Xenosaga Just Keeps Getting Screwed

It appeared that (Bandai) Namco and Monolith Soft’s Xenosaga series would get another chance in the spotlight at one point, in the form of HD remasters. The trilogy of Japanese RPGs were among the better examples of the genre on PlayStation 2, games that should be preserved so they can either be played again or experienced for the first time. The latter especially applied to Europeans, in countries where only Xenosaga Episode II was localized for some mind-boggling reason.

It was over five years ago when Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada expressed interest in going through with the project on Twitter, but clarified that fan support was needed. Hope for the collection increased further when the trademark for “Also Sprach Zarahustra,” the subtitle from Xenosaga Episode III, was discovered to be registered by Bandai Namco in the US in April 2018.

Unfortunately, that flicker of hope has now vanished in a fierce wind. Harada confirmed on Twitter that Bandai Namco analyzed the market to determine whether a hypothetical Xenosaga HD Collection would sell, and concluded that it wouldn’t be a profitable venture. He also apologized, and said it would be difficult to revive the plan. We’ll have to rely on emulation to preserve them now.

There was serious potential for this collection to be worthwhile, given the others Bandai Namco has published. Their most superlative effort was .hack//GU: Last Recode, more than a simple collection of the .hack//GU games remastered in HD. It also included a fourth chapter that elaborated further on its story. Maybe this collection’s possibly-middling sales influenced Bandai Namco’s decision to not go through with Xenosaga’s, even though both franchises have different sets of fans. Publishers tend to make short-sighted decisions like this.

This is just the latest unfortunate occurrence to befall the Xenosaga series, proof that it’s frequently getting screwed. The trilogy of games were PS2 exclusives, but the critical and commercial reception to each one was inconsistent, partly the result of decisions and changes the developer and publisher made. Xenosaga Episode I was overall well received despite a few issues, like the divisive fusion of an anime and realistic art style and the long cutscenes. Monolith Soft didn’t figure out how to fully translate Kunihiko Tanaka’s character designs to 3D until Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s DLC came along.

But Episode II made changes several fans didn’t like. The art style switch to a more (though not entirely) realistic one upset those who liked the aforementioned style, and several English voice actors were changed. Music composer Yasunori Mitsuda was swapped out for the duo of Yuki Kajiura and Shinji Hosoe for the cutscenes and gameplay, respectively, two composers whose styles did not segue well. The battle system also had gimmicks that slowed the pacing to a crawl, which wasn’t helped by the long loading times.

Episode III is often referred to as the best-received installment, but it was too late by this point. Several who disliked Episode II bounced off the series. It felt like Bandai Namco expected this to happen in the US, since this installment was only given a limited printing in the country. I was extremely lucky enough to grab a discounted copy at a Toys ‘R Us store (RIP) in 2008, before it started going for ridiculous prices on the second-hand market. It didn’t help that the US version was heavily edited for violence compared to the Japanese version, likely to ensure that it would receive a T for Teen rating from the ESRB like its predecessors. It was a particularly shortsighted idea in retrospect, since Atlus’ titles have since proven how an M for Mature rating won’t hinder a JRPG from selling.

Plans were even more grandiose for the series early on. The Xenosaga story was originally planned to span six episodes, but the uneven reception to Episode I and possibly other unknown factors led to them cutting the number in half. There was initial speculation that Episode V could be a remake of Xenogears, which lists its full title as “Xenogears: Episode V” in the credits, but this was always an unlikely theory considering the minimal chance of Square Enix lending characters that belonged to them to Bandai Namco. Yet, it’s still unfortunate that its potential was cut short, and that bad luck continues to infect the series to this day.

It’s also possible that Nintendo might have had something to do with this. They’ve owned Monolith Soft since 2007, and may not have been okay with them giving attention to a potentially multiplatform project when it could divert even minimal resources from Switch software development. Most remasters are handled by companies outside the original developers, but it’s still likely that Monolith Soft would have been consulted. They would have needed to be hands on if more content was going to be added.

It’s a shame this collection isn’t happening, and I think Bandai Namco is underestimating just how much these would sell. On the other hand, there’s minimal hope for a real successor in the future. The Xenoblade Chronicles games are good semi successors, but their tone is more straightforward compared to the mind-screwy Xenogears and Xenosaga titles. I’m still crossing my fingers (in vain, perhaps) for another game in the same vein, perhaps as a follow-up to Xenoblade Chronicles X.