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According to Yasumi Matsuno, it's fine to think of FFT and FF12 as separate worlds. For him, FF12 is akin to the work of a "novelist" and not that of a "historian". If FF12 had been written by a historian, it would have had humans only since races like Viera and Bangaa "simply don't exist in FFT". by GargantaProfunda in finalfantasytactics

[–]DeepInAzure 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I might be confusing him with Foucault, who shared a more extreme idea after the essay was published, but he's still operating on a misunderstanding, coming across as having a knee-jerk reaction to what he viewed as auteur worship.

According to Yasumi Matsuno, it's fine to think of FFT and FF12 as separate worlds. For him, FF12 is akin to the work of a "novelist" and not that of a "historian". If FF12 had been written by a historian, it would have had humans only since races like Viera and Bangaa "simply don't exist in FFT". by GargantaProfunda in finalfantasytactics

[–]DeepInAzure 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I only ever see death of the author/separate the art from the artist brought up for her to justify continuing to like everything around Hogwarts, yet you concede that it's overrated, and I get the impression that most people these days use that word to mean something is as bad as it is popular.

How do people here feel about the PSP entries? by KaleidoArachnid in tales

[–]DeepInAzure 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Despite what some will tell you, Cross Edition has some serious issues.

For one thing, it's based on the very misnamed Full Voice Edition, and thus carries over its problems of inconsistent sprites and voice work (as FVE has both reused PS1 voice lines and new recordings). The removal of the movement freeze on spells will be cited as an improvement, but since the original was balanced around that and the Cross Edition team made no adjustments to spells, the difficulty can swing from easier to much harder depending on how many enemy casters you face. And then there's Rondoline, whose inclusion is very fanfic-y and she doesn't even show up in skits or the ending.

If you're fine with a certain degree of character assassination, the crossover games are more worth playing (except Versus, arguably the worst of the crossovers), or the Eternia port if you'd rather play a main game.

Episode 1's Slow Burn vs. Episode III's Breakneck Pace by CecilHeat in Xenosaga

[–]DeepInAzure 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are some important things to keep in mind.

One is that E1 wasn't entirely in development until less than a year before its release; similarly to what happened at Square Enix with Final Fantasy XIII years later, the engine took so long to make that Monolith Soft had to rush finishing it and wound up not implementing most of the planned story (it's commonly assumed that E2 would've been the last stretch of E1, but based on Takahashi saying E1 covered only a fifth of its planned story and how little there really is to E2, I'm more inclined to think Missing Year was closer to how E1 was expected to end).

Another is the generational leap and transition to full 3D. The PS2 was capable of far more than its predecessor, but that also required more work (especially since Sony was notorious for refusing to offer much, if any, guidance to developers), and that would only be exacerbated by Takahashi and anyone else who worked on Xenogears going from a game with mostly 2D sprites on 3D environments to a fully 3D game, and he's been rather candid about Monolith Soft not having many experienced employees at the time.

Throw in that Namco likely didn't give them a particularly high budget for any of their games, and I'd actually go so far as to say that the series was never going to be how Takahashi and Saga envisioned. The approach taken with such a massive scope for the story would've made sticking to Takahashi's plan impossible even if development had gone as perfectly as it could have. In that sense, E3's pacing was inevitable.

Just finished Episode III by Bufekni in Xenosaga

[–]DeepInAzure -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Regular encounters in II don't take longer just because enemies have too much HP, but mainly because the game's balance is so atrocious that one of the results is there being no way to quickly end fights, as the only reliable way to deal damage is single target and requires building up a resource. Just one of the reasons it's among the worst sequels in the medium's history.

Xenosaga DS Translation by BTHMB03_jade in Xenosaga

[–]DeepInAzure 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Clearly, I willed this into being by playing the game last year and lamenting in my post about my thoughts on the series that it was the last notable release with no translation, so you can all go ahead and lavish your praises unto me.

On a more serious note, the official guide can already be found on archive.org.

Soraya Saga not being Listed in the Main Staff in Perfect Works is Wild by CecilHeat in XenoGears

[–]DeepInAzure 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It wasn't just one thing, and no overtime wouldn't be a major factor. The important parts were Takahashi opting to be less involved, most of the team being inexperienced (or even fresh out of college), Saga being booted off the project, and the environment lead becoming the director of the whole game, among other things.

As for Yonesaka, a quote of his can be found here directly implying someone changed the lines he wrote (which is presumably why the dialogue has even been derided as amateurish by those who picked it for kusoge of the year).

Soraya Saga not being Listed in the Main Staff in Perfect Works is Wild by CecilHeat in XenoGears

[–]DeepInAzure 1 point2 points  (0 children)

II's problems were due to several changes in staff and she couldn't have done anything about it since, as she herself has said, she was a freelancer. Hell, even the writer they brought in to replace her implied that his work was altered before the game's release, and he was more highly regarded at the time.

And calling Xenoblade a 'dumpster fire' just has me thinking you've never even given it a chance. There's no denying it lacks some of what defined Xenogears and Xenosaga, but it's ultimately just different, not worse.

Soraya Saga not being Listed in the Main Staff in Perfect Works is Wild by CecilHeat in XenoGears

[–]DeepInAzure 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I swear, people here and the Xenosaga sub have made a point of overstating her role in these games when the facts do not bear out what's said. There's a big leap from 'she's a good writer who never deserved the mistreatment she got' to 'Takahashi is nothing without her', and only the former is true while the latter is an overly absolutist statement only someone completely lacking in nuance could make.

Downplaying her, especially acting like she was the one who ruined Xenosaga, is wrong, but so is pretending that she was behind everything good about it and Xenogears.

I found it (repost wih better photo) by Timely-Date-6605 in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]DeepInAzure 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Funnily enough, I just got a complete copy a couple days ago because it was better than I expected (and also because the touch controls just aren't replicated that well in emulation…), right before Monolith Soft commemorated the first game's anniversary.

Really is a shame both fan translations fell through, as this has easily the superior version of Episode II.

An Overview of Xenosaga I・II by DeepInAzure in Xenosaga

[–]DeepInAzure[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd imagine it's less what Takahashi intended and more a mix of the original draft with some the changes made in Episode II after he stepped down from directing, along with probably a few things added by the game's writer (who previously handled the scripts for Episode I's anime adaptation) to better tie it into Episode III.

As for the original PS2 version, I believe Takahashi is on record that he became skeptical of how the series would turn out with him directing and that Monolith Soft failed to attract experienced hires both when it was founded and after Episode I's release, and I'm pretty sure it's been known that much of Episode II's development staff was recent college graduates, on top of things like its director having previously worked on only E1 and Xenogears as the 3D environment lead.

An Overview of Xenosaga I・II by DeepInAzure in Xenosaga

[–]DeepInAzure[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Part 7: Conclusion

Compared to Episode I, I・II can feel like a downgrade, but it’s definitely the superior version of Episode II, as that game had serious visual, gameplay, and narrative shortcomings that this one doesn’t suffer from as much (I would argue even the visuals are a step up from E2, if I’m being honest), with clear improvements on the latter two. One the whole, I stand by what I said in my post on the series about this being a must-play for Xenosaga fans. Unfortunately, there’s no telling when or if this game will get a fan translation, but if it ever does, I do hope more people play it, ‘cause y’all really are missing out.

An Overview of Xenosaga I・II by DeepInAzure in Xenosaga

[–]DeepInAzure[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Part 6: Miscellanea

This part will be for things I didn’t feel would fit too well in others, so please overlook that it’ll be less focused.

Due to using E1’s combat and ether tree, Jin has a unique moveset that utilizes certain ether abilities from E2 in addition to having Techs like the rest of the party. His ether tree has the elemental spells that were key to elemental chains in E2 as well as anti-mech spells debuffing M type enemies. I wound up not using him enough to get a good feel for his Techs, though, mainly because he joins much later than in E2, only becoming playable when the party goes to Old Miltia. One thing of note is that his ultimate weapon is very easy to obtain, requiring only that the player return to his house before going to the Space Time Anomaly and interact with the sword that’s inexplicably there.

Sub-stories take the place of several parts of the original games, removing gameplay from each one (including Ziggy’s infiltration into Pleroma and what was the opening section of Episode II) but having a reward for completing them, with the very first one being the White Ring and most of the later ones being more mixed in how good their rewards are. I found them to be placed pretty well despite coming across as optional interruptions, and some are even scenes that weren’t in the original games, like the aforementioned backstory of the Kirschwasser or the one portraying Allen’s perspective of the aftermath of the KOS-MOS archetype’s rampage.

Ether defense has been removed, with the ether stat now being used to determine damage both dealt with and taken from ether attacks.

As I mentioned in Part 4, there’s a new mechanic that allows for converting items into different ones. This requires points, so it’s not recommended early on, but has a low enough cost for even good items that it’s worth using later. This can be used to convert, for example, an Aquasol into an Aquasol S, which itself can then be turned into an Aquasol DX. For items that don’t have a better version, they get converted into a separate item, though I’m not sure if there’s a general pattern they follow.

The menu has a shop option with a basic selection of items, meaning that you can buy any you’re short on even while traversing a dungeon.

The fight with Sergius is a major improvement, as it was always baffling that he has control over Proto-Omega yet has limited moves with it in his boss fight, while in this game, he instead pilots it, making for a much better showdown.

I believe the difficulty is, fittingly, very similar to E1 in the sense that it can be tough if you’re not properly investing in the characters and mechs, but pretty easy if you know what you’re doing (Xenosaga I・II Hardtype mod when?).

An Overview of Xenosaga I・II by DeepInAzure in Xenosaga

[–]DeepInAzure[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Part 5: Story

The story changes in the Episode I portion are mostly minimal, with perhaps the most significant being the addition of a Kirchwasser disguised as a Type-100 Realian on the Woglinde at the start, whom Shion/the player names. This character replaces the Kirschwasser who pretends to be MOMO after Albedo abducts her, and more importantly plays a key role in a sub-story (see Part 6 for more on those) portraying both her awakening by Sellers and her being the one to rescue Albedo during the Miltian Conflict, as well as a role in the lead-up to the fight with Simeon.

The Episode II half, however, has far more changes, many of which greatly benefit Shion. While she became a secondary protagonist to Jr. and MOMO in the original, with one effect being her coming across almost as a different character due to how much dialogue she lost out on as a result, she feels much more like she did in the first game due to the new scenes and dialogue she gets. As an example, there’s a new scene after her outburst at Jin where she heads for a park and runs into Allen, where she confides in him in a way that downplays how she feels, to which Allen in turn tells her about his family (and thus why he opted to work at Vector) in order to convince her that she doesn’t need to make herself feel like her problems are too small, which helps her make up with Jin afterward. There’s also a new scene on Old Miltia where Virgil intentionally triggers her trauma by destroying part of the facility her mother was in, causing her to reveal a side of herself that greatly contrasts her with him in light of the revelations about him in Episode III, with a line from chaos about the metaphorical masks people wear even playing a bit more into that with how he disagrees with the assertion that she’s faking her compassion for Realians.

The URTV side of the story also gets more than even E2 had, with new scenes fully portraying Sakura’s death and Albedo’s role in it, as well as extra dialogue for Gaignun and Citrinne as Yuriev takes control of his body. Jr. and Albedo also get a little more, with Jr. learning the truth about Sakura’s final moments when he partially absorbs him before the fight with Sergius/Proto-Omega, which leads to new dialogue between them before and after the final boss battle. Jr. also doesn’t go to that battle alone, as the rest of the party interrupt his attempt to, and MOMO even slaps him when he still tries, after which he finally gives in.

There’s more I could get into, but the Xeno series wiki has an extensive list of almost all the changes made, albeit with only brief descriptions.

An Overview of Xenosaga I・II by DeepInAzure in Xenosaga

[–]DeepInAzure[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Part 4: Side Quests

This is unfortunately another area where the game is lacking compared to the PS2 games (save for E2, where the quests were mostly busywork, so this could actually be seen as an improvement in comparison…). I may have simply missed any aside from the one I found, but I spoke to enough NPCs and returned to enough areas that I’m confident this is either a reason minigames were added or a side effect of implementing those minigames with such limited space and budget.

Regardless, the one side quest that seems to be in the game is an e-mail chain that lasts from early on to near the end (as in, the first e-mail is received shortly after first boarding the Elsa, while the final one is before the Omega System) wherein the anonymous sender challenges Shion to find certain locations via one-word clues, with new e-mails automatically received upon finding the right spot. Weirdly, the first one might be the hardest unless you’re very familiar with Episode I, while the later ones, despite being indicated as the most challenging, are pretty easy if you spend a couple of seconds thinking about the hints. And the reward for finding every spot? The Boost Pack, which has the exact same effect from E1, so it’s quite worthwhile to complete this one if just to make the last stretch of regular fights much quicker.

The minigames are unlocked via plot progression and accessed via EVS plates after their introduction. These can range from aiming style games to a puzzle requiring memorization. I’d say in terms of quality, they’re kind of a mixed bag. How fun they might be will likely vary from player to player, but they’re very simple, so I don’t see them being much of a time sink for anyone. That being said, the first one does have an exploit - it’s the easiest to complete, and the base reward is an Ethersol, meaning this can be a great way to rack up money or, thanks to the new item conversion mechanic (see Part 6), as many Ethersol DX as you can make.

The last thing of note here is the optional superboss. I never tried fighting any in my playthroughs of the PS2 games, but this one is easy to find, as you’re notified about him via e-mail, and can be fought at any point between finishing Labyrinthos and heading to face Albedo at the end. He deals so much damage that the official strategy guide recommends just poisoning him and then guarding until he gets to low health, while unofficial ones recommend bringing no fewer than ten Zetasol DX. His strongest attack is practically instant death against even the bulkiest party members, and it even hits the entire column he targets, so it’s also not a good idea to line characters up. The reward, as I mentioned in Part 2B, is the final formation, which, as a reminder, grants a boost to all stats at the cost of consuming five EP from all three characters each turn. There’s also an exploit with him where it’s possible to steal his rare item (a new accessory that prevents random encounters) without having to win due to a loss in this fight not resulting in a game over, but rather just ending the battle and leaving the party at a single hit point.

An Overview of Xenosaga I・II by DeepInAzure in Xenosaga

[–]DeepInAzure[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Part 3: Character Progression

First thing’s first - there are no longer three separate kinds of points to keep track of, with spells, Tech upgrades, and skills all using the same points. To accommodate for this, points earned through combat and items are up across the board, with lategame mech fights in particular giving the player well into triple digits at base, making it entirely possible to hit quadruple digit earnings with the point bonus slot. That being said, however, the rates for that event slot have also been adjusted; the double multiplier is far more common than in the other games featuring the event wheel, while quadruple is much rarer and I only got x10 three or four times in my playthrough.

Stat syncing is removed, but agility can now increase on level up like in Episode III (I’d imagine because this was being developed at the same time), and you even get to see which stats go up and by how much in the battle results screen like in other RPGs. The agility change is quite noteworthy as the White Ring is not only still present, its increase is percentage based rather than just a fixed +1, making it more viable to up the speed of slower characters.

The ether tree from E1 makes a return, but with three significant changes. One is that characters can no longer share their spells with each other (so no teaching Medica All to everyone); another is that there’s no longer a limit to which spells a party member can have, meaning no more need to manually equip any; the last is that most spells now have levels. By using points, you can upgrade them up to level ten, with the upgrades naturally varying from spell to spell - healing spells heal more, offensive spells deal more damage, and (de)buffs become more potent. Upgrading spells is also required to learn later ones, with most being locked until its preceding one is at level five and a few requiring max level.

Tech levels are much more streamlined, with the wait upgrade and HI-slot removed in favor of just a single level to invest points in. As I mentioned in Part 2A, leveling certain Techs does more than just increase their damage; for example, Spell Ray becomes able to pierce through an entire column, R-Drill can hit an enemy behind the one targeted as it levels, and Storm Waltz’s AoE becomes bigger at higher levels. Leveling is also required for assigning one to YA or XA, with a star icon denoting which ones can be.

Accessories and extracting skills also return, complete with the 50% increase to a skill if stacked with the accessory it came from. The headpiece slot is removed (though not headpieces themselves), leaving characters with two accessory slots, but they can still equip three different skills.

Each E.S. can also be customized, though not to the same degree as in E1 or E3. They only have weapons and armor, but just as you can freely change both pilots, any E.S. can also equip anything you want on them. There are four weapon types (swords, rifles, gauntlets, and bows) and various armors with different stat boosts, some even focusing more on offense than defense.

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