Hi Everyone, I just finished the first Xenosaga game. Xenogears was one of my favorite games ever, but when Xenosaga came out, I was broke in college and didn't have a PS2. When Harada seemed to end all hope of us ever getting a Xenosaga remaster, I decided it was finally time to bite the bullet and make it happen. I'm now the proud owner of my first PS2 and have finished Xenosaga Episode 1.
(My dusty PS2)
So what do I think? I actually really enjoyed the combat, even though if you describe it, it sounds like pretty bog standard JRPG fare. One gripe is that I could never remember what skills I had set to the various square-triangle configurations, especially later on when I was almost always using the fast attacks. I actually really enjoyed all the animation work, and it was a fun throwback for me in 2020. I did not enjoy the character advancement between battles; the menus were poor and I thought it was a pain to apply my various T, E, and S points. The mechs were also far less useful than I remember in Xenogears.
Most of the characters were great. Shion and Kos-Mos in particular I like. I like Ziggy and his brooding, and similarly, I enjoyed the arc that Cherenkov went through. I liked how they introduced Virgil right at the start, and his whole character was, "I'm a dick," and then Kos-Mos promptly shoots him at the end of the first dungeon, ahah. Mo-mo is fine; I did not enjoy the bit with her and Albedo on the Song of Nephalim. Albedo in general is good though; I dig the insanity bit. He may have the best insane laugh since Kefka.
(It looks so much better on the emulator!)
The music was pretty disappointing. One reason I decided to play this game is because Mitsuda worked on it. I still listen to Xenogears music from time to time these days, but everything in Xenosaga seemed pretty forgettable. Most of the music was just sort of mood or ambient pieces. The stuff in the cutscenes was a little bit better, but it was all still very understated. The music in the intro cinematic seemed to be deliberately hitting some Xenogears notes, but I couldn't detect much of anything after that until the ending.
I think the game struggles a bit with it's world building. I think it's because everything takes place on ships and space stations with only a few people. I think I got there by the end, but I had difficulty buying into it's universe as a real place.
Anyway, I think it's great overall. It's a bit unfair to compare it to my nostalgia soaked memory of Xenogears, so I won't. I know some people don't like Episode II, but I think I'm going to dive right into it. I will switch to emulator though. When I started this project, I didn't have a Windows PC. I have an ok laptop now, and initial tests with Episode 1 seem to indicate that it runs fine. Xenosaga looks good on my tv with the Rad2x cable I got, but it's just too much of a pain dealing with wires for the controller and headphones, not to mention looking for save points.
Anyone else come to this game late?
(My dusty PS2)
So what do I think? I actually really enjoyed the combat, even though if you describe it, it sounds like pretty bog standard JRPG fare. One gripe is that I could never remember what skills I had set to the various square-triangle configurations, especially later on when I was almost always using the fast attacks. I actually really enjoyed all the animation work, and it was a fun throwback for me in 2020. I did not enjoy the character advancement between battles; the menus were poor and I thought it was a pain to apply my various T, E, and S points. The mechs were also far less useful than I remember in Xenogears.
Most of the characters were great. Shion and Kos-Mos in particular I like. I like Ziggy and his brooding, and similarly, I enjoyed the arc that Cherenkov went through. I liked how they introduced Virgil right at the start, and his whole character was, "I'm a dick," and then Kos-Mos promptly shoots him at the end of the first dungeon, ahah. Mo-mo is fine; I did not enjoy the bit with her and Albedo on the Song of Nephalim. Albedo in general is good though; I dig the insanity bit. He may have the best insane laugh since Kefka.
(It looks so much better on the emulator!)
The music was pretty disappointing. One reason I decided to play this game is because Mitsuda worked on it. I still listen to Xenogears music from time to time these days, but everything in Xenosaga seemed pretty forgettable. Most of the music was just sort of mood or ambient pieces. The stuff in the cutscenes was a little bit better, but it was all still very understated. The music in the intro cinematic seemed to be deliberately hitting some Xenogears notes, but I couldn't detect much of anything after that until the ending.
I think the game struggles a bit with it's world building. I think it's because everything takes place on ships and space stations with only a few people. I think I got there by the end, but I had difficulty buying into it's universe as a real place.
Anyway, I think it's great overall. It's a bit unfair to compare it to my nostalgia soaked memory of Xenogears, so I won't. I know some people don't like Episode II, but I think I'm going to dive right into it. I will switch to emulator though. When I started this project, I didn't have a Windows PC. I have an ok laptop now, and initial tests with Episode 1 seem to indicate that it runs fine. Xenosaga looks good on my tv with the Rad2x cable I got, but it's just too much of a pain dealing with wires for the controller and headphones, not to mention looking for save points.
Anyone else come to this game late?
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