Xenosaga Series
I can’t even begin to describe how good of a value this trilogy is. Xenosaga is a space opera that takes place hundreds of years after mankind has left the cradle of Earth. If you ever played Xenogears for the PS1, this is the prequel to that series. They wax very philosophical in this series, this time around focusing in on the teachings of Frederick Niche (hence all the German subtitles). Its some pretty heavy stuff but it makes for a good story, how could it not when the source material, Niche, went crazy after seeing a donkey being beaten and declared himself Dionysis the Crucified. Needless to say, your going to have a lot to wrap your mind around by the time the series is over.
It was originally slated to be a six game series, but they ended up having to wrap it up in three. However, thats three jam packed games that won’t cost you much money. I will warn you upfront though, you need to be someone that enjoys cut-scenes to really get the most out of these games. I’m talking cut-scenes that sometimes go on for longer then an hour. Fortunately, you can pause them at any time and come back if you need a break. This is usually the making or breaking point for people that play these games. Some people will say “if I wanted to watch a movie I’d watch a movie” while others will be very impressed at how cinematic the whole experience is. It does help that the London Philharmoic Orchestra lends their talent to many of the cutscenes with some excellent music recorded for the game.
The graphics run the gambit from passable to quite good. These games all came out a year or so apart from one another so Xenosaga 1 is obviously going to be a little less graphically impressive as episodes 2 and 3. However, the CG sequences in all the games hold up quite well. The majority of the cutscenes take place within the game engine and basically comes across as an anime series. In fact, they actually made an anime series based on the game material. You can catch it on Netflix if you are so inclined. In the end, the graphics really are quite good and make impressive work of the PS2.
As far as sound goes, well as I’ve said before quite a bit of the music was recorded by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The voice acting is decent, it never got on my nerves. Quite a bit of the dialogue is voiced, but you are ocassionally going to be hit by a wall of text. Overall the sound is a benefit to the game and an asset to the overall experience.
The story is in a word, deep. This is a series that you could probably play through five times and still not get your mind around everything thats going on. In this case thats really not a bad thing as there is always a mystery that you want answered to keep you playing. Because the games are based on the works of a philosopher you can expect many complex and sometimes uncomfortable issues to be covered such as religion, slavery, rights, and what constitutes a living being. Ultimately its an enjoyable experience whether or not you ever truely understand whats really going on.
Each one of these games clocks in at around 80 hours of gameplay. You can pick them up off of Amazon or Ebay for $60 total if your lucky. Or sometimes (very rarely) you’ll luck into finding a used copy at Gamestop for a song. No matter where you pick it up, you won’t regret the time you spend with this trilogy.
Xenosaga 1 $14.99 | Xenosaga 2 $14.99 | Xenosaga 3 $29.99
Total Cost: Around $60
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