Platform: Playstation 2

Genre: RPG

Publisher: Namco

Developer: Monolith Software

ETA: December 2001 (Japan)

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Xenosaga

Of all the RPGs that have hit the Playstation one of the most prolific of the is considered by many to be Xenogears.  While the Final Fantasy games have gained in popularity, shifting towards the mainstream, Xenogears has gained a huge cult following.  Between its heavy, religious overtones, the surreal, futuristic setting, and the incredibly epic nature of the narrative it's no wonder so many people rank it as a personal favorite.  Now, after a lot of speculation we're finally going to see a new Xeno game from the same development team, now Monolith Software under Namco, headed up by Xenogears producer, Tetsuya Takahashi.

With the narrative playing a huge part in this game we may as well start there.  This installment is Episode One in the six part series, and takes part in a time long after humans have left Earth and are roaming the galaxy as the Star Cluster Federation.  Of course, like any epic tale, there is a mean, evil force out to get mankind, in this case it's a group known as the Gnosis.  They are a dark, mysterious lot who want to wipe out the humans.  Nothing else is mentioned as of yet and it's presumed that we'll only really find out more if we actually play the game.  To fight off this menace the humans have created a form of robot called Anti Gnosis 

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Weapon System (AGWS) that is small, maneuverable, and well armed.  All we can assume so far is that the story will follow this conflict, though it wouldn't be at all surprising if a lot more pops up that ties the story into Xenogears.

At this point there are three main characters that have been mentioned.  First up is Shion Uzuki (any relation to Citan?), who is a female engineer helping to design a new AGWS.  She's a quite lass who lost her family when her planet was attacked and doesn't like talking about it and, being the lucky girl that she is, her boyfriend was killed in an accident a few years in her past.  Next up we have KOS-MOS, a female android that is designed for battle.  Lastly there is Chaos, a young lad, or at least young looking lad, who will not talk about his past.  We're guessing he's the quiet, mysterious guy in the party during the adventure.

The look of Xenosaga is an interesting mix of photo-realism and anime.  The characters and the AGWS are where the anime comes in while the environments look very realistic.  Whichever way you look at it the pics are looking very good so far.  Also, if you liked Yasunori Mitsuda's music in Xenogears, he's back to write the tunes for Xenosaga and the London Philharmonic Orchestra will be performing them.

Information is sparse in regards to gameplay, but it looks to be traditional with the usual overhead view while exploring, then the game switching to a new screen for battles.  What is new is that enemies can be seen in the overhead view like in Grandia, so players have the opportunity to escape.  Enemies will give chase if they see the player's party, or sometimes if they hear the player.

It's understandable that so little information has been made available in regards to Xenosaga so far, but when you consider how intricate the storyline should end up being it begins to make sense.  Hopefully though, we'll hear more on the battle system, items, and other gameplay features soon.

- Mr. Nash