Heh... being in Japan and all, I was able to pick up a copy of "Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille Zur Macht" today... and though I can't even BEGIN to comprehend the game's dialogue (four years of college Japanese and 6 months of living here has NOT prepared me for THIS much kanji!), I will say this much:

I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY like what I see so far. (:

The story SEEMS cool thus far (emphasis on seems, since I can't translate the dialogue), though I don't really have a feel for the characters yet (again, that whole dialogue thing). But the real amazing thing is the game's presentation... it looks, sounds, and feels like an anime movie. The epic soundtrack, the BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL graphics (no RPG has EVER looked this good!), and the fantastic direction all serves to give this game exactly the atmosphere you've probably imagined it has, AND MORE.

Those of you who hate linear games, or games that are more movie than game, may not be too happy, though, to know that the game has EXCESSIVELY long cut-scenes (I played for about an hour or so, and only actually PLAYED for about 15 minutes). But the cut-scenes are really really cool, and when it finally DOES give you gameplay, you have a fairly fun, well-designed first dungeon (you're in a simulated modern-day world, and are sent on a "test mission" with KOS-MOS). The battles are smooth and fun, and the dungeons are cool just because you can blow things up. (: No treasure chests here: instead, there are boxes you SHOOT, which explode into a fiery mess, leaving an item behind. (:

Admittedly, it's purely aesthetic so far, but I can't deny that I REALLY enjoyed my hour of playtime, and I'm REALLY looking forward to an English release of this game. The voices aren't too spectacular, so heck, even mediocre English voice actors wouldn't be too bad.

All I know is FF7 is one of my favorite games of all time, and this game has that same sort of "feel" to it so far... same sort of mission-based beginning, and that same sense of fun exploration and fighting and atmosphere that was in FF7's first dungeon.

So yeah... there you have it... my not-so-well-written first impressions of Xenosaga! (:

-Tom

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http://forgottenkings.tripod.com/ http://wyrdwad.diaryland.com/

How far are you in? I've read the GIA's preview, but I don't take their opinion as gospel.

I have no problem with linearity, so long as the game parts are fun/interesting. Tetsuya Takahashi's comments on XS' design kind of put me off (don't have a link right now), but if the story is good and gameplay presentable, I'm interested.

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As I said before, I'm only an hour in... but so far, so good. The story seems really interesting (and REALLY involved), and the battles are fun and cool and the first dungeon interesting. I have more questions than answers at this point, but I'm still quite fascinated by the game, and if it keeps going at this rate, I'm gonna LOVE it.

I don't agree with The GIA at all, actually. The loading times are quick, and the actual playable sections make perfect sense (dunno why The GIA said they seemed extraneous, though admittedly, there's no "smooth transition" between game and cut-scene like there is in FF10 -- you always know when it's switching to one or the other).

I like the battles, which seem novel to me (though they're very heavily based on both Xenogears and FF10, so I guess they're not all too original)... it's kinda neat, though. The whole Xenogears combo system is back, and there are no more in-gear dungeons/battles (fortunately -- I didn't much care for those in Xenogears)... instead, Gears (A.G.W.S.es) are used just like summons in FF10... you summon them into battle, and they replace whoever summoned them. It works pretty well, and seems to take the best parts of both Xenogears and FF10's battles. And the battle music, while not something I'm rushing for an MP3 of, sounds very big and epic, and definitely gets your blood flowing. (:

I'll let you all know more as I play more (which is going to take me a while to do, seeing as how I have a job, a secret side-job [shhhhh! (:], other games I'm playing through right now, a game I'm making right now, a lack of clean laundry that really needs to be taken care of a.s.a.p. [easier said than done in this country!], and a working knowledge of Japanese that is about 90% useless when dealing with a game as complex as Xenosaga -- that, of course, being the BIG reason why my play-time might be limited). (:

-Tom

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http://forgottenkings.tripod.com/ http://wyrdwad.diaryland.com/

Kinda like FF10, most of the game takes place with fully-voiced scenes, where the text advances automatically... but during gameplay, when you speak with people and such, the text is quite fast, yes.

And I'm now another 45 mins or so into the game, and the load times continue to impress me with their quickness. I really haven't noticed them at all. It almost seems like The GIA was TRYING to find fault with this game, and when they couldn't, they INVENTED a fault! (:

-Tom

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http://forgottenkings.tripod.com/ http://wyrdwad.diaryland.com/

WOW.

I haven't even gotten to another dungeon yet -- not one with enemies, anyway. I'm now walking around the ship that your main character Shion calls home (I forget what it's called, as it's a REALLY weird name)... and maaaan... it rocks soooo much!! Not only is the ship fun to explore (and friggin' HUGE!), but there are short little story scenes EVERYWHERE, more character development than you can shake a stick at (Shion, the main character, is really cool, and I love how Allen keeps trying to get a date with her, then forgetting to ask her out!). (: In addition, there's some definite plot build-up here, with this strange little ghost girl who keeps appearing to Shion only, and kinda looks like a young Shion... and the first time she appears also happens to be the first time an RPG has ever SCARED THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF ME... *great* choice of sound effect, and *great* timing. (:

I also really like the attention to detail, like the people walking around the ship actually DOING things, and the fact that Shion turns her head to look as she's running past other people and objects of interest and such.

And there's a really cool thing included strictly for humor value (I think) where you can seal off an entire section of the ship by pressing a big red button, and you seal this one guy between two airlock doors, and he gets REALLY scared and kinda b*tches you out when you talk to him later. (:

We also have a villain now, I believe, though I won't say any more on that front. (:

I like the flashback scenes and the brief one-on-one talks between Shion and Allen, as they use fairly simple conversational Japanese that I can actually understand. (:

And that sole background story FAQ on GameFAQs (how the hell was that posted so quickly?!) has been a huge help in figuring out what's going on (sort of), too. (:

At any rate... WOW... I soooooo wish this game were in English... but even without knowing what the hell is going on, I'm hooked. (:

-Tom

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http://forgottenkings.tripod.com/ http://wyrdwad.diaryland.com/

Fully-voiced story scenes shouldn't be too much of a problem. Instead of reading the textboxes, you can just sit back and listen to them talk while watching the FMV. That's not bad ;) I hope they pick good English voice actors. The FFX English voice actors were pretty good, so I'm expecting atleast that.

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Out of clutter, find simplicity. -Einstein