Xenosaga: Was mi�riert

The Brews did.

Just now.

Back when Episode II was coming out there was a preorder bonus at some locations where you could get a DVD containing basically a movie-version of all of Episode I's cutscenes, in both English and Japanese.

It was quite a bit less than seven hours, clocking in at around 4-something, but it only contained the cutscenes and not any of the in-game story moments, and as a result I remember it lacking a number of important story beats.

I'll have to try and find that DVD and take another look at it.

I interpreted that Cathedral Ship is a class of Gnosis, not a particular one. Alternatively, Cathedral Ship has been around for a while, and is just where things go after being Zohar'd.

YES THEY DID!

THE BREWS THE BREWS THE BREWS!

I still like the cherankov thing. Even if he is a dick I still think it's a pretty nicely meditative thing and even if it's actually a normal game length into the game it's a pretty good tone setter. Tortured soul at peace is a bit sour when the tortured soul killed a lot of people but, ya know, god forgives or something.

I have that DVD lying around, I remember my brother and I skipping straight to the Dammerung's entrance scene and then it gathered dust for years. And yeah, it is just as awkward as you'd expect from losing relevant gameplay bits.

Yep. This is especially notable in the anime adaptation, which skips the Pleroma sequence and Elsa dungeon entirely, so ZigMo dock with the Elsa pretty much immediately after Shion/KOS/Allen do, and explain their backstory to the crew and the audience at the same time, covering hours of gameplay in like three sentences.

The anime also kills Cherenkov on the Woglinde and has Virgil tag along with the PCs, which I imagine has got to fuck with the Cathedral Ship sequence, but I didn't watch that far.

And speaking of Cathedral Ship...

Yup. I toughed it out through Gargoyle at least (I distinctly recall KOS-MOS' tummy laser), but that dungeon pretty much killed my desire to keep suffering through the battle system (and what I recall as a glacial rate of XP gain) and I tapped out soon after, despite being very interested in the transhuman storyline, so once again, thanks a lot for doing this LP, Bob.

I would not at all say I was sad to see Cherenkov die, but it did come off as a mercy killing given his life in general. Shame it hadn't come earlier.

Where is that JPEG of the guy with the Londo Mollari hair...

There just isn't one. I think instead there's a bit of a space battle or something and the Durandal saves the day without the Elsa getting eaten up by a giant Gnosis.

So, at least the crummy anime adaption doesn't have the boringest dungeon in it. That's a plus?

I played ep1 to completion, but I have absolutely no recollection of this segment. I also remember the tummy laser though.

Am I the only one who forgot the tummy laser but could not purge the memory of that joyless slog of a dungeon? Actually, I remember the first, most joyless part best. I'm sure it doesn't help that I had to grind some to get past the boss.

I think I lasted through the initial dungeon on the extended Gottdammerung reference before I broke out the gameshark. The final boss was still a gigantic pain in the ass with everyone with maxed out skills/hp/etc.

So, I'm, the only one who loves that dungeon? Seriously?

Wow.

I.S.T.'s a Gnosis: confirmed.

I may not have hated it if it werent for losing three hours of progress (at least three) and quitting the game for a week (also at least a week) in frustration

Legitimately asking this question: can you elaborate on why you love it? I'm very curious.

*shrug* I love all but like, one of the dungeons of the game. To properly elucidate why, I'd have to replay it.

I think the reason why heI.S.T. loves it is obvious.

...

Stockholm Syndrome.

Hey, it works for Golden Sun.

Apologies if this seems like I'm being a hypersensitive douche, but I'm a chick.

Anyhow, I've been giving this one a bit of thought between playing Batman Arkham Origins and I still can't come to a conclusion. I'd replay the game, but that would make me want to play the second and third and I will not do that to myself again.

I just can't. I won't have my heart be broken again.

I...actually really enjoyed Golden Sun. All three of them.

Please don't shame me.

are you subtweeting me

REQUEST DENIED, NERD.

I like all xenosaga episodes and I actually like them all a lot.

YOU WOULD, NERD.

i am not ashamed

I also enjoyed all three Golden Sun games, but looking at them with a critical eye I can safely say they are not nearly as good as I thought they were or they could have been.

Oops. Sorry. Didn't know. And didn't think to check.

Previously on Xenosaga: Cherenkov died, Shion cried, chaos lied, Ziggy sighed, and KOS-MOS mystified. Allen, at best, survived.



We now resume our rescue already in progress. With KOS-MOS having obliterated the gnosis threat, THE BREWS have boarded Junior’s Durandal.



chaos seems to have a rapport with Junior, and Captain Matthews introduces Junior as Little Master, boss of the Elsa.



Turns out the Elsa is in pretty lousy shape after being chewed up and spit out by a space whale/planet, so we’re going to pop over to the Foundation for repairs. Didn’t we just leave another repair stop?



The Foundation is The Kukai Foundation, and Shion is super impressed.



Junior is nonchalant about the fact that he’s a… what would be the inflation here… quadrillionaire?



Allen immediately reminds us why we love him. “Shion, we can’t socialize with these filthy mutants!”



“Oh no! The mutant has mutant hearing powers! Or he was three feet away this entire time!”



Captain Matthews helpfully volunteers to shunt Allen out into space.



While Shion is zoning out, Allen begs chaos for help, but chaos is a “help thyself” kinda deity, so no assistance there.



The rest of the gang is now attempting to lure Allen into an airlock, but Junior noticed that Shion is a little… distant.



Shion apologizes for being such a rude guest ten minutes after watching someone die, and five minutes after watching her robot detonate a galaxy.



“Jr. Gaignun Jr. I got a real name, but let's just leave it at that for now. Good to meet ya.”

Yeah, that’s not a completely weird thing to say at all!



They just grabbed the final emulator? How many Zohars do these guys have?



And, as the scene closes, it is revealed that the Durandal may have picked up a giant robot tail…



Incidentally, right here is that savepoint I noted from the finale of the previous post. Stuff happened, but not much stuff happened, and that post had to end.



We pick back up with Junior panicking in some kind of foggy death zone. You can tell it’s a bad place, because this is Xenosaga, and, look! Fire!



And I guess the sky is freaking out, too. Either that or someone is making steamed hams.



Junior shouts out “Gaignun” in a rather dramatic manner. Isn’t that his name?



Or that’s the name of a cat. Erm. Alright?



Junior is cradling a dead cat…



And then a dead person.



Hey, Junior, that kid kinda looks like you. Any relation?



I want to say this is the first his name is spoken aloud in game. Junior doesn’t seem all that happy to be saying it, either.



And then the poor guy is floating upside down in some kind of red nothingness. There’s also one of those purple floating things from when Cherenkov hulked out in the background there.



Whoops! All a dream! I’m sure that wasn’t a very specific flashback, either.

CONTINUED NEXT POST

(part 2 of a post that starts on the previous page)



Yeah, I get upset whenever my Mark of the Beast is showing, too.



Junior is really… wait… what the hell? Junior has a framed picture of the Windows XP default wallpaper hanging in his room? He’s a quintillionaire, and he’s got mounted desktop backgrounds? How does that work? Like, in a future where computers can perfectly recreate structures from faulty human memories, maybe everything of importance throughout history was declared worthless, and now the only things that are valuable are accidents of the human unconscious, so this is a reproduction of a persistent 2000 year old racial memory. Somebody get me the phone we use to call the ghost of Philip K. Dick, I’ve got an idea he’ll love.



It’s nice that everyone got a little break after their… hike yesterday. Like, seriously, MOMO is supposed to be basically a child, how’s she dealing with that whole “watched the death throes of an entire missing planet” thing?



“This place” is the highly classified quarantine wing of the Durandal. Looks pretty rad, right?







And they each have names. You know these names if you hung out at Sunday School. chaos is quietly sighing about “memories” off in the corner.



And the center piece is called “Marienkind”.



Jesus Christ, it’s on the tip of my tongue. I think it means “child of Mary” or something, but in German, which is the official language of space mysteries.



“Got a bear taped to a shark ‘round back.”



And the protective covering is removed to reveal a room full of Zohars. Come on, guys, you should have guessed that one. What else is shaped like that?



“Sealed” in this case means… what, exactly? Like, I guess that you’re hiding them from gnosis attacks, but you just unlocked them to show off to a bunch of strangers, so I have the worst feeling that you’re maybe not sealing these things responsibly.



When asked, ya know,”Why!?” The only answer given is, “Hey, why not?”



Alright, the better excuse is that they’re helpful against the gnosis… Wait, no they’re not! They’re like gnosis bait! Gah!



It’s noted that the Durandal is kind of a floating fortress of destruction. What’s up with that?



Junior goes on to explain that their excuse is they were a government agency and…



Oh, screw that, let’s look at what’s behind door number two!



Yay! It’s a room where they’re keeping gnosis in tubes! And five feet from the Zohars, no less. This could not possibly go wrong!



Oh Lord, they have a J-E-N-O-V-A. If chaos pulls that woman out of her tube and burns the whole place down, I’m out of here.



Pretty much everybody is a little concerned by this place, but Shion is taking it particularly hard.



KOS-MOS has the right of it: this is a room full of people in various states of transforming into gnosis. Good thing Junior didn’t roll up ten minutes earlier during the last update, or Cherenkov could be under glass right now.



“Transformed bodies… I've only heard of them before…” this is either eventually retconned, or Ziggy doesn’t have the best observational skills. Wait a tick, he literally just watched Cherenkov transform yesterday. Ziggy, do you require maintenance?



You either turn to salt or a gnosis. No in-betweens.



Well, Betty is kind of in-between, but only because some maniac decided to stick her in a jar before she totally turned. How did that work, anyway? Cherenkov transformed in like a minute.



Gnosis equals dead to Junior.

CONTINUED NEXT POST