Gott ist tot
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 10:56 pm
Xenosaga Episode 1 was not an especially good game - it certainly didn't live up to expectations - but it was not incompetent, and I retained the hope that it was simply the first chapter of an epic prequel that would eventually live up to the Xenogears name. As of Episode 2, I declare that hope dead.
One of the major problems with the original Xenosaga (and to a large extent even Xenogears) is that the story is damn near incomprehensible. Episode 2 starts waist-deep in it, so now not only do I still not have any clue what's going on, I've forgotten most of what I did understand the first time. I've also stopped caring about most of it. There are two sides to the Xeno coin: the deep, controversial side that makes extensive use of Christian symbology and the philosophical questions associated, and the cheesy geekbait side that makes extensive use of every generic sci-fi anime cliché there is. Tragically, it is the latter that takes precedence to the point that any surviving anti-religious themes are suffocated by this smothering miasma of mediocrity.
Unfortunately, even if you choose to disregard the story and skip through the extensive cutscenes, there isn't much to look forward to in the interims. Combat-wise, Episode 1 was solid if not outstanding, but they've even screwed that up. Enemies now possess copious amounts of HP, and the strategy you're supposed to employ is to unleash chain reactions by prudent use of the "boost" feature and 1-2 combos. The problem with this is that to utilize either requires waiting or blowing a few turns on the "stock" command, and even then the boost meter is unpredictable and unreliable. This is especially frustrating on bosses and tougher enemies, whose "break points" may require combination attacks higher than the standard 1-2 chains, meaning that you have to have enough boost to have several of your party members cut in the turn order in rapid succession. (And even then, it's unlikely they'll all have enough stocked specials to do significant damage.) It is, not unlike the storyline, unnecessarily complex and extremely cumbersome. There just isn't any flow at all, it's mostly waiting and hoping. Standard encounters sometimes take upwards of five frustrating minutes, and there's no "run" command to escape unwanted battles.
The characters have been redesigned, most not for the better. Likewise, the English dub cast has also been replaced, again, not for the better. There is actually BGM now, so you have something to listen to other than incessant footsteps, but, while most of it is pleasant, very little is memorable. Quite a far cry from Mitsuda's best.
The one thing I do really like are the environments. There's alot of differentiation even within the Trekky theme, and there are some unique locations. (One early dungeon takes place entirely in an old midwest country setting like something pulled straight out of a Grant Wood painting, a visual theme which I don't believe I've ever encountered in a game up to this point.) I think the most fun I had was in the first portion of the game when I was running around Second Miltia taking in the sights, and even that just made me wish for a more dynamic camera.
I'm rapidly losing faith in Monolithsoft. Whatever it was that happened with the original Xenogears, I don't think it's going to happen again. "This broken bird, away it flies."
One of the major problems with the original Xenosaga (and to a large extent even Xenogears) is that the story is damn near incomprehensible. Episode 2 starts waist-deep in it, so now not only do I still not have any clue what's going on, I've forgotten most of what I did understand the first time. I've also stopped caring about most of it. There are two sides to the Xeno coin: the deep, controversial side that makes extensive use of Christian symbology and the philosophical questions associated, and the cheesy geekbait side that makes extensive use of every generic sci-fi anime cliché there is. Tragically, it is the latter that takes precedence to the point that any surviving anti-religious themes are suffocated by this smothering miasma of mediocrity.
Unfortunately, even if you choose to disregard the story and skip through the extensive cutscenes, there isn't much to look forward to in the interims. Combat-wise, Episode 1 was solid if not outstanding, but they've even screwed that up. Enemies now possess copious amounts of HP, and the strategy you're supposed to employ is to unleash chain reactions by prudent use of the "boost" feature and 1-2 combos. The problem with this is that to utilize either requires waiting or blowing a few turns on the "stock" command, and even then the boost meter is unpredictable and unreliable. This is especially frustrating on bosses and tougher enemies, whose "break points" may require combination attacks higher than the standard 1-2 chains, meaning that you have to have enough boost to have several of your party members cut in the turn order in rapid succession. (And even then, it's unlikely they'll all have enough stocked specials to do significant damage.) It is, not unlike the storyline, unnecessarily complex and extremely cumbersome. There just isn't any flow at all, it's mostly waiting and hoping. Standard encounters sometimes take upwards of five frustrating minutes, and there's no "run" command to escape unwanted battles.
The characters have been redesigned, most not for the better. Likewise, the English dub cast has also been replaced, again, not for the better. There is actually BGM now, so you have something to listen to other than incessant footsteps, but, while most of it is pleasant, very little is memorable. Quite a far cry from Mitsuda's best.
The one thing I do really like are the environments. There's alot of differentiation even within the Trekky theme, and there are some unique locations. (One early dungeon takes place entirely in an old midwest country setting like something pulled straight out of a Grant Wood painting, a visual theme which I don't believe I've ever encountered in a game up to this point.) I think the most fun I had was in the first portion of the game when I was running around Second Miltia taking in the sights, and even that just made me wish for a more dynamic camera.
I'm rapidly losing faith in Monolithsoft. Whatever it was that happened with the original Xenogears, I don't think it's going to happen again. "This broken bird, away it flies."