Xenosaga Posts

Great to see someone covering this overlooked and underrated JRPG series. I’m a longtime fan of Xenosaga, so
if it’s okay I’d just like to make a small clarification/correction (assuming I didn't misinterpret what you guys
were saying): Episode 1 wasn’t 20% of the plan for that game itself; it was 20% of the complete story of the
first arc in Takahashi’s epic, aka Shion’s arc, which was originally supposed to be told in Episodes 1+2, with
the second arc being told in Eps 3+4 and the third and final arc in Eps 5+6. But ultimately we only got Shion’s
arc, 1/3 of the complete picture, and it ended up requiring three episodes/games instead of just two as
originally planned.

Regarding the restructure in the development team for the series after Episode 1, personally I’m not sure
“Takashi wanted it to happen” would be the best way to describe it; I’d say “Takahashi went along with it”
would be a more strictly accurate description, since there’s little available information on and insight into
Takahashi’s thoughts and feelings during the whole thing.

However, it’s the exact opposite with his wife, Soraya Saga, who was very outspoken during the restructure,
since she was removed from the project altogether despite being one of the co-authors of the story and the
lead writer for Episode 1. And thanks to all the evidence we have from her firsthand account of the process,
once again I personally don’t think it’s entirely accurate to call it a "debunked rumor" that there was meddling
from higher-ups that prevented (or at least hindered) Takahashi and Saga from fulfilling their vision.

Yes, there was no meddling on _Namco’s_ part, as Soraya Saga herself made clear with her statement on
Namco being very supportive and allowing:

"The parent company has been kind enough to allocate reasonable budgets, development times, and
promotional campaigns for the series. I've been grateful to them for their help."

But Soraya Saga kept a blog at the time and she made numerous posts on the changeover in the series and its
staff after Episode 1, and she made it very clear that she was removed from the project against her wishes and
was deeply hurt by that, going as far as to state that (she wrote this herself in English as she is fairly fluent in
it):

“No offense to anyone or anything. But you would know how it depresses your feeling, if you lost an egg you've
been hatching for so many years. I had been really looking forward to see a flight of our dreams.”

So while there was no meddling from Namco, one of the co-authors and lead writers was still kicked from the
project against her wishes by the higher-ups at Monolith Soft itself (and yes, those included Takahashi himself,
Saga's husband, which is indeed weird, but perhaps like you guys speculated he couldn't prevent that due to it
being a group decision).

If you’re interested in reading more about this, I highly recommend checking out the article “The History of
Xenosaga” on the Xenogears & Xenosaga Study Guide website:

http://xenogearsxenosagastudyguide.blogspot.com/p/the-history-of-xenosaga.html

I was part of the forum community of this website back when it still had one and the creator of this Study
Guide did an amazing job compiling information from virtually all the materials and interviews ever released
about the games and their development. And honestly, the story of the Xenosaga series’ development is
almost as interesting and dramatic as the story of the games themselves, so I do think it’s worth checking out.

Btw, another small correction, Norihiko Yonesaka, who became the lead writer for episodes II and III, did have
a writing position in Episode 1: he wrote the scenario for the game’s sidequests.

Last but not least, on a more personal note, I’d just like to say that not every Xenosaga fan _hates_ Episode II.
It had a lot of problems, but personally I don’t think it’s anywhere near as bad as TJ makes it out to be
(especially story-wise; the combat system _was_ pretty messy), and I hope Mike and Casen are still able to go
into it with an open mind and without too many preconceived notions derived from TJ’s rather damning
assessment of it.
But yes, as Mike said, it’s good to keep in mind that Episode 3 is incredible (in the eyes of many, anyway,
myself included) if you’re underwhelmed while playing Episode 2, or even Episode 1, to be honest, since again
I personally disagree with TJ’s appraisal of it. It’s basically a 40 hour prologue and it very much feels that way.
It’s very slow paced and barely gets anywhere story-wise (remember, it only covered 20% of the complete
picture), consisting largely of setup, exposition, and worldbuilding, with very little in the way of payoff. Not to
say I didn’t like it, but yeah, IMO episode 3 is very much what makes the whole trilogy truly worthwhile. It
nailed everything from the art style to the combat system, and despite the messy development history of the
series, it somehow still managed to conclude the story in a pretty satisfying manner and provided incredible
payoff to all the build up from the first two episodes.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the ride because I’m sure you’ll be on it for a few months at the very least,
haha.

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Yep, I went and checked after watching this video, and the highway scene in Episode II was literally 2 and a
half minutes, not "5 or 10" like TJ claimed. Not that the game overall doesn't have pacing issues; it absolutely
does, but just like in Episode 1, those didn't ruin the game IMO. I'd actually put Episodes 1 and 2 on a relatively
close level, personally. They're both somewhat flawed and dated, but still worth it for the overall story. And
while the writing may have been less subtle and more heavy-handed in Episode 2 after Soraya Saga was
removed from the project, the story still had many moments that were more powerful and moving than most
of Episode 1's relatively dry 40 hour prologue of a story. Of course, that's just my opinion, but I felt like sharing
it here because I think it's important to counter the notion that Episode 2 is universally reviled by everyone.

And yeah, I getcha. These days when I want to reexperience Xenosaga, I don't really have the patience to
replay Episodes 1 and 2 again anymore, so what I usually do is simply rewatch the cutscenes for those two, and
then replay Episode 3, which I can always come back to and have a blast with because the gameplay is so
damn smooth and polished, and the combat is like a more complex and engaging version of FFX's already
excellent battle system.

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Personally, the reason I recommend the undub is not necessarily because the English dub is bad but rather it's
mainly because the VAs change constantly in English. Some characters have the same VA in 1 and 3 but not 2,
others in 2 and 3 but not 1, and some even have a different VA for each individual game. Whereas in Japanese
the cast is consistent from start to finish. Couple that with the Japanese version's lack of censoring (which in
English really ruins some scenes, especially in Episode 3) and the undub is the definitive way to play the game
IMO. But to each their own, of course.

And I get where Mike is coming from when talking about pacing at the end there. In the first two hours or so,
the scene with Virgil and the Realians is really the only one with real tension and intrigue. Xenosaga Episode 1
definitely requires some patience and investment since it consists largely of setup and worldbuilding. In that
sense it kind of is the least captivating of the three games IMO, since even Episode 2, despite all its problems,
already offers far more payoff than 1.