Xenosaga Freaks

By Spencer . September 28, 2005 . 3:26am

Gamers around the world are familiar with the Xenosaga name after it made a huge splash in Japan and a sizeable entry into the American market. If you haven’t heard of Xenosaga Episode 1, its a space opera developed by Monolith Software and is a prequel to Squaresoft’s Xenogears. While everyone in Japan is patiently waiting for Xenosaga Episode II: Beyond Good and Evil Namco released Xenosaga Freaks to tide fans of the series over. To put it bluntly Xenosaga Freaks isn’t as much a game as it is an interactive fan book. Want to find out what exactly is on the disc? Read on.

Xenosaga freaks contains four things that fans of the series will be interested in. Only one (maybe two) will actually appeal to people who aren’t familiar with the Xenosaga universe. The first menu option brings you to a text based adventure entitled Xenocomi. You can choose from main characters like Shion, KOS-MOS, MOMO, Jr., Ziggy and Chaos with an extra unlockable character. The game plays like a "choose your own adventure novel" where menus come up with choices on how to progress the story. More often than not you’re forced to pick a certain option instead of allowing a lot of free reign. The stories included are a compliment to the already large narrative of Xenosaga. The visuals during this section of the disc have a hand drawn graphic novel feel to them, which does the job of creating the comic atmosphere. Some scenes in the stories are parodies of Xenosaga Episode 1. So, if you want to get the most out of the disc you should probably complete Episode 1 first.

The next item on the disc is called "Xenopittan" based on Namco’s language puzzler Moji Pittan. The game play is similar to Moji Pittan where you spell words using hiragana (a form of Japanese characters designed for Japanese words). The game scores you on the length of words and how the match up with adjacent characters. If you’re confused think of it as an arcade version of scrabble and you’ll have a good idea of what it is about. The only thing that separates Xenopittan to Moji Pittan are the boards. Some of the boards are shaped like elements from Xenosaga such as a KOS-MOS board, a Ziggy board and a MOMO board. More abstract elements from Xenosaga are also used like the Zophar symbol, the 666 found on a certain characters hand and carrots that the bunny eats.

The encyclopedia is what fans of the Xeno-series will dig the most. Within it contains character profiles, enemy profiles, locations and even significant themes. The encyclopedia even features scenes from Xenosaga Episode 1 that you can replay at your will. The disc does a good job of not spoiling too much between the videos and the profiles for those people who haven’t played through episode one. One comment on the encyclopedia is I wish there was more content in it. It is nice to have the profiles and stuff from episode one, but I was hoping for more character sketches, storyboards or anything you would find in a DVD extras menu. The encyclopedia doesn’t offer much, if you’ve been paying close attention to the story of episode one.

The best portion of the disc is honestly the demo of Xenosaga Episode II. Let me just say that the demo sucks your right into the action. From my short playthrough I am more excited about Xenosaga Episode II: Beyond Good and Evil than I was before. There isn’t enough room in this article to sum the demo up. Instead we’re going to do a special story dedicated to the demo that came with Xenosaga Freaks. To sum up the demo in one word "awesome!"

When buying this disc you have to question how much of fan of the series you are. If you love the Xeno series by all means buy this disc right now. It adds a new dimension to the Xeno universe with the Xenocomi portion and the encyclopedia is great for looking back at the story of Xenosaga Episode 1. Although, for $40 where the highlight of the disc is the Xenosaga Episode II demo the disc is kind of pricey and if you were expecting a game it seems even more expensive.

Import Friendly? Literacy Level: 5

Everything that can be enjoyed on this disc is in Japanese. Without prior knowledge you won’t be able to enjoy the Xenocomi side stories, the encyclopedia or the language heavy XenoPittan game. You may get a kick out of playing the Xenosaga Episode II demo, but you’ll be missing out on the story there too.

US Bound?

While Xenosaga Episode II: Beyond Good and Evil will be released in North America, there is a slim chance that this will be released. The best hope for a US release is that Xenosaga Freaks will be packaged as a pre-order bonus item for Xenosaga Episode 2.

+ Pros: Character encyclopedia, xenosaga episode 2 demo

- Cons: Two not long lasting mini-games, only designed with fans in mind

Overall: Xenosaga Freaks isn’t a game, it’s something designed for the most hardcore fans of the series only.

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