Why are you shaking? Going through a RPG withdrawal? Xenosaga can take the edge off until the next Final Fantasy installment. Xenosaga by Namco has been highly anticipated in the RPG camp. This was anticipated for a good reason. Namco, the company who did the highly polished Tekken 4, Soul Calibur, and Dead to Rights and many other great games are giving the Final Fantasy Series a run for their money with Xenosaga: Der Wille Zur Macht (The Will to Power).
Gameplay
The gameplay of Xenosaga is nothing new in sorts?c. it?fs your standard turn based RPG. They try to give you some new ways of improving your character, but they are almost cryptic when its gets to spending points for 3 different elements. The learning curve is somewhat longer then most, but after a while you?fll get a hang of it. Equipment purchasing is somewhat a let down, the reason being is that some characters don?ft change appearance when given a new weapon. All in all the gameplay is basic, but I?fm sad to say?cyou?fre going to have to read the manual.
Graphics
Graphically this game cannot get much better. All the graphics are top notch from movie cuts to the game play. Every spell (they call it ether) is visually something new. When your character does a special move, the graphics make it worth to watch. The enemies are all cool menacing, some seem something out of a freak show from a meat market, and others look something spawned straight out of hell. Not only are the enemies well done, the main characters look like something straight of your favorite anime movie. Namco has proven that graphically they can run with the big dogs in the RPG arena.
Sound
The sound for this game is brilliant. The music goes hand-to-hand with the events happening with the game. The games deep religious undertones are backed up with great music that makes it extremely powerful. The sound FX for the game are a real treat Namco really put sometime in this game element. The voice acting is extremely well done. There?fs no horrible voice acting in this game, which is a nice change from the other games I?fve played. By far the sound for this game is well thought out, and done wonderfully.
Worth
To an RPG fan or even an Anime fan this is well worth the money. The deep storyline and great graphics and decent gameplay make this game worth a try if you haven?ft thought about buying a RPG. The mini little quests and 50 plus hours of gameplay will make this game worth your hard earned dough.
Overall
Xenosaga is a delight to the senses, beautifully orchestrated music, and sound effects that hold up to make it a nice tight game.
+ The graphics and sound are some of the best I?fve seen since Squaresoft?fs FFX
+ The storyline makes this game extremely addictive, and worth your playing time.
– Long animated movies can be tiresome for those who don?ft enjoy anime.
– The interface and some of the special fighting moves is a bit tricky to setup
