outlet

If you're a RPG fan, Xenosaga chapter one, "The Way to Power," is very much a score IF you have patience. The animation is anime-esque, and you will experience the love-or-hate cutscenes. Cutscenes are frequently 15+ mins, and the timeframe between save points is about 1.5 hours. Get comfortable.

The characters are very well done. You will meet diverse beings ranging from scientists to cyborgs to Realians (nice Terminators) to angels. The main characters, KOS-MOS and Ziggy in particular, are memorable and distinct. The supporting cast members lack solid introductions, however. Surprises are great, but drama is sacrificed when even the preliminary motives are unclear. Writing down names and affiliations will help you stay sharp with the plot. The story isn't too confusing, but it is vague in some points (I'm still lost on Cherenkov). And please, ENOUGH with the dream sequences!

Battles are interesting and they look great. There is excess customization relative to the actual time you spend fighting, so don't freak out if you're not constantly extracting or transferring skills. A person could go nuts trying to evenly distribute tech points between everyone! Combat is selective and turn-based. Four playable characters can pilot mechs called AGWS. They can be fun, but again, just keep it real (is 30 minutes-worth of menus really worth 7% more attack damage?). Suiting up in an AGWS too early turns the battle into a "He who has the most HP" slugfest, which you will lose to the tougher bosses. AGWS and their pilots have separate HP, so setting a dying pilot in his/her machine to duke it out down the stretch eventually becomes the AGWS' role.

Xenosaga is all about patience. Patience in watching long cutscenes, patience in developing battle techniques and patience in letting the story progress. Think of it as an interactive sci-fi novel. If you like that idea, buy this one immediately. If you have doubts, your time will be better spent elsewhere.

Xenosaga will blow you away. I felt i should start the review with that statement. Everything about it just oozes quality. The character development is beyond anything seen so far. Every character feels like an individual and has many secrets in their past that you can't wait to uncover. The music is done by Yasunori Mitsuda (Xenogears, Chrono Trigger/Cross) and it is truly amazing. It could easily pass as a major motion picture's score. The music accompanies the cinemas beautifully and just seems to be tailored for each part of the story.

Speaking of cinemas, the in-game character models easily rival anything else on PS2. Definitely the closest thing to playing an anime, the characters express emotion realistically and the voice acting is top notch. There really isn't anything to complain about when it comes to the voice acting. Some of the best in a video game to date.

The battle system is most relatable to Xenogears(PS1)or Chrono Cross(PS1).You have a set number of ability points for each turn and different attacks take a different number of them. Just like Xenogears, you can jump into a A.G.W.S (big robot) mid battle for the upper hand. After battles you can use different points accumulated to upgrade your character.

It is quite refreshing to see in a game with so much emphasis on story that the gameplay doesn't take a back seat. There are many mini games and side quests added for good measure, also. Just about the only thing to complain about is that the ending just makes the wait for episode 2 that much more agonizing. So if you like RPG's or just good storytelling do yourself a favor and pick up Xenosaga.

This game is an absolute mess in every way possible. Xenosaga fanboys, watch in horror as I tear apart your favorite game from every angle:

BATTLE SYSTEM
This is the core element of any good RPG; this is what you'll spend the most time doing. Xenosaga has an interesting (if somewhat basic) battle system, but it's poorly executed in every way. First of all, it's ridiculously slow; an average battle takes from 3-5 MINUTES. The animations are way too long (and they're not very interesting). Also, the "boost" system doesn't work; enemies get boosts whenever they want, and can boost over your boost anytime (you can't do the same).

OUTSIDE BATTLE
The areas are supposed to be designed so that it's possible to gain advantages in battle by blowing up stuff near the enemy, or avoid the battle entirely. Unfortunately, this doesn't work either. Every area is set up so that you have to fight every battle every time you go through. There are some puzzles scattered throughout the game as well; I liked one of them, even though it wasn't much. It was an elevator with a bunch of boxes on it; depending on how much weight (the boxes) you blasted off the platform, the elevator would rise certain amounts.

GRAPHICS
Outdated. Animation looks awkward (though some battle animations are good), especially outside battle. This doesn't really matter, though; you'll spend 10 hours watching cutscenes, 20 hours in battles, and the rest performing menial tasks for characters (like delivering curry) and playing stupid mini-games. There is no lipsync; characters move their mouths up and down at random. The game is styled after Japanese anime and manga, which is fine; they did a decent job making sure the resemblance was there.

CHARACTERS
Good Lord, I hate Shion! What a whiny moron! Half of her lines repeat what someone else just said; she just says it in the form of a question. Example (although not from the game, it shows the kind of junk you're forced to wade through):

Character: He did.
Shion: He did?
Character: He did.

The other characters are terrible, too. Especially MOMO and Jr. Ziggy's kind of cool, but chaos (that's the proper capitalization) is a dork. Margulis (a bad guy) is also moderately cool. KOS-MOS...meh. The main bad guy (Albedo) is so crazy it's ridiculous! He must spend 15 minutes laughing maniacally in the cutscenes.

THE JUNK IN BETWEEN SLOW BATTLES AND STUPID CUTSCENES
Here's the basic game structure:
Cutscene (15-20 min.)
Gameplay (Deliver food, or walk to a location)
Cutscene (30 min.)
Boss (15-20 min.)
Cutscene (20 min.)
Pause so you can save your game
Cutscene (30 min.)

STORY
Normally, this is the saving grace of an otherwise mediocre RPG. Xenosaga's drags it down into the Black Pit of Malodorous Stench. The cutscenes are long-winded, repetitive, and poorly acted. Also, because this series is in six parts (of which this is the first), it basically just throws a lot of junk at you that makes no sense. The last game in the series probably won't even arrive until 2013 or so.

MUSIC
The music is performed by the London Philharmonic, which is cool. Unfortunately, there are only about 8-10 songs. One is unbelievably annoying; it's about five seconds long and plays ad nauseum in a location near the end. I remember liking the battle music, but I couldn't hum it for you.

Well, I think I've made it obvious how much I hate this game. I hate it even more for blowing $40 on it (stupid Game Informer - 9.75? Nutcases). Even more disappointing was the fact that it was developed by a group of former Square employees. On the other hand, the disc makes a nice drink coaster. If you're looking for a good PS2 RPG, go for Final Fantasy X (no, I'm not a Final Fantasy nut).