This is a Xenosaga: Episode 1 Review for the Playstation 2 by Strubes.

            Since there is a scarce amount of futuristic RPG’s in today’s era, many have wondered how the future of these RPG’s would fare.  Xenosaga, being the sequel to the Snes’s Xenogears, brings a breath of fresh air to the RPG market with it’s unique battle system and awe-imposing graphics. 

            Taking place thousands of years into the future, the human race has extended its reach to deep space.  While the humans are searching for the secrets of the universe, they are confronted by a brutally efficient alien race, known as the Gnosis.  The Gnosis is greatly feared by humans because of their barbaric nature.  You take control of a young girl named Shion working for a company known as Vector.  You’re main focus is concentrating on a battle android /super weapon named KOS-MOS. KOS-MOS’s main purpose is to defeat the Gnosis.  When the space station you are working at is suddenly attacked by the Gnosis, it’s your job to get KOS-MOS and get out of there!  This is where the main story begins.

            On a graphical standpoint, this game is beautiful.  Although most of the game’s environments are indoors and may seem repetitive, there are also some more exotic environments scattered throughout the game.  Every move and technique you use in battle is a work of art, as most have stunning visuals.  The player models are just breath-taking, down to every little detail. 

            The game play is what I think makes this game stand out from the rest.  You don’t just randomly enter battles.  You choose your enemy and if you even want to face them.  Enemies appear on screen on the environment.  You can actually walk around them or run away from them.  If they’re facing you, or they see you, they’ll chase after you.  If they catch up, they’ll attack you.  If not, then you get away without the hazardous fight.  If you sneak by or run away from an enemy, although you didn’t risk having anyone in your party hurt, you also just passed up experience, so just know what you’re passing up.  As for the battles themselves, a ton of work must have gone into it to make it this easy and fun.  There are choices that you have, square for a basic attack, triangle for Special attacks, and circle for a final tech attack.  You get to use a combination of the square and triangle buttons to use two attacks each time.  When your AP (ability points) is high enough, you can use two of those buttons plus circle for a final tech attack.  At the end of each battle, you earn a specific number of experience points and other points to be used on other objects.

            The story is very complicated, and can prove frustrating if you don’t pay attention though the whole game.  You might even want to consider playing the game again to get the full feel for it.  Although it is complicated, the general concept for the story is great and is fluent from one scene to the next.

            Xenosaga Episode I: Der wille zur Macht is overall, a great game that reached above expectations and brought something truly unique to the RPG market.  Warning: Do not play any other RPG’s while playing this game or you will lose the story.  Other than that, this game is a futuristic masterpiece.