The Xenosaga trilogy

**kurohime** · 04-21-2010, 09:31 AM

Xenosaga, to me ,is second only to Final Fantasy games anyone else out there who likes this game as much as i do?

**Zargabaath** · 04-21-2010, 11:05 AM

I have only played most of the first game; I got to the Song of Nephilim and have beaten Albedo's AGWS there. From what I've played I really liked it, long cutscenes included. I wasn't that strong for where I am - severly under-leveled. In the near future I will start Episode 1 over, since it has been so long; I also have Episode 2 already and plan on getting Episode 3. One of the biggest reasons why I am gave the series a try is because I love Xenogears which I'm currently picked up again after giving it some rest - FF XIII - I just saved Nissan and am heading deeper into the Mausoleum.

Speaking of the Xeno games, there is a new trailer for Xenoblade:

Graphically, it doesn't look that "next-gen" but being that Takahashi is behind this game I am very excited to see how the story and the game turn out. It does appear to have that young youth who becomes the chosen warrior but I'm sure Takahashi will do the story well.

**Pete** · 04-21-2010, 02:02 PM

I couldn't get into the series AT ALL.

The cutscenes seemed to go on for hours at a time, and I really didn't, and still don't have the time to sit through them all; and I definitely can't play a game where I have no idea as to what the plot is, especially if it's plot heavy.

**Andromeda** · 04-21-2010, 02:42 PM

The upside Pete is that Episode 1 is only 30 hours to complete and Episode 2 is about 25 hours to complete, though Episode 3 is more like 40 or 50 hours (since they were cramming about 4 episodes worth of story into a single game due to being canceled).

But definitely there are long cutscenes that can be hard to follow after awhile, which is why it is good to play the game in a couple of sittings back to back so that you retain everything. But you know things are pretty bad when there are save points between cutscenes.

You could always watch Xenosage the Animation, which is more or less the first episode, but with some things cut and other things re-arranged. It is a little disappointing some of the changes that they made, but if you watch the anime you'll pretty much know what happened in the game.

As for the other two games, rush through Episode 2 and repeat to yourself that it is worth it so that you understand things to get to Episode 3. Episode 2 is pretty poor compared to the other two episodes in the trilogy and is probably the reason way that the project got canceled. Fans really didn't like what they did with Episode 2 so it probably had poor sales.

However, as most know Xenosaga is pretty much the spiritual successor or prequel to Xenogears, though they will never really come out exactly and say it. It is an homage to everything that they did and fans playing it understood that. But if Xenosaga is a "love letter" to Xenogear then Episode 3 is like the epic sonnet versus of a "love letter" to Xenogears. Episode 3 requires you to have played both 1 and 2 to understand the story and to have played Xenogears to understand the numerous references that are made throughout the game. Episode 3 is truly worth playing for anyone that enjoyed Xenogears, sadly it requires a heavy investment to get its full mileage. However, those that put in the time for it are truly rewarded.

Plus, don't you want to know what chaos really is and the mystery behind KOS-MOS? Those answers are in Episode 3. The games have always danced around religion before, but Episode 3 stopped dancing around and makes no effort to hide that it is heavily dipped in religion.

**Zidane77** · 04-21-2010, 09:22 PM

I've only played II, are they all connected?
I thought II was alright but the anime that came with it was terrible and made me dislike Xenosaga, i don't know if it has anything to do with the games, i hope not.

**Andromeda** · 04-21-2010, 09:28 PM

I don't recall there every being an anime that came with the game. So I'm not really sure what you're talking about. I know that with some areas there was a pre-order bonus that came with a bonus disc that had all of the cutscenes from the first game in it so that could just watch them. If you're speaking about that, that wasn't an anime that was just in game cutscenes.

As for Episode 2, yes they are all related. If you don't play Episode 1 you won't be getting the full story and probably rather lost about a lot of things going on. So it is strongly advised that you play them in order to get the full experience and understanding from it.

**Zidane77** · 04-21-2010, 09:33 PM

Oh yeah it was the cut-scenes from the first game, i didn't really like that but maybe i would if i'd play the game.

**Andromeda** · 04-21-2010, 09:43 PM

Xenosaga Episode 2 is the low point in the series. Episode 1 is far superior to Episode 2 and Episode 3's superiority is significantly greater than both of the previous two games combined. They all have different combat systems, though Episode 2 was the worst by far and the art style is quite a bit different from both of the other games. Episode 1 is heavily anime influenced with the character designs, but that was part of its charm. Episode 2 threw that all away for a more realistic design and tossed out a lot of the previous voice actors (so everyone sounds off) on top of changing almost everything recognizable about Episode 1. Episode 3 fixed everything that the fans complained about, but they didn't go full anime they took some middle ground between anime and realism, but it was better than what Episode 2 was. The combat system wasn't Episode 1, but it was a lot more manageable and more enjoyable (if not more traditional).