Title: XenoSaga III: Also Sprach Zarathustra

Date: 09.18.2006

Genre: RPG

Platform: PlayStation 2

Developer: Monolight Productions

Publisher: Namco Bandai Games

Trap Tripping

Both Episode 1 and Episode 2 featured various forms of “Traps” in dungeons- essentially destructible machines in an environment that, when triggered, initiated a short lived “energy field” that would stun nearby enemies and subsequently provide initial bonuses for the first round of combat. Episode 3 retains the “Trap” dynamic, but with a twist: the player has complete control over their placement and use. Shortly after the game begins, Shion obtains a cache of Traps (which resemble the Roomba vacuum cleaner), 10 of which may be held at once; restocking available at any item store. To use these gizmos, simply hold down the L2 button and a small icon will appear a few steps away from the PC. After deciding where to place it, press the Square button to drop it, and then the Square button again to destroy it with the Connection Gear. Not only will it stun enemies (and hopefully allow you to sneak around behind them to initiate a “Pre-emptive Strike”) but you will also gain a bonus +1 stock to the Boost Gauge.

You've Got Style

Episode 3's gameplay gimmick this time around is the “Style Line”, a more streamlined build of the ability expansion system seen in Episodes 1 and 2. The Style Line itself consists of a dual branching path, one route focusing typically on offensive abilities, the other on defensive; it varies character-by-character however. In addition to the main lines, players can find “Extra Styles” throughout the game, which add additional clusters to make use of.

The premise itself is quite simple: Each Style cluster consists of 4 different nodules, all of which must be “purchased” to Master that particular cluster and move onto the next, more powerful one. The nodules themselves get more and more expensive as you move from cluster to cluster, and hence by the end of the game it requires an impressive amount of Tech Points to activate even one nodule. The nodules themselves come in 3 varieties: Technical Abilities, Ether Abilities, and Parameter Adjustments, the latter appearing as both outright status boosting functions (i.e. “Strength +2) as well as more innate varieties such as “Critical Hit Up”.

While the system is indeed easy to use and offers some direction in terms of each character's growth (note that everyone independently gains skills or Ether abilities at set intervals when the Level Up), it unfortunately does very little to encourage use of “superfluous” cast members. Depending on the player, there is usually two or three characters in the Xenosaga games whom are always regulated to the sidelines, a product of the game's 7 PCs and regulation of only 3 on-screen at a time. MOMO, the Realian prototype resembling a young girl, is hands-down the most useless character in the series, all the more so in Episode 3. chaos (first letter deliberately lowercase) also remains relatively superfluous (both in terms of combat and more-or-less the story as well), and either Jr. or Ziggurat 8 (Ziggy) will sit out for mostly the entire game. Esentially, the player can make use of Shion, her brother Jin, and KOS-MOS and not have any problems.

Worse yet, sidelining a character isn't even a big deal anymore, as the rate in decrease for experience and ability point growth in a “Reserve Character” is hardly even noticeable. It's possible to sideline a PC for the entire game and still have a character who is at most 1-2 levels below those used constantly. On the one hand this alleviates the self-imposed feeling of “guilt” associated with not using a character, but at the same time it also creates no need to bring them into combat (“Attacker”) at all. If one makes use of the Break Gauge dynamic, there is a small need given each character's elemental specialty, however it's insignificant at best. In short, MOMO is as useless and pointless as ever (why she wasn't replaced after Episode 2 ended is a shame).

On a final note, it should be pointed out that abilities pertaining to Gnosis (the mysterious salt-based alien lifeforms that wreak havoc on the galaxy) are all but useless: Xenosaga is no longer concerned with these creatures save for a small cut scene, and hence some 95% of all opponents are either Biological based or Machine based.

Monolithic Mini-Game

GeMix-this is the name of the mammoth mini-game that players can spend hours and hours on should they choose. Totally optional (except for initiating a story sequence), this element unfortunately provides for basically all of the diversional elements to be had (read: side quests are basically non-existent). GeMix is a simplistic puzzle game wherein you must direct an avatar on a grid from the “Start Point” to the “Goal”. As you progress through the stages, the boards get more and more difficult, requiring creative thinking techniques to reach the goal. There are 100-odd pre-created levels to challenge, and even the ability to create custom made stages with which to provide for new experiences.

While the “Get Global Campaign” from Xenosaga Episode 2 may have been somewhat stale and repetitive at times, it did at the very least, facilitate a constant persistence of things to do outside of the main quest. It's a bit vapid, to say the least, to run through Episode 3 and not do much outside of advancing the story.

Fortunately, Monolith retained the use of the “Segment File” completion quest. Early into the game, the player obtains a “Segment File”, used to keep track of the various “Segment Doors” (explained in Episode 1 as anomalies in time-space or something to that extent) and “Segment Keys”. Rarely is a key located near the subsequent door it opens, and one must backtrack to prior dungeons or areas to retrieve the powerful items contained inside each door's concealed treasure chests. Of course as the game offers no world map whatsoever (at least not in a realistic sense), backtracking is a simplistic process facilitated by entering a “U.M.N. Dive Device” that utilizes advanced technology to jump into a PC's memory, into an artificially re-created environment-in short, it's a transporter.

Sound Crime

Musically speaking, Xenosaga Episode 3 is deplorable, offering one of the most generic, disposable soundtracks in gaming history, and by far the poorest offering in the entire Xeno-series. Fans of numerous Squaresoft games are familiar with the name “Yasunori Mitsuda”, his music gracing such titles as Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross and, of course, Xenogears. When Monolith/Namco announced Mitsuda would be retained for Xenosaga Episode 1, it was like a dream come true. While the music for said game wasn't nearly as memorable as that of its spiritual successor, the content sounded fitting and fantastic, instantly creating an aural connection to the former tales of the Zohar. For reasons unknown, Mitsuda did not compose the music for Episode 2, however despite this loss, Yuki Kajiura managed to create a satisfactory score with another composer creating all the in-game music for a more-or-less well rounded package.

Apparently Kajiura's talent dried up a few years ago, however, because Episode 3's music is just abominable, to say the least. Absolutely nothing is memorable, and absolutely everything sounds like generic “moody” elevator music. The more “acceptable” Event Music essentially sounds like watered down content from Episode 2 (hell, some of it IS from Episode 2) but the vast majority is nothing short of annoying and distracting. It's an absolute crime to watch a poignant story moment “graced” by some of the most banal, trite music ever composed. Combat music is equally lacking, composed of seemingly 25 seconds of actual music that loops ad-nauseum. As it seems unlikely the staff at Monolith lost their hearing, it becomes impossible to fathom who exactly approved music so poor it actually undermines an otherwise satisfactory (and at times exceptional) game. It may sound stupid to complain about music, but just think back to say, the death of Aerith Gainsborough, to recall just how important it is.

Fortunately, the voice acting is in-tact as always-one might even want to offer an award to the Japanese Xenosaga voice staff as they've miraculously found it in their hearts (or rather, bank accounts) to reprise their respective roles throughout not only the PS2 trilogy, but in every other product relating to Xenosaga as well, including the pitiful anime series mentioned earlier. All of the content is top-notch, with emotions flowing when necessary and all the other attributes of voice actors, as opposed to the no-talent nobodies who seem to comprise a majority of voice acting in North America. One can only guess as to what the English language version of Episode 3 may sound like after some of the awful changes made during Episode 2 (namely the “talent” who voiced KOS-MOS).

The Beginning of the End

It's difficult to pass final judgment on Xenosaga Episode 3, to be sure. Put in perspective of the trilogy-and only the trilogy-the game is by-and-large the best installment. Despite the gross simplicity of the combat system, its fast paced nature lends itself well to the often frequent bouts of fighting. The graphics are by far the best (if not the best seen on the PlayStation 2 as a whole), the characters and environments looking sharp. Even the cut-scenes, while hobbled by their “interactivity” are still of interest. Indeed at its conclusion, Episode 3 ends exactly where the it's suppose to, as chronicled in Perfect Works, straight down to the last dungeon's name and location. Despite all this however, there is a distinct feeling of loss: both in terms of the near-millennia worth of story that will never see fruition, and in terms of the actual game itself-when push comes to shove, too much of Xenosaga has been non-interactive cut scenes with the actual play experience being an afterthought.

There is absolutely no excuse why the game (if not trilogy as a whole) could not contain more environments, locations, and dungeons. How is it that Tri-Ace's Star Ocean games can span an entire universe and allow for dozens of towns and dungeons, yet Xenosaga regulated itself to a whopping 1-2 civilian areas per game, and some 6-odd dungeons per “game”. Xenogears took some 40-60 hours to complete, in no small part because of its acceptable number of locations. Why is it that one must technically count the entire Xenosaga trilogy as a single “entity” in order to arrive at a satisfying product? Is one really supposed to believe it took Monolith Soft some 2+ years to create the paltry amount of content seen in Episode 3? If this is the “end all” of Xenosaga, why not actually go all out and put in dozens of locations and towns? Why not cram more into the 2 DVDs which comprise the game (especially Disc 2)? Why not allow gamers more time to revel in the astonishingly realized futuristic society so painstakingly created?

Series Speculation

Looking at Zohar saga as part of a larger entity, it is horrendously incomplete, with some 8000 years worth of history that now remains untold. Perhaps-and this is only speculation-some time in the future, Monolith will announce a new series with the word “Xeno” in the title. Perhaps, this series will entail the events that lead up to Xenogears, events which (just like those in Episodes 1-3) Mr. Takahashi created over a decade ago. Though unlikely, it does indeed seem possible that rather than making one long game series (as Bandai did with .Hack), Monolith sought to reinvasion the time line with a set number of games for each major series of events, and thus the Xenosaga series was truly meant to be the “Zohar Engine Chapter”. On the other hand, it seems far more likely that Xenosaga was indeed meant to be a massive epic that got cut short by poor sales, internal staff problems, and a relatively disinterested public…a shame really, because the staff at Monolith are creative geniuses to be sure.

Game Score

A-

Reviewed By: Ashley Winchester