[PS2] Xenosaga III: Also Sprach Zarathustra

Originally Posted by ZealPath

Well in any case, it's nice to see that it looks like there will be more playable characters, but I hope Jin is still around, he was definitely one of my favorite characters from 2 (I guess I just like Katanas).

So far, the playable characters we've seen are:

Shion
chaos
Jin
MOMO
Jr.
Ziggy
KOS-MOS
Allen
Canaan

Allen and Canaan are most likely temporary. Jin gets his own mech in the game too. It's called E.S. Rueben. It weilds two katanas as its weapon.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I just hope that the out of cutscene music will be better this time around. I mean some of the tracks from XSII were alright, but they just didn't fit in comparison to the rest of the music or even the whole Xenosaga/gears feel as a whole.

I'm glad that money and shops will make a return... but I hope that there will also be a return of cool mini games. I thought Xenocard was fun for a while... the casino was fun to buy the artwork and all... the AGWS game was alright... but AGWS didn't really have much use... but the E.S. units on the other hand....

I think its cool that Allen is playable, even if he looks really inept in battle... which is really fitting and will probably add to some fun.

I just hope it goes back to the overall story. I mean All Xenosaga II was mostly more backstory for MOMO and Jr. I kind of felt that alot of the other characters didn't get their fair share of screen time. I mean they didn't really do a whole lot with KOS-MOS, Shion (aside from her relationship with Jin), and especially Ziggy (whose backstory is all in Pied Piper). The gnosis and Zohar were also a lot less prevailing as I had hoped.

Plus I want to know more about Abel's Ark and such... that's the second time that the game ended with it... and again without much insight.

I know that Xenosaga doesn't "technically" relate to Xenogears anymore, but I can't wait for more tie-ins.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I' m wondering how hyped the game is in Japan. I've heard that the sales for the first two games where below expectations, and that the main reason for continuation was because it did rather good in the US. I don't know about any Japanese reviews though, so it's unsure how hyped that community will be.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Newest trailer has been released.

WARNING MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS FORMOST BEING ABOUT THE TESTIMENTS

http://files.filefront.com/Xenosaga3.../fileinfo.html

Spoiler:

-Actually most of us have guessed correctly at who the testiments were, this has just confirmed it.

-Citrine kicks Cannan's ass woooo

-Still don't know who the girl is who kosmos is based off of

-zomg fei talks

-ect.

Most amazing jew boots

Originally Posted by vertigo

Spoiler:

-Still don't know who the girl is who kosmos is based off of

Most likely,

Spoiler:

Mary Magdalene.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by B.K.

Most likely,

Spoiler:

Mary Magdalene.

Yea....that probably makes sence.

FELIPE NO

Very nice trailer - hope they replaced Shinji Hosoe in the sound department. =)
One complaint though - even though the release is still quite a bit away, they already spoiled a few important things. Pretty silly, if you ask me. =o

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I think the revelation of the identity of the two other Testaments wasn't needed in a trailer. It didn't seem very well-planned out.

I'm loving the music, though. The second piece of music reminds me strongly of communication breakdown.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Second piece of music actually takes the melody of "Bitter" from the Xenosaga II Movie Scene Soundtrack.

I do hope Kajiura will be responsible for the in-game music too this time around. Hosoe's OST wasn't horrible, it even had a few gems in it, but it doesn't compare to Kajiura's work.

I also hope they'll do a better job at using Kajiura's soundtrack as they did in XSII. I remember getting very angry when I realized they used Communication Breakdown only once. We couldn't hear much because the sound effects were louder, and they cut the choir part. Ridiculous. Other songs were simply left out: Jr., Jr. #4, Bitter, etc.

Even the awesome Fatal Fight (Jin & Margulis) wasn't even used in the fight scene it was destined to, for whatever reason.

XSI had also suffered from strange music usage, they changed their methods in the 2nd (they actually put background music for dungeons that time around, and boss battle themes), but they failed again for the cutscene musics.

I'm really hoping that this improves in Xenosaga III, as I actually really enjoy the other aspects of the series (story, gameplay).


And that trailer: awesome! Love the music.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Reveirg

Second piece of music actually takes the melody of "Bitter" from the Xenosaga II Movie Scene Soundtrack.

It's the vocal part that reminds me of communication breakdown, really.

Originally Posted by Reveirg

I also hope they'll do a better job at using Kajiura's soundtrack as they did in XSII. I remember getting very angry when I realized they used Communication Breakdown only once. We couldn't hear much because the sound effects were louder, and they cut the choir part. Ridiculous. Other songs were simply left out: Jr., Jr. #4, Bitter, etc.

If I remember correctly, communication breakdown was used twice, once during MOMO's checkup-thing and the second time at the end of the game during Abel Ark's appearance.

Most amazing jew boots

I also hope that the music is a little more consistent, XSII's soundtrack felt like there were basically 2 soundtracks, cutscene and normal game. The cutscene music was the orchestral stuff we all know and love, and the "running around" music was very FFX-2 eseque, upbeat songs for the most part which sounded a little out of place even though I liked most of them.

If they'd just use more of the orchestral stuff for combat, especially when it's fitting (you'd think it would be a no-brainer to use Fatal Fight in the Margulis fights for example, but did they? nope..), I'll be a lot happier. The same of course can be said for the numerous combat-appropriate cutscene songs in XS1 which also never appeared in combat, but at least they finally pulled a unique final boss song out of their hat for the final boss.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Goddamit, that trailer had to go and hook me all over again. And this game probably won't hit the US until summer 2007, if we're lucky.

Anyway, EPIII sure does show a lot of promise. It's established that we will definetely have most of the major questions answered (like you, I'm a bit letdown that they revealed two of the Testaments in this trailer, even though it's obvious who they were. Still, I couldn't help but throw a fanboy smile when they showed

Spoiler:

Albedo. Looks like he's still insane, even as a Testament, although he did sound somewhat more clear-headed. Hard to say.

, and there's some overall really cool looking scenes up ahead. I'm still not too happy at the sudden need to add cleavage to the androids, but whatever.

But still, I have serious concerns about Episode III. Again, I'm certain we'll get all the major questions answered, but I'm worried about the pacing that the game will take to answer these questions. The first two games have been notoriously short considering the extensive content of the story, and if EPIII is no better, then we might be treated to a sloppy fastforward of one plot-twist after another, with no breathing room inbetween or character development.

The latter is what I fear the most; I adore XS' cast of characters, and if this is their last hurrah, I would absolutely hate to see them get the short end of the character development stick because Monolith is too busy making sure that all the loopholes get filled. Likewise, I don't want certain characters to get little screentime in order to make room to focus on characters like Shion and KOS-MOS. I don't want MOMO, Ziggy, Jr, or anyone else to take a backseat, especially in their final game. I want everyone to get the same amount of screentime and development.

Scenes like the crew enjoying a relaxing holographic beach, or when Shion took the time to comfort MOMO in the Durandel park ranked among my favorite moments in the game. They took the time to add in these scenes to have you actually care about the characters, which in turn made the more dramatic scenes (a certain psycho probing an unfortunate Realien) more heartbreaking. I want to make sure that amist all the chaos that will soon occur, we'll still have moments like the ones previously listed to re-establish the family aspect of the characters. It will only make things more dramatic should any of them meet an unfortunate fate in EPIII (and the odds are good).

But all this will be impossible to accomplish if EPIII still has a short playtime. It doesn't help that none of the characters have had a real resolution in their story either. Jr still has to deal with his other brother, Ziggy has yet to reveal the story of his wife and kid (for those of us who didn't play Pied Piper, and there's a lot of us), and we still don't know the true nature of MOMO's Y Data (why did Shion and KOS-MOS appear in there?) or how/if she can actually become human.

The only way we can get a balance of both the major revelations and a suitable resolution for each character is if EPIII ends up being over 50 hours, and even that is stretching things. I truly hope Monolith can pull off what I'm saying, because I'm too hooked to give up on the story now.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Considering it seems they are putting in content that got edited out of Episode 2 into Episode 3 we are almost going to be getting 1 1/2 games as it is. I really hope as well they don't take any shortcuts with the plot and character development to wrap the story arc up in this single game. Its always possible they could continue on DS if the other ports did well. Someone was speculating that the scenario writer(don't remember his name off the top of my head) has been given the green light to put in the material that didn't make it in the PS2 versions. Its possible even that it will be very different from what we've played so far. Makes me almost want a DS for that possibility along with them going back to the anime style from Episode 1 i actually preferred over the realistic and growingly sleasy character designs.

I am tempted to see the trailer but having read a few of the recent posts i can see already they are letting too many beans out and spoiling moments I would rather experience having not seen it. Though the identity of the Testaments are hardly any shock. I almost prefer the old days when all we knew of games were the few screenshots magazines would have. They had a much bigger sense of mystery than now with all the trailers and 300 screenshot galleries. A double edged sword i suppose. But everything looks and sounds great. Something to look forward to along with Valkyrie Profile:Silmeria and (crossed fingers) Tales of the Abyss after Final Fantasy XII hits the fan.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

You can't really have anymore relaxing scenes like the one on the beach when there's a rather big war going on with you almost at the center of it.Don't forget that the family mood wasn't really there anymore in XS2, and there will be bound to be some conflicts (Shion and Jin, Chaos). I doubt that we'll see Ziggy's story, since it's explained in Pied Piper. Maybe a quick scene when he confronts Voyager ("why did you kill them?!" or other blabla).

The trailer excited me to no ends, Dimitri and Citrine, Canaan, getting his ass kicked, a flashback of Joachim Mizrahi in all his madness, and the confrontation between KOS-MOS and the other android (who's not Pellegri as said before). This has really gotten me too damn excited. There are a lot of different conflicts left to be resolved, and this game'd better make it worth it.

I'll probably be importing a game for the first time with this one.

(also, lol at the garbled Shakespeare quote).

How ya doing, buddy?

Well, I don't literally mean they need to include scenes like the beach bit, just scenes of dialogue that still re-establish the characters' personalities and relationships. Just don't have them run around most of the time, too busy fighting to even talk to each other. I don't want a fast paced RPG, I want them to take their time before they end things for good.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

If they have the time to lounge on a beach in this episode while the universe is going to pot I would laugh.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Learn to read.

Also, funny enough, there IS a picture of Shion in what appears to be a beach.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I hope MOMO and Jr. DO take a backseat to things this time. They had their time to shine in I and especially II. Give me more Shion and MORE ZIGGY!

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

Well, I don't literally mean they need to include scenes like the beach bit, just scenes of dialogue that still re-establish the characters' personalities and relationships. Just don't have them run around most of the time, too busy fighting to even talk to each other. I don't want a fast paced RPG, I want them to take their time before they end things for good.

I rather like those character interaction scenes as well. The one I remember most from Episode II was early in the game when chaos, Jr., and Shion were at the pub.

I thought the first two games felt short, so since this is going to be the last one in the series (?), then I agree with at least taking their time here.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

Learn to read.

Also, funny enough, there IS a picture of Shion in what appears to be a beach.

blood 'ell!

You are correct. I am sad.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

L
Also, funny enough, there IS a picture of Shion in what appears to be a beach.

It looks like the Beach of Nothingness.

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...127/ep3_24.jpg

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Wow, after watching the trailer, this really does want me to get the game when it comes out, in the US. I'm excitied to see everything that has been developing so far, with all the characters. It's good that there are fan translations of Pied Piper, but without any Japanese knowledge, I can't see myself enjoying an import version of XS:III. I'll just have to wait until it is decided that they will put the games on US shelves, whenever that may be.

FELIPE NO

Was it ever said what the "Beach of Nothingness" exactly was? I do't really recall it anywhere else but during the Cherenkov scene.

I'm also glad that we finally get to see some Gnosis posing a threat again, since their abscence in II was disappointing (except for a few Encephalon missions).

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by soulsteelgray

It's the vocal part that reminds me of communication breakdown, really.
If I remember correctly, communication breakdown was used twice, once during MOMO's checkup-thing and the second time at the end of the game during Abel Ark's appearance.

Right about the vocal part, right about communication breakdown's appearance at the end too. I still hope they would've used it more than that, especially since it wasn't played in its whole once.

Most amazing jew boots

I'm interested to see the story conclude in Xenosaga III. I played the other two, so now I'm just waiting for III to answer all of the questions left by I and II.

There's nowhere I can't reach.