Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra

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Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra
Developer(s)	Monolith Soft
Publisher(s)	Namco Bandai Games
Aspect ratio	480i (SDTV)
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release date	July 6, 2006 August 29, 2006
Genre(s)	RPG
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	CERO: C (Ages 15 and up) ESRB: T (Teen)
Media	2 X DVD

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Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra (ゼノサーガ エピソードIII ツァラトゥストラはかく語りき, Zenosāga: Episōdo Surī: Tsaratusutora Ha Kaku Katariki^?) is an RPG for the PlayStation 2, and the third and final game in the primary Xenosaga trilogy. Also sprach Zarathustra, literally "Thus spoke Zarathustra", is also the title of Friedrich Nietzsche's most famous work, which introduced the concept of the Übermensch and popularized the phrase "God is dead". The game was released on PlayStation 2 on July 6, 2006 in Japan and on August 29, 2006 in North America.

Contents 1 Development 2 Story 3 Censorship 4 Critical Response 5 Preorder Bonuses 6 Merchandise 7 Music 8 Xenogears Allusions 9 Voice cast 9.1 English Version 9.2 Japanese Version 10 References 11 External links

[edit] Development

In September 2005, it was officially announced that Episode III would mark the premature end to the series, which was originally planned to span six titles. The cast from Episode I and II will return; minor protagonists Allen Ridgeley, Canaan and Miyuki Itsumi are playable characters for the first time in the series, albeit only briefly. The keyword database, which was absent from Episode II, has returned in Episode III with enhanced features like images and the ability to view in-game models of characters, enemies and mecha. The database has a new feature called "Memory Code" in which any cut scene can be viewed, provided it has already occurred during gameplay in an existing save file. Episode III takes place one year after Episode II, with E.S. units from Episode II and the Zohar Emulators and "techs" from Episode I making a return.

[edit] Story

It is one year after the events of Episode II and Shion Uzuki has left Vector Industries. After the "Missing Year" fiasco, in which she uncovered information that revealed her former employer's shadowy intentions and her father's involvement with the U-TIC organization, Shion joined the anti-Vector group, Scientia. The villainous CEO of Vector Industries, Master Wilhelm, is trying to take over the universe. While separated from her comrades from previous Xenosaga games, save Canaan and Miyuki, she is inexorably drawn back into their intertwined fates when she is contacted by Allen Ridgely. Shion travels to Fifth Jerusalem, where the previous Xenosaga crew is reunited. At the CAT Facility, a mysterious new researcher, Roth Mantel, has unveiled a next-generation model of android named T-elos, who bears a startling resemblance to KOS-MOS. After a series of experimental demonstrations, overseen by such VIPs as Juli Mizrahi, Mantel informs the Vector staff that the KOS-MOS project is being scrapped. Jr. and the others stage an infiltration into the CAT Facility and recover KOS-MOS before rendezvousing with the Durandel.

They enter a 'hypersphere' that surrounded what was believed to be a cut-out portion of a planet but called Rennes-Le-Chateau. With the help of KOS-MOS using her newly improved Tertiary Weapons System, they manage to get inside to rescue the Elsa which had fallen onto the asteroid before the hypersphere formed due to an unexpected attack by Margulis in his E.S. After wandering about the asteroid, they find a cave where they encounter Virgil, who finally reveals his identity to Shion, causing confusion and disbelief. After a fight, a white E.S. arrives and calls for Virgil. Jr., recognizing the voice, calls out for Albedo since he spots a white-clad testament atop the machine. The Testament ignores Jr.'s cry and Virgil goes with him, leaving once they acquired the Vessel of Anima from Virgil's disposed E.S. They venture further into the cave on foot since their E.S.'s Vessels of Anima reacted to Virgil's, immobilizing them in the heat of battle just as Canaan and Pellegri's did in Episode II.

Upon the arrival of a crucifix and a tomb, they are assaulted by T-elos who stands alongside Roth Mantel. Roth transforms into the Red Testament and T-elos begins to fight KOS-MOS, who is unable to match her strength. KOS-MOS defends Shion when she is assaulted by T-elos, the mechanism holding her arm in place snapping in the process. After KOS-MOS states she cannot last very much longer, Shion is frozen to the spot at the horror of what is unfolding. T-elos, finally having KOS-MOS pinned, begins to use her version of one of KOS-MOS's attacks she learns later on in the game called D-Teneritas, a large red orb of energy that forms at her chest. Shion cries out for KOS-MOS and her necklace glows with astonishing light. Afterwards, they find themselves in a forest and meet up with a wounded Luis Virgil, but he does not seem to be the enemy that they have come to know. Somehow, they had been teleported to the past and were on Old Miltia a few days prior to the Conflict's events.

They take Virgil to the forest church that Shion knows so well, and leaves him in the care of Febronia, much to his dislike. However, after being in her care for a while, he begins to develop feelings for her. Afterwards, they decide to go to the Dabrye Mines to find the Elsa, which they have managed to lose again. After being put through a fight based on pure suspicions from a young May Magus who believes the group is with U-TIC and desires to take over the mine belonged to her grandfather, they manage to find their comrades safe and sound. The Professor states that the E.S.'s are with them but they lack the Vessels of Anima required to operate them. The party says they must travel into Labyrinthos to recover the vessels that they had in their possession. Shion was determined to figure out more about her parents', specifically her mother, so she and Allen disguise themselves as U-TIC personnel to get within Labyrinthos. She talks with Joachim Mizrahi and Kevin Winnicot (a teenager), whom she attempts not to make any remarks that will reveal her true identity. Later, she finds Suou Uzuki, her father, in her mother's room discussing new treatment for her. She sees herself as a child as her father dismisses her, and becomes enraged when she hears Suou's plans for her mother. Suou became angry that such low personnel would speak so out of turn, but Shion simply decides to leave. After knowing the layout of the facility, she returns to the Elsa. The Professor and Scott were attacked by an unknown man dressed in a black Testament cloak. He attempts to leave with the newly designed KOS-MOS (since the previous one was destroyed by T-elos) in her development bed. Shion catches him trying to take KOS-MOS and blindly attacks, only to be frozen in mid-air by his power. The man, known as Voyager from Episode II, begins to move his hand toward Shion's neck to strangle her but is stopped by KOS-MOS, who's hand bursts out and catches him by the wrist. KOS-MOS shows immense strength never before seen in her previous model and assaults Voyager instantly. Soon afterward, they defeat the Black Testament but he retreats, leaving a parting word with Ziggy, calling him Jan Sauer. Now with the newly redesigned KOS-MOS, the party prepares to get into Labyrinthos.

The party infiltrates Labyrinthos and manages to recover the Vessels of Anima stored below but not without triggering an alert. Just as they manage to find an escape, Shion's E.S. picks up a channel that mentions Aoi Uzuki. She ignores the others and states that she has to go save her mother before exiting the Dinah and running back into Labyrinthos. As she runs down a hall, she hears a familiar voice and turns to see Kevin Winnicot standing in a red Testament uniform with the mask off. She murmurs his name once before U-TIC soldiers come across her and restrain her. She shouts for Kevin's name but is quickly knocked out and held for interrogation.

Later, she is put in an interrogation by Margulis, Suou, and Kevin. Kevin asks her how she acquired the E.S. technology since they hadn't made it yet, but she refuses to answer. After a few more questions, she mentions the word Ormus which instantly grabs Margulis' attention. She angrily accuses Suou of abandoning his family for research, much to his denial. After realizing that it would take a lot more to get her to answer their questions, Margulis decides to leave her in the room by herself, stating how he had ways to make her talk. The party returns to Labyrinthos during the Descent Operation, where the URTVs arrive in the city, to rescue Shion but finds her already out of the interrogation room. She states that she was freed by none other than Suou, who states that she reminds him a lot of his daughter. He asks her to watch out for her because he had something he still needed to do in Labyrinthos--he had to protect his wife.

With the Conflict occurring, Shion believes that she can get to the church fast enough to save Febronia. Young Shion bursts into the church, followed by berserk realians, and Virgil quickly begins to hold them off, telling the girls to run. However, Febronia steps in front and tells them to go while they still can before she is brutally beaten and then cannibalized by the others. Virgil, a witness, begins to attack in fury. He tells young Shion, who is desperately trying to cover her ears from the sounds, to run to Labyrinthos via the forest passageway. She takes the card he gave her to get through the passage and runs. The party arrives at the church too late, finding Febronia's dead body and Virgil desperately trying to protect himself. They dispose of the berserk realians and then face off against the Blue Testament who arrives soon afterward. Once he is defeated, Febronia's spirit confronts him about his actions since the conflict but he claims she left him, the turmoil from her death still imprinted on him even as a Testament. Febronia tells him to free himself, and he soon decides to pass on to the next life so he can live peacefully with Febronia for eternity. Shion knows where her younger self was headed next and she thought if she hurried, she might be able to save her mom since she wasn't able to save Febronia.

They arrive in Labyrinthos and rush to Aoi's room, only to find her father slumped dead across the room and three 27-Series Asuras around her mother's bed, young Shion hiding underneath it silently. Present Shion, in anger, assaults them. Afterwards, it shows young Shion attempting to put the blood back in her mother's body. When her name is called by older Shion, she drops the blood and screams, a pillar of light forming around her. Outside the room window, the sky turns red and Gnosis begin to appear in real space. Kevin arrives in Testament clothing, claiming that it was not Joachim Mizrahi who summoned the Gnosis but Shion herself, fourteen years ago. He states that KOS-MOS was only a development project to create a vessel worthy of harnessing the spirit of Mary Magdalene, which is the consciousness that takes over when KOS-MOS's eyes turn blue. She is believed to be the Messiah's partner, otherwise Yeshua's partner within the game. T-elos was intended to be the final vessel for Mary and Kevin says that with every moment that KOS-MOS is operational, she is draining Shion's life. Shion began to approach the Red Testament, wanting to go to Kevin's side, but Jin quickly stops her, helped by Allen. She, too, screams, the same pillar of light engulfing her as well. Just as young Shion had summoned the Gnosis, older Shion had managed to summon Abel's Ark itself, just as Kevin had planned. Jin instructs KOS-MOS to take Shion back to the Elsa against her will and KOS-MOS obediently knocks Shion out and prepares to escape through the window. Kevin commands her to stop, but she simply states that the KOS-MOS he had created had been destroyed by T-elos and that her new designers were Shion Uzuki and Allen Ridgeley. With that, she fled with Shion in tow, arriving in the Elsa quickly afterward. Then, the hypersphere suddenly disappates, finding themselves back in the present time. They discover the Warship Merkabah was complete and go inside only to find Sellers' ramblings which didn't help them whatsoever.

But as the Elsa began to return to the Durandal, they had no idea what was occurring. Gaignun Kukai, with soldiers from the Salvator Faction, infiltrated the Durandal and killed all the crew in sight. The group arrived on the Bridge, and Gaignun whispers a thank you in Mary's ear before shooting her twice in the chest. Juli demands what he thinks he's doing, and a large glow engulfs the man. When it disappears, he turns and says he didn't expect to see her aboard the ship. Juli Mizrahi instantly recognizes the blond man as Dmitri Yuriev. Canaan attempts an attack on Yuriev but is quickly thwarted by Citrine, who appears and pins him down to the ground. Yuriev reminds Canaan that if he harms him, then he harms Gaignun as well. The party arrive on the Durandal in time to find Yuriev in the Isolation Area after defeating Citrine. He intended to release all the emulators Jr. and Gaignun had collected. When they get inside the the Quarantine Hangar, Yuriev shoots the panel at the door and walks inside, making it impossible for them to follow. Sure enough, the Durandal plummets into Abel's Ark, just as Yuriev intended it to. With Ω Res Novae, the original Zohar within Abel's Ark, and Abel himself to pilot the mech, he had all he needed to acquire ultimate power. When the party finds him once more, he notes on how terrified Jr. looks, which reminds him of how much he too used to fear U-DO. The White Testament, none other than Albedo, arrives and separates Dmitri from the newly formed Ω Metempsychosis and tells Jr. that they needed to create a spiritual link to send their father into another dimension. He intended to have Gaignun pass his consciousness onto Jr., but he instead throws Albedo out of his own mind and into Jr.'s body, throwing him back from the link. Gaignun states his true nature to Jr.--about how he was created for the express purpose of destroying him and how he wanted to deny that purpose but that would be denying his very existence. With his consciousness now within Albedo's body, he sends himself and Dmitri into another dimension despite Jr.'s attempt to stop him. Albedo mentions that everything was on Michtam---that they must go there to stop it all.

And so, upon their arrival there, they defeat Richard and Hermann for the last time. Further through the planet, Jin and Pellegri have one last discussion after a battle before Jin begs her to eject the cockpit from her E.S., but she refuses and dies inside her machine when it explodes. They reach a cathedral where they find Voyager, whom the party fights. Afterwards, he states that he needed Canaan to gain more power than Wilhelm himself. He begins to connect himself to the UMN through Canaan, but that was what he wanted Voyager to do and instead traps him, destroying him particle by partical along with himself as a last effort attempt to give the others a better chance of finishing all of this. After bedding farewell, they dwell deeper into Michtam until T-elos confronts them once again and manages to unlock Mary Magdalene within KOS-MOS during battle, expression finally animating KOS-MOS's face. Mary defeats T-elos with ease and merges with her so that they are one, and T-elos is at peace. She explains to Shion her purpose and they continue on only to be stopped once more by Kevin. He sweet-talks Shion into joining him and you fight the two of them before Allen finally confronts Kevin about his actions. He comes out about his feelings toward Shion, leaving her awe struck, but Kevin continued to hurt him further. With one more snap, Kevin would have finished off Allen for sure but Shion stops him and goes to his side, angering Winnicot into another battle, this time in a much eviller form.

After they defeat him, they go further in to meet Wilhelm standing alongside a large Compass of Order. He intended to create the Eternal Recurrence, which would mean having all life forms of the universe relive the same lives over and over again in order to stop the universe's destruction. Wilhelm commands KOS-MOS to bring Shion forth because her necklace was a crucal part to the process. However, she seems to be obedient until she quickly snatches up the necklace and breaks it in her palm. Wilhelm threatens Shion's life and Kevin comes in once more to stop him but is quickly killed without much thought by the CEO. After they fight Zarathustra itself, Wilhelm is defeated and Mary Magdalene and chaos (otherwise known as Yeshua) decide that they must restore the power of the world in order to stop both Eternal Recurrence and its destruction. As the others escape, Jin helps them reach safety but insists he stay behind to fight and help KOS-MOS and chaos. Nephilim helps as well with this. Shion tells Jin to come back but he ignores her words, and instead gets killed by Gnosis when he defends Mary and Yeshua's process. By doing all this, they managed to restore the world without recurrence but KOS-MOS and chaos's locations were still unknown. Shion and Jr. decided to go look for them and leaves the rest of the party on the Dämmerung as they set out for a new adventure.

In a brief scene, you're able to see KOS-MOS's slightly destroyed body float through space towards a green and blue planet that looks somewhat like Earth before it goes to the credits.

[edit] Censorship

The North American release of the game was criticized for a number of obvious cutscene edits that many felt were damaging to either the atmosphere or overall story of the game. The majority of these edits were for scenes of violence and blood that would have elevated the game beyond the "Teen" rating given by the ESRB to the "Mature" level. Although past games in the series have gotten away with a teen rating despite the appearance of blood, Namco removed any traces of blood from this installment for its Western release. While the storyline remains identical in both the original Japanese release and the North American versions, the exclusion of blood in certain violent scenes is quite noticeable. In one of the scenes throughout the game, when a ship is being overthrown by a group of attackers, it shows characters being shot despite the lack of blood. In one part of this cutscene, a character is pushed to the floor and begs him not to shoot. In the Japanese version, they show a soldier shooting the character with blood included but in the U.S. version, the screen fades to black and all you hear is a gunshot.

Most notable is a scene midway through the story in which a child reacts to the death of another character by "putting [the blood] back" in the dying individual. In the North American version, the child has nothing in her hands and several shots are shown of an area presumably splattered with blood, but that looks immaculate and clean in this version. Another scene where a character is pierced through the shoulder and leg by a weapon is also completely bloodless (although the sound effects remain intact,) whereas the scene is accompanied by a spray of blood in the Japanese version.

Similar edits were made to both Episodes I and II, particularly involving scenes related to the psychologically disturbed character Albedo, though fans generally agree that they were handled more tactfully than Episode III’s edits.

[edit] Critical Response

Episode III received generally good reviews, and the majority of media and fan outlets felt that the game improved upon Episode II, which many considered a disappointing sequel to the first installment. Specifically, many felt that the new battle system, although typical RPG fare, was an improvement over the complicated "zone break" system used in Episode II, and that the voice acting was much improved with the return of several popular voice actors which were inexplicably recast for Episode II (notably Lia Sargent as Shion and Bridget Hoffman as KOS-MOS).

According to Bandai-Namco's 3rd Quarter 2006 results, Episode III sold 343,000 copies in Japan and North America.^[1]

• Famitsu review: 32/40
• IGN Review: 8.0/10
• Gamespot Review: 8.0/10
• Gamespy Review: 3.5/5
• GamePro Review: 4/5
• RPG Fan Review: 89/100
• PSM Review: 8/10 [1]
• OPM Review: 9/10 [2]
• Electronic Gaming Monthly Review: 7.5/10 [3]
  • MetaCritic's Review Average: 82%

[edit] Preorder Bonuses

In Japan, anyone who preordered the game received a special DVD with the name Xenosaga Alle spezielle DVD. "Alle spezielle" is German and means "all special" in English, although the grammar and wording is not correct to be understandable for Germans ("(Eine) Ganz Besondere DVD" would be correct, though still awkward-sounding. In Germany phrases like "Bonus-DVD" or "Xenosaga - alle Teile // Sonder-DVD" would have been used). There were three different North American preorder bonuses available at different stores: an exclusive art book (GameStop, EB Games), a life-size poster of T-elos (Game Crazy) and a limited edition version of the game with special box art (Best Buy). In Europe, it came with a bonus DVD holder and coffee mug.

The special DVD contains a collection of trailers, concept art sketches and merchandise images from all Episodes as well from side projects such as Xenosaga FREAKS.

[edit] Merchandise

[edit] Music

At the start of Episode III's development, Yuki Kajiura (Xenosaga Episode II, .hack//SIGN, Noir, and Madlax) became the sole composer in Xenosaga III. A handful of remixes, arrangements and reappearances of tracks from the "Xenosaga Episode II:Movie Scene Soundtrack" appear in the game. The game soundtrack, "Xenosaga Episode III: Original Sound Best Tracks (Yuki Kajiura selection)" was announced for a 2CD release on July 12th. It consists of 40 tracks selected by Yuki Kajiura from the game (It is not a complete release of all the tracks). The ending theme of the game is called "Maybe Tomorrow", sung by Emily Curtis. The soundtrack also contains vocals by Eri Itoh. The soundtrack follows the style of Kajiura's Episode II soundtrack with several key themes from Episode II, chief among them KOS-MOS' theme, appearing throughout the game.

[edit] Xenogears Allusions

Episode III is also notable for its numerous overt and subtle allusions to its spiritual predecessor Xenogears through the designs of characters, machines, story elements, and characterizations. Some of the references to Xenogears in the game include:

• The song that is played in one of the Japanese trailers that is an extended version of the Dmitri and Omega Res Novae fight has a similar tune to the Deus/Omen music in Xenogears. The Opening to Xenogears "light from the netherworlds" is also very similar to the Japanese trailer music extension of the Dmitri Omega Res Novae fight.
• The song heard in the background on the game's title screen sounds vaguely familiar to "Faraway Promise"; the song that is played in Xenogears when Fei and Citan look upon the rotating statue that rotates and emits pinkish energy.
• The background track played while exploring Abel's Ark contains several leitmotifs from Yasunori Mitsuda's "One Who Bares Fangs at God," the theme of Xenogears' final boss.
• Nephilim – Elly Van Houten
• Abel – Abel / Fei Fong Wong
• Jin Uzuki – Citan Uzuki
• Wilhelm – Emperor Cain / Krelian
• Mai Magus – Maria Balthazar
• Aizen Magus – "Old Man" Isaac Balthazar
• Aizen Magus' shack in front of Dabrye Mine - Shevat
• Ω Universitas – Weltall / Weltall-2
• Ω ID – Weltall-ID
• Ω Res Novae (Post Transformation) - Xenogears
• Ω Metempsychosis – Deus
• Ω Metempsychosis' mini-gears – Weltall and Vierge (in the form of angels in the final Deus battle)
• Abel's Ark's core – Deus' core
• Abel's Ark (Post Transformation) – The Eldridge
• Natus Flamma – Andvari
• Natus Glacies – Fenrir
• Natus Lumen – El Renmazuo
• Natus Tellus – El Stier
• Leupold – Seibzehn
• Merkabah – Merkabah ("Merkava" in the English version of Xenogears)
• Erde Kaiser Sigma – G-Elements
• The Planetary Disappearance Incident – The incident of the same name from the Perfect Works
• Lost Jerusalem – Lost Jerusalem is seen as a blue world surrounded by a ring, similar to the planet that the Eldridge crashes on in Xenogears.

[edit] Voice cast

[edit] References

1. ^ RPGFan (2007-02-17). Bandai Namco Announces 3rd Quarter Results. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.

[edit] External links

• (English) Game information and help
• (English) Xenosaga Official Site
• (Japanese) Xenosaga Episode III's Official Site
• (English) Xenosaga III's flash site
• Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra at MobyGames

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