time.

Audiovisuals
Near perfection. If Shion didn’t look too much like a whining bimbo with glasses, I really would appreciate the superb graphics quality. It’s not yet Final Fantasy X material, but I’m pretty sure that the next installations would be near that quality. The sounds are true to the Xenogears tradition. The vocal tracks aren’t as beautiful as Xenogears’ Small Two of Pieces and Stars of Tears, but they retained the Irish feel that we’ve all loved.

Extra Features
Ah, this is something I really treasure. Putting mini-games in save points is so much easier than running around world maps while searching for adventures. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that this is actually the first time I learned to play poker, and I have Xenosaga to thank for that. You can also try the slot machine, but that’s already been overused in other games. What’s new? Well, for those who are familiar with Magic: The Gathering or Lord of the Five Rings, you might find yourself getting addicted to Xenocards. The concept is pretty much similar.

If you want to level up, increase tech points, or go back for treasures you haven’t gotten, you don’t have to go out of your way to search for those places anymore. All you have to do is step up to a save point, load up the simulator, and voila!

One other notable thing in this RPG: You choose ALL party members, including who’s going to lead. I remember in Xenogears, I wanted so much to take Xenogears off my party. I wanted a team with Bart, Emeralda and Citan in it. Thank gawd, in Xenosaga, you can remove that annoyingly brainless twit, Shion, from your party. I hope they preserve this new trend in upcoming Xeno installations.

Overall, Xenosaga isn’t such a bad game. In fact it’s so good it was a shame that it was too short. All I am saying is that a great RPG like this shouldn’t be defined by cinematics alone. I would’ve just watched an anime for that.

Player Status:
Difficulty: Moderate
Completion Time: 46 hours
Highest Level Achieved: KOS-MOS, Junior and chaos (Level 43)
Ratings: Gameplay 8; Battle 9; Story 8; Visuals 9; Characters 8; Sounds 9; Replay Value 8

This entry was posted on Monday, April 14th, 2003 at 11:27 am and is filed under Xenosaga Episode I, Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.