Xenosaga: Episode I - Der Wille zur Macht

The first disc of Xenogears had extremely long text scenes as well. Not just the second disc, even though it definetly has much more.

 

Okay, one question. I was playing EQ all day and it's four in the morning, so I haven't played Xenosaga yet, but I opened it to read the book only to find, there was no book. Was there supposed to be a manual?

 

Ya there should be a manual. Every game has an instruction book of some degree.

 

So far I have only gotten to the first save point but I love the game!

 

I am on the ship now. I want to hurry up and get more characters to play.

 

So you still loving it? I heard the plot gets CRAZY.

 

Finally got the game today. As expected, the English voice acting is pretty mediocre and detracts from the experience, but oh well. Otherwise, I'm liking the game so far. I've noticed a few somewhat familiar things so far, which is nice. That mysterious red-haired girl looks a heck of a lot like Elly and even has a similar pendant. Her original voice actor was Touma Yumi, who also did Elly's voice. Hm... On a related note, I really like Touma Yumi's work, so not being able to hear her in the US version is a big disappointment. If I find out that Midorikawa Hikaru, Ueda Yuuji, and/or Kawakami Tomoko had roles in the Japanese version, I'm gonna be really upset...

 

Damn this game rox!!

I am finally getting to level up on the ship. So far I am only on level 9.

 

I'm about 8 hours in now and I have a few compliments and criticisms:

The Good: It's really cool that you can designate a different character as your avatar in the field. Being stuck staring at the same character running around the game for almost the entire game becomes pretty boring. This is actually a feature I've really been hoping for in a next-gen RPG.

Being able to return to "dungeons" (and I use the word very lightly) and pick up items you've missed is a big plus. It means I don't have to worry so much about finding every item the first time.

The Bad: The ship interiors are constructed very illogically, and it's quite annoying and hurts the immersion fact. A good floor plan allows you to get around quickly and easily, unlike this game's maze-like designs.

It's also far too easy to miss emails, and subsequently very good items. You really have to search for some of them and you generally only have one chance. Being the compulsive collector that I am, I just can't stand the thought of missing something, so I'm basically relegated to following the email checklist on GameFAQs. I've already missed a few, unfortunately, but I really don't feel like restarting just to get them.

 

Okay, I'm really annoyed with this game right now. I spent a good hour or so leveling up and collecting money when the game froze up as I was trying to open a door. I reset and tried to open the door again and again it froze up on me. I absolutely have to open that door to finish a side quest. Grr...

 

This comes from a higher power:

If that's decoder 16 you're trying to access, I wouldn't worry too much about it. The only thing in there is a stim DX.

You might try setting Jr. as your lead character, but that doesn't always work. At any rate it's nothing important.

 

Yeah, that's it. Are you having the same problem or something? At any rate, I've restarted the game. I missed quite a few important emails and made some mistakes with tech points, so that's been nagging me a bit. Thank goodness for the ability to skip story sequences. That'll probably cut my play time in half.

 

I have finally gotten Ziggy and MOMO. I am 13hrs in playtime now.

 

It took me about 5 and a half hours to get to where I was before I restarted, which, as expected, is a little more than half of my initial play time. It seems like 50% of the game really is story sequences. At any rate, my party is in much better shape now and I haven't missed anything yet.

Anyway, I've been looking through a spoiler free walkthru and have noticed that the Cathedral Ship (which I'm about to enter) is about mid-way through the game. My first time through, it only took me 12 hours to get to that point, so I'm a little worried that there isn't a whole lot of game left. I can't fathom how it'll last me 80 hours as promised on the box, or even 50 which is my usual RPG clear time. Can anyone assuage my fears?

 

I always just spend hours and hours leveling up.

MAN! Marguilis sux! I hate him. The guy made me spend 50+ Med Kit S!

 

You don't have to beat him. I didn't even bother.

I was reading IGN's review of the game and it confirmed my fears. The game's really only around 30-40 hours long. I find that extremely disappointing. I like long RPGs that I can really delve into for a week or two. I've heard the claims that this game has such an epic story and such great characterizations, but I'm halfway through it already and I haven't really seen either yet. In light of this revelation, I've sort've lost my drive to play.

Also, apparently it does not take place in the Xenogears universe, which is another disappointment.

 

well you have3 to remember now that NAMCO is making this game so the it can't stay exactly to the xenogears story outline in perfect works. but there is still alot of similar things between xenosaga and xenogears:

- Zohar off course
- Nephilim is very similoar to elly and the mother "kadomony" mentioned in xenogears
- Abel or FEi is seen for a few seconds in one cutscene, playing with some blocks
- Albedo's robot is larger and more powerful than the normal AGWS and could be the first "gear'
- Proto Merkabah and DEUS aer both superweapons powerd by Zohar
- the gnosis are like the wells
- JIn uzkui looks like citan

Think of xenosaga as the 2nd draft of xenogears, not the same thing.

anyways i don't know Why people expecet rpgs to be mroe than 40 hours long. MOst of the longer ones have really stupid and boring sidequests like chocobo breeding. I only wish that the AGWS werent' to weak in this game, after a while your tech attacks do way more hits than AGWS atacsk

 

Yeah, there are some similarities, but I had been operating under the impression since I first heard about Xenosaga that it literally would be a prequel to Xenogears. I guess I'll take what I can get, though.

As for Shion, I've also noticed her similarities to Citan (aside from the last name). Their gestures and body language are very much alike. Of course, "Citan Uzuki" is an assumed name and Abel and Elly were the only ones who actually survived the Eldrige crash (I think), so even if Xenosaga were part of the Xenogears universe, it's unlikely that there'd be any relation.

Adding to how short the game is, I've noticed that there really aren't many techs, skills, items, or ether abilities, so it's also a bit too brief in the gameplay department. Not that the game system itself isn't good, there just isn't enough of it.

Overall, while I prefer Xenosaga's battle system, I'd have to say that Xenogears is the superior game.

 

I dunno, xenogears got really repetative on disc 2 with all the text reading plus it loaded as slow as hell. I also don't like the rotating camera. It's not that long either, I had my charcters maxed out and did all the side quests in 50 hours.

Chu-Chu at max levels = better than any gear

 

Still quite a bit longer than Xenosaga, though. Much more story, many more items, abilities, places to explore, etc. I must say I'm a bit amazed that you could have Chu-Chu so powerful after only 50 hours, though.

 

So who is everyones best party?

I like Ziggy Chaos and KOS-MOS.

 

Ziggy is teh sux. I like KOS-MOS/Shion/chaos, though sometimes I substitute MOMO in place of chaos since she can steal rare items. Plus I got her Floral Tempest up so high that she can do very impressive damage against enemies weak to ether.

 

KOS-MOS is the best character. I also use Shion and Chaos.

 

The game doesn't take nearly 80 horus to beat. Some have beat it at around 30 hours. However, all the side quests and stuff add a lot of playtime. But still, 30 hours is a LONG game. Sure it's not as long as Xenogears, but there arent't many games out there that are.

 

Thirty hours isn't long for an RPG. Most RPGs take me between 50 and 60 hours to beat. With sidequests, those numbers can be significantly inflated. Heck, I spent 120 hours on my first trip through Final Fantasy X. I think what's really noticable about Xenosaga's shortness is that there really aren't that many different areas in the game and the story itself isn't very long (despite the lengthy cut scenes). Xenosaga seems more like a long movie to me, with Xenogears being more of a long book. Additionally, Xenosaga simply lacks the epic scale of Xenogears, though I'm willing to forgive that given that 'gears was made to be a stand-alone release and 'saga the first in a series.

On a different note, before I even picked up the game, I had a feeling KOS-MOS would be my favorite character. I was right. I'd never take her out of my party if I had the choice (well, except if I wanted to build other characters up).

One thing I really commend Xenosaga for is the ability to remove the main character (Shion) from your active party (normally). The inability to do so in many other RPGs has been a real pet peeve of mine.