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This is absolutely the best game (will be best series) ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game should be put in a museum because it is, in every sense of the word, art. It has a story which rivals any movie I have EVER watched. It has a system which takes the best elements from the Final Fantasy series, adds some new ideas, and combines them in a way that will keep you playing after you watch the ending. These are only a few of the things that make this game great.

This game begins in modern times with the discovery of a mysterious artifact, the Zohar, which will be one of the main objects that the entire series focuses upon. The scene quickly changes to about the middle of the fifth millennium (although the game says 4000 years later, it appears to take place in 4500 or so). The main character, Shion Uzuki, is working on creating the robot KOS-MOS on board the Galactic Federation's starship, the Woglinde. From there, the two heroines join up with four other friends, all of them coincidently attempting to reach the planet of Second Miltia (which is reached within the game... during the ending movie). Thus begins Xenosaga's epic story line.

This game explores many, many themes, such as the humanity of something who isn't human, and uses many religious messages, both vague and not so vague, to enrich the plot. Through LONG cut scenes, many of which are 20-30 minutes long, alliances are revealed, both between heroes and villains, and great space battles are waged. If you don't care about a game's story, you can skip all the cut scenes, cutting at least five hours out of the game and removing most of the game's dialog. I suppose if you are skipping it, you don't really care what's going on, but if you do, you will not see much of ANY story in the game. Sitting through the cut scenes is never annoying, and often will make you forget that you are playing a game. The story alone is good enough to convince you that you are playing a movie.

I wasn't expecting much from the music. Although produced by the London Philharmonic Orchestra (I don't have the box in front of me, so spelling and name may be off), some of the music is highly repetitive and not as exciting as what Final Fantasy fans are used to. Some of the songs, however, are quite well done, and add a great deal to the game.

For those of you still reading, the battles can and will often last five to ten minutes (yes, non-boss battles), and will challenge even people who have played many RPGs. Although most battles are avoidable, you will want to level up your characters often for the later battles. There are two main types of attacks: ether (magical) and physical, and within those more types, such as elemental type, distance, and hit type. Certain attacks are better against some enemies, so if you have the wrong characters for a situation... too bad. You can't switch characters during battle, so have fun.

What else can I say. This game tops Kingdom Hearts, which I previously called the best game ever. It's also on the greatest hits collection, so if you like RPGs, it's a good deal for a great game.

Warning, use the bathroom before playing!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: October 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Xenosaga was one of those games I decided to buy on a whim one afternoon. What really sold the game to me was the cover art and the amount of gameplay it advertised.

When I first started playing it I remember the first long cut scene and thought, with this much video they are going to skimp on gameplay and this would be a complete letdown. Let me tell you though, I was very wrong in making that assumption! Not only did this game deliver hours upon hours of battle and adventure (42 hours in my case) but the video was incredible.

Just be WARNED.. if you are going to play, do yourself and your guests a favor and use the bathroom before playing, because you don't want to miss a minute of the story. Take my advice from experience, because my old roommate and other students at my university loved watching me play Xenosaga.

Should you buy it? Sure, because if you're patient, you're bound to unfold a great story and there is rumored to be 5-6 chapters in this series.

Der wille zur Macht.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: September 12, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The fact that this game series did not fair as well as it should have may have something to do with the fact that it's in-depth storyline was above the head of probably 90% of those who played it. I do admit though, that the fact that this is more of an interactive movie may have turned off a lot of people. There are more and longer cutscenes than any other game I have played. This has to do with the fact that the story is the focal point here. The fact that we get to play certain parts of it is only gravy.

The complex storyline is hard to follow without repeated play throughs or trips to fan sites that help explain it. As a matter of fact the game contains a glossary of the many terms that are discussed throughout the game. If it wasn't for this the dialog would be too clunky from exposition to be enjoyable.

So what is the game about? So many things. Politics, religion, mankind's mortality, ethical issues concerning human beings and cloning, and on and on. The game's philosophical tone is highly influenced by the writings of Carl Jung and Nietzche. As a matter of fact each game in the series is named after one of his books. I don't want to go into too much detail as to spoil anything. The Zohar, an monolith artifact has been uncovered and everyone is after it for the power it will bring to them including Vector industries, a powerful military conglomerate, and U-tic, an undergroud organization with ties to Ormus, a fictional religious organization. All of this is built upon more in the later games in the series. This game is all about introducing our characters and the many organizations and terms that this series is about.

Sadly what was to be a 6 game series was cut down to 3 due to problems within Namco and lack of sales. The original creator was given leave after this game so while the other games have better graphics a lot of the magic seems to be lost. At least the series did it's best to close out the story line in a satisfying manner.

The voice acting isn't too bad. It's a lot better than most games, but can be grating at times. This game has the weakest graphics of the series but still is enjoyable. They were about on par with other games at the time, but many years have passed since it's release.

How about the game itself? Story aside, this is one of the better RPGs out there. The only problem being out short it is. Due to the long cutscenes there is really only 7 or so levels or dungeons, in the game. Way too short. Magic, or ether as it's called in this game, isn't as useful as it should be. There are very few attack spells and the way it's set up only one or two people can learn them and you have to use points to transfer them to other players. The support magic is very good though.

Go into this game knowing you will do just as much watching as you will actually playing. Don't be too quick to judge either. My bother hated this game at first and it's now one his favorites.

Could've been all it used to be.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: July 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

In the realm of RPG'ers, anything that is preceded by "xeno" automatically stirs up images of a long time spent on a glorious game known as Xenogears. The story was amazing, intertwining civil wars and religious overtones and more. The battles were, at the very LEAST, bearable considering the average of 50 hours to complete the game. It was a fun and enjoyable game that actually made us think.

As it turns out, Xenogears was originally Episode V in a six chapter-long saga. Namco picked up the series and decided to begin from the top. Fortunately for Episode I, it had the fanboys relying on the goodness of Xenogears in order to sell it without much difficulty. However, unfortunately for Episode I, it has almost no correlation to Xenogears and has even less of the selling points which its predecessor had. The music? Fantastic. It's performed by the London Philarmonic Orchestra. The story? It's good, I suppose. Maybe its even great. You'll need to have a good memory to bring together all the pieces from the somtimes half-hour long CG movie scenes. The characters? You'll find them mostly to be unimportant, excluding the villain who is so insane, its almost funny. And the gameplay? Atrocious. Thats right. You heard me, fanboy. You will be hurting yourself after the first time you have to fight a boss. You will be praying with everything you have to find someway to auto-battle. Alas, there is not. And this is where the points are drastically subtracted. I do not have the time or the space to define exactly what I mean, just trust me on this point. You will care less and less about the story as you are forced to play more and more hours of the terrible, endless battles. You will find yourself glaring at the gamecase from a distance because you hate the battles so much. At least I do. In fact, I am right now.

If you *love* RPGs, you may be able to handle this. A few professional reviewer friends of mine could not, however. A game is supposed to be a game. Fun and enthralling. Xenosaga : Episode I is a tedious, annoying task wrapped up in the pretty graphics and the luster of its predecessor.

I collect RPGs. I play RPGs. I may even live RPGs, I do not know. What I do know is that I honestly never want to pick up this game again to replay it for its story. Here's hoping for a more thought out Episode II. Let's hope they don't ask George Lucas how it's done.

Great plot, mediocre everything else...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: November 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Xenosaga was a good game, but it took a long, long time for me to get through...and not just because it offers a good sixty hours of gameplay. If you're looking for a jaw-dropping RPG that will leave you addicted, get Final Fantasy X (at the nice new rate of twenty bucks a pop). If you've already beaten that twice, then get Xenosaga.
All the good elements are there: it's a (sort of) FF style RPG with nice graphics. The main hook for me was the story. The cutscenes were incredibly long. But it didn't matter, because most of them were riveting, and sometimes frankly creepy (i.e. Albedo ripping his own head off and laughing). Presented in beautiful anime-style 3-D CG graphics, the story that begins to unfold is gripping, and filled with many more-than-subtle refrences to different religions and philosiphies. Love it.
But as for why it takes sixty long hours:
The gameplay is unbalanced. Damage is dealt through special attacks, but though they are asthetically different, they all end up becoming 'short-range attack' for 'enemy on ground' and 'long-range attack' for 'enemy in air'. This deceptively simple system would lend itself to fast battles, but the solidly turn-based fight system drags itself along like a fallen tree sloth. Magic (called ether) is used, but rarely for anything other than healing, making your magic-user essentially useless once you transfer her skills to someone with more HP.
In contrast to the battle system, leveling up is hard, time-consuming and complex. Seems that seperate points are required for each of three types of attribute, and these are critical if you want to survive.
Areas. Way too few, way too big, way too overused. You only get about seven or eight main areas during the game, and over half can be summed up as gray ship walls with red spots, or red ship walls with gray spots.
Enemies. Too few types. Stupid, predictable, and too easy to avoid, giving rise to the temptation to not train at all. And they award so few points and gold that over half your time is spent killing the exact same enemies. Blahzzzzzzzzz...
Music. It rocks the first time you hear it. And the second, and even the fifth. But when you hear the exact same seven tired tunes forty hours into the game, you don't care that the London Philharmonic performed them.
All in all, the bad elements can be summed up in one word: repitition. The boys (and girls) up at Namco spent all their creativity on the plot. My personal suggestion: $%#@ the game, edit the CG sequences together and add in a few more, and release it in theaters. It'd be great.

***Note: I saw this review now, a few months after I first wrote it, and decided that it was a little harsh. I like the old-school world map with a huge variety of locations and quests (Baldur's Gate and FF7 are high in my list of favorite games). I had a lot of fun with Xenosaga. I just tend to really bash any characteristics of a game that get on my nerves.

Xenosaga sure beats the heck out of that THING they dare call a sequel to FFX.

Worth the wait, lives up to the hype...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Yes, it lives up to the hype. Anticipated by many as it was created by Monolith who did the superb Xenogears on the Playstation, Xenosaga is the spiritual prequel. Although Xenogears was supposed to be part 5 in a series, and Saga is Episode One, the creators swear they are not related, and started anew. We'll see if this pans out many years from now if they actually complete all of the games. Regardless whether they are related in story or not, Saga takes all the good elements from Gears and then some.

A pure Sci-Fi RPG, there is no mention of magic or fantasy. All the "spells" can and are explained scientifically. This is of course a rarity in an RPG and is just one factor that separates it from the sea of others. The other being the battle system, which borrows heavily from Xenogears and is a welcome addition. The others are the fantastic story and music. The story is deep, and perhaps reaches deeper than Xenogears did. Controversial as well, I'm surprised this was released in the US with a "T" rating as some elements may offend some people with the religious references as Xenogears did. There is some bloodshed in the cut scenes as well, further making me wonder about the rating. Nothing horrible or too gory, but in this age, I'd almost expected the ESRB to rate it an "M". Speaking of the cut scenes, there are a lot of them. Let me emphasize a LOT of them. And they are long. Really long. Some span only minutes, but at times the story advances for over 45 minutes. 15-30 minute cut scenes are the norm here. However, as you progress through the game the amount of playing and watching is more properly balanced.

The characters in this game are fantastic. You will be drawn in to their world. You will come to care about them. I haven't seen another RPG that has done character development as well as this game has. Of particular note is KOS MOS, a battle android which is probably one of the coolest RPG characters ever. With amazing attacks and a cold "robot" personality to boot, she is head and shoulders above all the other RPG characters out there.
Like Xenogears, you also pilot mechs though they are less important in this game, and are more a background theme than being the focus.

Music was done by Yasunori Mitsuda and performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and it definitely shows. While much of the game is just ambient sounds, whenever the music does take over it brings with it the magic of what a truly well composed and performed orchestrated soundtrack can do for a game. The graphics are well done, and animated very smoothly and the effects during battles are very pretty. Being a little older than some recent RPG's (Was released over a year ago in Japan and the translation took forever) the graphics seem slightly dated but they are still beautiful.

And now the bad news: For me this game possesses only one flaw in that the English dubbing of it is only average, sounding like a dubbed anime. Many characters are over acting and it pains me to see this in such a quality RPG. It doesn't help that during the cut scenes the dialogue is subtitled right along with the actors speaking the same language...which would be fine if they sounded better, but since they don't it's annoying to read it before they say it, and hear them say it with forced emotion or non at all. It is a minor flaw in a near flawless RPG. The other concern is the editing. There is one cut scene that was altered and it only involves the placement of a hand. Nothing to worry about.

For me, I lost interest in RPG's awhile back, with the Final Fantasy series having lost some of the magic that the old ones had. Phantasy Star and Lunar had that old magic that I remember which is absent from the RPG's I play today. Xenosaga has that magic (ironic since there is no "magic" in the game itself) and I recommend it to anyone who loves RPG's. If you can find the soundtrack and art book, I heartily recommend that you pick those up as well.

The Complete Review of Xenosaga

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 13, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Xenosaga is certainly not your typical RPG. Why? Because it succeeds in achieving everything that other RPGs strive for... and more. It is dramatic, intriguing, and deep in the scope of its storyline. Its battle system is appropriately complex, yet intuitive enough for you to control every aspect of your characters without frustration. Its graphics and cinematics are without peer and the vast environments you explore are simply awe-inspiring. But at the same time, it manages to be a very personal story of a few distinct people. These characters will capture your attention as you experience their struggles while the mysteries of the universe unravel about them.

Gameplay

The gameplay is a fresh mix of traditional RPG elements combined with some excellent innovations. I'm sure it pleases all of you to know that Xenosaga has no random battles: whether you fight or not depends on whether you can manage to sneak around enemies or if you choose to charge straight for them.

Though the battles are quite complicated, you easily get the hang of it within the first few hours. Controlling both your normal characters and their giant mecha, called A.G.W.S. in the game, will become a breeze, and Xenosaga becomes an enjoyable challenge from then on.

Adding to the already excellent gameplay is the interactivity of the environment. Using an energy gun, you can shoot various obstacles to find hidden treasure, or to catch enemies in explosions so that you'll have the advantage in battle.

Story and Characters

To tell you too much could spoil perhaps the greatest plot ever included in any video game to date. What I can tell you is that Xenosaga is a story that takes place far in the distant future, when mankind lives only in deep space, far removed from their home planet. It mixes science fiction and fantasy elements into a top-notch conglomeration that rivals the plots of even the greatest anime series.

During the course of the game, you play as an unlikely group of characters thrown together by circumstances beyond their control. The characters' personalities are very complex, and you'll feel yourself identifying with them throughout the whole game. Everything about them, from their physical designs to their quirks and nuances, works together to make them multi-dimensional and realistic.

All of them are traveling to one destination, where they will all face their pasts and find out what lies for them in the future. All the while, mankind is being attacked by the Gnosis, brutal alien creatures from another dimension.

At its core, Xenosaga is a sweeping space opera that takes place throughout the whole universe. Your party members will journey through space and hyperspace, exploring foreign planets, space colonies, and even the very dreams of their unconscious minds. Their journey will intrigue you and push your mind to the limit, all the while pulling at your emotions. There is no other story as compelling as Xenosaga's.

Graphics and Presentation

Xenosaga takes all this, and presents it in one amazing package. Not only do you get a great plot, complex characters, and top-notch gameplay and interactivity; it is presented alongside a sweeping soundtrack, outstanding graphics, and dramatic cinema scenes. The movie-caliber music is composed by the renowned Yasunori Mitsuda and performed by the London Philharmonic, fitting the game's epic atmosphere perfectly. Dramatic sequences are brought to life by the extraordinary graphics, including amazingly expressive character models and professional voice acting. The character's personalities and interactions really shine during these scenes, making you believe that you're actually watching a CG style anime rather than a video game's real-time graphics.

Overall

Quite simply, Xenosaga is an experience not to be missed. As one of the most polished and complete games that I have ever played, every facet of it speaks of undeniable quality. All of its excellent qualities come together magnificently to form a moving, interactive experience that you will enjoy the whole way through. If you like anything about video games, intriguing stories, or touching characters at all, Xenosaga is the game to get. With over 40 hours of some of the best gameplay ever created, the investment would certainly be well worth it.

The beginning of something HUGE

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Make no mistake - the 'Episode one' on the cover of Xenosaga is there for a reason. This game is the first of a 5 part epic, and if the game is any indication, the entire thign is going to be huge. The game itself reeks of presentation, with a cinema ocuring almost once an hour in the first few hours of the game...and they can last for more than 30 minutes. That said, they are not the kind of cinemas you groan about - they are beautiful, and they serve very well in getting the detailed story across.

The battle mechanics are some of the best of any RPG save for Xenogears (of which the Xenosaga battle system is a streamlined version) and Vagrant Story on PSX. The graphics are not the best on PS2, with FFX coming in way ahead in terms of realistic style, and various other games comign ahead in terms of a more stylistic approach. The game has been out in japan for over a year, so it makes sense that the graphics would show their age. They still get teh job done rather well, and dont take away from the game. The musci int his game is absolutely breathtaking, there's just nowhere near enough of it. The story is fantastic, as are the characters - one of th ebest ever. You dont get a complete sense of closure at the end though, as the game is meant to continue into the next part of the Saga. That said, the game itself is over 90 hours if you DONT do any of the side quests, and far longer if you do...it will take you a long time to beat.

Great game, I reccomend it to RPG fans in a big big way.

Graphics: 7.5

Sound: 9.5

Gameplay: 8.5

Replayability: 9

Restored my faith in video games -- Seriously

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

First off, if you don't like cosole rpgs (like some of the reviewers) you obviously won't like this CONSOLE RPG! Now, the incredibly obvious aside, this is honestly my favorite game ever. I know lots of reviewers say this, but I am EXTREMELY hard on video games. I hated Morrowind because, despite its dazzling sheer size and non-linearity, it was balanced so horribly that I wanted to beat the makers severely for aparently never testing it. Neverwinter nights was not only linear, but the multiplayer aspect sucked. I got sick of playing Civilization over and over again waiting for another good game to come out. Everything I played began to bore... me. I went from an AVID gamer (of 10+ years) to never playing video games (albeit for "only" a couple months). Though my frustration and aggravation towards developers and companies waned, I was still not eager for another disappointment. Only out of crippling boredom did I even decide to try this game. I have to admit that for awhile the pattern -- 45-minute cutscene, 5-minutes of battling (or an hour or more trying to find something or someone), repeat, repeat, repeat -- seriously got to me. Then as the game developed, something that hasn't happened to me in at least 5 years of gaming miraculously happened: I got dragged *completely* into the characters and storyline. By the time I was half-way through the game I wanted to find the makers and applaud them for hours. It almost brought tears to this gamers eyes. I LOVE this game. It may, unfortunately, be another 5 years before another game truly satisfies my boredom, but this one did, and still does. Though I've beaten it, I will certainly play it again. Thank you so much to the developers!
By the way, only get morrowind if you like being able to take out everyone, including the final boss on +100 difficulty, in one ... hit in what is a truly boring combat style anyways, or spending 2+ hours per quest just walking from place to place. Only get neverwinter nights if you don't mind a lvl 20 cap, badly uneven classes (though true to AD&D 3), a linear (AND boring) storyline, and confusing and annoying multiplayer.
I recommend this game if you like it linear, and everquest (or wait for star wars galaxies) if you like it nonlinear. If you just like the pretty graphics, and must go PC, at least get Morrowind over NWN. Well, that's my two cents...

Fun, Beautiful, But I Feel Something Lacking...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

When I saw the previews of Xenosaga on TV, I couldn't help but want this game. Everything about it looked absolutely stunning. When I purchased this game last year, that's exactly what it was like, "stunning to the eye."
However, when I played through this game, I couldn't help feel like it wasn't a game I was playing, but an interactive movie. Cutscenes were long, the graphics are too gorgeous to believe, and the voice overs are done well. Sometimes a scene would last up to an hour, but this can be avoided by pressing start and choosing to skip the scene. I was promised over 80 hours of game play, and 4 mini games. The game only took me between 35-40 hours to beat and none of the mini-games I really noticed to even test them.
Truly the game was fun, but not as addicting as other RPGs offer. The battles are turn based, so you can take 20 minutes if you want to decide on your next move. However, the use of a boost ability can make or break your battles.
Xenosaga can be challenging at times, but not enough to make it a lasting game. What still captivates me is the characters, their involvements, and what's to come for Xenosaga II.

Pros:
Awesome graphics
Great characters
Deep storyline
Part 1 of a game series...(also see Xenogears)

Cons:
Cutscenes are long, which isn't bad, but some get too political and boring, (sometimes scenes up to 1 hour of watch time)
Gameplay isn't as fun as many others

Overall, it's a must play for any RPG fan, but should be overlooked by the impatient. Don't believe neccessarily what the backcover says, (over 80 hours gameplay) because all ready myself and others I know have played it in 40 hours. And when it is claimed to have about 20 hours of cutscenes, that's only a 20 hour RPG, which is very short. But then again, a short RPG may be perfect for some!

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