Xenosaga: Was mi�riert

Nah Krillin is great!

Allen is just.

Allen.

C'mon guys, Allen is the heart and soul of the team.

I'm super hyped for the XSIII LP. Are you going to play the sweet puzzle mini game? I don't remember it's real name but my brother and I always called it Matthew's Runner, and with that I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

It includes great quotes like "I'M SORRY, I FAILED TO COMPLETE MY MISSSSSIOOOOON!"

So, my thoughts on XS2.

I like the writing. I like the idea of actually being able to level up your gears(I'm just gonna call them gears because let's face it that's what they are). The animation, as Goggle has mentioned, was improved as well.

Let's tick off the ways they fucked it all up.

1. So much was cut out that it's basically XenoSaga Episode 1 Part 2. It's almost entirely the shit they cut out from XS1. This is never a good thing.

2. FUCK YOU BATTLE SYSTEM.

3. Utter lack of a proper equipment system and item shops makes things harder than they need to be in some spots. Most fair okay, but then you have to deal with the paying off the captain's debt side quest, which if you actually want to use a lot of the good shit that quest gives before the final boss, you have to do exploits. So many of them. Primarily the stealing from Orgulla/STAY OUT OF THIS MANES STAY OUT OF THIS MANES STAY OUT OF THIS MANES

*ahem*

Sorry.

Anyway, you have to primarily steal a billion friggin' Awakenings from her, and that requires a huge amount of ether recovery items.

Guess what you can't buy.

Yeah.

3. Most of the changed character face designs look awful. MOMO was bad looking in the first game, and looks like shit here, just different shit. It took until XS3 for her to get a good design. Chaos' new design works well, and Shion is the worst of the bunch by far. Going back to her original facial design in the third game, but with more polys, was the best decision they could make in that situation.

4. Shion and MOMO's new VAs suck. Going back to Shion's old VA was a good choice. Not much else to say.

5. Most of the optional content is locked behind beating the game. So, if you're the type that likes to get all the nice shit and then go screw up the final boss, well, you're shit out of luck!

I am that type, Talking Time. I so very much am that type.

6. Losing the little hand drawn portraits from the menu ala XS1 and XG makes Moon Orbit a sad pony. MOMO's was my favorite, she was so cute.

In conclusion, only play this game if you realllllllllllllly want to see the writing and don't like LPs or something. I strongly advise against playing it. It's just not fun. Only wanting to see the story kept me going in 2006.

Yea I think if there's one thing this LP is doing, it's quenching my desire to play through these games again that was actually starting to come up because of Xenoblade X.

But I think it's not really that bad to try to go through if you haven't played before. Course, if you're reading this post then you've made it through 2/3 of a LP so the main draw is mostly gone for you, but the game has personality and there's enough passion (it wains and waves, but it's there sometimes) behind the story that if you are able to latch on you can get something from it. And each game is pretty short as far as JRPGs go (not that the pacing will ever let you realize that)

Excited for the ep3 refresher to really try that analysis.

Episode 1 is a legitimately good game, and is easily one of my favorite RPGs. I only didn't include it on the best jrpgs list because I went with all time classics I know well. I only regret not putting Super Mario RPG on it.

I see people dislike Xenosaga 1 and get horribly confused. It's the best of the three easily. Tjhe game mechanics, while not perfect, are quite nice, and the story is quite good. It's the only of the series that has good gameplay and good writing.

I'm not super familiar with Dragonball Z or this series, but I know enough to say that Krillin, despite being outmatched by every single monkey god and LGM running around, is still out there trying his best to be a hero and a champ. Which is hella commendable.

If there wasn't any Shion for him to pine over (and by the looks of it she wasn't really in this game that much) there wouldn't be any reason for Allen to be here. He'd probably be on one of those planets that got vaporized in one of the dramatic ship entrances without ever being introduced.

No... If he's anything he's the appendix.

Krillin also got the girl (robot) which so far Allen seems to be incapable of.

I'm pretty sure it's required at some point, so, yes, I will play it. Will I play it to completion? There aren't enough hours in the day...

Regarding Allen, as far as his status on the team, I really should review the games, and see how many characters distinctly interact with Allen. Like, for instance, I'm not certain Jin ever addresses Allen directly, which is kind of funny, considering they're both so close to Shion. I just picture someone telling The Brews "Allen is the heart and soul of this team," and MOMO saccharinely responding, "Who?"

All I gotta say is that after the point where I stopped playing it appears the game got even worse and I do not regret my decisions.

I am looking forward to XS3 all the more now.

XS3, if you skip all the cutscenes, plays very very well, fwiw.

But given the cutscenes and plot are basically what the game was made for, well... Shit's gone bad.

so bad.

Goddammit googlebob hurry up and do your LP so I can do mine. :P j/k

Maybe I just need to revisit, but outside of like two or three (..four?) moments in the game the plot of XS3 didn't seem bad. At least, not offensively so. But I haven't played it since it came out, and I've never replayed it, unlike the first two games.


Also, GoggleBob! I probably asked this already but I forget what your answer was and I'm not looking back through the thread, are you gonna touch on Pied Piper?

Kind of hard to play that one given it was Japanese Cellphone only. I imagine just linking to that script translation or summerizing it would be the only thing that can be done.

I read that shit in full back in the day, BTW.

You're not the only one. I visited the site daily while it was posting updates. :|

I got lucky and found it when the translation was finished. Very, very lucky.

You both bring up good points, and the short answer is...

Actually, when have I ever gone with the short answer? The long answer is...

Previously on Xenosaga: I just spent 35 updates and eight months discussing Xenosaga Episode 1 and Xenosaga Episode 2, so let’s do that again!

WAIT, NO!



Xenosaga I & II was a Nintendo DS game released on March 30th, 2006, about three months before the Japanese release of Xenosaga Episode 3 for the Playstation 2. In a way, like the anime series, this was a clever way to get the audience “caught up” on the Xenosaga plot, and maybe nudge a few new fans into purchasing the upcoming finale. On the other hand, it took a series that was known for its dynamic, sweeping visuals and storytelling, and reduced it to something that would have been right at home on the Sega CD.

Though, in its defense, it is pretty cute.



Unfortunately, Xenosaga I & II never made it to North America. This isn’t particularly surprising, as, while there was a time that Namco seemed to believe Xenosaga would be the next Final Fantasy, by the time Xenosaga Episode 3 was released, it was public knowledge that Namco was all but done with the franchise. As the story goes, Xenosaga might have gotten additional games if Episode 3 sold well, but… “The Xenosaga Trilogy” has a nice ring to it, right? History is written by the closers.

It’s kind of a shame that we never got to experience this game, though. I’ve seen conflicting reports from multiple sources that Xenosaga I & II is either meant to be “the real story of Xenosaga” and “what was always intended”, or it’s another random, gaiden-style story that has as much to do with the real “canon” as the anime. There’s support for both theories, ultimately, as this game was written in conjunction with the writer of the anime, Yuichiro Takeda, and a lot of story beats from that presentation seem to bleed through. On the other hand, a number of between episode “flubs” are rectified for this game (for instance, Nephilim’s vision of the end of Old Miltia now actually syncs up with what happens), and some dangling plots (like what happened to Sakura) are tied up. On the other-other hand, Xenosaga Episode 3 contains a database of what happened previously, and it ignores or outright contradicts many I&II events. And, oh yeah, the original Xenosaga head writer got fired, so, uh, did anyone even ask her about her original intentions?

In all likelihood, the answer here is probably that, like anything else in this franchise, Xenosaga I&II was a series of “it seemed like a good idea at the time” decisions, and any contradictions or continuity errors are probably just the result of being part of a series that took six years to tell a six part story that was arbitrarily condensed into 2.5.

But I’ve made it my life’s goal to overanalyze the entire Xenosaga series, so let’s take a quick look at what’s going on in this DS game.



I am by no means fluent in Japanese, but I’ve practically mind-melded with this franchise at this point, so I decided to give the opening chapters of Xenosaga I & II a try. The intro of Xenosaga I & II is the same “discovery of the Zohar” from the opening of XS1, but, as per system limitations, it’s just a series of stills of the original’s cinema scenes.



Which makes it kind of jarring when we get to the game proper, and everyone is illustrated at a level somewhere around Lunar.



It’s a DS game, so we’ve got an easy-access menu on the bottom screen, and the “action” on the top screen. This same menu layout persists between the two “parts” of Xenosaga I & II, which means that stuff that was exclusive to Episode 1 in the original games (like the UMN database) will now be available for the whole adventure.



Random battles are now truly random: there are no on-screen enemies to encounter, just walk around a little bit and a battle will occur. As you may be able to tell, the battle system (again, for both parts) is almost entirely based on the system of XS1. You can see the “random round ticker” or whatever that thing is called in the top left next to the turn order. The bottom screen offers your attack options, with the familiar “would you like to use a physical attack or ether attack” option.



The new twist here is that there’s a movement grid for the battles, and you have to actually be “within range” of an enemy to attack. The good news, at least, is that it seems like movement is a free option, so you don’t have to think too hard about where your characters end up.



Little bit out of narrative order here, but here is Shion using her familiar Spell Ray special attack. Techs are once again based on the XS1 system, so stock a round, and then build up to a powerful attack as often as possible.



Also seen here: despite KOS-MOS standing directly in front of Shion, Shion took a mighty blow from Cyclops. In other words, positioning your characters so they “block” weaker characters is not a viable strategy. As far as I can tell, positioning only impacts enemy targeting and area of effect ethers/attacks.



Back to the actual narrative, here’s a fun change: Virgil and a random Realian help out during the initial KOS-MOS testing mission. I can’t read a damn thing here, but what was once an intimate scene between Shion and KOS-MOS now becomes a friggen party.



Here’s a big reason why I feel bad about missing Xenosaga I & II. It’s the little things that get my attention: for one random battle, Virgil will “help” in his AGWS and blast an enemy mech… but also “inadvertently” damage the friendly Realian in the process. This simultaneously plainly shows Virgil’s contempt for Realians, and foreshadows his own death (when KOS-MOS “inadvertently” turns Virgil into a pencil). It’s not the kind of thing that FAQs/wikis tend to mention in their lists of changes, and it was a pleasant surprise to see this… what’s the right word for it… Virgil Dickery.



Xenosaga I & II moves at a very fast clip. The opening tutorial area of XS1 took about a half hour and consisted of four or five screens worth of dungeon. In XSI&II, this area is just one screen, involves about three random encounters, and the final boss, Goblin, is dead within seconds. All told, I want to say this entire area took five minutes.



Back on the poor, doomed Woglinde, Shion receives e-mail like in XS1. I’m sure this is just more crazy nonsense from Miyuki, but it’s all Greek (probably some Latin) to me.



Shion gets to have her conversation with Jin via video phone, again. In this case, it’s probably more relevant, as he’ll be an actual playable character before too long.



Oh, each Episode is divided into ten chapters. The first chapter ends by the time Shion hits her room. I’ll reiterate that XSI&II moves really fast, so this first chapter was maybe ten minutes, tops.



Allen gets very Allen spritework.



Aw, remember Cherenkov? He’s still a loser.



Minor change, but Shion actually goes to the bridge before encountering the Zohar in this version. And she still gets yelled at by ol’ purple face for being a ditz. Hey, come to think of it, remember how Vanderkamp aka Strickland aka Purple Face got that stupid beached spaceship during Episode 2? Well, in XSI&II, he gets the Proto Dora in the same location, so he finally fulfills the promise of his Xenogears descendant.



Another anime-influenced change: Shion befriends Realian #99, one of MOMO’s prototype sisters. If I’m interpreting this right, you’re prompted to name the doomed bot. You’d think she already had a name…



Shion is always so happy to talk to Realians!



Albedo is now responsible for the gnosis attacking the Woglinde. On one hand, I prefer XS1’s implication that gnosis just kinda happen, and KOS-MOS is important because she’s the only thing that can save the human race. On the other hand, I don’t mind Albedo being established as the main antagonist early. So, neutral change.

Also, as you may be able to guess, there is little to no voice acting in this game (characters do scream out attacks, Sailor Moon style, but that’s about it). However, Albedo is accompanied by a fun little digitized laugh… and I can’t help but think of another JRPG villain…



Anime influx again: Albedo crashes the Woglinde, steals #99, and leaves Shion unconscious. She’s eventually rescued and escorted along by that same friendly Realian that Virgil zapped earlier.



You get one battle that proves “you can’t touch gnosis”, and then it’s pretty much all scripted events from there. So, nope, you do not get to participate in the one part of Xenosaga Episode 1 that I thought was actually game-y.



And, despite the fact that the franchise is terrible about following up on this, Shion still gets snatched by a gnosis, so, oh no, is she going to turn into a gnosis herself? (Who cares?)



Then KOS-MOS shows up and kicks ass.

CONTINUED NEXT POST

Despite the anime influence, Virgil dies right when he’s supposed to, and Chernkov lives to stink up his own stupid dungeon. Note that Cherenkov’s entire stupid past becomes an optional side story, but encountering Gargoyle (Cherenkov’s boss form) is not in any way skippable.



I kind of like how the chibi graphics make the gnosis easier to… interpret. Minotaur, the boss of the invaded Woglinde, is about where I stopped actually playing this game, because there was a steep uptick in damage from this guy, and I think the game wanted me to grind against random Woglinde gnosis. Screw that noise.



The rest of these captures are taken from various youtube playthroughs I could find. For anyone interested, I hit here, here, and here . Additionally, I used the Xenosaga Wiki and this one lonely FAQ on Gamefaqs to put together the story. I apologize if I got anything wrong here, just, ya know, language barrier.



So, other changes. Another anime-alike, Ziggy now gets ferried to and from MOMO’s rescue mission via Elsa/Captain Matthews. This condenses the plot at the expense of making the Elsa crew look less outlaw-y and more… obedient dog.



Though it sort of doesn’t matter, as Ziggy’s mission becomes an optional sidestory, and KOS-MOS and Shion first encounter Ziggy already aboard the Elsa. There’s a cute scene where it looks like KOS-MOS is going to fight Ziggy (like in the anime), shoots a laser at him, but, gasp, it turns out there was a gnosis behind him, and KOS-MOS just saved his life. Instant friends!



Ya know, Ziggy’s hair never seems quite right outside of CG. Too…. human.



Junior’s intro dungeon is also an optional scene, though it doesn’t become available until the Episode 2 section, for whatever reason. I want to say that Mary appears to have been born for anime cutouts.



Junior, too. Oh, I guess I should mention that everyone except KOS-MOS sticks to their Episode 1 outfits throughout the entire game. I much prefer Junior’s XS1 coat, so I’m okay with this.



Another optional scene shows Shion and Kevin on one of their first dates. Amusingly enough, this park background/area reappears during Episode 3.



So, one major problem with the whole “talking cutout” thing? Here’s the death of Kevin at Proto KOS-MOS’s blade.



You will note that Shion appears to be exactly as mad at Kevin for some random disagreement as she is at Proto KOS-MOS for, ya know, killing her fiancée. See? Acting counts in videogames!



And we still get fanservice!



Here’s a fun change: Richard and Hermann appear on-foot in a couple of areas well before they’re encountered in their AMWS. Here, the party is battling the duo right around the time they’re framed and sent to jail by U-TIC.



This leads to the amusing quirk of Richard and Hermann only appearing “in person” in this little side game. As you can see, Richard (on the left) has some… interesting fashion choices.



Albedo’s trick head is only shown in silhouette.



And we get another sidestory about the #99s and Sellers (who is looking a little chunky in anime form) at the fall of Old Miltia. Turns out Sellers launched the Song of Nephilim/Proto Merkabah with a full complement of #99s as Old Miltia got sucked into its black holes, and, whoops, kiddy Albedo was along for the ride. That’s how Albedo “obtained” The Song of Nephilim, and how he got to be such good friends with his Realian harem.



Speaking of The Song, both it and Proto Merkabah are combined into one dungeon. At the end of the dungeon, Albedo sucks #99 into the ES Simeon, and stands ready to kill the party, but Canaan shows up in the ES Asher and saves everybody. They get locked in a stalemate (like when ES Asher fought ES Issachar in XS2), and the gang runs off to battle Sophie Peithos (the final boss of XS1) like usual. Oh, and Ziggy seems to think Canaan feels familiar for some reason…



The entire bitchin’ intro of XS2 becomes another optional dialogue scene. I’m pretty sure this means that all the best parts of the original Xenosaga duology were excised or drastically abbreviated.



Oh yes, while the gameplay may be almost entirely based on XS1, double techs do eventually become available. Yay KOS-Zig!



The Ether skill acquisition system is all XS1, though.



Eventually you get all the ESes, too (Miyuki actually delivers ES Zebulun, MOMO’s mech, on Wilhelm’s orders… which seems like it should be more significant than it is…). As you can see, all three ESes can cooperate in battle, which makes a whole lot more sense than XS2’s arbitrary “only two at a time” rule.



Gaignun still has daddy issues.



Here’s a clear change for the better: the second trip through MOMO’s stupid forest is excised, and now you get to traipse around that final, doomed URTV mission that Junior flashbacked over and over again. This makes so much more sense, and even offers a fine excuse for “real” Albedo to invade the simulation (as it’s the point when Kiddy Albedo became, ya know, nuts).

Oh, also Sakura dies on screen. We’ll get to that.



Another significant change: When Old Miltia surfaces, Second Miltia gets its own gnosis attack(seemingly summoned by Albedo again to delay the party). I rather liked that Second Miltia (unlike everywhere else in the galaxy) seemed safe throughout XS2… but, then again, for all those stupid sidequests, I’d kinda like to see everyone in town die horrible, salt-based deaths.



Oh, you know what’s not shown here? Anything involving Orgulla, because she was completely dropped. I suppose you really should stay out of this, Manes.

CONTINUED NEXT POST

Actual Proto Omega is fought via ES instead of The Patriarch, and then the game wraps up with the entire party confronting Albedo/U-DO, as opposed to just Junior.



Albedo as the final boss is now a “real” final boss, and not just a gimmick fight. This seems a lot more appropriate here, as Albedo has been antagonist numero uno from practically chapter one in this game.



During the finale, it is revealed that, while it appeared earlier that Albedo was responsible for Sakura’s death, Sakura actually metaphorically took a bullet for Albedo, and absorbed some U-DO waves (or something) that would have killed him. This creates a lovely little irony circle wherein Albedo hated Sakura for taking away Junior, but, unbeknownst to him, Sakura was the reason Albedo was alive at all. Albedo has been resenting his own savior all along! … This would all be a lot more meaningful if a Xenosaga Episode 3 datalog didn’t contradict this revelation, though.



And, during the ending, everybody that was lost during the story makes a little friendly cameo. Cecily and Cathe are looking good in the afterlife, and Cherenkov gets to at least be slightly remembered.



And we close with the knowledge that in the XSI&II universe, Alby the dog is some kind of pug, and not a terrier mutant like in the real franchise. This is all noncanon! Throw it out!

So those seem to be the important changes. There’s some more junk I didn’t cover, like The Testaments get to hang around being generally cryptic in a few more places (and you actually get to fight Blue Virgil’s Scorpion ES), or that there’s a new council member named Pierre Ruryk, and he basically steals what little limelight previously belonged to Helmer; but, generally, that’s the important stuff.

Overall, I’d say that, from what I can tell, Xenosaga I&II made a number of interesting, if inconsequential, changes. Some changes exist to tie off stories that will not be revisited (Sakura is done, people), some changes further elaborate on established characters (Virgil is a giant jerk), and some changes are clear retcons to either validate new material (Ziggy recognizes Canaan) or set up status quos for Episode 3 (Sellers, what ever have you been up to?). Overall, however, none of these changes really make a very large impact on the Xenosaga franchise, so, whether this game is “canon” or not is just as trivial as what Junior happened to be wearing when he gunned down his brother.

As far as the “game” portion of XSI&II goes, with two games worth of content crammed into one DS game, it seems like everything moves a lot faster than it should. Say what you will about XS1 and XS2 being separated into two games released two years apart, but the separation did add some gravitas to that prediction of a terrible, exploding Old Miltia future. In XSI&II, you go from “this is the worst thing that could happen” to “oh, that happened” inside of a few hours. Similarly, the opening of XS1 may have been the most boring thing in the franchise, but when the Woglinde is sunk within a half hour, you barely even remember that the gnosis are a threat.

In short, I want to say that we didn’t really miss much with Xenosaga I & II never seeing a translation. As someone that is currently experiencing literal Xenosaga dreams (I have got to stop posting before bedtime), I’m interested in seeing all the little changes to the franchise; but for the average gamer, you’re much better off experiencing the “real” Xenosaga titles, warts and all.

Next time on Xenosaga: Wait… why does Ziggy recognize Canaan again?

STAY OUT OF THIS MANES STAY OUT OF THIS MANES STAY OUT OF THIS MANES STAY OUT OF THIS MANES STAY OUT OF THIS MANES STAY OUT OF THIS MANES STAY




*ahem*

Sorry, it's just... something that happens sometimes. Old memories.

You want them to be attacked by the Gnosis but I think you're the only one here who's ... salty.

Albe-DO?

STAY OUT OF THIS MOONS

I was always disappointed that we didn't get this game, but I guess I didn't miss much? Some of the spritework looked cute though.

But, wait, Ziggy 'recognizes' Canaan? I can't really get into why that doesn't make sense without spoiling the next update and part of the XS3 endgame, but still, that's surprising.

He recognizes Canaan in the sense of, "do I know you? You seem familiar." Not like "Oh, hey man, what's up?" It basically plays by the rules.

Oh, I read it as he recognized his appearance but OK, if it's that way then it makes sense.

Previously on Xenosaga: We took a look at the reimagined, portable version of Xenosaga. Ya know, thinking about portable remixes of classic JRPGs gets me thinking…

I remember when I first heard about Final Fantasy 4: The After Years. An official sequel to Final Fantasy 4! I loved the cast of Final Fantasy 4, and revisiting the gang with modern sensibilities should be amazing! And it’s a sequel, so we get to find out “what happened next”! That’s astounding! How could such a game be anything but awesome?!

But there was one significant thing holding me back from enjoying such an eagerly awaited game: Final Fantasy 4: The After Years was only available on Japanese cell phones. This… was a deathblow. At the time, I barely had a cell phone at all, left alone a cell phone “for gaming”. And with the technology of the day, the idea of playing a comprehensive JRPG on a phone’s screen seemed, at best, cumbersome. And, of course, we’re talking about a game that was only in that magical land of Japan, so even if the previously mentioned hurdles were somehow bypassed, I didn’t have a prayer of seeing such a niche product stateside anytime soon.

Oh well, at least a variety of nerds took the time to transcribe the finer points of the adventure for an online audience. Edge got disciples! Palom and Porom were all grown up! Cid was somehow still alive! It all sounded so exciting, and, like other “never gonna see ‘em” games like Secret of Mana 2 or Terranigma, my imagination filled in any blanks on what may have been a game’s deficiencies.

In time, against all odds, we received Final Fantasy 4: The After Years as a WiiWare title. I played this “Japanese cell phone game” voraciously, and found it… lacking. In time, the game was released again on the PSP. At that point, despite technically buying it again with its Final Fantasy 4 Original brother, I didn’t even boot the game once. Anyone who has ever played it knows exactly why. Suffice it to say, Final Fantasy 4: The After Years did not live up to whatever hype it had once garnered.

Xenosaga had its own “Japanese exclusive cell phone game”. Was it any good? I have no idea. Will we ever see it come to America? I very much doubt it. But is it important to the franchise? Unfortunately, yes.



Xenosaga: Pied Piper is a prequel of sorts to the Xenosaga main story. XPP tells the story of Ziggy, aka Jan Sauer, before he was the immortal cyborg we all know and love. A century before the events of Xenosaga, Jan was simply your average space cop, working a case to track down some terrorist that had a habit of eating babies. In short, Pied Piper tells the entire tale of how Ziggy came to be Ziggy, and initially met his archrival, the Black Testament, Voyager.

And the US audience never had a prayer of playing the dang thing.

Despite Ziggy being the undisputed best Xenosaga character (non-Professor division), it appears there were never any plans to port Xenosaga: Pied Piper to any sort of Western hardware. This isn’t entirely shocking, as, at the time, Western cell phones were kind of crap. We didn’t even get to see the Nintendo DS Xenosaga game, what were the odds of seeing a game for a platform that technically didn’t exist?

It’s kind of a shame, as there are significant chunks of Xenosaga Episode 3 that absolutely rely on the player “knowing” what happened in Pied Piper. Yes, there is a “database” in XS3 that is supposed to fill in the blanks, but those xenowiki articles only show up after the related big dramatic reveals. In other words, the hapless player is stuck watching a cutscene where someone reveals that Dave was Steve this entire time, and the rest of the characters gasp, but the player is as confused as ever, and desperately trying to remember if this Steve guy was someone important. It’s clunky as all get out, and it’s particularly noticeable in Xenosaga, because this franchise is one that actually is very good about following the rules and not revealing confusing information for the sake of revealing confusing information. Wait, no, that’s wrong. Xenosaga is very confusing when it comes to terms and “mysterious entities” and whatnot, but it is very good at providing solid through-lines for designated friendly characters. You basically know what Ziggy knows from the moment he’s introduced, and it’s off-putting when he starts crying about a past that was previously barely referenced. If you played PP, you’re in the know, but if you didn’t, it feels like a betrayal.

So, with that in mind, I’ve scoured the web in an effort to put together a snapshot of Xenosaga: Pied Piper, and “what you need to know”. Unfortunately, there isn’t much data out there on X:PP (and some sources appear to have information that is outright wrong), so… this should be interesting.

Gameplay

Xenosaga: Pied Piper is a JRPG, much more in the Final Fantasy 1-5 mold than its big brothers. I mean, seriously, look at this…



Ziggy is going to the hospital to recruit Maria and Guy to battle the Dreadnaught. Or maybe not. Whatever the case, the graphics and basic gameplay are practically 8-bit, and, honestly, that’s kind of clever. This is a game that takes place a century before Xenosaga proper, so it’s only natural that it would be primitive by comparison. Or maybe I’m giving the Xenosaga producers too much credit…

The battle system, meanwhile, is pretty much Xenosaga Episode 1, complete with the round bonus wheel thingy.



And even special attacks that are occasionally in English.



As you can see, we’re dealing with a GUI and general graphics that are basically on Dragon Quest level.

The general flow of the game is basically DQ as well: there are three chapters, and each chapter is divided up with a basic flow of “plot -> dungeon -> boss -> plot -> dungeon -> boss -> plot -> end of chapter”.

All over, it appears to be a very retro experience.

Plot

But the story isn’t retro! While Xenosaga is “just” a space opera with heavy religious/mystical overtones, Pied Piper is predominantly cyberpunk. The main gist of the story is that Jan is the leader of a police department that investigates crimes that take place in the (fairly new) UMN. The UMN is, like in Xenosaga proper, a gigantic virtual reality internet, and apparently some terrorist is using this cyberwonderland to brainjack victims and either manipulate his prey or outright kill ‘em. The whole story is about three seconds from sliding into a Gibson novel at any given moment, and, frankly, I wouldn’t mind seeing this setting in a few other JRPGs. I’ll take sentient computer viruses over orcs any day of the week. Or both, Shadowrun.



Anyway, the overarching plot of the game is simply that Voyager, cyber-terrorist, is doing whatever the hell he wants for seemingly no reason, and Jan and the gang have to stop the guy. Voyager is manipulating the natural anonymity of the UMN while simultaneously exploiting a number of different warring factions, so he’s not a very easy guy to track down. Also, the third act twist is that the call was coming from inside the house the entire time! And that always makes things difficult.

Characters



Jan Sauer is the man who would one day be Ziggy. At this point in time, he’s just your average police captain. Turns out his boss is his uncle (either by blood or friendliness), and a sort of surrogate father, because Jan’s dad was a cop too, except he got dead around his thirtieth birthday, and left Jan to be raised by Mama Sauer. Jan is now 30, and that isn’t ominous at all.

Fun fact: Jan is just as stoic as Jan or Ziggy. Apparently, it wasn’t the trauma of his own death that stunted his emotions, he’s just always been like that. Also important: Jan, as of thirty, is unmarried, because during the game he meets…



Dr. Sharon Rozas, a local medical doctor that Jan encounters after the first Voyager mission leads to a lot of dead kids. Despite meeting under probably the worst circumstances possible, Sharon winds up being a great friend to Jan, and helps him on the case (the CSI department of Jan’s precinct is apparently sorely lacking). Their star-crossed romance begins when, on a night out with the rest of the cast, Sharon roofies Jan and drags him home. That wasn’t a joke. Jan’s coworkers tease him about it later.



It all works out for the best, though, as Jan quickly becomes Sharon’s lover and a de facto father figure to Joaquin Rozas, Sharon’s 11 year old son. We actually saw Joaqin once during a Xenosaga Episode 1 flashback, and it’s either a retcon or Ziggy being very polite that explains why Ziggy always talked about his “son” that was really his stepson that he only knew for a year, max.

Incidentally, Sharon appears to be fairly religious, and visits the local church often. Since this is Xenosaga, that eventually gets her entire family killed.



Meanwhile, at the precinct, we’ve got Melisse Ortus, a human cop that is there to be the one emotional character in the cast. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that she’s a woman. Her defining moment seems to be early in the game, when she recklessly charges into a virtual tank with her supporting officers and… everybody dies. Whoops! Other than that, she spends the rest of the story generally reacting to things with her big crazy emotions. Occasionally she suggests the most careless, insane solutions to simple problems. Granted, this is an overwrought JRPG, so she’s usually right, but still!



Conversely, we’ve got Lactis, a brand new Realian provided by our friends at Vector. Lactis is cynical to a fault, and occasionally out-under-emotes Jan. As usually happens with this kind of character, Lactis always seems to offer the logical answer to problems, and what are you silly humans doing again? Are you concerned about death and mating? Ha ha, you humans and your e-mo-tions.




On the support side, we’ve got Mikhail Ortmann and Erich Weber. Both of these dudes are responsible for keeping their chairs warm while Jan, Melisse, and Lactis dive into the UMN and face mortal danger. They spend most of the game shouting “hey listen” and generally “helping” the real battle party.



Rounding out the good guy side, we’ve got Bugs, a virtual AI that appears to have just finished up his time with the cast of Waku Waku 7. He is controlled remotely by Erich, and Bugs seems to have a close, almost familial bond with his operator. Bugs joins Jan, Melisse, and Lactis in combat situations, and seems to also be a mobile inventory of sorts. Useful dude!

And, as has been mentioned, the villain of the piece is Voyager, a mysterious terrorist that is doing something or other that involves leaving a whole lot of dead bodies in his wake. He wears a white cloak… and that’s all anybody knows. Oh, and he keeps leaving his victims spouting random bits from the Bible, specifically Revelations. That’s never a good sign.

Abridged Story

Alright, we don’t have all day here. The actual full, translated script for this game is available here (also, while I’m crediting places, any images not found on that page came from here). If you’re really interested, feel free to give it a read. It’s not bad! However, in the interest of keeping my audience abreast of “what you need to know for Episode 3”, here’s the short version:

Chapter 1

Come to think of it, I haven’t even mentioned where in space this is all taking place. The planet Abraxas is the setting for this entire story, and, don’t worry, no one is hopping around the universe. Also, just to head off the speculation: no, Abraxas is not secretly Earth. It’ll wind up being important to the overall story of Xenosaga, but Abraxas is not a planet we’ve previously visited or referenced (much).

What is important, though, is that the Immigrant Fleet currently calls Abraxas home, and there’s a lot of friction between those space loonies and the Galactic Federation. I guess Abraxas is in the middle of joining the federation, but the Cardassians are causing problems, and…. Wait, I might be thinking of something else.

Anyway, with the civil unrest going on, there are a number of random terrorist organizations popping up, and people seem to believe that Voyager belongs to every one of them, because if you’re going to have a boogeyman, he may as well boogey to the max. But then some ambassadors get kidnapped to the UMN, and, sure, let’s say that Voyager is behind that.



So it’s established pretty fast that if you’re jacked in to the UMN, and you’ve been kidnapped, you have to make (virtual) physical contact with someone to be rescued. So the internet works on the same rules as freeze tag? Got it. Melisse, Lactis, Bugs, and an entire squad rush into the UMN to save the ambassadors. Jan was running late that day, and is currently approaching the precinct with a piece of toast in his mouth.

As randomly mentioned earlier, Melisse runs into a virtual tank boss, and accidentally gets everybody else (save Lactis and Bugs) killed. Melisse feels really bad about this, because it’s probably going to cost her her promotion. As you might expect, Jan makes the scene just in time, and saves the remaining party. Moments later, Voyager reveals himself to be responsible/a complete dick, and reanimates the dead cops for some random encounters. It’s a fun time for everybody.

After the zombie fun, the party winds up “trapped” in some virtual space. In an effort to save the party, Erich, professional benchwarmer, jacks in, and is immediately killed. Bugs, Erich’s AI buddy, has a major freakout over his deceased master. Then the party is freed, and they find the ambassadors! And the ambassadors are children, because apparently the Federation was trying to perform some sort of weird PR stunt about the children being our future. The stunt goes further south when Voyager seemingly convinces the children to commit suicide. That’s gonna get some headlines.

So there’s some talk about how the ambassatots didn’t seem to be showing any signs of resistance in the real world, so maybe they were “voluntarily” turning themselves into suicides at Voyager’s behest. But there’s no time for that now, we’ve got to go to the hospital to check on Erich, who… is pronounced dead. But, hey, some of the kids survived. Some. And it’s not a total loss, Jan meets Sharon, who really, really cares about kids being in danger. A lot is made of this, despite the fact that I’d generally ascribe that kind of thinking to basically any non-sociopath.

Oh, and then Erich gets up and leaves his own autopsy, which seems slightly suspicious.

Erich heads back to the precinct, and he explains that he had a cyber double prepared for just such an occasion, so Melisse is stuck calling the funeral parlor and explaining how her buddy was only mostly dead. But all is not well, as Erich is randomly getting headaches and quoting Revelations, which you’d think would be more of a red flag, but Jan explains that Erich has always been a little off, even on good days. Dr. Sharon swings by to check up on friggen Lazarus wandering around, and they all get the call that Voyager is now attacking a “Nursing Plant”, which is basically your one-stop shop for having your own designer child produced. Ever seen Gattaca? Voyager is attacking Gattaca.



The cops head to the Nursing Plant, and Dr. Sharon decides to hit the church. She prays for the safety of her family and all children everywhere, and the local priest says that that’s doable, assuming she’s willing to sell her soul. Sharon politely declines selling her soul to a random clergyman, and generally begins to consider atheism.

Over at the Nursing Plant, the party has a lovely conversation about how this whole designer children thing is just a side effect of the Life Recycling Act and its main supporter, Dmitri Yuriev. Also, Lactis straight up asks “Well, what if you’re not even permitted to die? When then?” As the dramatic irony levels start to reach their absolute peak, the gang finds a bunch of dead fetuses, which is never good.

Oh, and Erich is acting weird, but even mentioning that seems redundant at this point. He’s apparently on drugs, though, which is new.

Everybody jacks in to the local network, and they find that the remaining baby brains are… leaking… or… something? Voyager is apparently eating brainwaves right out baby brains, which is generally a bad thing, so everyone is more determined than ever to beat Voyager. Unfortunately, it’s only the first chapter, so they just fight an inconsequential boss.

After they jack out, Erich notices some sort of backdoor that is feeding Voyager inside info and allowing him to stay ahead of the popo. Mikhail claims there’s no such thing, but Erich sees it, yep, it’s right there, what’s wrong with you, Mikhail? Mikhail is generally nervous about the whole situation.

As a sort of wrap-up to the chapter, Jan checks in with his boss, and he’s taken off the case. Jan objects, and… he’s right back on the case. That was a rough thirty seconds there!

Chapter 2

Now it’s time to party! Patriarch Julius of the Immigrant Fleet put together a swanky shindig to call for unity, and he’s trotting out young Irene Torres of the Torres Foundation, which is a nonprofit that is looking to bring the world together. Guess who is working security? Oh, and Dr. Sharon is at the party, too, and offering random case advice in the form of “hey, did you notice how he’s going after children? Like some kind of Pied Piper?” And then Voyager attacks.

This time, though, the party is prepared. Mikhail put together some sort of “trap space”, so when Voyager strikes, he’s stuck with no way out but through the Jan and friends. But as Jan stalks Voyager, he comments that this is all too easy, and his suspicions seem to be confirmed when he catches “Voyager”, who turns out to be Klaus Torres, the scorned, homicidal brother of Irene Torres. Klaus is on the same drugs as Erich, and he’s rambling about finding peace while quoting from Revelations. Hm, that sounds familiar. And, when it appears Klaus is about to be completely apprehended, he jumps off a virtual building to his death. The UMN needs more guard rails!

Erich has an idea, though. How about we dive into Klaus’s brain? I mean, yes, he’s dead, but we still want to grab some information out of his head, right? Let’s ask a doctor if this is a good idea!



Dr. Sharon says this is a terrible idea, and will almost certainly get everyone involved killed. But she also wants to see Voyager get caught as much as Jan, so, sure, let’s give it a shot. The goal now is to enter Klaus’s dead subconscious and find his shadow, the true self, and maybe awaken it and score a rad new persona. Melisse gets philosophical about blurring the lines between life and death, and Jan sighs loudly, hoping he doesn’t have to hear about such heady concepts again for another hundred years.

The team eventually finds Klaus’s inner-self, and a surprisingly helpful Klaus explains that he’s much better now that he’s dead and no longer being influenced by Voyager. Apparently Voyager is basically a drug dealer, offering “peace” to wayward children, though all the children involved have “the blood of Abraxas” and a connection to “the Zohar”. Nobody knows what that Zohar thingy is, though, but they do score the info that Voyager’s next target is Patriarch Julius. And then Jan passes out.



Jan drifts into some flashbacks to when his father died, and apparently he starts slipping out of life as a result. But he’s rescued by a mysterious voice that is very obviously chaos. Don’t worry, kids, this is just a one-off cameo, and Jan doesn’t get any sort of look at his savior, so this doesn’t bust the Xenosaga timeline wide open. Just, ya know, friendly demigod stopping by a troubled UMN dive to help things along.

Jan wakes up, and everyone gets the news that Patriarch Julius is already dead. On the way out of Klaus’s brain, Voyager shows up to simultaneously taunt Jan and offer him “peace” as he is a “chosen”. Then “Voyager” turns into Erich before Jan’s eyes, and disappears. Jan doesn’t think about this too hard.

Afterwards, everyone goes out drinking, and Sharon slips Jan a mickey, causing him to wake up to nearly lethal levels of cute when Joaquin instantly makes Jan his new daddy. Jan is cool with it all, though, and do I hear wedding bells?

The chapter closes with the soon-to-be-Patriarch Sergius discussing with a Cardinal (not the bird) that everything is going according to plan, and neither Yuriev nor Voyager are “real” obstacles.

Chapter 3



Chapter 3 starts with Jan doing that whole “getting to know you” thing with Dr. The Widow Sharon and her moppet. Meanwhile, Melisse is trying to get her damn job done around here, so she suggests, lacking any other leads, the gang hit Veritas Liberabit Vos, an anti-UMN group. Voyager seems to be able to manipulate the UMN at will, so why not check in with some guys that hate the UMN? Mikhail and Melisse talk to a dude at VLV, and he claims that a lot of this case traces back to… Dmitri Yuriev! Jan is shocked… and then proposes to Sharon. Oh…kay?



Marriage, honeymoon, some time passes, and eventually we hit the “real time” of that flashback from Xenosaga Episode 1. Here’s a dog, woof woof, and Jan gets a phone call to come into work. Sharon has a bad feeling about this, and I want to say that she’s right, because the next time they’ll all be together, a healthy 100% of them will be dead within moments.



Aaaaanyway, Jan got called in to get taken off the case (again?), so Jan reveals that he knows Yuriev is behind everything. This proves to be his undoing, as Yuriev apparently had a plant in the PD, and he gets Jan’s boss killed, and locks up the rest of the gang (except Lactis, who is technically on Vector payroll)



Speaking of which, there’s an interlude where Wilhelm, president of Vector for (a very long) life, is chatting with his secretary (what did this guy do for friends before the Testaments?), and comments, as he usually does, that everything is going according to plan and blah blah blah. Of interest, Wilhelm reveals that Lactis is carrying “program Canaan”, but what that actually is isn’t revealed. Oh, and Wilhelm takes a moment to comment that he’s confused about Yeshua (chaos)’s earlier move to help Jan.

Also meanwhile, Sharon heads back to church again to try to get some answers on the Zohar. She’s told she’s got the blood of Abraxis, and should come back later, there’s going to be a mixer, bring a covered dish, and maybe we’ll tell you the secret of the universe. She decides to make deviled eggs.



Finally back to the “real” party, Jan and company stage a jailbreak with Lactis’s assistance. Now officially on the run, they decide to team up with Veritas Liberabit Vos, about the only organization they can trust at this point. Alexei, VLV’s leader, mentions that Yuriev is such a high ranking member of the Federation Government, he can basically do whatever he wants, and he seems to be the guy providing drugs to Voyager and keeping him on a leash. Oh, and apparently Voyager has some sort of weird brain disorder, too. Lot of interesting, but generally useless information, guys.

Dr. Sharon calls and says she’s got some more info on Voyager, so the battle party heads off to meet her while Erich and Mikhail stay behind. Sharon doesn’t really provide any new information, but while they’re all comparing notes, Mikhail calls in a panic, and claims to know the true identity of Voyager. But he’ll only tell the party in person. That doesn’t sound suspicious at all!

When the party finally catches up with Mikhail, he’s gone insane, and fights the party. He’s just about killed in the battle, but comes to his senses before death and explains that he was brainjacked. Erich is close at hand, and he’s helping out/randomly quoting Revelations. Then Sharon gets some DNA off a Voyager victim (well, like, residual brain DNA or something… same diff), and reveals that Voyager is… Erich! Gasp!

Voyager is apparently on the move in the UMN, but the good guys have Erich’s body right here, so let’s just dive right into Erich. Now we get to talk to Erich’s Shadow, who explains the whole deal: Erich had a brain issue, and the only way to satisfy it was to sit on the internet 24/7. I can relate. Somewhere along the line, Erich decided he needed a greater high, so he hacked into the central core of the UMN, and encountered U-DO. U-DO scared the crap out of him, so he volunteered to be U-DO’s proxy, “a voyager on the sea of the net”. His task was not really to kill people, but to absorb the souls/consciousness of the chosen ones… which incidentally involves killing people (and sometimes babies). And, FYI, Yuriev was U-DO’s first voyager. When asked about the nature of U-DO, Erich claims that U-DO is terrifying/peaceful, so good luck parsing that bit of info.

A mysterious voice (a white-haired immortal) tells Lactis that he has to protect the Canaan program, which confuses the hell out of Lactis. Lactis recovers, though, and figures that the Voyager personality is probably going to go mess with the new Patriarch and his Zohar loving buddies. Everyone! To church!

Everyone arrives at the church, and it turns out they’re crashing that church function that Sharon heard about earlier. Sharon and Joaquin are both there, and the Zohar is front and center… and glowing mysteriously. And everyone in attendance is writhing and screaming in pain. Dammit! Yuriev is way across town in his office, and he’s having issues, too.

So all of space kinda freaks out, and the party has to go through a boss rush of basically every enemy that has appeared in the game. While that’s going on, Sharon and Joaquin are trapped near the Zohar, and Voyager appears to be making a deal of sorts with Sharon. Sharon agrees that she would do anything for world peace, and Joaquin just wants to see daddy again, and…. They’re dead. They both collapse and bleed out more blood than you’d expect. Probably looks something like this.



Then things get really fun: Voyager wants Jan to join him. Typical Darth Vader style here, but Bugs (remember Bugs? The AI that worked with Erich?) decides that he’s had enough of this, and kamikazes right into Voyager. That does exactly nothing. Way to go, Bugs. Voyager is unharmed, and he’s ranting about the fact that U-DO apparently isn’t taking his calls anymore. But someone new decides to pick up those voicemails.

Wilhelm shows up, and explains that U-DO is busy right now, but maybe there’s a position for you at my organization. Voyager is reluctant at first, but Wilhelm offers the ol’ “ye shall be as gods” sales pitch, and Voyager decides to go for it. Voyager’s white cloak becomes black, and Black Testament is officially on the board. Voyager seems to gain an instant upgrade, and blurts out that Lactis’s “Canaan program” is about finding and observing chosen ones, like, coincidentally, Jan.



Once again, Voyager offers Jan a place by his side. Lactis keeps telling Jan to resist, and Jan does, by blowing his own brains out. Sharon, Joaquin, and Jan Sauer are dead, the end.

Postlude

Turns out this whole story was being relayed by Melisse, reflecting on “that year”. So, ya know, fun fact, Jan only knew his wife and child for a year at most. Lactis winds up getting recalled to Vector, and no one ever saw him again. The Zohar apparently was inert before this incident, but now it’s up and ready to go, and the entire galaxy started taking a good, hard look at Abraxas. In order to confuse the hell out of everybody, Planet Abraxas became known as Planet Michtam. Naturally, all those peace talks broke down, and Yuriev decided to retire from space government to the private sector, maybe to make a few clone kids or whatever.

As for Melisse herself? Well, given her policing career was kind of aborted by that prison break stunt, she decided to officially join Veritas Liberabit Vos, which, in time, led to her founding a new anti-UMN faction, Scientia. And whatever happened to Scientia? Well, that’s a story for another post…


Pied Piper: What you need to know:

• The Zohar “activated” about a hundred years ago
• The Zohar spent a lot of time on Abraxas/Michtam
• Ziggy is originally from Abraxas/Michtam
• Ziggy/Jan Sauer killed himself to escape Voyager/Wilhelm
• Voyager manipulated Jan’s family into death
• Voyager was once Ziggy’s friend/coworker
• Voyager personally interacted with U-DO
• Lactis was a Vector Realian that housed Program Canaan
• Program Canaan was a method of finding and observing “chosen ones”
• Melisse founded Scientia, an anti-UMN organization
• chaos has been randomly helping Ziggy since he was Jan
• Wilhelm has been president of Vector for at least a century
• Dmitri Yuriev has been a player in the Galactic Government for at least a century
• Dmitri Yuriev personally interacted with U-DO before Voyager

Next time on Xenosaga: Another post.

Being the fanboy that I was (am??) I had read about all this before playing Episode III, so at the very least I wasn't lost during the big reveals near the end. I feel bad for the folks who had to read the summaries after the fact to make any sense of it, though.

Sad thing is, if this sort of spin-off game dropped today on cellphones we'd probably get it over here, or at least be able to access it. But Pied Piper came out during the window where cellphone software was becoming a thing in Japan, but was still unthinkable here.


I do like the overall story, as much as we're able to glean from summaries and translations anyway. In Episode I Ziggy was presented as having committed suicide, but despite how determined he seemed to be to end his own life early on he gave up on that awfully fast. Turns out he was never suicidal to begin with, and his act of taking his own life was not about succumbing to despair over losing his loved ones, but the last act of defiance of a free man.

From-a the script:

Voyager plays like he's giving Jan a choice, but he was pulling the same mind-manipulation trick he did to Sharon, Joachin, and all of his other victims. Jan was keen enough to see through it before it got hold of him and took the only way out he could, because spiting Voyager was all he was able to do at that point.

As we'll see in Episode III Voyager, uh, he didn't take that very well.


And it's weird to think in some alternate reality Jan succumbed to it and became a Testament himself. I wonder what color he would have been? Gold? Mauve? Teal?

Black Watch Plaid.

Previously on Xenosaga: We took a look at Jan, now let’s try some Jin…

One of the most interesting things about working on this Xenosaga LP project has been pouring over the mountains of “fan facts” and other potentially dubious sources of information. As one story goes, Xenosaga was originally supposed to be six parts (this seems to be confirmed), and it would follow more of an “anthology format” than what we actually saw. In other words, while the main party of Xenosaga stays pretty much consistent within the Xenosaga we received, in this mythical proposed Xenosaga, the party would mutate and change between episodes, dropping or adding characters as according to their story arcs. Apparently KOS-MOS would be the through line for the series, but anyone else was generally replaceable.

This makes a certain amount of sense, because, if you were paying attention to Xenosaga Episodes 1 & 2 (not talking about the DS version), you may have noticed that a few party members are kind of… done. Junior came to terms (re: shot) his brother, and seemed to reconcile with his “cowardly” past. MOMO learned that her beloved father wasn’t an insane lunatic, and got that Y-Data sucked out of her brain, so no more kidnapping. And Shion confronted her past, and learned that sometimes, in order to love a Realian, you have to kill a couple of children.

Shion is probably the most important character to talk about in this case, as her position as the POV character was always something of an odd choice. According to this “Xenosaga Anthology” rumor, Shion would only be a playable character for Episode 1 (which, remember, was supposed to be what we received as XS1 and XS2), she’d get her cathartic Cecily/Cathe/exploding planet moment, and then she’d slink into the background, always a presence, but more of an Allen than a Shion. This makes a certain amount of sense, because, practically from the beginning, Shion was established as a sort of unwilling combatant, and, like MOMO, she’d make a whole lot more sense on the sidelines, maybe hacking something or asking the main party if they’d like to go to the final dungeon now.

But, as we know, that didn’t quite work out. Shion wound up being the undisputed (maybe a little disputed) main character for the entire trilogy. Which is cool! I like Shion, and I feel like her character as empathetic science nerd is something that maybe should be seen a little bit more in JRPGs (no more sword wielding teenage action boys!). But the problem with Shion, as of the end of (real) Episode 2 was that she was kind of… done. Alright, yes, we still have her undead fiancée creeping around in a cloak, and there’s that (seemingly forgotten) threat of turning into a gnosis thanks to her Woglinde times, but both of those problems are very... subtle. Unless the story wants to blow the “mystery” of ol’ Red Testament, neither of those problems are exactly a reason for Shion to get off the couch and strap on her arm thingy.

So, what do you do with an unmotivated protagonist?



Give her a brand new motivation!

Xenosaga II to III: A Missing Year is an episodic flash movie released during the lead up to Xenosaga Episode 3. XS3 starts with a brand new status quo for our heroine, and, similar to XS2, it wastes no time hitting the ground running and tossing Shion and her new(ish) buddies into a dungeon of crazy (but cryptic) revelations. This is not something Xenosaga usually does. Xenosaga, yes, is normally very enigmatic, and plays its cards close to the chest pretty often, but it generally plays fair. At no point in Xenosaga is there, say, a time skip that leads to a funeral where everyone is standing around the casket saying, “Oh, it’s such a shame that that person in the coffin is dead.” “Yes, I’m so sorry that he or possibly she has passed.” Xenosaga seems to play fair with its characters that you should know, so a confusing “one year later” where up is down and Allen is now half duck or something seems out of place. So Xenosaga II to III: A Missing Year was released to bridge the gap between games in a more honest manner. It’s right there in the name!

Of course, there’s also the added benefit of X:AMY being used as “preview material” to get the audience excited about an upcoming sequel… but I’m sure that’s just a random side effect.

Only problem was that, like Xenosaga Freaks, Pied Piper, and Xenosaga Episode I&II, the West never saw a translation. This, again, isn’t terribly surprising, as this presentation was a straight up, “old school” (“new school” at the time) Flash presentation, with nested menus and a whole lot of text. Even ignoring the lousy internet speeds for most people in 2006, this wasn’t just a simple video that could be subtitled or dubbed and shoved out as some kind of preorder bonus. No, this was Flash from top to bottom, so it would require a new dub, a complete text translation, and then an expert Flash programmer to sync everything properly together. Seems like a lot of effort for a random online promotion for a game that was already known to be at the end of a series...

So, while this whole little side story is pretty important to the Xenosaga mythos, it was only ever included as a brief “data log” entry in Xenosaga Episode 3. I mean, the good news is that we got some info on this story at all; the bad news is that it should have been, I don’t know, some text in the instruction manual that was available before you first boot up the game and start asking “What the hell is going on?”

More good news, though. Unlike its generally untranslated brothers, Xenosaga II to III: A Missing Year did get a completed English translation by some dedicated fans. Hooray! Though, it probably helps that this whole story is an hour and a half, tops, and can be easily uploaded to Youtube. See? http://www.id-tec.de/xenosaga/

So, in the interest of having you caught up when we start Xenosaga Episode 3, here’s a quick rundown of the six chapters of Xenosaga II to III: A Missing Year.

Chapter 1



The story starts with like 15 seconds of Xenosaga Episode 3 footage, and that’s probably the carrot before we get to the stick…



Like a lot of information regarding Xenosaga “extra” projects, I can’t seem to find any details on when exactly these chapters were released. I’m assuming these chapters were released with a staggered schedule, as the whole “to be continued” factor of each chapter seems almost built for discussion regarding its various cliffhangers. Additionally, Chapter 1 of this series seems almost like a prologue that was produced before anyone really knew the “plan” for this whole project. Everyone (mostly just Shion) is seen in their XS1 garb, and the whole chapter is mainly just Shion talking “at” the audience.

Here’s the skinny: it’s six months after Xenosaga Episode 2, and gnosis are attacking more and more. That would probably be expected, but the change here is that the gnosis seem to be targeting particular people and places. This hasn’t escaped practically everyone’s notice, and there’s a growing thought that the gnosis are a lot more organized than previously imagined. This has got the powers that be looking for an answer, so Juli Mizrahi gets The Brews involved.

Except… I guess everybody else was playing poker downstairs with Professor, so only Jin seems to answer the call. He was probably just grabbing another few beers for the gang, saw the “check messages” light blinking, and decided he’d take care of this little problem on his own. So Jin gets some intel from Juli, and flies off to save the day.



So (and this is just described by Shion at this point, it’s actually seen later in the story) Jin grabs his own ES, and confronts a weird boy that seems to be connected. The boy says he’s working for a man named Grimoire, and there’s also a girl known as The Maiden of Grimoire, who is definitely a Realian. Also, the boy summons and transforms into a gnosis, Jin turns the kid into kabobs, and then obtains a “Lemegeton Fragment”. Jin then rescues (kidnaps?) The Maiden of Grimoire.



Jin brings Maiden back to Juli, Shion, and KOS-MOS, but then a mysterious woman named Doctus arrives to double kidnap Maiden. Gasp!

Also, at one point, Shion comments that she’s kinda over this whole gnosis thing, and would rather not be involved in yet further nonsense. Good luck with that!

Chapter 2



Alright, now we’re getting new looks and a coherent (enough) plot.



And, for the record, Jin decided to dress like a total badass for this mission. I suppose I should mention that, starting with this chapter, the “Flash” factor kicks in, and you may click on highlighted names to access “data files” for more information on individual characters. Great way to catch up (or to try to remember what the hell was happening in the Xenosaga universe).



Back to the plot: Doctus is a totally rad cyborg, and singlehandedly subdues KOS-MOS. But don’t worry, Shion is here to make excuses for her robot, so the explanation is that KOS-MOS was only half built into Version (Episode) Three mode, so, like, she was groggy, or something. KOS-MOS is escorted back to Vector for (almost) the remainder of the story, because her constant presence would probably solve too many problems.

See? They’re walking back Chapter 1 almost immediately.



Anyway, as Doctus runs off with Maiden, Juli explains that she has some more data to share. For one thing, “the Lemegeton Program” was a way to summon/direct gnosis invented by a guy named Grimoire Weiss Verum. Grimoire apparently invented this technique back on Old Jerusalem, and he was a real swell guy, because he pulled that off by experimenting on his daughter. And, oh yeah, he’s pretty much the reason Earth got lost. Whoops!

After Lemegeton was responsible for losing the entire birthplace of the human race, it was determined that Vector would hold on to that little bit of data. So I guess Vector has been around for a while. After a few millennia of sitting on it, Vector (likely just Wilhelm) decided to share Lemegeton with Dr. Joachim Mizrahi. Dr. Mizrahi used Lemegeton to create The Song of Nephilim… and then another planet got lost.



So it’s generally assumed that this Maiden of Grimoire (pictured) was one of Mizrahi’s inventions, as a little girl Realian that might be able to summon gnosis seems like just the kind of thing he’d make. Unfortunately, Maiden is a blank slate as far as memories go, and all she seems to say is that she’s… Nephilim? No, girl, you’re too blonde.

Anyway, Jin and Shion decide to track Doctus back to her pad to retrieve Maiden, but Doctus gets the drop on them, and…



“What the… ?!”

Chapter 3



Oh, wait, Doctus doesn’t shoot anybody, they just all go back and talk to her boss. Doctus is a member of Scientia, an anti-UMN group that is convinced the internet is out to get us, man. As mentioned during Pied Piper, Melisse, Ziggy’s old buddy, started this group approximately a century ago. As a thank you, Melisse receives a much better character portrait than everybody else in that crazy cell phone game.

Apropos of nothing, Scientia shares all their information with Jin and Shion, because I guess Shion has an honest face. Maiden is a Realian, and apparently Realian eyeballs are like signatures, and this girl was definitely made by Mizrahi for Zohar experiments. This reminds Shion of Feb, Cecily, and Cathe, so she’s suddenly interested in the plot again.

The other side of this story is also explained. Apparently there are Lemegeton Fragments (Jin already found one) that can be implanted into your head, and then you can summon a gnosis. But bad news, you will turn into a gnosis, too. Though, good news, while you do become a gnosis, you get to retain your consciousness. But, bad news again, Lemegeton Fragments also contain potassium benzoate.

Furthermore, gnosis are coming from the UMN. We kind of knew this from day one (the literal first time the gnosis arrive, it’s noted that they’re coming from UMN “other” space), but Scientia is convinced that, since Vector is responsible for the UMN, Vector is responsible for the gnosis. Apparently there was a government inquiry into this kind of thing… but Vector was responsible for the investigation. Fun fact: Vector found no wrongdoing was committed by Vector. Future space governments work!

Oh, and Grimoire is still alive, and he’s hiding in the UMN, too.

But Scientia’s head honcho admits that this is almost all conjecture and rumor, so, ya know, don’t worry yourself about it, Shion. I mean, I know you work for those guys, but when’s the last time a rumor in a JRPG universe turned out to be true?



Anyway, seems like it’s been a while since we did anything but stand around talking, so let’s hook up Maiden to a Scientia-brand brain sucking machine, and see what happens.



Whoops, it all goes horribly wrong, Maiden disappears entirely, and Shion, in an attempt to do… something… is knocked unconscious.

Chapter 4



Shion is now a vegetable, and Maiden is gone all together. Juli Mizrahi and Jin are… concerned. Juli flexes her science muscles and notes that Shion’s consciousness is lost somewhere in the UMN. The only hang up is that the UMN is the modern day internet multiplied by 4,000 years of useless information, so she can’t exactly just ask Jeeves where Shion wound up. But Jin isn’t going to take this lying down! He’s gonna save his sister, or at least find a cheap place to buy bonsai trees trying!



But just in time to save this story from being twenty chapters of Jin googling his sister, Nephilim (the real one) (that is to say the ghost ginger, she’s kind of just left of “real” on a good day) pops in to talk to Jin. Nephilim is oddly specific when talking to Jin, and she reveals that Shion, Maiden, and Grimoire are all in a secret part of the UMN called Ars Nova. Also, apparently Scientia was entirely right, and Vector sealed this whole area of the UMN. Good guess, guys!



At this point, we get the official flashback to that bit when Jin nabbed the ES Reuben (for seemingly no reason) and pursued that mysterious boy he eventually julienned.



And we get the additional information that Maiden wasn’t at all afraid of the gnosis being summoned, but she did seem a little put off by Jin himself (even before he killed Ash Ketchum). Jin is a little curious about that, but he’s more anxious to save Shion, so he he yoinks the Fragment of Lemegeton.



Jin uses the ES to fly over to Scientia again, and asks for help from Doctus. Jin offers the Fragment of Lemegeton as a trade, and, in exchange, Doctus helps Jin hack into Ars Nova, because I guess Nephilim gave Jin a handwritten map or something. Don’t worry, Shion, Jin is on his way!

Chapter 5



Chapter 5 starts with Shion and Maiden in some kind of dungeon. Virtual dungeon, I suppose. Given the only other option is scarf-based strangulation, Shion decides to have a random chat with Maiden (which no one seems to have done up to this point). Maiden explains that Grimoire called her Nephilim (so she naturally figured that was her name), and she was tasked with collecting and uniting all the Fragments of Lemegeton, presumably because one of those fragments would finally offer the Mime job. Shion responds by pointing out that Grimoire is a slimy little pimp, and don’t worry, my idiot brother Jin will be here any minute to rescue us.



Unfortunately, Grimoire shows up, and takes Maiden away, all the while ranting about the benefits of fragment acquisition. Grimoire totally ignores Shion, which is convenient, as Jin shows up about ten seconds later.



Some sentries arrive to turn Jin and Shion into pincushions, but then Doctus jacks in and shows off how she’s totally the best character forever and uses her cyborg abilities for good/saving the Uzukis. Yay! Doctus, you stay here and be a secondary character, Jin and Shion are getting to the bottom of this conspiracy you told them about two chapters ago.



Grimoire is found in a section of Ars Nova that (naturally) looks like a church, and he starts ranting about his evil plans, as bad guys are wont to do. Turns out that Ars Nova is a prison constructed by Vector to trap Grimoire, but he’s been able to leak out gradually ever since Lemegeton was Mizrahi’ed. He’s been trying to manipulate various children (a whole two of them) to collect the Fragments so he could put Nephilim back together again.



Yes, turns out this whole story is basically ghost ginger’s secret origin story. Nephilim was once a “real” girl, and she was the daughter of Grimoire. Grimoire used her as a conduit to the Zohar (like Cecily and Cathe years later), and somewhere in there, her consciousness got sucked into the Zohar itself. Lemegeton, the technique for “talking” to the Zohar (and, incidentally, summoning gnosis), kind of became synonymous with its first test subject, thus The Song of Nephilim’s relation to Nephilim.



So Nephilim is basically the Zohar’s bored houseguest.

CONTINUED NEXT POST

Anyway, Maiden takes another look at Jin and starts absolutely freaking out, and force strangles the poor guy. Her beef with Jin is still unexplained, but apparently her panic attack is triggering the Song of Nephilim, which was Grimoire’s plan all along, because he just wants his ghost daughter to show up and say hi. Unfortunately, that’s going to destroy the universe.

But it works! Nephilim does show up, and she’s like, “Geez, dad, you big goof.”



Oh, but the universe is still going to be destroyed.

Chapter 6



So Maiden, now completely redundant since Grimoire got his daughter back regardless of shard acquisition, turns into a giant centaur gnosis. Everyone is very concerned in a “we’re about to die” sense…



But KOS-MOS finally rejoins the plot to save Shion. Shion is, as ever, Shion, so she demands that no one hurt the poor gnosified Realian girl.



Jin is like, “Sis? For real?” and dives into the centaur with katanas blazing (not literally, that’s Margulis’s thing).



But don’t worry, Jin is just cutting the little girl out of the gnosis, because she hadn’t completely turned, or some other bullshit excuse. For whatever reason, Maiden being cut from the gnosis triggers some sort of mindmeld in Shion, and she suddenly has a flashback to her own childhood.

Except she’s in the mind of Maiden, seeing through her eyes from 14.5 years ago. So Kiddy Shion and Maiden knew each other, and it turns out Maiden’s real name is Almadel, which is great, because I was getting tired of typing “Maiden”. Almadel was apparently at the same “hospital” as Shion’s mother (and Cecily and Cathe), and was being experimented on by a variety of scientists, including…



Suou Uzuki, Shion and Jin’s father (there on the left). Now it all makes sense! Almadel thought Suou was an absolute monster, and Jin looks like his dad, so that’s why she was always so freaked out by Jin. See, she almost destroyed the world thanks to having face-blindness. It affects dozens of us!



Anyway, turns out Kiddy Shion told Almadel she’d protect her, so Almadel calms down a little at being reunited with her childhood friend. Yay! Friendship saves the world.



Except… not so much. Nephilim says that The Song can’t be stopped unless Almadel dies, so, great, we are going to wind up with another dead Realian child. Way to go, Xenosaga.



Shion objects (a lot), but Almadel talks about some general “Never forget me (like you just did for 14 years)” nonsense before shutting off her own brain. Dead Realian, problem solved.

Grimoire is happy to be reunited with Nephilim, so this virtual space is about to become a collapsed tomb. Shion has another breakdown over children being sacrificed for no good reason, and claims that she’s good here, just leave me to die.



Jin literally slaps her back to reality, and points out that whatshername’s sacrifice means nothing if Shion just dies too, so come on, get your hedgehog ass out of here. Also, KOS-MOS will probably tranq you if you don’t decide to leave willingly. So Grimoire is left to his tomb, and the good guys leave to fight another day.

Postlude



In the wake of Grimoire’s double death (or whatever), the “Gnosis Terrorism” stops. The gnosis don’t stop , mind you, they’re just less focused than before. Yay? Naturally, Vector covers up the whole incident, which probably isn’t that hard to do, as like four people were involved in saving the universe. Is it that hard to silence a literal ghost?

But anyone Vector can chastise for traipsing around the hidden bits of the UMN is punished. Juli Mizrahi is reassigned from the Contact Subcommittee to the Federation Military, which… who cares? Did anyone even remember Juli’s official position? Other than MOmom?

Shion, however, really takes a licking. Shion is demoted, which, ugh, can you imagine having to work for Allen? Shion can’t, so she quits Vector. Oh, sure, she says that she quit Vector because this whole incident exposed how Vector is clearly hiding world-destroying technologies deep in the UMN, and too many innocent lives are being sacrificed by her superiors for her to turn a blind eye… but I’m pretty sure she just doesn’t want to work under Allen. Ew, even that sentence sounds gross.

So Shion is now a woman without a job. She distinctly notes that she’ll miss KOS-MOS, but she, “must face [her] past.” How’s she going to do that? Well, I wonder if Scientia is hiring…

A Missing Year Bullet Points

• Doctus is a kick-ass cyborg agent of Scientia
• Scientia is an anti-UMN/Vector organization
• Shion and Jin are now cozy with Scientia
• Shion quit Vector
• Jin scored a new ES, the ES Reuben
• Nephilim was once a real girl
• Nephilim is basically a consciousness trapped in the Zohar
• Lemegeton is a program to summon and direct gnosis
• Earth was lost thanks to Zohar/gnosis experimentation
• Shion and Jin’s father, Suou, was involved in weird experiments
• Shion’s mother’s “hospital” was the site of weird experiments

There, Shion, now you have something to investigate. Enjoy!

Next time on Xenosaga: Xenosaga Episode 3 opens with the wonderful world of unemployment. I’m taking a week off, so look for the next update around 7/23 or so. As always, thanks for reading, and now let’s get ready for the beginning of the finale!

So, how well was all of that handled?

I never heard any of this flash visual novel thing. So when I see Doctus and Scientia namedropped and appearing at the outset of Xenosaga 3, I was all like WTF.

As far as how the actual piece itself goes, Xenosaga benefits from the whole "click on this word to learn more" thing, and, frankly, it's a great way to get people unfamiliar with the series to hop on at the third entry. It's a neat, quick story on its own (YMMV, of course), and it should do its job well for getting people interested.

How it fits in with the rest of the franchise, though, I'll cover as XSIII picks up... though TirMcDohl basically has the right of it...