StanGable on 16 June 2009
Citan,
If you're not willing to play Mass Effect and understand why it moved the RPG forward instead of stalling it like JRPGs then you have no room to say that Xenosaga is better. Also, I love JRPGs, but I admit that WRPGs have done much for the genre than JRPGs. JRPGs do have the potential to create great storylines, but that storyline will never change and to make a game that never changes is a lot easier than creating a game that will be affected by the way the gamer plays it.
Also, and to pretty much shut down your whole
obots, Science Fiction, 12-year old girls in swimsuits, Drama, action, comedy, sex, philosophy, love, hate, friendship and intertekstual references to Friedrich Nietzsche`s subjects, Carl Gustav Jung`s Analytical psychology, The Bibel, Jewish religion, German history and novels, Anime.
Number 1 - You keep mentioning all of these but you have not given a clear example of how t hey use that. I could basically copy paste this and say that ME uses them all, so by your definition Mass Effect is better.
Number 2 - Mass Effect has been well received, in fact, critics have always put it amongs best in RPGs where as Xenosaga has not been received the same way
Mass Effect
The Xbox 360 version of Mass Effect has received wide critical acclaim. On the review aggregator Game Rankings, the game had an average score of 91% based on 75 reviews.[62] On Metacritic, the game had an average score of 91 out of 100, based on 71 reviews — indicating "universal acclaim.
Mass Effect's showing at E3 2006 was well received and resulted in the game winning several awards during the expo, including the Game Critics Awards' Best Role-Playing Game.[79] One of the most recent and arguably more significant awards the game has been awarded the #1 spot on IGN's list of "The Top 25 Xbox 360 games. [80]
The game earned the following post-release awards:
Spike TV Awards
[81]
Awarded: Best RPG
GameTrailers Awards[82]
Awarded: Best RPG, Best New Game Franchise.
TeamXbox Awards[83]
Reader's Choice Awards: Best RPG, Best Story.
Awarded: Game of the Year, Best RPG, Best Story.
GameSpot Best of 2007 Awards[84]
Awarded: Best Voice Acting, Best Original Music.
IGN Best of 2007 Awards[85]
Awarded: Best RPG, Best Original Score, Best Story.
X-Play Best of 2007 Awards
Awarded: Best RPG.
The New York Times[86]
Awarded: Game Of The Year
A complete list of awards can be found at the game's official website
The game earned the following post-release awards:
Spike TV Awards
[81]
Awarded: Best RPG
GameTrailers Awards[82]
Awarded: Best RPG, Best New Game Franchise.
TeamXbox Awards[83]
Reader's Choice Awards: Best RPG, Best Story.
Awarded: Game of the Year, Best RPG, Best Story.
GameSpot Best of 2007 Awards[84]
Awarded: Best Voice Acting, Best Original Music.
IGN Best of 2007 Awards[85]
Awarded: Best RPG, Best Original Score, Best Story.
X-Play Best of 2007 Awards
Awarded: Best RPG.
The New York Times[86]
Awarded: Game Of The Year
A complete list of awards can be found at the game's official website
This is what critics have said about Xenosaga Episode I, II & III
Criticism
GamingAge believed that the character designs and animation styles in Xenosaga were not up to par with expectations, although Episode II offers a different art style.[1] GamePro criticized the complexity of the battle system mechanics, such as A. G. W. S. battles and tech points.[2] One critic from GameSpy disliked the length of Xenosaga's cutscenes, claiming that it slowed the start of the game.[3] Episode I was given GameSpot's "dubious honour" award for the "Most pretentious game of 2003". GameSpot did however praise the game in their review, scoring it 8.1 out of 10. [4]
GamingAge believed that the character designs and animation styles in Xenosaga were not up to par with expectations, although Episode II offers a different art style.[1] GamePro criticized the complexity of the battle system mechanics, such as A. G. W. S. battles and tech points.[2] One critic from GameSpy disliked the length of Xenosaga's cutscenes, claiming that it slowed the start of the game.[3] Episode I was given GameSpot's "dubious honour" award for the "Most pretentious game of 2003". GameSpot did however praise the game in their review, scoring it 8.1 out of 10. [4]
Although the graphics were well received by some players, Episode II received criticism for most of its elements. One of the biggest complaints came from the story, which was considered to be fast-paced when compared to Episode I. This change in the method of plot development may have been an attempt by Namco to broaden the series' audience, although some fans argued that this reform disrupted flow between Episode I and Episode II. Many also complained that the game is shorter than Episode I,[1]itself criticized for being too brief compared to Xenogears. Fans commonly cite in their complaints a section at the start of Disc Two in which several critical plot developments are simplified into a series of vignettes narrated by Shion. Other common complaints include the modified skill system and the removal of shopping/money system. The new voice actors for Shion, MOMO and KOS-MOS were considered a downgrade by some. [2] Musically, famed videogame composer Yasunori Mitsuda did not return to score the music of Episode II, despite getting critical acclaim for his musical work on Episode I, disappointing fans of his work. [2]
Episode II has also come under serious fire because of distinct changes with the battle system. In Episode II, action points were replaced with a similar stock system that keeps track of how many extra attacks a character can tack on their normal amount, all characters were placed on the same Ether and Skill tree, the Boost bar now applies to the entire party rather than to individual characters, and enemies must be defeated by weakening their "zones" via chains of attack combinations. In many cases, players cited the fact you spent more time healing from various enemy skills and building stock than actually attacking the enemies. Although some others argued that the concept increased strategy required to win battles, others found that it was both unnecessarily slow and complicated. [3] At the same time, the new skill tree was considered by some to have been vastly "dumbed down" from the skill system in the first game. [4] Many of the skills are left unexplained as well, often leaving many players confused about their use.
The art style was also drastically altered from the first game, going from an anime style to a more "Westernized" art style with regard to the character designs. Many fans found that this, along with the change in voice actors of several key characters, disrupted the fact that this series was supposed to be one narrative and caused a disconnection from the characters. [5]
Episode II was a finalist for GameSpot's 2005 Most Long-Winded Game Title. [1] It lost to Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie. In addition, Game Informer called Episode II "a dropped ball of Devil May Cry 2 proportions," citing similar critical and fan disappointment expressed with the aforementioned game. [2]
Episode II has also come under serious fire because of distinct changes with the battle system. In Episode II, action points were replaced with a similar stock system that keeps track of how many extra attacks a character can tack on their normal amount, all characters were placed on the same Ether and Skill tree, the Boost bar now applies to the entire party rather than to individual characters, and enemies must be defeated by weakening their "zones" via chains of attack combinations. In many cases, players cited the fact you spent more time healing from various enemy skills and building stock than actually attacking the enemies. Although some others argued that the concept increased strategy required to win battles, others found that it was both unnecessarily slow and complicated. [3] At the same time, the new skill tree was considered by some to have been vastly "dumbed down" from the skill system in the first game. [4] Many of the skills are left unexplained as well, often leaving many players confused about their use.
The art style was also drastically altered from the first game, going from an anime style to a more "Westernized" art style with regard to the character designs. Many fans found that this, along with the change in voice actors of several key characters, disrupted the fact that this series was supposed to be one narrative and caused a disconnection from the characters. [5]
Episode II was a finalist for GameSpot's 2005 Most Long-Winded Game Title. [1] It lost to Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie. In addition, Game Informer called Episode II "a dropped ball of Devil May Cry 2 proportions," citing similar critical and fan disappointment expressed with the aforementioned game. [2]
Critical Response
Episode III received generally good reviews, and the majority of media and fan outlets felt that the game improved upon Episode II, which many considered a disappointing sequel to the first installment. Specifically, many felt that the new battle system, although typical RPG fare, was an improvement over the complicated "zone break" system used in Episode II, and that the voice acting was much improved with the return of several popular voice actors which were inexplicably recast for Episode II (notably Lia Sargent as Shion and Bridget Hoffman as KOS-MOS).
Episode III received generally good reviews, and the majority of media and fan outlets felt that the game improved upon Episode II, which many considered a disappointing sequel to the first installment. Specifically, many felt that the new battle system, although typical RPG fare, was an improvement over the complicated "zone break" system used in Episode II, and that the voice acting was much improved with the return of several popular voice actors which were inexplicably recast for Episode II (notably Lia Sargent as Shion and Bridget Hoffman as KOS-MOS).
Finally, I will once more prove you that Mass Effect has some of "Science Fiction, 12-year old girls in swimsuits, Drama, action, comedy, sex, philosophy, love, hate, friendship and intertekstual references to Friedrich Nietzsche`s subjects, Carl Gustav Jung`s Analytical psychology, The Bibel, Jewish religion, German history and novels" to destroy your argument
Sex scene coverage on the internet
Controversy over the sexual content of Mass Effect occurred when evangelical blogger Kevin McCullough wrote an article titled, “The ‘Sex-Box’ Race for President”.[88] McCullough employed strong, false statements such as “Mass Effect can be customized to sodomize whatever, whomever, however, the game player wishes,” and “with its ‘over the net’ capabilities virtual orgasmic rape is just the push of a button away.” The game itself does not feature rape, as each romantic sub-plot involves consent on the part of the player and the NPC, and cannot be done with "whomever" the player wishes, only two NPCs for each PC gender are considered romantic interests, and furthermore the game lacks a multiplayer component of any sort.
McCullough’s article was met with an outburst from the gaming community. McCullough issued an apology by saying, “I DO apologize to the gaming universe!” He then goes on to say, “I still do concur with my original position that the objectionable content in Mass Effect is still offensive”.[89] McCullough’s handling of the situation was parodied by popular gaming webcomic Penny Arcade[90] and online comedy site LoadingReadyRun.[91] The controversy eventually resulted in his article being taken down by Townhall.com
Controversy over the sexual content of Mass Effect occurred when evangelical blogger Kevin McCullough wrote an article titled, “The ‘Sex-Box’ Race for President”.[88] McCullough employed strong, false statements such as “Mass Effect can be customized to sodomize whatever, whomever, however, the game player wishes,” and “with its ‘over the net’ capabilities virtual orgasmic rape is just the push of a button away.” The game itself does not feature rape, as each romantic sub-plot involves consent on the part of the player and the NPC, and cannot be done with "whomever" the player wishes, only two NPCs for each PC gender are considered romantic interests, and furthermore the game lacks a multiplayer component of any sort.
McCullough’s article was met with an outburst from the gaming community. McCullough issued an apology by saying, “I DO apologize to the gaming universe!” He then goes on to say, “I still do concur with my original position that the objectionable content in Mass Effect is still offensive”.[89] McCullough’s handling of the situation was parodied by popular gaming webcomic Penny Arcade[90] and online comedy site LoadingReadyRun.[91] The controversy eventually resulted in his article being taken down by Townhall.com
Themes
Mass Effect's story primarily falls within the space opera genre[14] and explores themes such as space colonization, intolerance, vigilantism, and artificial intelligence. The story, with its man-vs.-machine elements, has drawn comparisons to both Fred Saberhagen's Berserker novels and Battlestar Galactica,[15] as well as to Frederick Pohl's Gateway novels. [16] According to Casey Hudson, the project director at BioWare, Aliens, Blade Runner, Star Wars, and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan all served as influences for the game
Mass Effect's story primarily falls within the space opera genre[14] and explores themes such as space colonization, intolerance, vigilantism, and artificial intelligence. The story, with its man-vs.-machine elements, has drawn comparisons to both Fred Saberhagen's Berserker novels and Battlestar Galactica,[15] as well as to Frederick Pohl's Gateway novels. [16] According to Casey Hudson, the project director at BioWare, Aliens, Blade Runner, Star Wars, and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan all served as influences for the game
Now I will not continue quoting stuff, if you want to be enlightened go play the game yourself.
Here are all my sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Effect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenosaga_Episode_I
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenosaga_Episode_II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenosaga_3
What are you looking at, nerd?
