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Xenosaga Episode 1: Der Wille Zur Macht
Score: 92%
ESRB: Teen
Publisher: Namco
Developer: Monolith
Media: DVD/1
Players: 1
Genre: RPG

Graphics & Sound:
I'll start off by saying that Monolith's first title, Xenosaga Episode 1: Der Wille Zur Macht a prequel to Squaresoft's Xenogears, lives up to the hype. This series looks like it may have the potential to compete with Final Fantasy, once they polish it up a bit.

The graphics in Xenosaga are exceptional. That said, since it does take place mostly in outer space, several places suffer from what I call 'clean room syndrome'. Many of the environments are attractive, but just a little too squeaky clean. Again, these are usually on spaceships so we can forgive them. The quality of the CGI FMV's is also exceptional. It's also very hard to distinguish between in-game cutscenes and prerendered cutscenes, unless you're really looking. That alone is a testament to the quality of the graphics.

The animation is also very excellent. When a guy can throw a coin in the air, shoot the coin, have the bullet ricochet off the coin and hit the enemy, all the while looking totally natural, you know you've done something right. The aspect of the graphics that I was most impressed with was the particle effects, explosions, spells, etc. In a game full of booms, beams, lasers, sparkly nanotechnology, and even Angel Feathers, it's a good thing they're top notch.

Xenosaga's sound and music stand up to par with its visuals. It ranges from technological, to creepy, to eerie, to mystical, and all of it sounds exactly how it 'should'. The music is wonderful. Well, what music they have anyway. Xenosaga's music selection seems to be a little smaller than similar games you can find. Most games of this caliber (IE: Anything by Squaresoft, Enix, Capcom, etc...), have an extra large arrangement of music. You'll hear the same music frequently in Xenosaga. Heck, there isn't even special music for bosses, what's up with that?


Gameplay:
Aside from the battle engine, Xenosaga's gameplay isn't anything one hasn't seen before, in one form or another. That's not to say it isn't good, or doesn't have some nice innovations, it's just tried and true. The game more or less flows exactly how you would expect. Your field screen, menu screen, and battle screen are all here. The fact that several members of Monolith came from Square definitely shines through with how the game 'feels'.

The field screen (where you walk around and talk to people, find items, etc.) and the menu screen are pretty typical. One major point on the field screen is that battles are not random. They wander around and you can try, and subsequently fail, to get around enemies if you want too. The only other interesting thing to note on the field screen is the vaporizer. You can destroy certain objects with a hand held device by pressing the square button. You can find things this way, block enemies, free enemies, or even destroy paths by mistake. You can also destroy some objects that will cause huge explosions, fires, or electrical discharge that will stun enemies, allowing you to get past. Of course, they also will usually give you some sort of advantage during battle, so maybe you don't want to run.

Battles are very interesting in Xenosaga. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it; it's even a far cry from Xenogears. Players use near or far attacks in succession. If they have enough 'AP'(Action Points), they can finish up with a technique which pretty much amounts to an enhanced version of a normal attack. They can also use Ether (Magic), and some can call A.G.W.S (Giant robots).

Xenosaga combines Tech Points, Ether Points, and Skill Points with the usual experience points. TP improves your techniques, EP lets you learn new Ether spells, and SP allow you to learn skills from items.

Attacks all have different properties, hit, slash, pierce, spirit, or beam, and enemies have certain strengths and weakness to each. Players also accumulate 'BP'(Boost Points) which can be used to rush them ahead in the fight so that they get the next turn. It's all a bit scary at first, especially the prices on some of those A.G.W.S. parts. Ouch!

What grandiose, high profile RPG is complete without a plot. Xenosaga's plot is not clichéd, at all. The closet thing I could compare it to would be something like a cross between Titan: AE, Star Wars, and AI. The story revolves around a mysterious golden object called the Zohar. You see several different organizations in the story interact, each knowing different parts of the mystery, and each with its own agenda. I hope you don't find cutscenes irritating, because you will be watching this game almost as much as you play it. Thankfully, you can pause during cutscenes or choose to skip them, so no worries there. Also, while Xenosaga is a prequel to Xenogears, I saw little in common except the inclusion of giant robots; so don't worry if you never played Xenogears.

I won't lie to you, the plot can get pretty confusing, especially at the beginning. The game has a nasty habit of showing you something, a person, event, or word, and not explaining what it is until some hours later. At that point, you may have forgotten the context of where it showed up in the first place. At least they give you a nice fat database of key terms so you don't get totally lost. If I could improve one thing in this game though, it would be the database. It's adequate, but I would have loved to see it a bit more structured. Also markers to show what you haven't read yet would have been wonderful. Whenever new key terms get added (and usually in fair sized chunks), I had to hunt through the list to find the ones I hadn't read yet, and sometimes I wasn't sure. That database consumed many hours of my playtime; it fills out the main story with details very nicely.

The game also contains 4-minigames. Among these is a fun drill game, where you can earn powerful items, and a card game. However, this is not a simple Final Fantasy card game. This bad boy is pretty much the nice, complicated kind you find in your average comic book shop. You even have to buy starter decks and booster packs.


Difficulty:
Xenosaga's main difficulty lies in its battle system. It's not even simple on the surface, and weird angles will pop up from time to time (like when enemies start counter-attacking with boost every time you touch them, yikes). As long as you prep your characters intelligently beforehand you shouldn't have too many problems. You'll also need to use your noggin. If the area you're in is filled with enemies weak to lightning, well by God, use the characters that have lightning attacks. Aside from the battles, the plot is also kind of hard to follow, and that damn drill will drive you crazy before the end.

Game Mechanics:
There's nothing too interesting. On the field you shoot with the square button, search/talk/confirm with circle, cancel with X, and go into the menu with triangle. The menu screen is also pretty standard, move with arrows, select with circle, and cancel/back out with X. You can only save at save points and several, but not all of which contain E.V.S's which allow you to go 'back' to previous areas in the game. That way, even though a place may be destroyed, you can still go back and get the stuff you missed later.

Monolith has shown that they will be a major new force in the RPG market with Xenosaga. Aside from a few polishes that could really only come with some more experience, this little guy is a gem.


-Alucard, GameVortex Communications
AKA Stephen Triche

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