- Pronouns
- He/Him
Welcome to the Xeno Community Startopic! Since the arrival of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Monolithsoft has massively expanded and their games have become increasingly popular. This, combined with the hints and leaks surrounding their next game, makes this the most exciting time to be a Xeno fan in recent memory! As we await the reveal of this increasingly anticipated production, feel free to discuss all things Xeno in this thread, be it their expansive lore, emotionally-resonant characters, amazing music and worlds, or how much you love food jokes themed around a certain nopon!
There are a wide variety of opinions about the Xeno games and each game is someone’s favorite, so please remember to be respectful of other people’s opinions. Likewise, be sure to properly tag spoilers, as we wouldn’t want to ruin a newcomer’s first experience with the Xeno series now would we.
The Xeno series is a collection of sometimes hard, sometimes soft sci-fi videogames created by Tetsuya Takahashi, with the “Xeno” representing the strange subject matter of the series and serving as Takhashi’s directorial signature. While only loosely connected outside of their specific sub-series (save for some cameos), the main titles are deeply connected thematically, with each exploring Gnostic and Jewish symbolism, (Neo-)Freudian psychoanalysis, and Nietzschean Philosophy. Oh yeah, they also have giant robots!
Originating in 1998, the Xeno series spans 23 years and several systems, including Sony, Nintendo and even Mobile platforms. Because of this, one can clearly track the evolution of both Tetsuya Takahashi as a writer and Monolith Soft as whole through their games, with each subseries having its own unique style and dedicated fanbase. The games are as follows:
- Key staff: Tetsuya Takahashi (director, writer), Hiromichi Tanaka (producer), Kiyoshi Yoshii (programmer), Soraya Saga, Masato Kato and Takashi Tanegashima (writers), Yasunori Mitsuda (composer), Kunihiko Tanaka and Yasuyuki Honne (artists).
- Publisher: Square Soft
- Release: February 11, 1998 (JP) / October 20, 1998 (NA)
- Platform: Playstation
- Sales: 1.19m copies shipped as of March 31, 2003
- Metacritic: 84
"You humans are truly unusual living beings, aren't chu? You're all like shattered fragments of a mirror."
Initially conceived as proposal for Final Fantasy VII and briefly considered as a Chrono Trigger sequel, the game that kicked off the Xeno series follows Fei Fong Wong on his journey of self discovery across a war-torn world, uncovering the truths behind the world, its people, and himself along the way. This game features a turn-based, ATB combat system with AP gauges and an array of impressively animated deathblows. The game also features a fully 3D, polygonal world, in contrast to the pre-rendered backgrounds of many of its contemporaries, allowing for more immersive world exploration and providing new opportunities for cutscene direction and framing.
Due to the general inexperience of Xenogears team and Square Soft's policy of developing their games within 1.5 years (which had already been extended to 2 years for this game), the game's infamous second disc is heavy on exposition, with its general style vaguely resembling that of a visual novel. Although the title was critically and commercially successful, as indicated by its Greatest Hits re-print and eventual re-releases on the PS3, PSP, and PSV, Square has little interest in continuing the franchise.
- Key staff: Tetsuya Takahashi (director, writer), Hirohide Suguira (producer), Toshiaki Yajima (programmer), Soraya Saga (writer), Yasunori Mitsuda (composer), Kunihiko Tanaka, Koichi Mugitani (aka CHOCO), Junya Ishigaki and Yasuyuki Honne (artists).
- Publisher: Namco
- Release: February 28, 2002 (JP) / February 25, 2003 (NA)
- Platform: Playstation 2
- Sales: More than 1m copies shipped as of July 21, 2003.
- Metacritic: 83
“I believe everyone has at least one skill that they excel in over all others. It's something that defines who they are. Shion. What is it that defines you?"
Sometime after finishing Xenogears, Takahashi and Sugiura came to the conclusion that Square Soft would not support further entries in the Xeno series. This led to them, with the support of Namco, founding a new company, Monolith Soft. Unsurprisingly, this company’s first game - Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht - is in many ways a spiritual successor to Xenogears, with it having a similarly philosophical story focus and a familiar turn-based combat system. In this case, the game’s story follows Shion Uzuki - an engineer at Vector Industries' world renowned R&D Division - and her creation, the mysterious battle android KOS-MOS, journey to understand the truths behind their pasts and the attacks of the ethereal Gnosis.
While criticised for its uneven cutscene:gameplay ratio, this episode is the best selling chapter of the Xenosaga subseries, with it leading to attempts to transform the franchise into a multimedia project. Notable related products include Xenosaga Freaks - an extra disc containing a visual novel, a puzzle minigame, an encyclopedia, an episode II demo, and a... bizarre... depiction of KOS-MOS - a manga adaptation by Atsushi Baba and an anime release titled Xenosaga: The Animation.
- Key staff: Koh Arai (director), Tomohiro Hagiwara (producer), Norihiro Takami (designer, artist), Toshiaki Yajima (programmer), Norihiko Yonesaka, Tetsuya Takahashi and Soraya Saga (writers), Yuki Kajiura and Shinji Hosoe (composers), Koichi Mugitani (aka CHOCO) and Junya Ishigaki (artists)
- Publisher: Namco (JP, NA) / Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (EU)
- Release: June 24, 2004 (JP) / February 15, 2005 (NA) / October 28, 2005 (EU)
- Platform: Playstation 2
- Sales: 0.28m copies sold in Japan by December 31, 2004. Despite good results in NA, it sold slightly more than 50% of its sales target.
- Metacritic: 73
“When I temporarily linked with U-DO, I climbed the ladder of evolution, and saw the leaning tower of culture that humans have struggled to construct. It's not even a tower, really, it's a scaffold of rotting wood, built with meager knowledge and pitiful tools. But a nice guy would tell them the truth, would he not?”
Continuing Shion’s search for answers about herself and the world at large, Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse features a rebuilt engine and a new, more realistic approach to character rendering, with this being done to emphasize characters’ expressions. The combat was also reworked to include new mechanics, such as enemy guard zones, team boosting mechanics, and the break, topple, and launch status effects that would go on to become a key combat mechanic in the Xenoblade series.
After serving as director for episode I, Takahashi chose to leave direct control of Episode II in the hands of Monolith Soft’s younger developers so that he could focus on writing and overseeing. Despite the strong sales of the first episode, at some point during this episode’s production, the series’ projected episode count was reduced from six to three. The ensuing cuts to the original scenario led to several changes to the overarching plot of the series. In addition, following its release, this game was heavily criticized for its changes to the battle system, re-casting of some old voice actors, complete lack of item shops, and addition of new composers following the dismissal of Yasunori Mitsuda.
- Key staff: Tsutomu Goda (director, producer), Jun Takeuchi (programmer), Soraya Saga, Tetsuya Takahashi, Koji Hayashi, Tomohiro Hagiwara, Yoko Nagata (writers), Tomokazu Ushiyama, Kosei Muraki (composers), Noboru Minohara and Yuuri Nishiwaki (artists).
- Publisher: Namco
- Release: July 14, 2004 (JP)
- Platform: Mobile (Vodafone Live)
“Only allow yourself to think of numbers and battle strategy. Don't let your mind wander to the faces or voices of those precious to you... even when it seems cruel not to. Too intense of an interference will overwhelm and ruin everything. That's what I've learned over these past hundred years.”
The Xeno series’ only mobile title, this game focuses on the life of Jan Sauer and takes place roughly a century before Episode I. While this story was initially planned to be a part of Episode II, it was made into its own game after Namco’s mobile team approached Monolith Soft about making a Xeno game for phones. Interestingly, the game was released in three separate chapters between July and October 2004.
Featuring gameplay similar to the main series but adapted to mobile devices, this prequel was developed by Namco Mobile and Tom Create, with Monolith Soft handling the story. Notably, this was Saga’s last credited story contribution to the Xeno series. In addition, it was never localized and cannot be played anymore, though, fortunately, the script was translated by a fan due to its importance to the series as a whole.
- Key staff: Tomohiro Hagiwara (director, producer), Yutako Sekine (programmer), Yuichiro Takeda, Tetsuya Takahashi (writers), Kosuke Yamashita (composer) and Hiroshi Takeuchi (artist).
- Publisher: Namco
- Release: March 30, 2006 (JP)
- Platform: Nintendo DS
- Sales: 0.0385m copies sold by December 31, 2006.
“The people of this world have cast away their will to create, drowning themselves instead in an endless cycle of consumption. What you see now is the deceitful light cast by their stagnant eyes. The people you've encountered in your lifetime are not people at all. They're less than human – mere sacks of flesh and bone. Only upon the realization of self-will, can a person truly be called a man.”
Announced in December 2004 as Xenosaga DS, I & II offers a new perspective on the stories of the first two episodes and includes many scenes that did not make the initial cut. Gameplay mechanics from the main series are carried over, though there are also new additions such as battle formations that can be used to regenerate hp. That said, several concessions had to be made to accommodate the DS, such as the title’s 2D graphics and use of random encounters.
Co-developed by Monolith Soft and Tom Create, this game changes the story content of the original episodes to resolve unanswered questions prior to Episode III’s release, with said changes being drafted by Takahashi and written by Yuichiro Takeda, who had experience with the IP through his work on the anime and cd dramas. Interestingly, plans for this project originated from Xenosaga: The Animation’s production process, and several staff from that production also worked on this game.
- Key staff: Koh Arai (director), Tomohiro Hagiwara (producer), Toshiaki Yajima (programmer), Norihiko Yonesaka and Tetsuya Takahashi (writers), Yuki Kajiura (composer), Koichi Mugitani (aka CHOCO) (artist)
- Publisher: Namco (JP) / Namco Bandai Games (NA)
- Release: July 6, 2006 (JP) / August 29, 2006 (NA)
- Platform: Playstation 2
- Sales: 0.343m copies sold as of December 31, 2006.
- Metacritic: 81
“ . . . We humans are really not that strong . . . . We hurt others, we lie to ourselves, we hate, we blame others, we regret, but, even if we are weak, and even if it is our fate to disappear entirely, I think the will to change the future is still an important one.”
The final chapter in the Xenosaga sub-series, Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra concludes Shion’s (and Kos-Mos’s) journey for answers about their pasts and the origin of the Gnosis attacks; it also introduces the all new Vector battle android T-elos. To accommodate the changes Yonesaka made to Episode II’s scenario, this game’s script had to diverge from what Saga originally envisioned. In addition, to accommodate the feedback of both fans and staff, the character models were revamped once more to strike a middle ground between the styles of the first two episodes. Furthermore, the battle system was also tweaked to move away from the stock-based system of Episode II and several voice actors that were recast in Episode II were brought back to reprise their roles.
While regarded by many fans (myself included) as the best entry in the Xenosaga trilogy, the game sadly did not meet sales expectations and marked the end of the Xenosaga sub-series. That said, Kos-Mos has made cameos in later Monolith Soft-developed games, and Takahashi has said that they could return to the series if funding was provided.
- Key staff: Koh Kojima (director, designer), Genki Yokota (director), Shingo Kawabata, Takao Nakano (producers), Katsunori Itai (programmer), Tetsuya Takahashi, Yuichiro Takeda, Yurie Hattori (writers), Manami Kiyota, ACE+, Yoko Shimomura, Yasunori Mitsuda (composers) and Norihino Takami (artist).
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Original Release: June 10, 2010 (JP)/August 19, 2011 (EU)/April 6, 2012 (NA)
- Platforms: Nintendo Wii, New Nintendo 3DS (Port), Nintendo Switch (Remaster)
- Sales: Wii: 0.1611m copies sold in Japan by December 31, 2010. Better sales in the west. N3DS: 85.4k physical copies sold in Japan as of September 12th, 2021.
- Metacritic: 92 (Wii) / 86 (N3DS)
“Long ago, the world was nothing more than an endless sea cloaked in a boundless sky, reaching as far as could possibly be imagined. Then two great titans came into existence: the Bionis and the Mechonis. The titans were locked in a timeless battle. Until at last...only their lifeless corpses remained.”
After the low sales and troubled production of Xenosaga, Monolith Soft’s morale was quite low, with them resolving to make their next big game a huge success. Xenoblade Chronicles was that game. Set on the corpses of two colossal titans, the story follows Shulk - heir to the Monado - and his friends on their quest for revenge against and search for answers about the attacks of brutal machines called Mechon. Compared to previous Xeno games, exploration is a prominent focus of this title and the Xenoblade series as a whole, with the game’s setting being conceived before it was even proposed to Nintendo.
While initially revealed as Monado: Beginning of the World, the title was later changed at the late Satoru Iwata’s request to Xenoblade to honor Takahashi’s work on the game. In a break from past Xeno games, which told their stories over multiple “episodes” and featured lengthy cutscenes, Xenoblade’s production focused on creating a self-contained narrative and sufficiently balancing story and gameplay. Perhaps no better indication of the latter is the game’s action-based battle system that, due to its implementation of cooldowns and emphasis on traditional dps-tank-support party roles, is often compared to MMOs. Ultimately, although it took a fan campaign to get the title localized, the game proved to be quite successful both critically and commercially, leading to the start of a new sub-series.
- Key staff: Koh Kojima (director, designer), Genki Yokota (director), Shingo Kawabata, Hitoshi Yamagami (producers), Toshiaki Yajima (programmer), Yuichiro Takeda, Kazuho Hyodo, Tetsuya Takahashi (writers), Hiroyuki Sawano (composer), Norihiro Takami, Kunihiko Tanaka, Koichi Mugitani and Takayuki Yanase (artists).
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Release: April 29, 2015 (JP)/December 4, 2015 (NA, EU)
- Platform: Nintendo Wii U
- Sales: 0.11m physical copies sold in Japan by June 28, 2015 and 0.0228m digital copies sold in its first week in Japan. Over 0.04m copies sold in France in less than two weeks and over 0.2m copies sold in NA by January 2, 2016.
- Metacritic / Opencritic: 84 / 84
“New LA was our beautiful lie to ourselves… Truth is, we were adrift, heading into the unknown. Our native home was gone, swallowed in a shroud of light… And our future was uncertain - we had no idea what fate had in store for us… Only that we had to keep living in order to see it.“
Following up on the first game's success, Xenoblade X builds upon Xenoblade 1’s gameplay-focused approach by providing a gigantic, gorgeous world to explore, speeding up the battle system, and spicing up the combat with new mechanics like Soul Voice, Overdrive, and melee-ranged weapon switching. Layered on top of this is a class-based progression system, a ton of options for upgrading and managing equipment, and, in this humble fan’s opinion, some of the best side-quests in the Xeno series, with this all tying back to the central goal of helping New Los Angeles - humanity’s last refuge - survive and thrive in the alien world that is planet Mira.
As Monolith Soft’s first HD title, the game was quite a technical challenge and had to be delayed to accommodate the game’s online elements and character customization interface. Despite its troubled development, the game represented the fulfillment of a long-held dream of Takahashi, as its implementation of transforming mechs - termed skells - meant that he had finally made a rpg in which humans and robots co-exist in the same world. Despite Takahashi’s (and his and Soraya’s children’s) fondness for the title, the game’s massive scope and, per Emily Rogers, painful development cycle may keep it stranded on the Wii U.
- Key staff: Koh Kojima (director, producer), Genki Yokota (director), Hitoshi Yamagami (producer), Toshiaki Yajima (programmer), Tetsuya Takahashi, Yuichiro Takeda, Kazuho Hyodo (writers), Yasunori Mitsuda, ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu, Manami Kiyota (composers), Eiji Takahashi and Masatsugu Saito (artists).
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Release: December 1, 2017 (JP, NA, EU)
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
- Sales: 2.05m units sold by June 30th, 2020
- Metacritic / Opencritic: 83 / 83
“Story goes that when the world was young… Everyone in Alrest lived on the [World] Tree, together with our divine father, the Architect. According to the tales, it was a bountiful land. And the people there held the power to command even the heavens themselves. They called that paradise… Elysium. “
Entering planning during Xenoblade X’s development back in 2014, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 represents a return to the story-driven structure of Xenoblade 1. It also represents a concerted effort on Takhashi’s part to tell a different type of story from his more recent fare, with it featuring a boy-meets-girl narrative. In this case, it follows Rex as he journeys to the fabled paradise of Elyisum with Pyra, with the two of them meeting friends and foes alike along the way. The introduction of Blades - sentient weapons that are bonded to humans known as Drivers - provides the foundation for the game’s complex, combo-based battle system and several of the game’s emotional beats.
Thanks to the tools developed during Xenoblade X’s production process, Xenoblade 2 underwent a quick development cycle and was able to ship in the Switch’s first year. Much like Xenosaga Episode 2, the artstyle for this game was changed to better emphasize character expressions, though in this case an anime style with character designs by Masatsugu Saito (Expelled from Paradise, Cyborg 009) was used. In addition to Saito, several guest artists, including Soraya Saga, were brought on to do character designs for the game’s rare blades, with a few past Xeno series characters making cameos in this manner. Ultimately, it is the most successful title of both the Xeno series and Monolith Soft, with it surpassing Takahashi’s expectations overseas.
- Key staff: Koh Kojima (director, producer), Genki Yokota (director), Hitoshi Yamagami (producer), Toshiaki Yajima (programmer), Tetsuya Takahashi, Yuichiro Takeda, Mamoru Ohta (writers), Yasunori Mitsuda, ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu, Manami Kiyota (composers), Masatsugu Saito and Tetsuya Nomura (artists).
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Release: September 14, 2018 (JP, NA, EU)
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
- Sales: 0.0139m copies sold in Japan by December 30, 2018. Exceded expectations in Japan.
- Metacritic: 80
“Watch humans closely and you’ll learn one thing. Deep down, they wish they were dead. They kill eachother like they swat flies. Running towards oblivion like blind rats. They see the divine flame of life and piss over it. They’re genius at that. In a class all their own really. ”
The capstone of Xenoblade 2’s excellent dlc offerings, Torna: The Golden Country focuses on the Aegis War that occured 500 years prior to the main game. Offering new insights into characters from the main game and the fallen country of Torna, this game follows the efforts of Lora, Jin, Haze, and their friends to stop Malos’s rampage. Based on fan feedback from the main game, Torna received numerous gameplay changes and general quality of life improvements, including changes to make the battle system more straightforward, streamline overworld maps, and make tutorials reviewable. The game also lets you directly control blades during combat, swap between them and their corresponding drivers to recover hp and inflict driver combos, and use their elemental synergies to execute blade combos like in the main game.
Originally a proposed storyline for inclusion in Xenoblade 2 proper, the scenario for this game was later repurposed as a story expansion once the scope of the expansion pass was decided. One key challenge Monolith Soft faced in developing the game was figuring out how to pace a 20 hour title, as they are used to producing longer rpgs. Ultimately, their solution to this pacing issue was to implement a community system that kept track of the game’s npcs and organize its side-quests. Featuring a somber tone and music to match, Torna launched as a part of XC2’s Expansion Pass, but it also received a physical, standalone release, though playing it before the base game is generally not recommended.
- Key staff: Michihiko Inaba (director, programmer), Shigekazu Yamada (director, producer), Yuki Sakamoto (director), Genki Yokota, Katsuya Eguchi, Toyokazu Nonaka, Akira Kinashi (producers), Tetsuya Takahashi, Yuichiro Takeda, Yurie Hattori, Mamoru Ohta (writers), Manami Kiyota, ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu, Yoko Shimomura, Yasunori Mitsuda (composers) and Eiji Takahashi (artist).
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Release: May 29th, 2020 (JP, NA, EU)
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
- Sales: 1.52m copies sold by March 31, 2021.
- Metacritic / Opencritic: 89 / 89
"To become the hope of the High Entia is a fate that you choose for yourself. As long as you remember this, it is certain that you will be worthy of that name."
Initially revealed in September of 2019, Definitive Edition is a remaster of the original game with a myriad of improvements, most notably on the visuals front, UI design, QoL features and music arrangements. But the most substantial addition is Future Connected, a new scenario taking place a year after the events of the main story; players are tasked with accompanying fan-favorites Nene and Kino in their adventure through Bionis' Shoulder to discover what happened to Alcamoth and unite its increasingly fractured people. Oh, and fixing Junks...
Development was headed by a mix of new and returning staff from Production Division 1, with some pre-production work starting immediately after Xenoblade 2's release. They rewrote most of the decade-old game control code to modernize it, and used a "semi-automatic" process to update existing assets, focusing on ease of play and presentation. In less than a year, the game became the second best-selling title in the series, paving the way for the next release.
- Key staff: To Be Announced
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Release: July 29th, 2022 (JP, NA, EU)
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
- Sales: 1.72m copies sold by September 30th, 2022
- Metacritic / Opencritic: 89 / 88
"What is it they need to stay alive? Water? Food? Certainly. But what we need most... is live itself."
Set in a world defined by conflict, Xenoblade 3 introduces us to the two nations of Keves and Agnus, the two waging war against each other to harvest their people's life force and fill their own Flame Clock. During this seemingly neverending struggle, two groups, headed by the Kevesi off-seer Noah and the Agnian off-seer Mio, have an unusual encounter and choose to join forces, aiming to find a meaning for their lives beyond the endless fighting. Their journey may prove difficult though, as both nations and the forces working behind them seek to end their ambitions.
This installment expands upon what Production Division 1 has learned working on the series thus far, like switching among party members on the fly, re-working additional characters into recruitable Heroes, and setting up camps in which you can engage in side-activities. It also features new technical refinements beyond those seen in previous games, such as seemless transitions from gameplay to cutscenes. The game was moved up to a July launch date after initially aiming for September, and sees returning artists like Masatsugu Saito and Koichi Mugitani for designs, while XC2's composers are joined by Yasunori Mitsuda's close collaborator Mariam Abounnasr to work on the score.
The key developer behind the Xeno Series is Monolith Soft, which was founded in 1999 by some of the Square Soft employees behind Xenogears. Initially, the studio was funded by Namco, but it was later bought by Nintendo in 2007. While they’ve dealt with their share of adversity, the future of the studio seems brighter than ever!
While their main HQ is located in Tokyo, they have a second studio in Kyoto that helps produce assets for various Nintendo titles (This is why Monolith Soft is credited for helping with games like Animal Crossing: New Leaf and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword). Currently, the studio employs 275 people across its various offices. Back in 2015, Takhashi described the studio as being at “level 10 or 11” out of a cap of 99. Though, as you can see below, the studio has grown a lot since then. I wonder what level they are at now?
Thanks to Onix555 on Resetera for keeping track of the numbers for so long!
While the Xeno prefix is most commonly associated with Takahashi, there are several developers, producers, and artists associated with the Xeno series. Below are some of the key contributors:
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