Kaffee
11-13-2004, 03:31 AM
Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose
Platform: PS2
Publisher: Namco Developer: Monolith Soft
ESRB Rating: Rating Pending Genre: RPG
by David Smith
11/04/2004
http://rpgfan.com/pics/xenosaga-episode2/logo.jpg
The second episode of Monolith Soft's RPG epic Xenosaga didn't receive the most enthusiastic reception when it first made the import rounds. Our non-Japanese-parsing minds remain open, though, after getting a chance to sample a small slice of the upcoming American version, particularly since it seems to have received at least a few bits of tuning as part of the localization process.
For instance, one of the biggest technical flaws in the Japanese version of Episode II was the loading before each battle. The transition between the field map and the first chance to excute a combat command was punctuated by a good three or four separate load pauses, as the game drew the background, started up the battle theme, loaded in the characters, and so on. The bad news is that the loading hasn't been completely quashed, but the good news is that the current American preview version does seem to tone down the effect. There's still some waiting, but it's a bit shorter, and the transition doesn't have the jerky start-stop-start feel found in the import.
Surprisingly, much of the voice cast from the first game has been replaced. Shion, Jin, M.O.M.O., Chaos, and several other characters are voiced by new actors, although Jr., Ziggy, and Margulis still have their familiar voices. Margulis in particular is in fine form in the current demo, which centers around his present-day showdown with Jin (as opposed to the flashback that opens the game).
In a way, the new voices are a little less jarring than one might think. After all, many of the characters look completely different now, thanks to the well-publicized redesigns in between episodes, so it's not a giant leap from there to sounding different as well. Some of the new voices suit the characters' new roles rather well, too. Jin, who's now a significant player in the story instead of a brief introductory cameo, has a deeper, slower, slightly quieter voice -- "older" might be a good word to describe it. At any rate, it suits the tone of his scenes well.
Episode II's combat system, which drew a good deal of flak earlier this year, is still hard to judge from our experience. It's certainly faster than the first game, which is a major improvement, adding more succinct attack combos and the ability to swap characters in and out of combat at will (as in Final Fantasy X). The new scheme for targeting different parts of an opponent with different combinations is more of a mixed bag, though -- it seems to combine a certain amount of random guesswork with a dramatic increase in the party's attack power once you stumble upon the enemy's vulnerable points.
Going through the game with foreknowledge of the right attack pattern (for bosses in particular) would probably let a player make hash of the opposition. Come upon it early enough in a dungeon and it might render most subsequent encounters with the same type of enemy moot.
We'll wait and see how the system works in extended practice, though, when a more complete English-translated version arrives. That should come in relatively soon, with the finished game scheduled to ship next February. Namco's also confirmed that the same bonus disc offered as a pre-order extra with the game in Japan -- containing an 80-minute retelling of the first game's story -- will be available with the American version as well.
Platform: PS2
Publisher: Namco Developer: Monolith Soft
ESRB Rating: Rating Pending Genre: RPG
by David Smith
11/04/2004
http://rpgfan.com/pics/xenosaga-episode2/logo.jpg
The second episode of Monolith Soft's RPG epic Xenosaga didn't receive the most enthusiastic reception when it first made the import rounds. Our non-Japanese-parsing minds remain open, though, after getting a chance to sample a small slice of the upcoming American version, particularly since it seems to have received at least a few bits of tuning as part of the localization process.
For instance, one of the biggest technical flaws in the Japanese version of Episode II was the loading before each battle. The transition between the field map and the first chance to excute a combat command was punctuated by a good three or four separate load pauses, as the game drew the background, started up the battle theme, loaded in the characters, and so on. The bad news is that the loading hasn't been completely quashed, but the good news is that the current American preview version does seem to tone down the effect. There's still some waiting, but it's a bit shorter, and the transition doesn't have the jerky start-stop-start feel found in the import.
Surprisingly, much of the voice cast from the first game has been replaced. Shion, Jin, M.O.M.O., Chaos, and several other characters are voiced by new actors, although Jr., Ziggy, and Margulis still have their familiar voices. Margulis in particular is in fine form in the current demo, which centers around his present-day showdown with Jin (as opposed to the flashback that opens the game).
In a way, the new voices are a little less jarring than one might think. After all, many of the characters look completely different now, thanks to the well-publicized redesigns in between episodes, so it's not a giant leap from there to sounding different as well. Some of the new voices suit the characters' new roles rather well, too. Jin, who's now a significant player in the story instead of a brief introductory cameo, has a deeper, slower, slightly quieter voice -- "older" might be a good word to describe it. At any rate, it suits the tone of his scenes well.
Episode II's combat system, which drew a good deal of flak earlier this year, is still hard to judge from our experience. It's certainly faster than the first game, which is a major improvement, adding more succinct attack combos and the ability to swap characters in and out of combat at will (as in Final Fantasy X). The new scheme for targeting different parts of an opponent with different combinations is more of a mixed bag, though -- it seems to combine a certain amount of random guesswork with a dramatic increase in the party's attack power once you stumble upon the enemy's vulnerable points.
Going through the game with foreknowledge of the right attack pattern (for bosses in particular) would probably let a player make hash of the opposition. Come upon it early enough in a dungeon and it might render most subsequent encounters with the same type of enemy moot.
We'll wait and see how the system works in extended practice, though, when a more complete English-translated version arrives. That should come in relatively soon, with the finished game scheduled to ship next February. Namco's also confirmed that the same bonus disc offered as a pre-order extra with the game in Japan -- containing an 80-minute retelling of the first game's story -- will be available with the American version as well.