No words I can write here can do this game justice, but I will at least make an attempt to sing its praises.
In the past couple months, I had played through the two other Xenosaga games, and while they had their flaws, I still really enjoyed them. I was scared to start this game, not only was I afraid this game wouldn't live up to the hype I accidentally built up for it, but I was scared of finishing this series for good. Xenosaga Episode 3 is the culmination of everything that came before it, creating something beautiful.
The gameplay is easily the best in the series. Though I did enjoy Xenosaga 1's gameplay, it at times felt overly complicated, and in turn, I feel like Xenosaga 2 did the opposite, oversimplifying everything. The gameplay of Xenosaga Episode 3 hits a good balance, featuring the customizability of Xenosaga 1, while having a lot of the simplifications of 2. I really liked the break system, and by far this game has the best mech combat of the entire series, hands down. But by far the best change Xenosaga 3 did was the fact that characters in the reserve gain skill points! It actually allows for every character to grow evenly at the same time.
The story, like with any Xenosaga game, is its shining aspect, and yet again Xenosaga 3 goes above and beyond. I did find that there was slight pacing issues, as I found the second act (chapters 4-7) to drag on a bit, but the entirety of Xenosaga 3's disc 2 makes up for it entirely. The fact that I don't want to spoil anything is painful because the story and its themes are AMAZING! The character writing is still on point, and not only does this game's new characters work really well, but it also made me care for characters I didn't really care about prior to this game. The themes are so impactful, especially to me particularly, as some of these themes have really been a part of my life experience. I definitely attached to KOS-MOS the most because of it. Xenosaga Episode 3's story is simply just a masterpiece in storytelling.
I love this game, without any shred of doubt. But. I'm sad to see it go. Sure, I can always replay it whenever I want, but the initial, blind experience can only occur once. But honestly, with a game like this, I think that's the point.
In the past couple months, I had played through the two other Xenosaga games, and while they had their flaws, I still really enjoyed them. I was scared to start this game, not only was I afraid this game wouldn't live up to the hype I accidentally built up for it, but I was scared of finishing this series for good. Xenosaga Episode 3 is the culmination of everything that came before it, creating something beautiful.
The gameplay is easily the best in the series. Though I did enjoy Xenosaga 1's gameplay, it at times felt overly complicated, and in turn, I feel like Xenosaga 2 did the opposite, oversimplifying everything. The gameplay of Xenosaga Episode 3 hits a good balance, featuring the customizability of Xenosaga 1, while having a lot of the simplifications of 2. I really liked the break system, and by far this game has the best mech combat of the entire series, hands down. But by far the best change Xenosaga 3 did was the fact that characters in the reserve gain skill points! It actually allows for every character to grow evenly at the same time.
The story, like with any Xenosaga game, is its shining aspect, and yet again Xenosaga 3 goes above and beyond. I did find that there was slight pacing issues, as I found the second act (chapters 4-7) to drag on a bit, but the entirety of Xenosaga 3's disc 2 makes up for it entirely. The fact that I don't want to spoil anything is painful because the story and its themes are AMAZING! The character writing is still on point, and not only does this game's new characters work really well, but it also made me care for characters I didn't really care about prior to this game. The themes are so impactful, especially to me particularly, as some of these themes have really been a part of my life experience. I definitely attached to KOS-MOS the most because of it. Xenosaga Episode 3's story is simply just a masterpiece in storytelling.
I love this game, without any shred of doubt. But. I'm sad to see it go. Sure, I can always replay it whenever I want, but the initial, blind experience can only occur once. But honestly, with a game like this, I think that's the point.