This game was so great as a kid. I was heartbroken to hear the remaster was considered but dropped. I wish they would have at least ported the PS2 game on PS4 with trophies, like Star Ocean 3 and Dark Cloud 2 were. I loved Chaos. Its a shame his voice actor changed in the sequels.
To add extra heartbreak there is a nintendo ds remake of xenosaga 1&2 but it was only ever released in japan in japanese. I do not understand how people keep shafting this game.
Xenosaga is both so comfortable to play yet contemplative, much like the its predecessor Xenogears. While I saw my dad play both growing up, it's what continually draws me back like a moth to a flame. Love these games. Thanks for the reviews Hell Fire.
I am currently writing a Xenosaga Series I would LOVE to pitch it to Netflix one day. This trilogy of games sparked my imagination as a kid when I first played it and I would LOVE remasters of these games for modern consoles #RemasterXenosaga
I was so happy to see this video pop up on my home page!! I've played all of the main titles, Gears, and read a script of Pied Piper and it's my favorite series of all time, and rightly revered in the JRPG community. There is no other series I'd rather see remastered and continued. They made a terrible miscalculation turning down the remaster. Maybe high sales for Xenoblade HD will sway change their minds. Just do it!!!
The Xenosaga trilogy was one of my absolute highlights in role play gaming, ranking in my top 3 best RPGs ever. They are truly gems and should definitely not be missed by any JRPG fan. The OST is also absolutely gorgeous, as are the graphics, the characters, the story... everything, plus with Margulis it also has a real evil antagonist. I also have to mention that I also liked the second episode the least, but not because of the story or general gameplay, but the combat system was somehow not right for me, cannot remember exactly how it worked again, but it had a lot of flaws which were annoying. Episode 3 then again was great with refined combat system, similar to the 1st. Count me in for a HD remaster, definitely deserved!!
I played this trilogy in my early 20’s. Of all the PS2 games I played at that time, this trilogy and FF10 still have such special places in my gaming memories. I really hope the Xenosaga games get a remaster one day.
just started playing xeno1 last night. I may not have alot of time,but man, I enjoyed this series back in the day. Xenosaga 2 was my first game alongside gba nes classics castlevania as my first game. Almost 20 years ago lol that's crazy.
This is EXACTLY how a review for Saga should be done. You're really excited to call more people to the seres but not blinded by some of the minor perks such as the cutscenes. I genuinely loved this review!
I STILL have this game as well as the others. I WILL be taking a week off work soon and i am going to be playing this series again for the 1st time in 15 yrs. Im too excited about it! - X -
I still own this on ps2. Haven’t played it in over 15 years. Watching this review inspired me to get into it again tonight. As a grown adult now, I wonder if I’ll appreciate and understand it more! Great review bud. One of my favorite channels
I own this and remember sitting through 30 minutes of cutscene, entering a tutorial an md then just shutting it off. I was so bored I decided to clean my house.
Don't blame you. Took me a decade to finish the game because it kept putting me to sleep and only finished it because I decided not to restart the final time.
@@RUclipsCensors i keep starting and then quitting at the beginning of Final Fantasy XII. I recently made it past the tutorial and saved but havent gone back to it. Lol
This game got my hooked on the trilogy and it made me seek out the other two games immediately even before I was done with it. The whole trilogy story is a masterpiece despite its flaws and I look back on it fondly from time to time. I would highly recommend this first game to everyone. It’s very much a gateway drug to get you to play the next two games immediately after.
So I have a pretty amazing trilogy! I have all of them...just never got around to playing them. I was lucky enough to find them in a Pawn Shop YEARS AGO CIB and all disc perfectly fine...like new except for the fact that GameStop placed a price sticker on one of the manual covers. I will definitely have to check them out now. I am a big RPG fan.
Try using Zippo lighter fluid to remove that GameStop sticker from the manual! (Or maybe a hear gun or blow dryer first, see if you can melt the glue some.).
As a Xeno fan and Sci-fi RPG fan who's never played the Saga games, the fact that Switch owners won't be getting the HD remasters of Xenosaga is beyond heart breaking...
Just played the first game. Really liked the characters and story. Gameplay was quite fun, just wish there was more of it. "Interactive cutscene" is an understatement lol. This game really needs a remaster. I found myself getting stuck on geometry, rocks, terminals ECT. Crashing in cutscenes after boss fights and losing an hour of progress, made it kinda hard to play.
I would kill for this to be ported to ps4 or switch. I still have my ps2 and the xenosaga trilogy is really the only thing I still play on it... but I'm really sad there is no remaster.
I think with the increase in RPG fans over the pandemic, a remake collection on the switch would be very profitable for the company , or even a spin off of some sort
I started much earlier with Xenogears. Still own it. Waited for a remake and they came out with xenosaga it wasn't what I expected but it was good. Too bad they aren't remaking it guess it's good it's still on my old ps3.
My only complaint about this game is you cant move the camera independently. I would love to take in the visual details they took the time to make its a very immersive world.
I would love for this trilogy to be remastered with modern graphics and animations! (Same voices, though!) I just wish the combat was a bit better. It certainly had its ups and downs. I personally wasn’t a fan of the bonus wheel mechanic.
I started playing this game close to when it came out but i never finished it. Just recently I purchased episodes 2 and 3 at a retro game store and so I busted out my ps2 and started up a new file on episode 1 and am going to play through the series.
@lyinginertia man though I must say I don't like what they did with episode 2 it feels like a whole different game almost entirely. Don't like they switched out some voice actors dont like they made characters look very different to the point that for me it's not even that character anymore.
@@nigma195 Damn! quite expensive but also pretty good considering Episode 3 alone can go for that price if not higher. And yeah unfortunately Bandai pretty much took control of Episode 2 and gutted it. Episode 3 brings back some of the cast from E1 and the characters are much better there as well. If you haven't played it or are feeling off from E2 I do think it's worth going through just to get to E3
This game never came out in Australia, initially. I think only the second game did, which was the only on the the series I've played. I did watch the anime, though, which was amazing. Definitely would love to get into this game. Can save data be ported between games like in the Suikoden series?
Awesome review! I first played Xenosaga in early 2003. While it wasn’t epic as Xenogears, I was all in with Saga’s story, characters, world, and soundtrack. I didn’t get to play Episodes II and III until May/June of 2010 and Episode II was a whole different beast and it didn’t click with me. III was a great return and even though it was rushed, I still enjoyed it, but wish Yasunori Mitsuda returned to compose for II and III. I’d love for a remaster, so I can try and give II a new shed of input, but sadly, looks like it definitely won’t happen anytime soon.
They spent the whole budget on these cutscenes. I played this toooooo young I was way over my own head but does anyone know how to Access this game 2024?
Episode one is like the most JRPG Jrpg in how its constructed. Also have you heard this song? ruclips.net/video/9_NKJNo7nx8/видео.html&ab_channel=illmatic28
I disagree with your opening paragraph - 2 was rushed almost xenosaga lite with many locations from the first game re-used - less story fewer cutscenes disjointed story which jarringly hits you with unexpected time leaps of years explained with a single screen of text - making you realize it was supposed to be 5 games and that's the bit they didn't do. Padded out with the lame content side quests etc to make it feel like a complete game. It is necessary for completeness but weak compared to 1 & 3.
Someone needs to say it. Xenosaga is the most pretentious convoluted game I have ever played. The story just kinda sucks and the characters are not that interesting. I just kinda hate this game story. The gameplay is kinda fun and it is well acted but do not play this game. The card game is the best part of the game and I could spend hours just playing that.
@@tonytony8872 I understood it just fine... it does not mean I have to like it. With an excess of pretentious religious references and convoluted events I just did not like it. It is like the story tries to be different by being as cliche as possible with tropes that have been done before and better. Sounds like someone is intolerant of people with different view points.
@@tonytony8872 I think you are great for seeing the good in it because the high concept themes are recantation and very thought provoking and well done. Like now the Gnosis refused to move on grounds them in a way is very interesting. Ziggy, Shion and KOS-MOS are very interesting on their own but the story could have used these characters in more insightful ways. I think Jr., Momo, and especially Chaos needed a hell of a lot more development (yes I know their backstories). Jr gets a great story but Chaos fells too much like exposition and not enough of a character. The gameplay is also so amazing in this game. Please tell me what you loved about it!
@@ca8427 I thought is was nice to have a story that actually explored some intelligent concepts rather than just the basic "this bad guy/group/monster is trying to destroy the world. " The fact it was unpredictable largely till the end and gave just enough story threads to keep you hanging on. Whenever one question would get answered 2 more would arise. I played it when it first came out and then played through the whole series again 2 weeks ago and I'm surprised by how well it holds up. Although I'm still unclear about chaos function as the personification of anima and thought it could use some clearing up...or who or what Wilhelm was I can forgive them knowing it was supposed to be 6 games and they had to condense it
Devils advocate here, Xenosaga Ep1 music direction is terrible. While cutscenes have great tracks gameplay for the most part is either intense trumpet piece or nothing at all. Also 1 battle theme.1!!! Pokemon Red and Blue on the GB had at least 3.
@@cypher838 Slow pacing, too many cutscenes, ho-hum battle system, characters and character designs I didn't care for, bad world map (there wasn't even a free-roaming world map, was there? Been a long time since I played).
![Ranking the Xeno Series [ Xenogears | Xenosaga | Xenoblade ] The best from this AMAZING JRPG series](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fdklxuwh5Fo/mqdefault.jpg)
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
This game was so great as a kid. I was heartbroken to hear the remaster was considered but dropped. I wish they would have at least ported the PS2 game on PS4 with trophies, like Star Ocean 3 and Dark Cloud 2 were.
I loved Chaos. Its a shame his voice actor changed in the sequels.
To add extra heartbreak there is a nintendo ds remake of xenosaga 1&2 but it was only ever released in japan in japanese. I do not understand how people keep shafting this game.
"Hilbert Effect active. Gnosis materialization complete!"
"Charging...R-CANNON!"
"My external appearance is down 5%. Shion, I need to be cleaned."
I wouldn't mind cleaning Kos-Mos
Giggity
Xenosaga is both so comfortable to play yet contemplative, much like the its predecessor Xenogears. While I saw my dad play both growing up, it's what continually draws me back like a moth to a flame. Love these games. Thanks for the reviews Hell Fire.
Totally agree! These games have something that you can't find anymore. Glad you enjoyed :D
I am currently writing a Xenosaga Series I would LOVE to pitch it to Netflix one day. This trilogy of games sparked my imagination as a kid when I first played it and I would LOVE remasters of these games for modern consoles
#RemasterXenosaga
I was so happy to see this video pop up on my home page!! I've played all of the main titles, Gears, and read a script of Pied Piper and it's my favorite series of all time, and rightly revered in the JRPG community. There is no other series I'd rather see remastered and continued. They made a terrible miscalculation turning down the remaster. Maybe high sales for Xenoblade HD will sway change their minds. Just do it!!!
The Xenosaga trilogy was one of my absolute highlights in role play gaming, ranking in my top 3 best RPGs ever. They are truly gems and should definitely not be missed by any JRPG fan. The OST is also absolutely gorgeous, as are the graphics, the characters, the story... everything, plus with Margulis it also has a real evil antagonist.
I also have to mention that I also liked the second episode the least, but not because of the story or general gameplay, but the combat system was somehow not right for me, cannot remember exactly how it worked again, but it had a lot of flaws which were annoying. Episode 3 then again was great with refined combat system, similar to the 1st.
Count me in for a HD remaster, definitely deserved!!
I live right around the corner from Namco Bandai in Santa Clara. Thinking about protesting out front for a Xenosaga HD remake XD
I played this trilogy in my early 20’s. Of all the PS2 games I played at that time, this trilogy and FF10 still have such special places in my gaming memories. I really hope the Xenosaga games get a remaster one day.
just started playing xeno1 last night. I may not have alot of time,but man, I enjoyed this series back in the day. Xenosaga 2 was my first game alongside gba nes classics castlevania as my first game. Almost 20 years ago lol that's crazy.
This is EXACTLY how a review for Saga should be done. You're really excited to call more people to the seres but not blinded by some of the minor perks such as the cutscenes. I genuinely loved this review!
Thanks! It's definitely a series worth playing!
@@HellFireRPGs Totally agree with you there man!
I STILL have this game as well as the others. I WILL be taking a week off work soon and i am going to be playing this series again for the 1st time in 15 yrs. Im too excited about it! - X -
Such a nostalgic game.
I still own this on ps2. Haven’t played it in over 15 years. Watching this review inspired me to get into it again tonight. As a grown adult now, I wonder if I’ll appreciate and understand it more! Great review bud. One of my favorite channels
Appreciated! Let me know how it goes. I had about a 15 year gap too, and enjoyed it just as much.
Very good review and one of the very few available on RUclips.Thumbs up👍🏻
Thanks 👍
Namco = Money over fans, this series should return like really so much right now.
I still have my collection. What an amazing series.
Characters eyes, stare right into your soul.
I own this and remember sitting through 30 minutes of cutscene, entering a tutorial an md then just shutting it off. I was so bored I decided to clean my house.
Don't blame you. Took me a decade to finish the game because it kept putting me to sleep and only finished it because I decided not to restart the final time.
@@RUclipsCensors i keep starting and then quitting at the beginning of Final Fantasy XII. I recently made it past the tutorial and saved but havent gone back to it. Lol
This game got my hooked on the trilogy and it made me seek out the other two games immediately even before I was done with it. The whole trilogy story is a masterpiece despite its flaws and I look back on it fondly from time to time. I would highly recommend this first game to everyone. It’s very much a gateway drug to get you to play the next two games immediately after.
you are criminally underrated
:D
So I have a pretty amazing trilogy! I have all of them...just never got around to playing them. I was lucky enough to find them in a Pawn Shop YEARS AGO CIB and all disc perfectly fine...like new except for the fact that GameStop placed a price sticker on one of the manual covers. I will definitely have to check them out now. I am a big RPG fan.
Try using Zippo lighter fluid to remove that GameStop sticker from the manual! (Or maybe a hear gun or blow dryer first, see if you can melt the glue some.).
As a Xeno fan and Sci-fi RPG fan who's never played the Saga games, the fact that Switch owners won't be getting the HD remasters of Xenosaga is beyond heart breaking...
Just played the first game. Really liked the characters and story. Gameplay was quite fun, just wish there was more of it. "Interactive cutscene" is an understatement lol. This game really needs a remaster. I found myself getting stuck on geometry, rocks, terminals ECT. Crashing in cutscenes after boss fights and losing an hour of progress, made it kinda hard to play.
I would kill for this to be ported to ps4 or switch. I still have my ps2 and the xenosaga trilogy is really the only thing I still play on it... but I'm really sad there is no remaster.
I think with the increase in RPG fans over the pandemic, a remake collection on the switch would be very profitable for the company , or even a spin off of some sort
wanting to try this one. A mech mini-game and a card mini-game? sold
I started much earlier with Xenogears. Still own it. Waited for a remake and they came out with xenosaga it wasn't what I expected but it was good. Too bad they aren't remaking it guess it's good it's still on my old ps3.
My only complaint about this game is you cant move the camera independently. I would love to take in the visual details they took the time to make its a very immersive world.
Been waiting for this.
I thought it was about time I got around to it.
I remember this game being hard
This was one of the greatest game series I ever played and till this day I am still upset it never got a proper finish.
Mission Complete Shion
I would love for this trilogy to be remastered with modern graphics and animations! (Same voices, though!) I just wish the combat was a bit better. It certainly had its ups and downs. I personally wasn’t a fan of the bonus wheel mechanic.
Will you still be reviewing episodes 2 and 3?
Yup! Finish up with ep 2 atm :)
@@HellFireRPGs cool! I'm going through episode 1 again right now!
@@HellFireRPGs i hope Episode III Also Sprach Zarathustra is worth the high price
It's been a long time since i last played the xenosaga games.
1:46 "Still being breathtaking today!"
Can already tell that this is a "very good" review from a "very smart" person!
I started playing this game close to when it came out but i never finished it. Just recently I purchased episodes 2 and 3 at a retro game store and so I busted out my ps2 and started up a new file on episode 1 and am going to play through the series.
How much did you have to dish out for episode 2 & 3? :o
@@lyinginertia 290 for both.
@lyinginertia man though I must say I don't like what they did with episode 2 it feels like a whole different game almost entirely. Don't like they switched out some voice actors dont like they made characters look very different to the point that for me it's not even that character anymore.
@@nigma195 Damn! quite expensive but also pretty good considering Episode 3 alone can go for that price if not higher. And yeah unfortunately Bandai pretty much took control of Episode 2 and gutted it. Episode 3 brings back some of the cast from E1 and the characters are much better there as well. If you haven't played it or are feeling off from E2 I do think it's worth going through just to get to E3
@@lyinginertia yeah I'm on disc 2 of episode 2 right now. I want to get through it just for the story.
That will be great if this game could be remake like FF7R
This game never came out in Australia, initially. I think only the second game did, which was the only on the the series I've played.
I did watch the anime, though, which was amazing.
Definitely would love to get into this game. Can save data be ported between games like in the Suikoden series?
Yeah you can, but you don't get anything significant. Not like Suikoden :(
I'll also have to check out the anime if you think it's good :D
@@HellFireRPGs Ah, that's a shame.
The anime is only a few episodes long, if I remember correctly. I don't recall it being too long.
I used the ps2 codebreaker or gameshark to boost characters I barely played with in rpgs.
Awesome review! I first played Xenosaga in early 2003. While it wasn’t epic as Xenogears, I was all in with Saga’s story, characters, world, and soundtrack. I didn’t get to play Episodes II and III until May/June of 2010 and Episode II was a whole different beast and it didn’t click with me. III was a great return and even though it was rushed, I still enjoyed it, but wish Yasunori Mitsuda returned to compose for II and III.
I’d love for a remaster, so I can try and give II a new shed of input, but sadly, looks like it definitely won’t happen anytime soon.
They spent the whole budget on these cutscenes. I played this toooooo young I was way over my own head but does anyone know how to
Access this game 2024?
It's stuck on the PS2 unfortunately. Your best bet is emulation.
I love Xenosaga. I have a playlist on my channel called All of my Xenosaga tributes if anyone is interested
I feel that the game would look better with 2d sprites.
Funny you say that, because that version exists. It's "Xenosaga I&II" for Nintendo DS. And no... It doesn't look better. Not even close.
@@XanderVJ I just looked for the game and it looks nice xD.
Episode one is like the most JRPG Jrpg in how its constructed.
Also have you heard this song?
ruclips.net/video/9_NKJNo7nx8/видео.html&ab_channel=illmatic28
Yeah, the battle themes weren't bad at all.
Remake remake pls pls.
You do know its part of xenoblade
Shion is best girl fight me
Yeah, played them all and ep1 is very boring to play.
Ep3 is great but not a fan of 1-2 Hoagge songs are great though
You probably won't like episode 2
I played 1 and 2 as a kid. I remember 2 not being as good.
@@HellFireRPGs I have 2 and the collector's edition strategy guide sealed it's very rare
@JRPGFan20000 2 is about rubedo/jr and albedo his brother
@JRPGFan20000 plus the artist from episode 1 left that's why the style is different
I disagree with your opening paragraph - 2 was rushed almost xenosaga lite with many locations from the first game re-used - less story fewer cutscenes disjointed story which jarringly hits you with unexpected time leaps of years explained with a single screen of text - making you realize it was supposed to be 5 games and that's the bit they didn't do. Padded out with the lame content side quests etc to make it feel like a complete game. It is necessary for completeness but weak compared to 1 & 3.
Someone needs to say it. Xenosaga is the most pretentious convoluted game I have ever played. The story just kinda sucks and the characters are not that interesting. I just kinda hate this game story. The gameplay is kinda fun and it is well acted but do not play this game. The card game is the best part of the game and I could spend hours just playing that.
Sounds like someone didn't understand the story...
@@tonytony8872 I understood it just fine... it does not mean I have to like it. With an excess of pretentious religious references and convoluted events I just did not like it. It is like the story tries to be different by being as cliche as possible with tropes that have been done before and better. Sounds like someone is intolerant of people with different view points.
@@ca8427 not at all. I just know it's a hard nut to crack your first time through....but to each his own
@@tonytony8872 I think you are great for seeing the good in it because the high concept themes are recantation and very thought provoking and well done. Like now the Gnosis refused to move on grounds them in a way is very interesting. Ziggy, Shion and KOS-MOS are very interesting on their own but the story could have used these characters in more insightful ways. I think Jr., Momo, and especially Chaos needed a hell of a lot more development (yes I know their backstories). Jr gets a great story but Chaos fells too much like exposition and not enough of a character. The gameplay is also so amazing in this game. Please tell me what you loved about it!
@@ca8427 I thought is was nice to have a story that actually explored some intelligent concepts rather than just the basic "this bad guy/group/monster is trying to destroy the world. "
The fact it was unpredictable largely till the end and gave just enough story threads to keep you hanging on. Whenever one question would get answered 2 more would arise. I played it when it first came out and then played through the whole series again 2 weeks ago and I'm surprised by how well it holds up.
Although I'm still unclear about chaos function as the personification of anima and thought it could use some clearing up...or who or what Wilhelm was I can forgive them knowing it was supposed to be 6 games and they had to condense it
I think Xenosaga is the worst of the Xeno series , but I can still appreciate the themes and music
Devils advocate here, Xenosaga Ep1 music direction is terrible. While cutscenes have great tracks gameplay for the most part is either intense trumpet piece or nothing at all. Also 1 battle theme.1!!! Pokemon Red and Blue on the GB had at least 3.
I want to but damn it’s ugly
You'll get used to it very fast. I often go back to retro games, and think the same thing initially.
My least favorite JRPG of all-time. I almost never sell my games, but I got rid of this one on eBay.
Why?!
@@cypher838 Slow pacing, too many cutscenes, ho-hum battle system, characters and character designs I didn't care for, bad world map (there wasn't even a free-roaming world map, was there? Been a long time since I played).
I have all 3 love! I’m outraged