XenoEra Community |OT| I'm really feeling this new Era!

Thanks to Momo and Synohan for their help!

Welcome to the XenoEra Community Thread! With the explosive growth of Monolith Soft, the popularity of their recent releases and the hints towards new projects this is an exciting time to be a fan of the series. We may be still waiting for information about that fabled mystery production, but feel free to discuss anything Xeno, from the deep lore in Takahashi's stories to our unconditional love for Sawano's music.

Please remember to respect different opinions and the work plenty of people put into these games. And to properly tag spoilers! We all like Monolith Soft's titles and we don't want to ruin them for newcomers.




This Japanese series of sci-fi videogames created by Tetsuya Takahashi sports the "Xeno" prefix to indicate the recurrent theme of dealing with something strange or alien. Although loosely connected outside of the specific sub-series, the main titles share religious and philosophical references, including Gnostic and Jewish symbology as well as developing their plots through Nietzchean and Psychoanalytical lenses. And Mechs!

Across two decades of releases from the original PlayStation to the Nintendo Switch, the series has garnered a solid critical response and raised a vocal, devoted following. The fanbase is varied too, with each singular IP having a distinct flavor marked by the relation of Monolith with its publishers. The games are:

• Key staff: Tetsuya Takahashi (director, writer), Hiromichi Tanaka (producer), Kiyoshi Yoshii (programmer), Soraya Saga and Masato Kato (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.
• Metascore: 84

Originally pitched as a proposal for Final Fantasy VII and even considered as a Chrono Trigger sequel for a brief period of time, the game that started the series follows the journey of Fei Fong Wong across a warring world to face the rule of Deus, a self-aware ancient machine. The turn-based gameplay iterates on the Active Time Battle combat system with AP gauges, even incorporating Gears and a fuel mechanic at some points.

Due to time constraints and the inexperience of the team at Product Development Division 3, the infamous second disc of the game is heavy on exposition. Although the title was met with critical acclaim and reached a classic status - which would result in a Greatest Hits re-print and eventual re-releases for the PS3, PSP and PSV - Square had no interest in continuing with the franchise.

• Key staff: Tetsuya Takahashi (director, writer), Hirohide Sugiura (producer), Toshiaki Yajima (programmer), Soraya Saga (writer), Yasunori Mitsuda (composer), Kunihiko Tanaka, Koichi Mugitani, 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.
• Metascore: 83

After realizing that Square Soft wouldn't greenlight the production of further entries in the series, Takahashi and Sugiura left the company and formed Monolith Soft with the backing of Namco. Their first game - Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht - is a spiritual successor to Xenogears with a familiar turn-based battle system and a story that has Shion Uzuki - an engineer from the R&D Division of Vector Industries - and her creation, the battle android KOS-MOS, opposing the relentless alien race known as Gnosis.

Although some criticized its cutscene/gameplay balance, the first part of the space opera is also the best-selling chapter, kickstarting an attempt to turn the franchise into a multimedia project. Related products include Xenosaga Freaks - an extra disc containing a visual novel, a puzzle minigame, an encyclopedia and an Episode II demo - 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, Soraya Saga (writers), Yuki Kajiura, Shinji Hosoe (composers) Koichi Mugitani 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. Even with good results in NA, it apparently sold slightly more than 50% of its sales target.
• Metascore: 73

The story of Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse portrays Shion Uzuki once again in her search for answers about an ancient cult trying to dominate the galaxy. The original engine was completely rebuilt to take a more realistic approach to characters' models in order to emphasize their expressions, while the combat was expanded with additions like enemy zones and a boost gauge for the team.

After re-thinking the structure of the project and the company, Takahashi stepped down as director to concentrate on writing and overseeing while leaving the direct handling of the franchise to younger developers. Even though the strong sales of the first chapter lead to the second part getting an EU release, at some point during its production it was decided that the series' projected six episodes would be reduced to three. The cuts to the original scenario resulted in subsequent changes to the overarching plot, and criticism of the game focused on the battle system' changes, a re-cast of some voice actors and the new composers.

• 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)

Taking place a century before the first game, this title focuses on the life of Jan Saurt. Although his story was conceived as part of Episode II in the early stages of the project, it was repurposed into Pied Piper's main plot after Namco's mobile team approached Monolith Soft with a request to make an entry for phones. As part of the push to diversify the franchise, it saw a staggered release of three chapters between July and October of 2004.

With gameplay mechanics taken from the main series but adapted to its mobile nature, the prequel was developed by Namco Mobile and Tom Create, while Monolith Soft took care of the story. It was Saga's last contribution to the IP before leaving it in 2005, and although it can't be played anymore, the script has been translated by a fan given its relevance to the overarching plot of the series.

• 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.

First announced in December 2004 as Xenosaga DS, I & II is an expanded re-telling of these episodes with elements that originally didn't make the cut. Gameplay mechanics from the main series are carried over, although the title has 2D graphics and voice acting is limited to victory quotes.

Co-developed by Monolith Soft and Tom Create, the game re-balances the story content to explain unanswered questions before Episode's III release, with notable changes and additions drafted by Takahashi and written by Yuichiro Takeda, who worked on the anime and CD dramas. In fact, ideas for the project started to emerge while Xenosaga The Animation was still in development, and several staff from that production worked on the DS entry.

• Key staff: Koh Arai (director), Tomohiro Hagiwara (producer), Toshiaki Yajima (programmer), Norihiko Yonesaka, Tetsuya Takahashi (writers), Yuki Kajiura (composer) and Koichi Mugitani (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.
• Metascore: 81

As the last game in the sub-series, Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra has Shion investigating Ormus and the Zohar to stop the Gnosis terrorism, and introduces the all new Vector's creation T-elos. The script was different to what Saga originally envisioned in order to accommodate for the changes Yonesaka made to the second chapter's scenario. To address the feedback of both staff and fans, the characters' models were revamped once again - reaching a middle point between the first and second game - the battle system received some tweaks and a bunch of voice actors from Episode I reprised their roles after being recasted for the second entry.

Even with the title being regarded by plenty of fans as the best in the trilogy and the script leaving open the chance of further releases if there was enough demand, the project as a whole didn't meet sales expectations, and KOS-MOS has only seen minor guest appearances ever since. Takahashi has stated that they could work on the IP again if funding was provided, though.

• 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 Norihiro Takami (artist).
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Release: June 10, 2010 (JP)/August 19, 2011 (EU)/April 6, 2012 (NA)
• Platform: Nintendo Wii
• Sales: 0.1634m copies sold in Japan by December 25, 2011. Better sales in the west.
• Metascore: 92

The low sales of Xenosaga and its troubled development left Monolith Soft with a bad morale, and Xenoblade was the project to improve it. The story centers on Shulk, the wielder of the mythical Monado, and his search for revenge and answers regarding the attacks of the brutal machines known as the Mechon. With the setting - the vast corpses of two titans - being one of the first aspects of the project to be conceived, exploration is one of the main pillars of the title.

Originally announced as Monado: Beginning of the World - and later changed to honor Takahashi's work on the game - Xenoblade's production focused on a self-contained narrative worked on by multiple staff members, and prioritized gameplay elements over lengthy cutscenes with an action-based battle system described as "MMOish" and usually compared with FFXII's. Although fans had to campaign to bring the title to North America, it was praised by critics upon release, receiving multiple awards, a N3DS port, and serving as the starting point to 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, Mamoru Ohta, 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: 0.114m 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.
• Metascore: 84

After the success of the first entry, Xenoblade X follows a gameplay-oriented approach that builds upon the familiar combat by speeding it a bit and introducing new mechanics like Soul Voice, Overdrive and the instant switch between melee and ranged weapons. Even with a variety of layered systems for classes, quests and gear, exploration is front and center in this spiritual successor once again, with the player character being asked for help to protect humanity's new home - New Los Angeles - while venturing into the depths of the wild planet Mira to locate the Lifehold, key to your survival.

The game was a technical challenge as Monolith Soft's first HD title, so even if the goal was to launch it in the early days of the Wii U, the release had to be pushed in order to accommodate online multiplayer and a customizable avatar. However, with the inclusion of transformable mechs called Skells, Takahashi considered that he finally created a RPG in which humans and robots co-exist in the same world, a dream he had for decades. Kojima would like to work on a sequel eventually, so chances are this is not the last we'll see from Elma's party.

• Key staff: Koh Kojima (director, producer), Genki Yokota (director), Hitoshi Yamagami (producer), Koji Hayashi (designer), Toshiaki Yajima (programmer), Tetsuya Takahashi, Yuichiro Takeda, Kazuho Hyodo, Mamoru Ohta (writers), Yasunori Mitsuda, ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu, Manami Kiyota (composers), Eiji Takahashi, Masatsugu Saito and Tetsuya Nomura (artists).
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Release: December 1, 2017 (WW)
• Platform: Nintendo Switch
• Sales: 2.35m copies sold by March 31, 2022.
• Metascore: 83

Planning for the title started in July 2014, and returned to a narrative-driven structure that presents a boy-meets-girl story, but getting Rex and Pyra to Elysium won't be easy as some hostile parties try to capture the Aegis for their own goals. The introduction of Blades - sentient weapons that bond with humans known as Drivers - serve as the base of a complex combo system and offer a variety of alternatives to customize the fighting style of your party members.

The cloud-covered setting of Xenoblade 2 was built with the tools used for X, which speed up development and allowed to ship the game in the first year of the Switch. Masatsugu Saito was brought in to go for anime-inspired designs that emphasized the characters' wide range of expressions, and a bunch of guest artists worked on multiple rare blades, including cameo appearances of KOS-MOS and Elma, among others. Announced at the Nintendo Switch Presentation at the start of 2017 with a worldwide release the same year - made possible by a simultaneous localization process handled by NoE - it's the most successful title of both the Xeno franchise and Monolith Soft, even surpassing Takahashi's expectations for overseas sales.

• 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), Eiji Takahashi, Masatsugu Saito and Tetsuya Nomura (artists).
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Release: September 14, 2018 (WW)
• Platform: Nintendo Switch
• Sales: 0.0139m copies sold in Japan by December 30, 2018. Exceded expectations in Japan.
• Metascore: 80

Torna takes Monolith Soft's DLC efforts one step further by providing a completely new scenario that dives into the Aegis War five centuries before the events of the main game. Follow the misadventures of Lora, Jin and their group in the battle against Malos while you learn about the past of familiar characters and the downfall of their nation. This prequel introduces a considerable amount of gameplay changes and QoL updates given the desire of the development team to address fan feedback, including an option to re-visit tutorials and generally streamlining maps. You're able to directly control Blades during combat too, swap between them and their respective drivers mid-battle to optimize defensive and offensive stances, and perform combos in an easier way.

As one of the drafts for Xenoblade 2, it was presented as a proposal for a story expansion after being originally shelved. One of the challenges of the development was to correctly pace a 20-hour title - considering Monolith usually makes longer RPGs - for which they worked on a Community system that organized the side-quests. With arrangements that match the somber tones of the plot, the project launched as part of the Expansion Pack and also received a standalone, physical release, even if it's not usually recommended to play it before the base game.

• 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 29, 2020 (WW)
• Platform: Nintendo Switch
• Sales: 1.52m copies sold by March 31, 2021.
• Metascore: 89

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 its people. And fixing Junks, of course.

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: tba
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Release: July 29, 2022 (WW)
• Platform: Nintendo Switch
• Sales: tba
• Metascore: tba

Xenoblade 3's driving conflict depicts the seemingly endless struggle between Keves and Agnus, two nations looking to harvest the lives of each other's armies in order to nourish their own Flame Clocks. Within that confrontation, off-seers Mio and Noah decide to join forces after an unexpected encounter, setting sight on Swordmarch and traveling through landscapes that intertwine the worlds of prior entries. Seeking for a way for everyone to live past their 10th term may prove difficult though, as hostile resistance will pursue the fugitives to bring them down.

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 with classes or setting up camps in which you can engage in multiple side-activities. Moved up to a July launch date after initially aiming for September, the game 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.




Monolith Soft is the developer behind most of these games. Founded in October of 1999 by former Square Soft employees that worked on Xenogears, it was financially backed by Namco and later bought by Nintendo in April of 2007. They've seen some turbulent times, but they just had it's 20th anniversary and we look forward to the next two decades of RPG greatness!

Their headquarters are located in Tokyo but they have a second studio in Kyoto that usually helps in the development of Nintendo titles, employing 273 people across several offices. Monolith Soft was level 11 last we heard, but as you can see in the following graph, they've been quickly expanding in recent years;




Although in recent interviews the "Xeno" prefix has been said to be a way of recognizing Takahashi's games, dozens of developers team up in the production of those titles. Here you can find some of the key collaborators:

Thanks for the kind words! Currently planning to add a "Spotlight" section to highlight a theme or character to discuss, so feel free to suggest anything you'd like to talk about.

Zolo I'd love a remaster of Xenosaga.

The Spotlight section is now up! Here we'll suggest a theme/character to discuss. I chose a character this time, but feel free to suggest others!

This time we're highlighting...


Hope Alanzi is a playable Mediator in Xenoblade Chronicles X. Voice actors include Madoka Yonezawa (JP) and Alexis Tipton (EN).

As a devout participant in the church of NLA, helping others is her thing. A humble and selfless 24 year old, her affinity quests dive into her past as an orphan raised by a priest and revolve around trust and self steem issues.

Hope belongs to the Psycorruptor+ class with one of her signature arts, Tacit Censure, inflicting the Virus status on the enemy. Brainjack (which turns an enemy into an ally) and Servant Sacrifice (recovers HP and TP by killing a controlled target) can make for interesting situations, although it's not recommended to equip those if you aren't directly playing as her.

Trivia: Hope has heterochromia, a difference in the coloration of the eyes caused by the lack or excess of melanin. That's why she has a red eye and a purple eye.

Hikari said:

My favourite game series of all time. This OT is lovely! We need a Xenosaga HD remaster collection or even .... a Xenogears remake someday which would make my life complete. I'm glad to see Xeno fans here!!!

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HackTheSlash said:

Still crossing those fingers for a Xenosaga trilogy remasters one day. Doubt it will ever happen though.

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Back in 2015 Katsuhiro Harada asked for fan support to release an HD remaster of Xenosaga. It didn't turn out well though:

Harada said:

I don't expect miracle by Petition any more. I'll find another way!! Thanks.

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But well, taking about hope...

Carassius Auratus said:

About Hope:

I liked her! She's a sweet character and I felt so bad for her during the False Hope quest. I don't want to spoil anyone who didn't do the quest, though. Too bad she's not very good in battle.

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I felt so bad too. Basically because...
But I liked her enough to have her constantly in the party. At the point in which she became recruitable (it took me a while!) everyone was overleveled, so it didn't matter that much. And she gave an interesting contrast to all those kind of crazy party members (don't get me started on H.B. or Alexa!).

Chocobo Blade said:

I haven't played any of these yet but I'm going to try XC on 3DS soon.

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Hope you enjoy that! It's kind of amazing how they ported such a big game to the 3DS, but aside from resolution it's a pretty good version.

There isn't really a market for it. The only chance would be a platform holder looking to expand the portfolio (like Nintendo with Bayo 2) or much better than expected XC2 sales, re-igniting interest in Monolith Soft past games.

TheGreatLugia said:

Considering everything that happened with Xenogears, I do find it a bit funny how Takahashi brought Nomura on for Xenoblade 2 by directly asking Square Enix for permission, Takahashi expecting to be told "no," and Square Enix saying they were fine with it. Source: http://time.com/4848935/xenoblade-chronicles-2-interview/

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I was surprised too. Nomura has a lot of things going on but somehow SE was ok with it. It seems like their relation with Monolith Soft is actually good; a potential collaboration in a future project would be lovely.

And while they're at it, why don't you design for TWEWY2 too Nomura!