The Controversy of Violence in Video Games
...g the world with a follow up to the smash-hit Episode 1. There are a number of reasons why Xenosaga Episode 2 (hereafter referred to as XE2) does and does not work, and unsurprisingly gamers from all over Japan, from fans to gaming publications, have more or less come to this agreement. Perhaps the best way to look at things, then, is really to assess just how badly things in this game do not work. First let us start with the things that basically do, and hence work our way down to the all-out mistakes: Interestingly enough, it is the battles that underwent the most significant redesign/improvement from the original game. As many were quick to note, Episode 1 had quite an interesting battle system overall, however it was not fully realized and as it was rather simple, became repetitive after enough time. Furthermore, it lacked any kind of real creativity or intelligence to manipulate, something that most RPGs share and hence the end result is basically button mashing. Fortunately, Monolith kept the basic premise of battle, but added new dynamics and strategy to it. Once again adopting the button-combo system implemented in Episode 1, as well as Square Soft games such as Chrono Cross and of course, Xenogears, the main core of battle is to use the correct series of button combinations to create an attack that does the most damage to the enemy. This time around, however, there are new elements thrown in, basically all relating to damage counts. Each enemy has a `shell` so to speak, that requires a specific button patter to break. Now it is quite possible to play through the entire game without even giving a crap about this feature, but those who quickly tackle the initial guess work involved will find that the other battle revisions come into play here. Most characters have a special attribute to their combo attacks; KOS-MOS for example, has `Air` which launches an enemy into the air where in they are completely helpless and remain that way until a boost segment ends. Ziggy, on the other hand, has `Down` which knocks the enemy flat on the ground and hence similar tactics as with Air can be implement. Many boss encounters are quite dependant on expertise with these features, and oddly enough so too are many normal ones as well. The game can be quite difficult for those who expect to haphazardly play through it, though even those who know every inch of terriroty will still find themselves in for a moderate challenge. In a move that truly shocked this gamer, Monolith basically removed the UMN system from the game. The Undus Mundus Network, basically a cosmic encyclopedia, was part what made Episode 1 such an involved and deep experience: while players could easily have ignored it entirely, the content truly provided a mammoth amount of detail to the otherwise foreign elements to the game (namely most of the words and terms used). Where did this go, Monolith? Why did you forgo the entire thing and instead opt for silly fetch quests, as that is all there is. Called the G2 (Get Global) Campaign, the friendly UMN Rabbit avatar Shion used when we last saw her now is nothing more than a mascot regulated to a series of sub quests. Been there, done that, a billion times no less. Basically the G2 system works in that a NPC (Non Player Character) will request something, and Shion and company can complete the task to earn items or special skills. Given the horribly linear/contained world in which Xenosaga exists however, this ...