-Xenosaga News-
September 14th

When it was announced in early 2001, the revelation that Namco and Monolith Soft (the latter being a development house comprised of many of the same people who worked on SquareSoft's classic 1998 title Xenogears) were working on a new title called Xenosaga, it confirmed rumors that had been running rampant throughout the gaming community at the time: that SquareSoft's beloved Xenogears would see a sequel. While it didn't exactly turn out to be a sequel per se, with the Xenosaga series only being loosely based on the SquareSoft RPG it borrowed its moniker from, it created excitement within the community nonetheless with promises that the series would be a truer adaptation of what Xenosaga director Tetsuya Takahashi originally wanted to achieve when directing Xenogears. In the game's infancy, it was announced that the series would span six titles. However, with an official announcement of Xenosaga III: Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Also Sprach Zarathustra in German) within the latest edition of Famitsu also came the revelation that this third installment in the console-based Xenosaga series shall be its conclusion.

As for details of the game itself, it has been confirmed that the same cast from the previous titles will return, though in what capacity is currently unknown. The game will also employ a new character illustrator in place of Kunihiko Tanaka, who had filled that position for both Xenosaga: Episode I and Episode II, as well as for Xenogears. The plot will take place one year after the events of Episode II, with Zohar Emulators making a return, mech battles containing more mechs and attacks, and the inclusion of more ES units. Further, a dialogue tree system will be present for talking to people on the field screen.

While the new information concerning the newest Xenosaga title and the series' future will no doubt be the biggest story to come of this feature to many, Xenosaga I + II was also announced for the Nintendo DS, which is looking to be a remake of the first two Xenosaga titles for the handheld. The battle system is said to be based on Episode I's battle system with a "PF System" added on. The gameplay will be complimented by recreation of some cutscenes using the in-game engine, with others using an FMV format. It is said that this title is being made to prepare people for Episode III. Whether or not this title is one in the same with Xenosaga DS, which has been announced for quite some time, is unknown, but it seems likely.

Other Namco-related news to come out of Famitsu this week is the announcement of a sequel to last year's card-based RPG, Baten Kaitos. Information pertaining to this title isn't as abundant as it is with the various new Xenosaga games however, with only its development for the GameCube being confirmed, as well as a Japanese release in December.

None of these titles have been confirmed to be shown at the Tokyo Game Show starting on September 16. That said, if any new information concerning these titles comes to light at Japan's most prestigious gaming show this weekend, RPGamer will be reporting straight from the show to bring you the latest. - RPGamer.com


Also,
[link]

They changed the look. Again.

....I'm gonna go off and be emo now.



February 17th
Alright...Just played another four hours of Xenosaga. The voice acting really isn't as bad as I've made it out to be. Just like the new character designs, the voices just take some getting used to. But, I've got gotta know why they keep sticking Mary with a southern accent....

As for the fact that the game is only about 25 hours long, it is dissapointing, but I think how much we're getting out of the plot makes up for it. It still is an amazing game which will leave you wanting more. ^_^
February 16
I GOT ME MY XENOSAGA. All is good in the world. Wait, no its not. Because I'm sure one of you out there hasn't bought it yet! Go buy it. NOW.

I haven't played the game all too much, but I'm going to be lame and make a review anyway. Once I get further in the game, I'll probably add more to it.

First off, Grahpics!
Ahh...Graphics, an important aspect to games now a days. I'm sure we've all seen screenshots and what not, but damn, they really are frippin' beatiful. And explosives...>3 Gotta love them explosives.

Voice acting:
This is my biggest problem with the game. Remember, this is just my opinion right here though. MOMO's new voice is HORRIBLE. I loved MOMO's old voice, for the fact it always seemed to have a tad bit of solem-ness to it. Now its got...PERKY. ><; However, sometimes she sounds really close to how her old voice actor sounded like, but god, she seems to have trouble doing sad lines. As for KOS-MOS' new voice, it feels like she has too much emotion in her voice. Shion's new voice seems okay though. And although I'm still getting used to chaos' new voice, I could learn to like it. Heres the listing of the voice actors that I currently know of.
New voice actors:
Shion
MOMO
KOS-MOS
Helmer
chaos
Jin
Pellegri
Juli
Mary
Shelly
The ones that stayed:
Gaignun
Jr.
Ziggy
Albedo
Margulis

Battle System:
The new battle system is THE WIN. It adds alot more depth and stragety to the game, alot more than the last one. I do however miss some old aspects of the battle system, like are uber cool tech-attacks...But one must make sarficifes. The battles have also gotten a tad bit harder, it seems. You can't escape them as easily, and the boss battles can be a tad hard. @@; The only reason I'm actually online today is because I got stuck.



Story:
The story is just as intense and wonderful as before. No worries there.

Music:
Yuki Kajiura is probably one of the best composers there is out there. I think thats all that needs to be said on her part. Two composers did the music however, so Kajiura's music isn't the only one in there. ( Only songs on the soundtrack though. ) The other composers did music, but they aren't as memorable as Kajiuras. Most of his music you hear in dungeons or battles, Kajiura focused more on the other stuff. It doesn't mean you'll being pulling your ears off from the sound of the other composers music, its still pretty good.

Thats all I can think of to say at the moment. Oh, but the pre-order disc comes with the cutscenes in japanese in english. >3


February 14
YAY!! Xenosaga Episode Two comes out tomorrow! ( Well, it doesn't get put on shelves till the 16th where I live though...D: ) While your waiting though, go check out the official episode two site! You can find it here: [link]

Also! scroll down and check out some of the new trailers in the websites that are listed! If you dig around a little, you can hear all of the new/old voice actors. These are the voice actors that I'm pretty sure changed:
Shion
chaos
KOS-MOS ( Really don't like who they picked...>_o )
Jin ( He only showed up for two seconds in Episode One, so what would you expect. )
MOMO ( Not sure on her though...)
Voices that I'm pretty sure stayed the same:
Jr.
Ziggy
Albedo ( I haven't heard Gaignun's voice yet, but considering that Crispin Freeman does Gaignun and Albedo's voice we can probablly assume that he stayed with Gaignun too. )
Margulis
MOMO ( Not sure on her though...)


This is just what I've heard though. Go check out the trailers and hear for yourself, because I could be wrong on some of them. ( Although, Ziggy and Jr.'s got confirmed for sure. )

Also, Xenosaga lost one of its key writers recently. Just one key writer though, this doesn't mean that the whole Xenosaga series will be thrown out the window.

In an odd situation of one "saga" losing another, Scenario Writer Soraya Saga has announced on her website that she will no longer be associated with the Xenosaga series. Sorya Saga and her husband/coworker Tetsuya Takahashi played integral parts in the writing of event scenes for Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht, Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseit von Gut und Boese, and Xenogears. Through the early to mid 1990's, she helped with the graphic design of Romancing SaGa, Final Fantasy VI, and a few other Squaresoft games.

Saga did not say exactly why she has left, and gives indication that such information might never be made public, as the previously linked website requests "no inquiry please," after explaining her departure in the words "Soraya Saga is no longer involved with this series." Thus far, there has been no announcement regarding her future or that of the Xenosaga games. Xenosaga: Episode II will give North Americans another look at Saga and Takahashi's work next month. -RPGamer.

For more information, check out Saga's website:
[link]


January 11th
The official release date for Xenosaga is Febuary 15th, 2005. Only a month and four days left!
November 9th
Well, this really doesn't have anything to do with episode two, but it has to do with Xenosaga, so its all good. According to zenosaga.com, Xenosaga is now going to be made into a manga! And I don't mean fan-comics, this one is official. This manga is going to be an adapation of Episode one, so I hear. To learn more, go to: [link]

October 13th
Wow! I was on the Xenosaga.com forums yesterday and someone put up the link to a subtitled version of the Xenosaga trailer! Go check it out here! ( Take the spaces out of it first though. ) http ://suteki.chibianime. com/index.php?id= P584


August 11th
Namco has confirmed the release date of Episode two to be sometime in Feburay 2005. Check it out here! [link]
Information and link provided by

August 8th
WOO! It seems you can already pre-order Episode 2 at GameStop! And it also looks like we'll be getting a free bonus DVD with 4 hours un-cut scenes! Now, this information might be off since I only heard it from the Store Clerk. I knew that the people in Japan got the DVD when pre-ordering, but I guess we'll be getting it too. So, what are you waiting for? Go and pre-order so you can get the bonus stuff when it comes out!

August 7th
An Interview between Your Leader and about Episode 2 information. Shojo has played through the japanese version of Episode 2, and has some insight for us.

Me: So, I had just heard a rumor that Episode 2 was only about 30 hours of gameplay. ( D: Say it isn't so! ) Around how many hours did it take you to complete it?

Shojo: Sorry to say but that rumor is mostly true. In my first play through (I'm in the middle of my second run through, but I haven't played as much since I'm following along with the fan translations and they haven't been updating much lately T.T) took only about 25 hours. Now, mind you, that's without playing ANY minigames or sidequests (I wasn't using a walkthrough for most of it and I was too confused to do anything but strictly follow the plot - but this time I'm trying to beat all the extra things). I've heard that if you play through completing all of the G2 campaign (the big sidequest thing) and all of the "epilogue" (after you beat the game you get to go back to just before the final dungeon and complete more extra quests and what not) it can push 80 hours in gameplay. The story itself is much shorter but there is a lot more gameplay (which could be either good or bad - I personally prefer the way episode I's gameplay worked as episode II's was "dumbed-down" a bit - but the minigames and sidequests are actually very fun). Though the story itself was nothing short of amazing, especially if you're a fan of Jr. (and if you're not, you'll probably like him more after ep II anyway).

So it really depends on how thoroughly you play it.

Me: Man, only 25 hours? Ouchie. I'm a fan of Jr. though, so I've been looking forward to the game.

In episode one, there were about 7-8 hours of cut-scences...I wouldn't mind much if this is kept the same, and theres only a bit of gameplay. Were there less cut scenes or more?

Shojo: Sadly there were less cutscenes - only 5-6 hours. Though I'm not sure what they're counting as cutscenes, because there are a lot of sequences that use the in game graphics with either dialogue or text boxes rather than full blown scenes (I have a feeling that those weren't counted in the total, but I'm not sure). And as far as gameplay is concerned there isn't exactly more of it (not counting subquests/minigames and extra dungeons) it's just longer - there are many more (and more complicated) puzzles in the dungeons, the dungeons are longer and more complicated to navigate and you can rarely avoid contact with enemies - I really didn't like how they changed this (though many people have liked it better than epI's gameplay, I guess it's a matter of personal prefference), but the story more than makes up for the short commings in gameplay.

Me: Wow, the game creators sure did change alot. It makes you wonder what they'll end up changing in Episode 3. (...Episode 3 is scary to think about when I haven't even played Episode 2...)

I can think of a reason why it would be so much shorter though, battles don't take as long as they do in episode 1, do they? And also the cutting back of cut scenes.

Shojo: Yeah the battles are much shorter for the most part (it really depends on what level you're on - I'm always below whatever most people are on in the dungeons so it takes me a bit longer). But the biggest issue I had with the battles is how repetitive they are - much more so than in episode 1 because you don't even get the chance to learn any new tech attacks (not counting double-techs, which are fun to watch but you won't get them in the normal course of the game). Though the second time through it was a bit more fun (not sure why, maybe it's because I had a translation of the menu this time...).
The main reason they changed the ammount of cutscenes is probably because a lot of people complained about the lack of gameplay because of all the long cutscenes (personally I love the pacing in episode 1, particularly the long cutscenes). It's the same reason that they added more in game music, which is mediocre at best (not Kajiura's music, another person did the game music - I can't remember his name though).

I'm hoping that episode 3 will combinde the best aspects of both previous episodes for an even better game. Because both had their strong points and both had their flaws - but it seems that episode II, as far as gameplay is concerned, overcompensated for some of the complaints about episode I. But don't worry too much about episode 2 - I know all this sounds really negative, but it's not half as bad as it sounds.

Me: Heh, well, I hope SO. It woud be a let-down if it were.

Did you enjoy Episode 1 more, or Episode 2 more?

Shojo: For gameplay, deffinantly Episode 1 - the main drawback in Episode 2 was the removal of any character customization other than learning skills/ethers (ie. you can't really learn any new tecs, you can't upgrade certain stats, you can't upgrade techs, etc). The battle system in Ep2 was interesting, I liked the zones - though the biggest problem with that is that not all of the characters can hit all of the zones (ex. MOMO and Shion can usually only hit Zone B except under special circumstances where they can hit Zone A - so unless the enemy/boss's break combo is BBBB or AAAA they're pretty useless in those battles). And the other casualty of Episode 2's new gameplay system is the item/money system, you can't buy items since you have no money and you can't equip any new weapons/armor/accessories because they don't exist (well except for the ES Units, and they're only there because the ES units can't learn skills to equip).

For story, Episode 2 by a long shot. I love Episode 1 to pieces, but being the introductory episode the story didn't get much of a chance to actually do anything really nifty with the characters. Episode 2 had a lot more character development centering around Jr. and co - though it falls a bit short of actually answering any pressing questions left over from Episode 1, but rather raises some new ones (a few of which are answered in the Episode itself).
Though one thing in regard to the story that worries me a bit as far as localization is concerned is the voice acting - now Episode 1's voice acting was some of the best I've ever seen in anime/videogames, but I'm just not sure if Jr.'s engilsh voice actor can pull off some of the scenes right - his voice fits the character just fine but it's almost a different spin on it (kind of like Albedo - both the english and japanese versions fit him quite well, but each is a slightly different presentation of the character - I think his english VA sounds more deranged than his japanese VA, but it's still very fitting - though I don't have any doubts that he'll be able to pull off any of the scenes - it's really just Jr's english VA that worries me he has a completely different vocal quality than the japanese VA). *is still sad that they changed Jr's catch phrase - "Go ahead, make my day." sounds sooo much better than "Sayonara, baby!"*

Me: Well then, I do so believe I'm looking forward to episode 2 again. ^^

Thank you very much for the information, . It is indeed very helpful.

Note-Alot of this information is OLD. I'm just posting these things up to make sure everyone knows though.
July 28

Instead of having Yasunori Mistuda ( The composer of episode one, if you didn't know. ) as the composer to Episode 2, we have Yuki Kajiura doing the music now. I have listened to the new soundtrack several times, and I must say, its wonderful. I'd say the music is on the same level if not better than Mistuda's. This is just another thing to look forward to in Episode 2.

Episode 2 now focus' around Jr. instead of Shion. Its not surprising, seeing as he pretty much got the spotlight during end of Episode 1.

We've got alot of new characters joining the world of Xenosaga it seems. Canaan, a realian who seems to know chaos is one of these characters. We've also got Jin, Shion's brother. He was mentioned a few times throughout Episode 1. Unlike Canaan, Jin actually joins the party so you can fight with him. Sounds nice, eh?

Now we've got the mysterious character. A girl who looks similar to MOMO, only with green eyes and brown hair. In one of the trailers we see a scene of her playing the piano with Yuri Mizarhi. Theres also several scence of her with the the younger versions of Albedo, Jr, and Gaignun.....There seems to be a high chance that this is Sakura. Whom we know was mentioned when Albedo was going through the Y-Data. You saw a scene with Joachim saying to MOMO, ( Whom was still in a test tube. ) "You can become my Sakura..."
Who is Sakura? I would have to guess a missing or dead daughter of Joachim and Yuri. But this is only a guess.

KOS-MOS has a bike now! Provided by Vector, I would guess.

Theres a new battle system in Episode 2. Its still similar to the old one, but it looks like battles take alot less time. Theres also team attacks now. I'm not quite sure how they work yet, but it looks like they'll be making the battles alot more enjoyable than before.

As most of us probably already know, all of the characters have a make-over. At first I wasn't too happy about all this, but after awhile the design's grew on me. If you go down to the screen shots section at the very bottom and click some of the links, you'll be able to decide for yourself.


July 27
Xenosaga episode 2 was released in Japan on June 24th. I have heard a few rumors that the american release date will be sometime in Febuary 2005, or January. One website even said that the exact release date will be 2/15/05. We can only hope!

Wow! On IGN.com someone has already written a review for Episode 2! It looks like its going to be even better then the first. ( If thats even possible. )

Click the link for the review! [link]

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Links to Xenosaga Episode 2 Screenshots:
IGN.com:
[link]
RPGamer.com:
[link]
GameSpot.com:
[link]

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Links to Xenosaga 2 Trailers-

IGN.com
[link]
GameSpot.com:
[link]
RPGamer.com:
[link]

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If you know of any Xenosaga episode 2 links that you think should be up here, tell us! Send the club a note, or comment on this journal entry. Do not post a message on the front page asking for us to put a link up.