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''Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht'' is a
role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
developed by
Monolith Soft trade name, trading as Monolith Soft, is a Japanese Video game developer, video game development studio originally owned by Namco (later Bandai Namco) until being bought out by Nintendo in 2007, best known for the ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' ser ...
and published by
Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...
for the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
; the game was released in 2002 in Japan and 2003 in North America. It was never released in Europe. It is the first entry in the ''
Xenosaga ''Xenosaga'' is a role-playing video game series developed by Monolith Soft and primarily published by Namco. Forming part of the wider ''Xeno (series), Xeno'' metaseries, ''Xenosaga'' is set in a science fiction universe and follows a group of ch ...
'' trilogy and forms part of the wider '' Xeno'' metaseries. Gameplay features exploration of environments through a linear narrative, while battles use turn-based combat with the player characters fighting both on foot and piloting large
mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japan ...
dubbed A.G.W.S.; combat in turn features a system of button combinations for attack types, and multiple leveling systems. Set far in the future when humanity has left Earth, the plot follows
Shion Uzuki is the main protagonist of the ''Xenosaga'' trilogy for the PlayStation 2. In addition, she was in the DS game ''Xenosaga#Xenosaga I & II, Xenosaga I & II'', ''Xenosaga Freaks'', as well as the anime ''Xenosaga: The Animation''. Character design ...
, an employee of Vector Industries; and
KOS-MOS ( recursive acronym for Kosmos Obey Strategical Multiple Operation System) is a fictional character from the ''Xenosaga'' role-playing video game series by Monolith Soft and Bandai Namco Entertainment. KOS-MOS also appears as a major character ...
, a battle android designed to fight the hostile alien Gnosis. Forced to escape a Gnosis attack and head for the planet of Second Miltia, Shion and KOS-MOS are pulled into a fight between the Galaxy Federation and the hostile U-TIC Organization. With others who join them as they head to safety, they face a deeper mystery surrounding U-TIC's goals and the plans of the immortal Albedo Piazzolla. Development began in 2000 under the codename "Project X" following the founding of Monolith Soft. Intended as a
spiritual successor A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous product or work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue th ...
to the 1998 video game ''
Xenogears ''Xenogears'' is a 1998 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation video game console. It is the debut entry in the larger ''Xeno (series), Xeno'' franchise. ...
'', multiple staff were carried over including director and co-writer Tetsuya Takahashi, co-writer Soraya Saga, character designer Kunihiko Tanaka, and composer
Yasunori Mitsuda is a Japanese composer and musician. He is best known for his work in video games, primarily for the '' Chrono'', '' Xeno'', '' Shadow Hearts'', and '' Inazuma Eleven'' franchises, among various others. Mitsuda began composing music for his own ...
. The game received generally positive reviews from critics and sold over one million copies worldwide. Its direct sequel, ''
Xenosaga Episode II ''Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse'' is a 2004 role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft for the PlayStation 2. It was published in Japan (2004) and North America (2005) by Namco, and in Europe by Sony Computer Entertainm ...
'', was released in 2004 in Japan and 2005 overseas. The final ''Xenosaga'' game, ''
Xenosaga Episode III ''Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra'' is a role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. It is the final entry in both the ''Xenosaga'' trilogy and the larger ''X ...
'', was released in 2006. The game received an anime adaptation which aired in 2005, and was re-imagined along with ''Episode II'' as part of '' Xenosaga I & II'' for the
Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
.


Gameplay

''Xenosaga Episode I'' is a
role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
; the player controls a party of characters, navigating them through a variety of environments tied to the progression of the story. Gameplay segments are separated by story sequences told mainly through traditional full-motion cutscenes. Exploring environments, the party can collect a variety of items, some of which can be used in gameplay to boost a character's
statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...
or restore health. During the course of the game, a database is unlocked that documents the game's story events and terminology. The player can access several mini-game "plug-in" systems through Shion's portable console, and an e-mail system that allows players to make playful decisions that have little significance to the main plot. The console can also be used to access to cleared areas of the game; these grant access to side quests separate from the main storyline. While navigating environments, enemies are visible within the environment, with engagement being optional. If the player chooses to engage, some environmental elements such as combustible objects can be used to alter an enemy's statistics and grant the player an advantage in battle. When battle begins, the three-character player party and the enemy party fight in a dedicated combat arena. The combat is governed by a
turn-based Timekeeping is relevant to many types of games, including video games, tabletop role-playing games, board games, and sports. The passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. In many games, this is don ...
battle system. Each character has access to melee and ranged standard attacks, can use items to affect the party or enemies, and guard against attacks. The player party's attacks are determined through button combinations, with different combinations triggering different attack sequences that can have secondary effects on the party and neighboring enemies. Attack combinations can be customized by the player between battles. Each attack uses Action Points (AP), with AP remaining after each turn carried over to the next turn. Special moves for each character are unlocked by building up AP over several turns. When a minimum of three AP are available, a character can perform an exclusive action which deals high damage to their opponent. More powerful attacks can be performed with higher amounts of AP. In addition, characters can perform Ether moves, powerful attacks and support actions which drain their Ether Points (EP). Both player and some enemy party members also have a "Boost" meter, which when full allows that character to perform an additional action while taking away an opponent's turn. The party has access to
mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japan ...
, which can be equipped by surrendering a turn. Mecha have their own set of moves and boast more powerful attacks than the main party, but also carry over damage between battles. Following the victory, the party is awarded with in-game currency which can be used to purchase items and accessories at shops. The party is also awarded
experience point An experience point (often abbreviated as exp or XP) is a unit of measurement used in some tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's life experience and progression through the game. Experien ...
s which raise a character's experience level, along with a variety of skill points. These are divided into EP to fuel Ether abilities, along with Skill Points (SP) and Tech Points (TP). SP are assigned to activate passive effects drawn from different accessories, while Tech Points raise the effectiveness and power of Tech attacks unlocked as the character's experience level rises.


Synopsis


Setting

''Xenosaga Episode I'' takes place in a universe based around
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
. In the year "20XX", the Zohar—an artifact dating from the beginning of the universe which connects to the realm of a god-like energy dubbed U-DO—was unearthed by an archeological expedition in
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
; the Zohar is key to enabling humanity to travel in space beyond the
Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...
. Over 4000 years in the future, humanity has left
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
behind to colonize the galaxy following a terrible event, resulting in Earth's location being lost and the planet being dubbed "Lost Jerusalem": by the game's events, humanity has adopted a new calendar system dubbed "Transcend Christ" (T.C.), with the game's events taking place in T.C. 4767—equivalent to A.D. 7277. Humanity is now spread across 500,000 planets, with their governments forming the Galaxy Federation. Planets are connected through a time warp travel network called the Unus Mundus Network (U.M.N.). The U.M.N. is managed by Vector Industries, which also controls interests in the Federation's military. Existing alongside humans are Realians, synthetic humans who hold equal status with natural humans. The Federation has come under attack from the ancient alien Gnosis, which begin decimating Federation worlds. As normal weapons are ineffective against them, Vector develops two different weapon systems designed to fight them: humanoid mecha dubbed A.G.W.S. (Anti Gnosis Weapon System), and the similar but more powerful KOS-MOS battle androids. Another hostile faction is the U-TIC Organization, a once-scientific group that now wishes to gain control of the Zohar. A key episode in the game's backstory is the Miltian Conflict, a war between U-TIC and the Federation which triggered the Gnosis' arrival and caused Miltia to be swallowed in a space-time anomaly.


Characters

The main characters are Shion Uzuki, a human scientist employed by Vector Industries, and her creation the prototype anti-Gnosis battle android
KOS-MOS ( recursive acronym for Kosmos Obey Strategical Multiple Operation System) is a fictional character from the ''Xenosaga'' role-playing video game series by Monolith Soft and Bandai Namco Entertainment. KOS-MOS also appears as a major character ...
. She is assisted on the project by Allen Ridgeley, and during her time on the Federation ship ''Woglinde'' interacts with Federation officers Andrew Cherenkov and Luis Virgil. As the story progresses, Shion and KOS-MOS meet the crew of the passenger freighter ''Elsa'', a ship associated with the Kukai Foundation run by Gaignun Kukai and "Jr.", the latter captaining the ''Durandal''; both Gaignun and Jr. are artificial beings dubbed U.R.T.Vs, with Jr.'s gifts meaning his body has not aged beyond childhood. Among the crew of the ''Elsa'' is chaos, a melancholy young man with a mysterious past. The group are joined by the cyborg Ziggy—short for "Ziggurat 8"—and the prototype Realian MOMO. The main antagonists are Margulis, the leader of the U-TIC Organization; and Albedo Piazzolla, Jr. and Gaignun's brother. Events are monitored by Wilheim, CEO of Vector; and Nephilim, a young girl connected to the Zohar.


Plot

Shion is running final tests on KOS-MOS aboard the ''Woglinde'' when the crew retrieve a Zohar Emulator, one of thirteen replicas of the Zohar. Cherenkov monitors Shion's progress, but is also a U-TIC spy furthering their goal of finding the original Zohar. Following the Zohar Emulator's retrieval, the ''Woglinde'' is attacked by Gnosis. KOS-MOS self-activates and protects Shion's team, in the process killing Virgil with friendly fire to save Shion and Allen. KOS-MOS brings them and Cherenkov on board the ''Elsa'', which is heading to their destination of Second Miltia. When a Gnosis attacks, chaos' ability to dispel them saves Cherenkov's life. The attack begins mutating Cherenkov, tormenting him with visions of his past as a soldier who failed to adjust to civilian life and killed many people including his wife. During these periods, Shion becomes concerned about KOS-MOS's behavior, and Allen worries about Shion's emotional state. Alongside these events, the cyborg Ziggy is dispatched to rescue the Realian MOMO from U-TIC, as data stored inside her could open the way to the original planet Miltia, lost in a disaster for which her creator Joachim Mizrahi is blamed. Ziggy rescues MOMO and narrowly escapes, fending off attacks by Margulis. Albedo, who is working with U-TIC for his own goals, sets out in pursuit of MOMO. The ''Elsa'' is pulled out of hyperspace and swallowed by a giant Gnosis. During their attempts to escape Cherenkov transforms into a Gnosis. The group are forced to kill the transformed Cherenkov before escaping on the ''Elsa'' and being rescued by Jr.. During the subsequent battle, KOS-MOS activates previously-unseen weaponry and absorbs the attacking Gnosis. While traveling with Jr., the group learn that the Kukai Foundation are gathering and storing the Zohar Emulators created by Mizrahi. Meanwhile, U-TIC uses agents within the Federation to doctor footage of Jr.'s battle with U-TIC and implicate the group in the destruction of the ''Woglinde''. The group travel to the Kukai Foundation base above Second Miltia, operated by Jr.'s brother Gaignun. They are subsequently held hostage by Federation troops due to U-TIC's influence. With help from an ally of Gaignun, the group retrieve evidence from within KOS-MOS's memory center which can exonerate them. While inside KOS-MOS's memory, the group are guided through a dream-like realm constructed from their repressed bad memories, all the way observed by Nephilim, with whom chaos is acquainted. Shion also meets a vision of Febronia, a Realian woman killed in the Miltian Conflict, who asks Shion to "free" her sisters Cecily and Cathe for the sake of both humans and Realians. Before fulfilling their mission, Nephilim tells them that KOS-MOS was designed to stop the energies of U-DO from entering their reality, an event which caused the original planet Miltia to vanish into a space-time void and could potentially destroy the universe. Due to surviving a Gnosis encounter and remaining human, Shion has the capacity to change the future for the better. During these events, Albedo captures and psychologically tortures MOMO before triggering the "Song of Nephilim", a song which attracts swarms of Gnosis. The Federation fleet try to destroy the Kukai base as it appears to be the source of the Song, but Wilhelm—who has been secretly observing events—arrives with a private fleet that destroys the Gnosis and protects the base. KOS-MOS then uses an advanced weapon to detect the Song's source in a cloaked spaceship. Boarding the spaceship, the group rescue MOMO and fight Albedo, but are stopped by a blue-cloaked man who allows Albedo to escape with a piece of data extracted from MOMO that could grant access to Miltia. Albedo then summons Proto Merkebah, a research ship created by Mizrahi to summon U-DO, and destroys the Federation fleet before aiming Proto Merkebah's weapons at Second Miltia's capital. The blue-cloaked man—revealed to be a resurrected Virgil—observes events before being summoned away. Shion's group infiltrates Proto Markebah and destroys its core while Albedo flees. Escaping Proto Merkebah as it self-destructs, KOS-MOS shields the damaged ''Elsa'' as it enters Second Miltia's atmosphere.


Development

''Xenosaga Episode I'' was the debut game title of Japanese developer
Monolith Soft trade name, trading as Monolith Soft, is a Japanese Video game developer, video game development studio originally owned by Namco (later Bandai Namco) until being bought out by Nintendo in 2007, best known for the ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' ser ...
. Company founder Tetsuya Takahashi acted as director and co-writer. Takahashi had previously worked at
Square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...
on the
PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...
RPG ''
Xenogears ''Xenogears'' is a 1998 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation video game console. It is the debut entry in the larger ''Xeno (series), Xeno'' franchise. ...
''. Initially planned as a six-part series and despite there being concept work for a sequel, ''Xenogears'' was left as a standalone project while Square decided to focus on their established franchises such as ''
Final Fantasy is a Japanese fantasy Anthology series, anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fanta ...
''. Another stated reason was that Square said they did not have the money available to invest in his concept. Following his departure from Square due to disagreeing with their strategy, Takahashi searched for another company which could help him create the game he and others from the ''Xenogears'' project envisioned. According to producer Hirohide Sugiura, most of the companies they contacted suggested forming Monolith Soft as an independent developer, with only
Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...
suggesting that they become a subsidiary, and was willing to both fund the production and manage the logistics and marketing, allowing Monolith Soft staff to focus solely on creating the game. Following this agreement, Namco helped in the development and marketing of the game. While production of the game began following the foundation of Monolith Soft in 2000, Takahashi had been working on the game's concept since 1999, intending it as a
spiritual successor A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous product or work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue th ...
to ''Xenogears'' rather than a remake or sequel. Production at Monolith Soft took two years. The development budget apparently reached ¥1 billion—approximately US$7,700,000. ''Xenosaga Episode I'' was developed by a core team of between 60 and 80 people, expanding to over 100 people at its most active development period. Among the staff, twenty of them had previously worked on ''Xenogears''. The biggest issue faced when building the team was that they were developing for the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
, a console with far more power than any previous console they had worked on. A major improvement in Takahashi's view over his work on ''Xenogears'' was that he was able to make the entire game using 3D graphics, something he had been unable to do with ''Xenogears''. Due to the amount of preparatory work and getting accustomed to the new hardware, actual development did not start until 2000, lasting approximately a year. Namco provided development support with the motion capture technology. CGI sequences and backgrounds were created by Buildup Entertainment. Takahashi later noted that the sheer number of young and inexperienced developers in Monolith Soft negatively impacted development, with the graphics engine being completed only six months before the game's release. Prior to its announcement, the game was developed under the
working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...
"Project X". Character designs were cooperatively handled by Kunihiko Tanaka and Kouichi Mugitani, while mecha designs were handled by Mugitani and Junya Ishigaki. Mugitani also worked on the game as production designer. The art director was Yasuyuki Honne, who had previously worked on both ''Xenogears'' and ''
Chrono Cross is a 1999 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation video game console. It is set in the same world as ''Chrono Trigger'', which was released in 1995 for t ...
'', while character motion was handled by Norihiro Takami. Honne collaborated with Takami in creating the character motions for cutscenes. When creating the designs, Tanaka was given an outline of a character by Takahashi in addition to comparisons with real-life actors, and then created the designs from that. Tanaka's art style—which gave characters large eyes dominating their faces—provided a challenge for the team as Takahashi wanted to be as close to the original artwork as possible, but the expressive power of the large-eyed facial design could easily be "destroyed" by the wrong lighting. Takami worked hard on character models to make sure the large eye styling was preserved without upsetting the model's balance. Mugitani and Ishigaki respectively handled the designs for Vector staff and the Federation. KOS-MOS was initially designed by Tanaka, but he had considerable trouble finalizing her design. Mugitani then contributed, creating something close to KOS-MOS's final design, which was then polished by Tanaka. Tanaka also had difficulty creating Shion's design, giving her glasses as an easy way of showing her personality. The scenario for ''Episode I'' was co-written by Takahashi and his wife Soraya Saga. To ensure development of the game remained focused, Takahashi consulted the entire staff on the script's direction before the main production began. Takahashi initially planned ''Xenosaga'' to span six games, with a narrative divided into three parts all featuring the dual figures of KOS-MOS and chaos. The character of KOS-MOS was created by Takahashi. While human characters created by Takahashi and Saga were typically shown as strong despite having fragile bodies, KOS-MOS was designed to be the opposite; an "unbreakable" person with a fragile spirit. The names of KOS-MOS and chaos were deliberate plays on the philosophical concepts of order and
chaos Chaos or CHAOS may refer to: Science, technology, and astronomy * '' Chaos: Making a New Science'', a 1987 book by James Gleick * Chaos (company), a Bulgarian rendering and simulation software company * ''Chaos'' (genus), a genus of amoebae * ...
in the
universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...
, tying into elements of
Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...
incorporated into the world structure. The game made heavy use of Biblical mythology, a trait shared with later entries in the series. The game's subtitle is taken from the native title of ''
The Will to Power The will to power () is a concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. The will to power describes what Nietzsche may have believed to be the main driving force in humans. However, the concept was never systematically defined in Nietzsche's ...
'', a collection of notes by German philosopher
Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...
. The use of Nietzsche's works and concepts was a recurring element in the series; within the context of ''Episode I'', the subtitle directly reflects the game's characters and the strength of their will. The Federation's military structure was based on the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
with some elements from the
Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...
mixed in. In addition to references to Nietzsche, Takahashi incorporated references to
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
such as the ship name ''Woglinde'' due to Wagner's historic association with Nietzsche. ''Xenosaga Episode I'' was first announced in June 2001, scheduled for release later that year. In September of that year, it was confirmed that the game had been delayed into February the following year. The game was released in Japan on February 28, 2002. In an interview, Takahashi confirmed that Western localization would begin following the game's Japanese release. The game was localized for the West by Interone Inc, with English dubbing handled by ZRO Limit Productions and Animaze. The localization process took over a year. While all blood, gore, religious references and adult language were retained in the Western release, one scene between the adult Albedo and the childlike MOMO had its more erotic elements toned down for the Western release. The game released in North America on February 25, 2003. This version, with the English voice work and additional costumes and bonus features, was later released in Japan under the title ''Xenosaga Episode I Reloaded'' on November 20, 2003.


Music

The music was composed by
Yasunori Mitsuda is a Japanese composer and musician. He is best known for his work in video games, primarily for the '' Chrono'', '' Xeno'', '' Shadow Hearts'', and '' Inazuma Eleven'' franchises, among various others. Mitsuda began composing music for his own ...
, who had previously worked with ''Takahashi'' on the score of ''Xenogears''. Mitsuda worked as both composer and orchestrator. Mitsuda, Yasunori (6 March 2002). "Xenosaga Original Soundtrack liner notes".
DigiCube DigiCube Co., Ltd. (株式会社デジキューブ; ''Kabushiki-gaisha Dejikyūbu'') was a Japanese company established as a subsidiary of software developer Square on February 6, 1996 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The primary purpose of Di ...
. SSCX-10062. Retrieved on 13 September 2017.
Mitsuda was almost unable to collaborate on the project due to a tight schedule, but they were able to bring him in. As opposed to most RPG scores at the time, Mitsuda collaborated with Takahashi to create tracks for specific scenes in the game rather than a smaller number of repeating tracks. Due to the game's religious references, the score incorporated
Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...
s. The score was performed by the
London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...
. The vocal themes "Pain" and "Kokoro" were sung by Joanne Hogg, who had worked with Mitsuda on earlier projects. Multiple soundtrack albums were released, first from
DigiCube DigiCube Co., Ltd. (株式会社デジキューブ; ''Kabushiki-gaisha Dejikyūbu'') was a Japanese company established as a subsidiary of software developer Square on February 6, 1996 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The primary purpose of Di ...
and later through Mitsuda's own label Sleigh Bells. A single was released for the game's theme song "Kokoro".


Reception

''Xenosaga Episode I'' reached the top of sales charts, selling over 240,000 units within three days of its release. By the end of the year, the game was the seventh best-selling game of 2002, with sales of near 340,000 units. While no exact figures were given, Namco reported that ''Episode I'' was one of their games that had seen commercial success internationally. In July 2003, Namco announced that the game had sold over one million copies worldwide. Japanese magazine ''
Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...
'' positively noted the world and character development, while ''
GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...
'' stated that the story and characters " ivaledthat of a good, hard, science-fiction novel or the best anime series available". Greg Kasavin of ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' enjoyed the narrative, but felt that the Biblical elements were only there for shock value rather than being meaningful additions. Christian Nutt of ''
GameSpy GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1999 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for Quake, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameS ...
'' felt that the strong characters helped support the narrative. ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
''s Jeremy Dunham was highly positive about the story and the development of characters, but noted that some might be dissatisfied with the unresolved story elements held over to later games. Jake Alley of ''RPGamer'' called the story "interesting", while ''
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...
''s Rob Fahey praised the complexity and depth of the narrative. Multiple journalists noted the high number and length of cutscenes, with some enjoying them while others felt there were too many. ''GamePro'' noted that the game was enjoyable despite it appearing "convoluted at first, even for RPG eterans. Kasavin appreciated the lack of random encounters and enjoyed the strategic flow of battle, while Nutt appreciated both the game's challenge and its deep mechanics. Dunham praised both the ease of gameplay following its introductory stages and the customization options available. He was less positive about most of the mini-games available. Fahay felt that the game had "excellent" gameplay, and like Sasavin praised the removal of random encounters. The A.G.W.S. mechs were seen by several reviewers as a lackluster addition to the gameplay. The mechanic used to enable the player to revisit dungeons was also frequently seen as contrived. Kasavin called ''Episode I'' "a great-looking game" despite some lip-synching issues, and praised the cinematography and graphics used in cinematics. Nutt called the environments "pure visual pleasure" and the character models "both varied and uniformly excellent". Dunham praised the cinematography and gave particular praise to the animations of facial movements and expressions. Fahay, while generally finding the graphics excellent, praised the merging of cinematic and real-time graphics to create a smooth experience while playing the game. The music was generally praised by reviewers, although Kasavin and Alley felt that it was too scarce during gameplay segments. The English voice earned contrasting opinions from reviewers; while Alley and Nutt gave praise to the English cast, Dunham and Kasavin were less impressed by the overall performances, with Dunham comparing the dub to an average dub of a Japanese anime. At the first
Spike Video Game Awards The Spike Video Game Awards (in short VGAs, known as the VGX for the final show) was an annual award show hosted by American television network Spike from 2003 that recognized the best computer and video games of the year. Produced by '' GameT ...
in 2003, ''Xenosaga Episode I'' was nominated for the "Best Fantasy Game" and "Best Animation" categories, but lost to '' Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic'' and '' Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball'' respectively. During the 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain Summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...
nominated ''Xenosaga'' for " Console Role-Playing Game of the Year", which was ultimately awarded to '' Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic''.


Legacy

The international success of ''Xenosaga Episode I'' prompted Namco to offer developer MonolithSoft more support, with Namco's then-Vice President Yoichi Haraguchi to name the company as a valuable development partner alongside
Namco Tales Studio , formerly known as , was a Japanese video game development company founded in 1986. The company was renamed in 2003 when Telenet Japan sold part of its stake and made Namco the majority shareholder. Namco Tales Studio was originally the primary ...
. A
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
adaptation was written by Atsushi Baba and published through ''
Monthly Comic Zero Sum is a ''josei'' manga magazine published by Ichijinsha is a Japanese publishing company focused on manga-related publication, including magazines and books. The company was first established in August 1992 as a limited company under the ...
''. The manga was released by the comic's publisher
Ichijinsha is a Japanese publishing company focused on manga-related publication, including magazines and books. The company was first established in August 1992 as a limited company under the name Studio DNA whose main purpose was to edit shōnen manga ...
across three volumes between 2004 and 2006. Following the release of ''Episode I'', a supplementary disc was created titled ''Xenosaga Freaks''. Released on April 28, 2004, ''Freaks'' is split into four segments; a visual novel segment featuring multiple characters from the game, a minigame dubbed ''XenoPittan'', a dictionary that explains the game's terminology, and a demo for the game's official sequel. ''Freaks'' was part of a movement with the ''Xenosaga'' series to turn it into a multimedia franchise, with the project growing substantially larger than previously planned. The sequel, ''
Xenosaga Episode II ''Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse'' is a 2004 role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft for the PlayStation 2. It was published in Japan (2004) and North America (2005) by Namco, and in Europe by Sony Computer Entertainm ...
'', was developed by a new team with Takahashi overseeing the project so the series could be taken in a new direction by younger staff members within Monolith Soft. The scenario, written by Norihiko Yonesaka based on the initial draft by Takahashi and Saga, ended up leaving out a lot of the originally planned content. ''Episode II'' was released in Japan in June 2004, while it was released in North America in February 2005. The sequel was also published in Europe by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe in October of that year. Both ''Episode I'' and ''Episode II'' were re-imagined for the
Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
as '' Xenosaga I & II'', released in March 2006. Co-developed by Monolith Soft and Tom Create, the scenario was supervised by Takahashi and included material which needed to be cut from the original releases of the first two ''Xenosaga'' games. ''Xenosaga I & II'' remains exclusive to Japan. Development of ''
Xenosaga Episode III ''Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra'' is a role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. It is the final entry in both the ''Xenosaga'' trilogy and the larger ''X ...
'' began while work was finishing on ''Episode II''. While the team were open to further entries based on the game's commercial performance, it was designed to be the last entry in the series. Arai and Yonesaka returned respectively as director and scriptwriter. Takahashi provided the scenario draft and supervised the writing. ''Episode III'' released in 2006 in Japan and North America. ''Episode III'' was the last game released in the ''Xenosaga'' series.


''Xenosaga: The Animation''

Following the success of the game, a twelve-episode anime adaptation titled '' Xenosaga: The Animation'' was produced by
Toei Animation is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including '' Sally the Witch'', '' GeGeGe no Kitarō'', '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...
; while no staff from the game were involved in the anime's production, the staff wanted to keep the anime as close to the game's events as possible. First announced in 2004, the anime was first broadcast on
TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...
between January and March 2005. The anime was first licensed and dubbed by
A.D. Vision A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gr ...
. The license was later picked up by
Funimation Entertainment Crunchyroll, LLC is an American entertainment company based in Coppell, Texas. It currently operates the anime-focused eponymous over-the-top subscription video on-demand streaming service. The company was founded as Funimation in May 1 ...
. Multiple staff from ''Xenosaga: The Animation'' would later take part in the production of ''Xenosaga I & II''.


Notes


References


External links

* {{Authority control PlayStation 2-only games Japanese role-playing video games Xenosaga games 2002 video games PlayStation 2 games Turn-based role-playing video games Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Yasunori Mitsuda Video games set on fictional planets Single-player video games