Xenosaga was always going to be a hard sell. A long, cut-scene heavy turn-based RPG with a ton of thematic narrative that is often confusing and a bit too "intellectual" for its own good, the series did see generally positive reviews yet failed to truly capture an audience the way other franchises had. The biggest problem facing the third installment of the trilogy was that it was never planned to be a trilogy. The original concept had called for a six-part story, so after the middling success of Episode II, they dramatically re-worked Episode III.
It feels exactly that way, as well. At times, the story unfolds in a natural pace. Half of the game takes place in the past, having players revisit events we had already been exposed to in the previous game. That stretch seems absurdly long given all the major points of the final three games had to be condensed into one. Why waste time showing us this thing that appears to have so little to do with anything?
Admittedly, Xenosaga's story is itself inherently a mixed bag. It is dense and heavy on many different philosophical themes that can easily be appealing to players looking for more thought-provoking stories. Conversely, it is so cryptic for so long that it can be difficult to follow. When a ten minute cutscene starts playing after a battle, it is easy for players to simply zone out or, in today's time, double screen. Episode III wisely includes a database in the menus - a source of information players can refer to when they don't exactly remember who was who or what organization was what. The writers often do a poor job explaining things in a way that makes any sense to viewers, though the characters in-game seem to have all the knowledge in the universe.
In fact, the push for religious and philosophical themes often comes at the cost of the characters. Despite some neat design and a few of them being overall "cool," they hardly exist as anything other than pawns in the larger focus of the story. Jr. got a fair amount of attention in the second game, as did MOMO, but plenty of characters don't get adequate exploration or explanation - especially chaos.
By virtue of compressing more story into a single game, Episode III also manages to feel a lot less technically special. Cutscenes are still prominent, but the bulk of the narrative and dialogue now gets displayed through motionless text-boxes. It almost plays more like a comic book than a video game, with speech appearing next to an image of the character. Clearly, this was done to maximize the amount of space they could use for additional levels, cutscenes, and other elements of the game, hoping to elongate it.
That isn't the only shortcut it appears to have taken. The ultimate strength of the previous games were their somewhat unique gameplay systems. Episode I had a fun combat system built off its predecessor Xenogears that made it stand out from other RPGs like Final Fantasy or Breath of Fire. Episode II introduced the boost and break system, as well as add elements of chaining series of attacks together for added damage. Here, the game takes a much more traditional approach to battles. It plays almost exactly like any other RPG with the exception of the "break" bar. Every combatant on the screen has a health bar and a break bar. When a player's break bar is filled, they essentially get knocked out for a couple of rounds. Turns are skipped and, more importantly, any damage taken is amplified. Managing health and break stats during the battle adds a small amount of complexity to fighting, but it's still ultimately very simple and streamlined. Similarly, leveling up takes a pretty linear approach as well.
Mech battles are a little smoother than in the previous two games, but still sees some of the problems. Really, the big issue present in the first game never gets even remotely addressed throughout the trilogy. If the most egregious design issue is that the rules that apply to players do not apply to the AI enemies, especially bosses, then Episode III takes those to almost new heights. Bosses, in particular the last set of them, are so full of unfair cheap shots that it can really test one's resolve to even keep trying.
On some level, it's frustrating to get through all of three games, over sixty hours of game, and then get a string of "final bosses" that feel so incredibly unfair that you just decide it's not worth it to bother trying. Or, alternatively, grind. Side quests are so tedious throughout the series that it often feels like homework.
In many ways, the entirety of Xenosaga is noticeably dated, yet the trilogy did have moments of promise. There are combat elements that could have been more widely used and adapted throughout the genre that the turn-based RPG could have continued on. The concept of mech fights with their own separate mechanics could have resulted in something better. Yet it still suffers from poor level design (Episode III seriously has some of the most tedious levels in any game reviewed on this blog), a battle system and leveling system constantly watered down, and an over-reliance on cutscenes - all some of the worst aspects that the game industry had to offer in the early aughts.
There are interesting aspects to the trilogy. And to be sure, there are plenty of older RPGs worth revisiting that, yes, do still feel a little dated, but don't feel negatively so. However, the Xenosaga trilogy is not one of them.
REDUCTIVE RATING: Kinda Bad.
Available On: PS2
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