Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht

Written by Matt Partington on July 23, 2002

Updated Look: Not like your average lackluster Star Wars prequel...

When Square released Xenogears 1998, it raised a lot of controversy. With a thought-provoking plot about religion and God, it touched down on some very sensitive subjects. Regardless, its engulfing storyline, great gameplay, and memorable characters made Xenogears one of the most admired games on the PlayStation console, with a fervid and loyal fan-base. Despite that, Xenogears wasn't what it could've been, even producer Tetsuya Takahashi knows that. After Xenogears' release, Nearly 50 Square members left, not liking the limitations of working for such a large company. Led by Takahashi himself, Monolith Soft (not to be confused with Monolith, developers of No One Lives Forever) is developing Xenosaga, a subsidiary of Namco. With 40 ex-Square employees (20 who worked on Xenogears), and total staff of 70, Takahashi is hoping Xenosaga will be Xenogears, done right.

The official name to Xenosaga is Xenosaga Episode 1: Der Wille zur Macht, which is German for УThe Will to Power.Ф Xenosaga is an unofficial prequel to Xenogears (not official, for obvious legal issues). The easiest way to imagine it is just like Star Wars. Technically speaking, Xenosaga is six chapter series, not one single game. Episode 1 obviously being the first, and Xenogears being the fifth. Whether СGears will be remade is still yet to be determined-Takahashi actually doesn't even know if the games will go in exact order. Despite Xenosaga being an entirely new franchise, it still keeps the core concepts and elements of Xenogears.

Xenosaga takes place in the distant (very distant) future when humans have long abandoned Earth (now known as УLost JerusalemФ) for an unknown reason. Humans have expanded across more than a half million planets. This colony of planets is named the Star Cluster Federation. They're connected by a system of portals called Unus Mundus Network, or U.M.N for short. U.M.N is controlled by Vector, a large intergalactic militia who protects and controls the human race. Vector has a much larger problem-the Gnosis. The Gnosis are a mysterious race who are out to destroy all of humanity. The Gnosis' motivation is not known by mankind. They travel in large groups and have already taken out several human societies. Vector is not left without defense though. They've created the Anti Gnosis = Weapon System (AGWS). Piloted by Vector soldiers, AGWS' are large robots that detect and attempt to kill Gnosis droids. (AGWS' are actually the Mech robots similar to the ones you see in Xenogears.) It's Vector's only defense against the Gnosis, and the only thing saving the human race from total extermination. As you can tell, Xenosaga's plot is very deep and complex; this is just the gist of things.

Xenosaga Episode 1 boasts a gigantic cast. In the middle is Shion Uzuki, a 22-year-old female who has experienced severe personal tragedies which she keeps to herself (similar to Fei Fong Wong in СGears, actually). Shion leads the KOS-MOS development project. KOS-MOS is another character in Xenosaga. Technically, KOS-MOS is the common name for a particular type of android built to destroy the Gnosis. The KOS-MOS that plays a large role in the Xenosaga series is Chitsujo, a female who's estimated to be 18.

Chaos is another character, male, who's past is terra incognita. I could go on and on about Shion, KOS-MOS, Junior, Chaos, M.O.M.O, Hammer, Tonny, Wilehm, Virgil, and the twenty or so other Xenosaga cast members, but it'd probably just bore you. What's interesting is that many of the main characters aren't flesh and bones, but they're violent killing androids that have the external looks of a human and the same habits. One thing that's for sure: Xenosaga has plenty of characters, all who seem to play good roles.

Xenosaga's visuals look fantastic. Most obviously influenced by anime, the characters all hold great detail. The best part? It's all done in realtime 3D. Basically, the game is split up into three pieces: cinemas, battles, and journey. The cinemas are absolutely beautiful, with high-res character models. Not only that, but there's voice-acting throughout all the cut-scenes (whoohoo!). The characters are lower-res in battles, but still are full of movement. Even though the cameras are still like Resident Evil, the environments are fully 3D, not pre-rendered. The visuals, and the visual style are sure to impress you on some level.

Xenosaga puts a very good spin on conventional RPG battles. There are no random battles, all of your enemies are seen on your radar and map. If you get within a certain radius of the enemy, they will start to pursue you. There are ways around this though. Since they're only sensitive to sound, you can tip-toe by them without getting caught. Also, if you're being followed, you can set traps down so they get caught. This provides many more options than just avoiding them or battling. Position is also important. If you're caught off-guard, then the enemy will get the tactical advantage. This also works the other way around.

One of the best features of Xenogears was the great battle system. Since several of the Xenogears members later worked on Chrono Cross, similar elements transferred over. Even though Xenosaga's battle system isn't like Xenogears', it's remotely like Cross'. You have all the basic options: attack, item, spell, and so on. Some characters are close-combat fighters, while other shoot projectile weapons. We're Hopefully there will be a good deal of Mech fighting, too. Each character is supposed to have their own unique sorts of spells.

The soundtrack is done by the great Yasunori Mitsuda, responsible for doing beautiful scores for such games as Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Shadow Hearts, and more. Much of the songs are very orchestral, and have bits of folk in them. Just like always, we can predict a high-caliber soundtrack from one of the best gaming composers around. We can also assume that the English voice-acting will be top-notch, but that's yet to be determined.

According to Takahashi, Xenosaga is a vacation from the traditional RPG. Not only will the storyline provide a unique experience, the gameplay will too. Instead of wizards, swords and the fantasy setting, Xenosaga is played almost entirely in outer space-something unprecedented in an RPG. Xenosaga also features a good bit of mini-games to keep the gameplay interesting. СSaga is definitely an RPG that breaks away from conventional.