Xenosaga Episode I: Chikara he no ishi (2002) (VG)

Director:

Tetsuya Takahashi

Writers:

Soraya Saga (event scenario writer)
Norihiko Yonesaka (quest scenario writer: Knave Corp.)

Release Date:

25 February 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Mystery

Plot:

The final race for the ultimate secret of the universe has unwittingly begun. A mysterious and ancient...

Plot Keywords:

Fictional War | Outer Space | Space War | Role Playing Game

Cast

Masashi Ebara	...	Ziggurat 8 (Ziggy) (voice: Japanese version)
Eriko Hara	...	Pellegri (voice: Japanese version)
Erika Kawasaki	...	Jr. (voice: Japanese version)
Mariko Kouda	...	Febronia (voice: Japanese version)
Rie Kugimiya	...	Mary Godwin (voice: Japanese version)
Ai Maeda	...	Shion Uzuki (voice: Japanese version)
Naomi Shindô	...	Juli Mizrahi (voice: Japanese version)
Rumi Shishido	...	MOMO (voice: Japanese version)
Mariko Suzuki	...	KOS-MOS (voice: Japanese version)
Yumi Takada	...	Shelley Godwin (voice: Japanese version)
Yumi Tôma	...	Nephilim (voice: Japanese version) (as Yumi Touma)
Emi Uwagawa	...	Miyuki Itsumi (voice: Japanese version)

Also Known As:

Xenosaga (USA) (promotional title)
Xenosaga Episode I Reloaded (Japan) (reissue title)
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht (USA)
Xenosaga Episode I: The Will to Power (literal English title)

Country:

Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Japan:15 (re-release) (2003) | USA:T

Company:

Monolith Soft

Trivia:

At one point, Albedo refers to MOMO as "my little pêche". "Pêche" is French for "peach", and "momo" is Japanese for "peach" as well.

Quotes:

Hammer: Heeeey, it's a girl... She might me cute, you know. Heh, heh...
Captain Matthews: Heh, heh my ass, you sicko. Who the hell cares how she looks? She's dead.
Tony: Exactly. Besides, she's facing the other way. It's a shame we can't meet face to face...

Movie Connections:

Spin off Namuko kurosu Kapukon (2005) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Kokoro

A huge disappointment.

The biggest problem with this RPG is the fact that it plays more like a movie than a game. One second you are watching a conversation between Allen and Shion, and then the "cinimatic" stops. Than you need to move into the next room, and lo and behold! Another "cinimatic!" Though some parts of the story tend to be quite interesting, it just does not live up to the majesty of Square Softs, Xenogears (Xenosaga is the prequel who's rights were sold to Namco.) Though you don't need to play Xenogears to enjoy Xenosaga, it is still recommended to delve into this classic Playstation RPG. The battle system is decent, and the boost system does make it very interesting, but it's biggest flaw happens to not be with the game-play, but rather the soundtrack. Boss battle or not, the music is always the same (excluding Albedo, who is just to cool to have generic music). Trust me, it will drive you crazy. You may enjoy the game, you may not. This is just my opinion.

Personally, I think the RPG realm has been in a great decline ever since Squre and Enix combined, considering they used to be big competitors, it gave them a reason to make games, but considering that there isn't a real challenge anymore, they can do whatever they want.