Xeno (series)

The Xeno series is a metaseries of science fiction Japanese role-playing video games.^[1] The series is the brainchild of Tetsuya Takahashi and has been published by several companies, including Square,^[2] Namco,^[3] and Nintendo.^[4]

Initially envisioned as a six-part series started with the game Xenogears, the series could not be directly continued due to the developers leaving Square, who held the legal rights to the property. This led to an exodus of the development team to Namco, where the Xenosaga series was started, not as a direct sequel or prequel, but as a new series with thematic connections. This too was envisioned as a six-part series, but instead was cut short to only three parts, after the completion of Xenosaga Episode I, Episode II and Episode III. After the ending of the Xenosaga series, Monolith Soft was bought by Nintendo, and a new Xeno game, Xenoblade Chronicles was developed and released. In January 2013, Nintendo announced a spiritual successor to Xenoblade Chronicles, titled Xenoblade Chronicles X, which was released in 2015.

Xenogears

Xenogears is the first entry in the series, and the only one developed for the PlayStation video game console and published by Square.^[2] The origins of the game actually started as a potential script for Final Fantasy VII written by Tetsuya Takahashi and Soraya Saga.^[5] While the script was deemed "too dark and complicated" for the vision for Final Fantasy, Square did allow them to start the project as a new property instead.^[5] Composer Yasunori Mitsuda, upon completing music for Chrono Trigger, would also jump aboard the project to provide music. While developed by the staff that would later consist of Monolith Soft, at this point in time the team only existed as a sub-team within Square.^[3][6]

Despite the name merely being labeled Xenogears, the game's end credits, and respective Perfect Works guide publication, state that the game was in fact "Episode 5 of 6".^[7][8] While rumors of a Xenogears 2 project starting at Square arose after the game's release,^[9] ultimately Square decided that it wanted to focus more its flagship Final Fantasy series, leading Takahashi to choose to leave the company, along with much of the Xenogears staff, to form what would be Monolith Soft.^[10] Because of this departure, and the legal rights of the game belonged to Square, later games in the series would not be the direct prequels or sequels suggested by the game's ending and Perfect Works guide, but rather more of a reboot that share thematic similarities.^[6]

Xenosaga

Xenosaga series logo

Xenosaga's main story is in the form of a trilogy of PlayStation 2 video games. There have been three spin-off games and an anime adaptation. The Xenosaga series serves as a spiritual successor to Xenogears. The creator of both Xenogears and Xenosaga is Tetsuya Takahashi, who left Square in 1998 along with Hirohide Sugiura. Using funds from Namco, they started MonolithSoft and the Xenosaga project.

Xenosaga Episode I

After breaking apart from Square and formally forming Monolith Soft, the company would form a partnership with Namco as their owning and publishing company.^[10] The team's original plan would be to start a new six-part series, called Xenosaga, which wouldn't be exactly the same games alluded to with Xenogears and it's Perfect Works guide, but rather be more like spiritual sequels with thematic similarities.^[7] (The initial plan was six games, although it would actually eventually be wrapped up in three parts instead, with Episode III.^[11]) Many key staff from Xenogears returned in prominent roles, including Takahashi and Saga as writers, Mitsuda as music composer, and around 20 staff members from Xenogears returning to be part of the larger 70 person staff of Xenosaga.^[10]

The game was released in February 2002 in Japan, and February 2003 in North America, for the PlayStation 2.

Xenosaga Episode II

Xenosaga II brought a number of changes to the series. Mitsuda did not return to provide music for the game,^[12] and Soraya Saga part way through the game's development, left the team.^[13] The game's focus on characters in the story shifted as well, with it focusing more on Jr. than Shion this time around.^[14] Several aspects of the game was changed due to feedback from Episode 1; complaints of tedium and slow pace led to Episode II have faster paced gameplay and battles and shorter length cutscenes.^[12][14]

Xenosaga I•II

Xenosaga I•II was an alternate version of the first two Xenosaga games remade for the Nintendo DS.^[15] However, the DS was far less powerful of a video game console compared to the PlayStation 2 that the games had originally been released on, so the game's graphics and gameplay mechanics were greatly simplified.^[15] The game is a retelling and combining of the original two games, loosely telling the same story, while making some changes. For instance, the game is played from the perspective of "Shion" for the events of both games, where as the events of the original version of Xenosaga II originally had shifted to the perspective of Jr. The game was only released in Japan, not in any other regions.^[16]

Xenosaga Episode III

Although originally intended to be a six-part series, Xenosaga III ended up being the third and final entry in the Xenosaga sub-series, and the final Xeno game with Monolith Soft working under Namco.^[11] The series was cut short due to lack of sales of the prior released titles.^[17]

Spin-offs

A few spin-off games have been released in the Xeno series, strictly in Japan. Xenosaga: Pied Piper was a mobile phone role-playing video game released in 2004. It was released to bridge the gap between Xenosaga Episode I and II, with it covering the background of some of Xenosaga's supporting cast. Also released in the same year in Japan, was Xenosaga Freaks. The game contained four separate parts: Xeno Komi, which plays like an illustrated, voiced text adventure, a word game called Xeno-pittan, an encyclopedia of Episode I terms, and a playable demo version of Episode II.

Xenoblade

Xenoblade Chronicles

Xenoblade (Xenoblade Chronicles in English speaking regions) would be the first Xeno game developed after being bought by Nintendo and was developed for the Wii. Originally titled Monado: Beginning of the World, the game was retitled Xenoblade in January 2010 to honor Tetsuya Takahashi, and tie it into the rest of the Xeno series.^[18] The game follows Shulk and his band of friends as they search for answers about the mysterious and legendary sword known as the Monado and defend their homeland from the violent robotic race known as the Mechon. While still a story-based role-playing video game, the game's design shifted away from an emphasis on extended-length cutscenes and more towards open world exploration.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is a port of the original for the New Nintendo 3DS. Gameplay, graphics and control inputs remain largely unchanged, however includes a new feature absent from the original where models of in-game characters can be viewed. The game's music can also be listened to. These two new features are unlocked by completing certain in-game tasks, or can be immediately unlocked by tapping the Shulk amiibo to the system.

Xenoblade Chronicles X

On January 23, 2013, in a Nintendo Direct, a game simply announced as "a new game from Monolith Soft", was announced and shown in a brief trailer.^[19] Upon the game's announcement, and the next year proceeding it, there was no official confirmation of it being part of the Xeno series, though journalists still continued to make the connection.^{[19][20][21] [22]} The game's title was officially announced as Xenoblade Chronicles X at E3 2014 as a spiritual successor to Xenoblade Chronicles. The game was released on April 29, 2015 in Japan and has a general 2015 release date for the rest of the world.

See also

• Xeno series – Wikipedia book

References