Xenosaga is an anomaly first and foremost. It's a game that can better be called a rabbit hole to dive into. For most players their relationship to the game both in its release and long after are primarily juxtaposed to other titles, either xenogears or xenoblade. It creates a barrier between the audience and the art which is intentional with gears at least. A fan of both will want a fast-paced story with major revelations, action, and cool anime girls. Xenosaga isn't really that speed, episode 1 as the game is titled, is identified by its questioning and contemplation. It is understood by these titles but rarely understood and appreciated for what it is.
Though what I feel makes this somewhat hard for fans is how inherently unique xenosaga is. Xenosaga is centered around Shion Uzuki. She's a polarizing character to say the very least and one that makes xenosaga special. To quote a review on this site (aAAAAAA, 05/24) "Shion, the main character was very unlikable. She's stuck-up, not very cool and her English voice sounds like your aunt."
From release to over 20 years later Shion defines this video game. She controversial, contemporarily an employee, incredibly empathetic, abrasive, and not the norm for any video game character from her own series to the medium at large. The most she has in common with the protagonists in her own series is being traumatized. Xenosaga is unlike the "finished" for better or worse gears or competently finished blade where we see the personal journey conclude in the other Xeno games. In saga we are given a very limited amount of time with Shion. She's juggling her own responsibilities from her job, her emotional connection to Kosmos, to managing her emails while other dimensional space aliens are attacking. Counting the times she says “it's nothing” to avoid and hide away her troubles points to Xenosaga’s strength as an opening to the story. I am sure as I reach the end of this trilogy, I will better grasp what Shes experiencing within a replay. Her talking about knowing anti psychotics is already interesting to catch. It's filled to the brim with information and foreshadowing. Uncovering its mysteries along with understanding the extended cast is how one connects to this title.
The larger cast as a whole is your more typical cast of role-playing games. We have Kosmos a super powerful robot girl, Ziggy a cyborg man, Momo a young girl Realian (part modified human part robot) with two characters a bit outside the mold with Chaos and Jr. Their stories and descriptions already tell you that this game is the most Sci-Fi out of any rpg I've played outside of mass effect. The setting and aesthetic of xenosaga culminates in a game that isn't replicated by any other title I've seen. Many reviews often note how the lack of music in environments creates a dull experience. Though much like serial experiments lain the Humm of electricity, robots, alarms, and other environmental elements fits the story being told. A large majority of the game is set within spaceships and in space at large. The stillness you find in xenosaga feels natural as space doesn't carry sound after all. Being in the Elsa, a ship craft used by the cast, leaves you either with tension or calmness due to this open nature. In Xenosaga you witness a lot of tragedy and trauma. Both in larger scale and in more intimate scenes. Much like gears before it the undercurrent of mental illness runs through it just more silently. Xenosaga 1 is an experience that leaves you with a lot of questions that rewards you for peering deeper into them. Using a database multiple years before ff13 caught the flack. Games that award the audience with this introspection should be praised. It's uncompromising within its design as it exists.
Xenosaga is a game that is completely connected to its goal of being the entry point to a psychologically driven story. It's a game that offers you the most human look into a female lead I've seen and that should be compelling enough for anyone to play xenosaga. Xenosaga both in real life and in its own world, is a fascinating story that leaves one wanting to know more. The fact that there were originally 6 full games in this series and the development as a whole being rocky fills me and I imagine many fans with intrigue over what could have been. Though we only have what we do, and I am so excited to go further into this rabbit hole to find out what happens both in the game and real life.
Though what I feel makes this somewhat hard for fans is how inherently unique xenosaga is. Xenosaga is centered around Shion Uzuki. She's a polarizing character to say the very least and one that makes xenosaga special. To quote a review on this site (aAAAAAA, 05/24) "Shion, the main character was very unlikable. She's stuck-up, not very cool and her English voice sounds like your aunt."
From release to over 20 years later Shion defines this video game. She controversial, contemporarily an employee, incredibly empathetic, abrasive, and not the norm for any video game character from her own series to the medium at large. The most she has in common with the protagonists in her own series is being traumatized. Xenosaga is unlike the "finished" for better or worse gears or competently finished blade where we see the personal journey conclude in the other Xeno games. In saga we are given a very limited amount of time with Shion. She's juggling her own responsibilities from her job, her emotional connection to Kosmos, to managing her emails while other dimensional space aliens are attacking. Counting the times she says “it's nothing” to avoid and hide away her troubles points to Xenosaga’s strength as an opening to the story. I am sure as I reach the end of this trilogy, I will better grasp what Shes experiencing within a replay. Her talking about knowing anti psychotics is already interesting to catch. It's filled to the brim with information and foreshadowing. Uncovering its mysteries along with understanding the extended cast is how one connects to this title.
The larger cast as a whole is your more typical cast of role-playing games. We have Kosmos a super powerful robot girl, Ziggy a cyborg man, Momo a young girl Realian (part modified human part robot) with two characters a bit outside the mold with Chaos and Jr. Their stories and descriptions already tell you that this game is the most Sci-Fi out of any rpg I've played outside of mass effect. The setting and aesthetic of xenosaga culminates in a game that isn't replicated by any other title I've seen. Many reviews often note how the lack of music in environments creates a dull experience. Though much like serial experiments lain the Humm of electricity, robots, alarms, and other environmental elements fits the story being told. A large majority of the game is set within spaceships and in space at large. The stillness you find in xenosaga feels natural as space doesn't carry sound after all. Being in the Elsa, a ship craft used by the cast, leaves you either with tension or calmness due to this open nature. In Xenosaga you witness a lot of tragedy and trauma. Both in larger scale and in more intimate scenes. Much like gears before it the undercurrent of mental illness runs through it just more silently. Xenosaga 1 is an experience that leaves you with a lot of questions that rewards you for peering deeper into them. Using a database multiple years before ff13 caught the flack. Games that award the audience with this introspection should be praised. It's uncompromising within its design as it exists.
Xenosaga is a game that is completely connected to its goal of being the entry point to a psychologically driven story. It's a game that offers you the most human look into a female lead I've seen and that should be compelling enough for anyone to play xenosaga. Xenosaga both in real life and in its own world, is a fascinating story that leaves one wanting to know more. The fact that there were originally 6 full games in this series and the development as a whole being rocky fills me and I imagine many fans with intrigue over what could have been. Though we only have what we do, and I am so excited to go further into this rabbit hole to find out what happens both in the game and real life.