[PS2] Xenosaga III: Also Sprach Zarathustra

I love Xenogears. It is my favorite video game of all time. The story is so long and involved, and nothing scores higher on a game for me than a really cool, complex story. That is why I thought Xenosaga would rock.

And it does for the most part. Xenosaga is nowhere near the level of Xenogears, but it is definitely a worthwhile series, and it got even better with the sequel. I liked the battle system more overall, and I really liked the rise of the E.S. in importance (since the A.G.W.S. was pretty useless). The only thing I really didn't like was the Good Samaritan stuff. It's nice to do sidequests for moves and items, but not so frickin' many of them.

I do miss Yasunori Mitsuda as composer, but Yuki Kajiura has some shining spots. Fatal Fight was my favorite tune from XS II, and for a while, I listened to it nonstop. However, some of the music is not so enjoyable and really wears on me after a while.

Of all things I really want out of Episode III, I really want to know more about chaos. The first episode raised a plethora of questions, and the second episode almost seemed to ignore him. I would really like more details on him and his history. More information about Ziggy would be nice, too. I heard about the extra game he had, but I never played nor had access to it, so I'd really appreciate some of that spilling over.

Like Citan Uzuki, Jin hasn't done anything yet that makes him truly intriguing as a character, but I'm just waiting for them to spring something weird, unexpected, but totally cool about him. I think he's got a lot of potential to be a great character if they get him a little more involved story-wise. Especially if we're going to have more showdowns with Margulis.

And I do miss the Grahf quality of evil, but Albedo is a fascinating character. I enjoy his level of psychosis. He seems confident, pure evil at times, but then at others, he seems lonely and upset. It would be cool to get some more information on him without putting too much of the game on him and Rubedo.


I'm looking forward to this game.

How ya doing, buddy?