Xenosaga

Xenosaga is a role-playing video game series developed by Monolith Soft and primarily published by Namco. Forming part of the wider Xeno metaseries, Xenosaga is set in a science fiction universe and follows a group of characters as they face both a hostile alien race called the Gnosis and human factions fighting for control of the Zohar, an artifact connected to a god-like energy called U-DO. Gameplay across the series is similar, with the characters being guided through a linear narrative and fighting enemies using a turn-based combat system. The party fights both on foot and in a variety of mechs.
Tetsuya Takahashi created Xenosaga as a spiritual successor to the Square-produced Xenogears, for which he founded Monolith Soft with help from Namco; multiple Xenogears staff returned, including co-writer Soraya Saga. Following the release of the first game, the Xenosaga series was given over to new staff with Takahashi both supervising the project and providing the draft scripts. Under the new staff, the original script saw several changes and its planned six-part structure cut down by half. The series made considerable use of Biblical imagery and elements of the works of Carl Jung and Friedrich Nietzsche, with the subtitles of the main trilogy drawing from the works of Nietzsche.
Reception of individual titles has been positive, although journalists have commented that the series was too ambitious. While the first game met with strong sales, the series as a whole was a commercial disappointment. The first game also received both a manga and an anime adaptation, the latter being dubbed and released in North America. Following the end of the Xenosaga series, Takahashi and other team members started a new project to rebuild morale, which became Xenoblade Chronicles. Characters from Xenosaga would go on to appear in multiple crossover games.

Titles

Games

Xenosaga spans five different games sharing a single continuity; the three mainline games for the PlayStation 2, a spin-off and prequel for mobile devices, and a remake of the first two entries in the trilogy for the Nintendo DS. Each title in the trilogy features a subtitle taken from the published work of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

Xenosaga Episode I was first released in Japan on February 28, 2002, for the PlayStation 2. Its North American release came on February 25, 2003. An international version titled Xenosaga Episode I Reloaded was released in Japan on November 20, 2003. The game's subtitle, Der Wille zur Macht, was taken from the native title of The Will to Power, a posthumously published collection of notes written by Friedrich Nietzsche.
Xenosaga Episode II was released on June 24, 2004, in Japan for the PS2. The game was released in North America on February 15, 2005. In Europe, the game was published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe on October 28, 2005. It is the only game to have been released in Europe. The subtitle, Jenseits von Gut und Böse, is taken from the native title of Nietzsche's philosophical novel Beyond Good and Evil.
Xenosaga: Pied Piper was released across three episodes between July and October 2004 for Vodafone mobile devices. A version for NTT DoCoMo's i-mode service was released on July 5, 2006. Pied Piper remains exclusive to Japan. Its subtitle is inspired by the German fable of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
Xenosaga I & II was released in Japan on March 30, 2006, for the Nintendo DS. The game is a remake of Episode I and Episode II, with redrawn artwork, gameplay adjusted for a portable platform, and additional story elements based on cut content from the home console versions. Like Pied Piper, Xenosaga I & II remains exclusive to Japan.
Xenosaga Episode III was released in Japan on July 6, 2006, for the PlayStation 2 console. It was released in North America on August 29 of the same year, published by the then-rebranded Namco Bandai Games. The game is the last entry to have been released in the Xenosaga series to date. The subtitle, Also Sprach Zarathustra, is taken from Nietzsche's novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
Additional media

Following the release of Episode I, a supplementary disc titled Xenosaga Freaks was released on April 28, 2004. The disc features a visual novel segment featuring multiple characters from the game, a minigame dubbed XenoPitten, a dictionary that explains the game's terminology, and a demo for Episode II. 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. Xenosaga Episode I was adapted as a manga by Atsushi Baba and published through Monthly Comic Zero Sum. It was later released in three volumes by publisher Ichijinsha between 2004 and 2006. Additionally an anime adaptation titled Xenosaga: The Animation, which adapted the events of the first game, was produced by Toei Animation. Originally broadcast on TV Asahi between January and March 2005. the anime was later licensed and dubbed for a North American release; originally licensed by A.D. Vision, the North American rights are currently held by Funimation Entertainment. Multiple staff from Xenosaga: The Animation later worked on Xenosaga I & II.

Common elements

Gameplay

Gameplay in the Xenosaga series feature similar gameplay across its various entries. The core gameplay revolves around the player controlling a party of characters navigating different environments including dungeons, with combat initiated when exploring environments and touching sprites representing enemy groups. Combat makes use of a traditional turn-based battle system, with basic mechanics involving the spending or conserving of Action Points. Battles feature combat using both human party members, and in mecha known under different titles in each game. Episode I introduces the basic gameplay and combat systems. Episode II incorporates multiple levels of attack types which different enemies are weak to, combined with alterations to the performance of mechs. Episode III further expands upon the system, and mechs have expanded functions including dedicated dungeon environments. Xenosaga I & II reworks the gameplay systems; combat takes place during random encounters while exploring, and characters are arranged and have elements of their combat dictated by their placement on a grid. Pied Piper incorporates gameplay systems similar to Episode I adjusted for mobile devices, with navigation separate from battles which take place in a virtual zone tied to the narrative.

Setting

The Xenosaga series takes place within a single science fiction universe. In the year "20XX", humanity discovers the Zohar—a primordial artifact which connects to the realm of a god-like energy dubbed U-DO—is discovered on Earth and allows travel beyond the Solar System. A disaster causes Earth's location to be lost, becoming known as "Lost Jerusalem". By the game's events, humanity has adopted a new calendar system dubbed "Transcend Christ", with the series' events beginning in T.C. 4768—equivalent to A.D. 7278, with humanity forming a Galaxy Federation. Planets are connected through a warp travel network called the Unus Mundus Network, 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 is attacked by the Gnosis, an ancient species revealed to be formed of souls who rejected U-DO. Vector develops two different weapon systems to fight the Gnosis: humanoid mecha dubbed AGWS, and the similar but more powerful KOS-MOS battle androids. There also exist more advanced AGWS models called E.S., powered by Lost Jerusalem artifacts called Vessels of Anima. A key backstory event is the Miltian Conflict, which occurred fourteen years before the events of Episode I. Beginning as a war between the U-TIC Organization and the Federation, it escalated when a group of Realians went berserk when an experiment to suppress U-DO's energies went wrong. Miltia was lost in a space-time anomaly. Key organizations include the Federation government; the Kukai Foundation, a group that acts as a shelter for enhanced humans including U.R.T.V.s; Vector Industries, a megacorporation controlling the U.M.N.; a splinter faction called the U-TIC Organization; religious cult Ormus, which funds U-TIC; and the Testaments, a group of men who have been granted a form of immortality following their original deaths.
The first game follows series protagonists Shion Uzuki and prototype battle android KOS-MOS escaping a Gnosis attack and traveling to Second Miltia aboard the passenger freighter Elsa, where they meet a young man called chaos. Together with U.R.T.V. and Kukai co-founder Jr., the group thwart the plans of Albedo Piazzolla, Jr.'s biological brother. In Episode II, Albedo uses information gathered during the events of Episode I to open the way to the original planet Miltia, which becomes the focus of a conflict between the Federation and Ormus. Ormus' leader Sergius gains control of a powerful mech called Proto Omega, destroying Miltia in the process. He is then killed by the Testaments, who give Albedo control of Proto Omega, forcing Jr. to kill him. In Episode III, Shion, KOS-MOS, chaos and the rest of their group confront both the Testaments—which includes a resurrected Albedo—and Vector CEO Wilhelm. Wilhelm is revealed to be an immortal being stopping the universe's destruction through eternal recurrence. The group defeats him, then KOS-MOS and chaos help banish the Gnosis to the region of Lost Jerusalem. Shion and Jr. set off to find Lost Jerusalem and save the universe. Pied Piper follows the character Jan Sauer—later known as the cyborg Ziggurat 8 —as he investigates the crimes of a cyberspace-based serial killer a century before the events of Episode I.