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Xenosaga is a role-playing video game series developed by Monolith Soft and primarily published by Namco . Forming part of the wider Xeno metaseries, Xenosaga is set in a science fiction universe and follows a group of characters as they face both a hostile alien race called the Gnosis and human factions fighting for control of the Zohar, an artifact connected to a god-like energy called U-DO. Gameplay across the series is similar, with the characters being guided through a linear narrative and fighting enemies using a turn-based combat system. The party fights both on foot and in a variety of mechs.

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80-514: Tetsuya Takahashi created Xenosaga as a spiritual successor to the Square -produced Xenogears , for which he founded Monolith Soft with help from Namco; multiple Xenogears staff returned, including co-writer Soraya Saga . Following the release of the first game , the Xenosaga series was given over to new staff with Takahashi both supervising the project and providing the draft scripts. Under

160-765: A computer -like screen , computer viruses , video chat , tanning beds , home treadmills , and more. In 1963, the time travel-themed Doctor Who premiered on BBC Television. The original series ran until 1989 and was revived in 2005. It has been extremely popular worldwide and has greatly influenced later TV science fiction. Other programs in the 1960s included The Outer Limits (1963–1965), Lost in Space (1965–1968), and The Prisoner (1967). Star Trek (the original series), created by Gene Roddenberry , premiered in 1966 on NBC Television and ran for three seasons. It combined elements of space opera and Space Western . Only mildly successful at first,

240-428: A space opera , went on to become a worldwide popular culture phenomenon , and the second-highest-grossing film series of all time. Since the 1980s, science fiction films , along with fantasy , horror , and superhero films, have dominated Hollywood's big-budget productions. Science fiction films often " cross-over " with other genres, including film noir ( Blade Runner - 1982), family film ( E.T.

320-439: A " sense of wonder ". According to Isaac Asimov , "Science fiction can be defined as that branch of literature which deals with the reaction of human beings to changes in science and technology ." Robert A. Heinlein wrote that "A handy short definition of almost all science fiction might read: realistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on

400-407: A Gnosis attack and traveling to Second Miltia aboard the passenger freighter Elsa , where they meet a young man called chaos. Together with U.R.T.V. and Kukai co-founder Jr., the group thwart the plans of Albedo Piazzolla, Jr.'s biological brother. In Episode II , Albedo uses information gathered during the events of Episode I to open the way to the original planet Miltia, which becomes the focus of

480-597: A conflict between the Federation and Ormus. Ormus' leader Sergius gains control of a powerful mech called Proto Omega, destroying Miltia in the process. He is then killed by the Testaments, who give Albedo control of Proto Omega, forcing Jr. to kill him. In Episode III , Shion, KOS-MOS, chaos and the rest of their group confront both the Testaments—which includes a resurrected Albedo—and Vector CEO Wilhelm. Wilhelm

560-517: A cyberspace-based serial killer a century before the events of Episode I . The creator of Xenosaga was Tetsuya Takahashi , who had previously worked at Square on multiple projects including entries in the Final Fantasy series. Together with his wife Soraya Saga , Takahashi created a proposal for Final Fantasy VII ; while rejected, they were allowed to develop the proposal as its own project, titled Xenogears . A sequel to Xenogears

640-535: A great and influential film. In 1954, Godzilla , directed by Ishirō Honda , began the kaiju subgenre of science fiction film, which feature large creatures of any form, usually attacking a major city or engaging other monsters in battle . 1968's 2001: A Space Odyssey , directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the work of Arthur C. Clarke , rose above the mostly B-movie offerings up to that time both in scope and quality, and influenced later science fiction films. That same year, Planet of

720-677: A journey to the Moon and how the Earth 's motion is seen from there. Kepler has been called the "father of science fiction". Following the 17th-century development of the novel as a literary form , Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein (1818) and The Last Man (1826) helped define the form of the science fiction novel. Brian Aldiss has argued that Frankenstein was the first work of science fiction. Edgar Allan Poe wrote several stories considered to be science fiction, including " The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall " (1835), which featured

800-914: A late game appearance in Tales of Arise as part of its artifacts system. KOS-MOS was added as a playable character during a limited-time event in Tales of the Rays , additionally, costumes based on MOMO, T-elos and Chaos were added for other playable characters. Tetsuya Takahashi Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.133 via cp1102 cp1102, Varnish XID 543676452 Upstream caches: cp1102 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 05:46:07 GMT Science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to SF or sci-fi )

880-474: A popular developer, with Namco placing the company alongside Namco Tales Studio as a valuable development partner. Following the release of Episode III , and the mixed reception received by the series as a whole, the entire development team were in a state of low morale. Partly to boost team morale and create a game players would enjoy, the team developed a new RPG for the Wii . Originally titled Monado: Beginning of

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960-490: A shelter for enhanced humans including U.R.T.V.s; Vector Industries, a megacorporation controlling the U.M.N.; a splinter faction called the U-TIC Organization; religious cult Ormus, which funds U-TIC; and the Testaments, a group of men who have been granted a form of immortality following their original deaths. The first game follows series protagonists Shion Uzuki and prototype battle android KOS-MOS escaping

1040-566: A single continuity; the three mainline games for the PlayStation 2 , a spin-off and prequel for mobile devices , and a remake of the first two entries in the trilogy for the Nintendo DS . Each title in the trilogy features a subtitle taken from the published work of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche . Following the release of Episode I , a supplementary disc titled Xenosaga Freaks was released on April 28, 2004. The disc features

1120-464: A thorough understanding of the nature and significance of the scientific method ." American science fiction author and editor Lester del Rey wrote, "Even the devoted aficionado or fan—has a hard time trying to explain what science fiction is," and the lack of a "full satisfactory definition" is because "there are no easily delineated limits to science fiction." Another definition comes from The Literature Book by DK and is, "scenarios that are at

1200-495: A total estimated readership of at least 1 million), making it the world's most popular science fiction periodical . In 1984, William Gibson 's first novel, Neuromancer , helped popularize cyberpunk and the word " cyberspace ", a term he originally coined in his 1982 short story Burning Chrome . In 1986, Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold began her Vorkosigan Saga . 1992's Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson predicted immense social upheaval due to

1280-421: A traditional turn-based battle system, with basic mechanics involving the spending or conserving of Action Points (AP). Battles feature combat using both human party members, and in mecha known under different titles in each game. Episode I introduces the basic gameplay and combat systems. Episode II incorporates multiple levels of attack types which different enemies are weak to, combined with alterations to

1360-532: A trip to the Moon . Jules Verne was noted for his attention to detail and scientific accuracy, especially in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870). In 1887, the novel El anacronópete by Spanish author Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau introduced the first time machine . An early French/Belgian science fiction writer was J.-H. Rosny aîné (1856–1940). Rosny's masterpiece

1440-582: A very palatable form... New adventures pictured for us in the scientifiction of today are not at all impossible of realization tomorrow... Many great science stories destined to be of historical interest are still to be written... Posterity will point to them as having blazed a new trail, not only in literature and fiction, but progress as well. In 1928, E. E. "Doc" Smith 's first published work, The Skylark of Space , written in collaboration with Lee Hawkins Garby , appeared in Amazing Stories . It

1520-515: A virtual zone tied to the narrative. The Xenosaga series takes place within a single science fiction universe. In the year "20XX", humanity discovers the Zohar—a primordial artifact which connects to the realm of a god-like energy dubbed U-DO—is discovered on Earth and allows travel beyond the Solar System . A disaster causes Earth's location to be lost, becoming known as "Lost Jerusalem". By

1600-462: A visual novel segment featuring multiple characters from the game, a minigame dubbed XenoPitten , a dictionary that explains the game's terminology, and a demo for Episode II . Freaks was part of a movement with the Xenosaga series to turn it into a multimedia franchise, with the project growing substantially larger than previously planned. Xenosaga Episode I was adapted as a manga by Atsushi Baba and published through Monthly Comic Zero Sum . It

1680-629: A world of harmony and conformity within a united totalitarian state . It influenced the emergence of dystopia as a literary genre . In 1926, Hugo Gernsback published the first American science fiction magazine , Amazing Stories . In its first issue he wrote: By 'scientifiction' I mean the Jules Verne, H. G. Wells and Edgar Allan Poe type of story—a charming romance intermingled with scientific fact and prophetic vision... Not only do these amazing tales make tremendously interesting reading—they are always instructive. They supply knowledge... in

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1760-476: Is Les Navigateurs de l'Infini ( The Navigators of Infinity ) (1925) in which the word astronaut, "astronautique", was used for the first time. Many critics consider H. G. Wells one of science fiction's most important authors, or even "the Shakespeare of science fiction". His works include The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of

1840-704: Is a genre of speculative fiction , which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology , space exploration , time travel , parallel universes , and extraterrestrial life . It often explores human responses to changes in science and technology. Science fiction is related to fantasy , horror , and superhero fiction and contains many subgenres . Its exact definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Subgenres include hard science fiction , which emphasizes scientific accuracy, and soft science fiction , focusing on social sciences. Other notable subgenres are cyberpunk , which explores

1920-441: Is an unconnected spiritual successor to that game. Following the release of Episode I , Takahashi and other Monolith Soft staff reassessed the series and the general structure of Monolith Soft. Takahashi, who had acted as the first game's director, stepped down to allow the Xenosaga series to grow. He gave the development of Episode II and future Xenosaga projects to a team of younger developers. The new team decided to shift

2000-521: Is attacked by the Gnosis, an ancient species revealed to be formed of souls who rejected U-DO. Vector develops two different weapon systems to fight the Gnosis: humanoid mecha dubbed AGWS (Anti Gnosis Weapon System), and the similar but more powerful KOS-MOS battle androids. There also exist more advanced AGWS models called E.S., powered by Lost Jerusalem artifacts called Vessels of Anima. A key backstory event

2080-635: Is often called the first great space opera . The same year, Philip Francis Nowlan 's original Buck Rogers story, Armageddon 2419 , also appeared in Amazing Stories . This was followed by a Buck Rogers comic strip , the first serious science fiction comic . Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future is a " future history " science fiction novel written in 1930 by the British author Olaf Stapledon . A work of unprecedented scale in

2160-512: Is one of the most influential examples of social science fiction , feminist science fiction , and anthropological science fiction . In 1979, Science Fiction World began publication in the People's Republic of China . It dominates the Chinese science fiction magazine market , at one time claiming a circulation of 300,000 copies per issue and an estimated 3–5 readers per copy (giving it

2240-404: Is revealed to be an immortal being stopping the universe's destruction through eternal recurrence . The group defeats him, then KOS-MOS and chaos help banish the Gnosis to the region of Lost Jerusalem. Shion and Jr. set off to find Lost Jerusalem and save the universe. Pied Piper follows the character Jan Sauer—later known as the cyborg Ziggurat 8 (Ziggy for short)—as he investigates the crimes of

2320-539: Is the Miltian Conflict, which occurred fourteen years before the events of Episode I . Beginning as a war between the U-TIC Organization and the Federation, it escalated when a group of Realians went berserk when an experiment to suppress U-DO's energies went wrong. Miltia was lost in a space-time anomaly. Key organizations include the Federation government; the Kukai Foundation, a group that acts as

2400-482: The Russian writer and paleontologist Ivan Yefremov presented a view of a future interstellar communist civilization and is considered one of the most important Soviet science fiction novels. In 1959, Robert A. Heinlein 's Starship Troopers marked a departure from his earlier juvenile stories and novels. It is one of the first and most influential examples of military science fiction , and introduced

2480-524: The Xenosaga series if funding was provided. The character KOS-MOS was included as part of the playable cast of Namco × Capcom for the PlayStation 2 , a crossover title developed by Monolith Soft featuring characters from both Namco and Capcom -owned game franchises. KOS-MOS and her rival from Xenosaga Episode III T-elos appeared in Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier . Supporting character MOMO

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2560-451: The information revolution . In 2007, Liu Cixin 's novel, The Three-Body Problem , was published in China. It was translated into English by Ken Liu and published by Tor Books in 2014, and won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel , making Liu the first Asian writer to win the award. Emerging themes in late 20th and early 21st century science fiction include environmental issues ,

2640-559: The Apes (the original), directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des Singes by Pierre Boulle , was released to popular and critical acclaim, its vivid depiction of a post-apocalyptic world in which intelligent apes dominate humans . In 1977, George Lucas began the Star Wars film series with the film now identified as " Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope . " The series, often called

2720-583: The Extra-Terrestrial - 1983), war ( Enemy Mine - 1985), comedy ( Spaceballs - 1987, Galaxy Quest - 1999), animation ( WALL-E – 2008, Big Hero 6 – 2014), Western ( Serenity – 2005), action ( Edge of Tomorrow – 2014, The Matrix – 1999), adventure ( Jupiter Ascending – 2015, Interstellar – 2014), mystery ( Minority Report – 2002), thriller ( Ex Machina – 2014), drama ( Melancholia – 2011, Predestination – 2014), and romance ( Eternal Sunshine of

2800-564: The North American rights are currently held by Funimation Entertainment . Multiple staff from Xenosaga: The Animation later worked on Xenosaga I & II . Gameplay in the Xenosaga series feature similar gameplay across its various entries. The core gameplay revolves around the player controlling a party of characters navigating different environments including dungeons, with combat initiated when exploring environments and touching sprites representing enemy groups. Combat makes use of

2880-464: The Spotless Mind – 2004, Her – 2013). Science fiction and television have consistently been in a close relationship. Television or television-like technologies frequently appeared in science fiction long before television itself became widely available in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The first known science fiction television program was a thirty-five-minute adapted excerpt of

2960-559: The States and Empires of the Moon (1657) and The States and Empires of the Sun (1662), Margaret Cavendish 's " The Blazing World " (1666), Jonathan Swift 's Gulliver's Travels (1726), Ludvig Holberg 's Nicolai Klimii Iter Subterraneum (1741) and Voltaire 's Micromégas (1752). Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan considered Somnium the first science fiction story; it depicts

3040-611: The Super Sweep music group, but they did not collaborate with Kajiura on any tracks, or even meet with her during the game's production. Kajiura returned to create the entire score for Episode III , drawing upon the game's concept art and scenario when creating the music. All three games have received album releases, although both Episode II and Episode III saw large portions of their scores go unreleased due to varying factors. In an article for 1UP.com about video game series that had ended prematurely, Scott Sharkey felt that no-one

3120-474: The World , its title was eventually changed to Xenoblade Chronicles . During its development, the team moved away from the narrative and design techniques used for the Xenosaga games, which were considered old-fashioned. The success of Xenoblade Chronicles led to the development of further Xenoblade Chronicles titles. In a later interview, Takahashi stated that he would be willing to develop further titles in

3200-521: The Worlds (1898). His science fiction imagined alien invasion , biological engineering , invisibility , and time travel . In his non-fiction futurologist works he predicted the advent of airplanes , military tanks , nuclear weapons , satellite television , space travel , and something resembling the World Wide Web . Edgar Rice Burroughs 's A Princess of Mars , published in 1912,

3280-413: The concept of powered armor exoskeletons . The German space opera series Perry Rhodan , written by various authors, started in 1961 with an account of the first Moon landing and has since expanded in space to multiple universes , and in time by billions of years. It has become the most popular science fiction book series of all time. In the 1960s and 1970s, New Wave science fiction

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3360-506: The creation of microrobots and micromachinery , nanotechnology , smartdust , virtual reality , and artificial intelligence (including swarm intelligence ), as well as developing the ideas of "necroevolution" and the creation of artificial worlds. In 1965, Dune by Frank Herbert featured a much more complex and detailed imagined future society than had previously in most science fiction. In 1967 Anne McCaffrey began her Dragonriders of Pern science fantasy series. Two of

3440-439: The episodes, ran from 1959 to 1964. It featured fantasy , suspense , and horror as well as science fiction, with each episode being a complete story. Critics have ranked it as one of the best TV programs of any genre . The animated series The Jetsons , while intended as comedy and only running for one season (1962–1963), predicted many inventions now in common use: flat-screen televisions , newspapers on

3520-527: The field came to associate the term with low-budget, low-tech " B-movies " and with low-quality pulp science fiction . By the 1970s, critics within the field, such as Damon Knight and Terry Carr , were using "sci fi" to distinguish hack-work from serious science fiction. Peter Nicholls writes that "SF" (or "sf") is "the preferred abbreviation within the community of sf writers and readers." Robert Heinlein found even "science fiction" insufficient for certain types of works in this genre, and suggested

3600-400: The first game in 2000 under the codename "Project X", taking two years to develop with a staff of between 60 and 100 people, with around 20 of them being veterans of Xenogears . The team were helped by Namco , who provided funding and acted as the publisher. The scenario was written by Takahashi and Saga. The Xenosaga series, while carrying over thematic and design elements from Xenogears ,

3680-762: The first science fiction novel . Some of the stories from The Arabian Nights , along with the 10th-century The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter and Ibn al-Nafis 's 13th-century Theologus Autodidactus , are also argued to contain elements of science fiction. Written during the Scientific Revolution and later the Age of Enlightenment are considered true science-fantasy books. Francis Bacon 's New Atlantis (1627), Johannes Kepler 's Somnium (1634), Athanasius Kircher 's Itinerarium extaticum (1656), Cyrano de Bergerac 's Comical History of

3760-646: The first true science fiction novel . Jules Verne and H.G. Wells are pivotal figures in the genre's development. In the 20th century, expanded with the introduction of space operas , dystopian literature, pulp magazines , and the Golden Age of Science Fiction . Science fiction has been called the "literature of ideas ", and continues to evolve, incorporating diverse voices and themes, influencing not just literature but film, TV, and culture at large. Besides providing entertainment it can also criticize present-day society and explore alternatives, and inspiration

3840-776: The game from Japan. Episode I managed a strong debut, selling over 240,000 units within three days of its release, and becoming the seventh best-selling game in Japan during 2002. It was also a commercial success internationally, going on to sell over one million copies. Episode II debuted at #2 in sales charts, going on to sell 280,000 in Japan during 2004. It also saw commercial success in North America, although no sales figures were revealed. Despite this, Episode II underperformed commercially, reaching just over 50% of Namco's projected sales target. Xenosaga I & II met with poor sales, with its debut being seen as disappointing for

3920-579: The game's events, humanity has adopted a new calendar system dubbed "Transcend Christ" (T.C.), with the series' events beginning in T.C. 4768—equivalent to A.D. 7278, with humanity forming a Galaxy Federation. Planets are connected through a warp travel network called the Unus Mundus Network (U.M.N.), managed by Vector Industries, which also controls interests in the Federation's military. Existing alongside humans are Realians, synthetic humans who hold equal status with natural humans. The Federation

4000-435: The game's focus based on player feedback and expand the series into other media. Takahashi continued to act as a supervisor to ensure the series remained true to the original overall plan. The draft, created by Takahashi and Saga, was turned into a script by Norihiko Yonesaka, who needed to condense and even cut several events from the original draft to fit it into a single game. Saga later commented that these changes resulted in

4080-486: The genre, it describes the history of humanity from the present onwards across two billion years. In 1937, John W. Campbell became editor of Astounding Science Fiction , an event that is sometimes considered the beginning of the Golden Age of Science Fiction , which was characterized by stories celebrating scientific achievement and progress . The "Golden Age" is often said to have ended in 1946, but sometimes

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4160-477: The implications of the Internet and the expanding information universe, questions about biotechnology , nanotechnology , and post-scarcity societies . Recent trends and subgenres include steampunk , biopunk , and mundane science fiction . The first, or at least one of the first, recorded science fiction film is 1902's A Trip to the Moon , directed by French filmmaker Georges Méliès . It

4240-405: The interface between technology and society, and climate fiction , addressing environmental issues. Precedents for science fiction are argued to exist as far back as antiquity, but the modern genre primarily arose in the 19th and early 20th centuries when popular writers began looking to technological progress and speculation. Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein , written in 1818, is often credited as

4320-532: The intersection of other more concrete subgenres. Damon Knight summed up the difficulty, saying "Science fiction is what we point to when we say it." Forrest J Ackerman has been credited with first using the term "sci-fi" (analogous to the then-trendy " hi-fi ") in about 1954. The first known use in print was a description of Donovan's Brain by movie critic Jesse Zunser in January 1954. As science fiction entered popular culture , writers and fans active in

4400-756: The last development stages for Episode II , was designed to be the last entry in the Xenosaga series. In addition to up the story of Shion while also leaving room for further entries if there was enough demand, further adjustments were made to both gameplay and graphics based on combined staff comments and fan feedback. Takahashi supervised the project and created the draft, with the script again being written by Yonesaka. The Xenosaga series incorporates multiple references to Biblical mythology , Jewish mysticism and Gnosticism ; several character, object and place names (such as Nephilim , Zohar , Gnosis , Merkabah ) are taken from sources within these belief systems. The universal structure incorporates elements of Zen , with

4480-415: The late 1940s and the 1950s are included. In 1942, Isaac Asimov started his Foundation series , which chronicles the rise and fall of galactic empires and introduced psychohistory . The series was later awarded a one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series". Theodore Sturgeon 's More Than Human (1953) explored possible future human evolution . In 1957, Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale by

4560-494: The latter's short length. The replacement of some of the original English voice actors also came in for criticism. Episode III received praise for its narrative and the way it concluded the series' overarching plot, but many felt that there was too much need for knowledge of the original games for it to be enjoyable for newcomers. The battle system and character customization also saw praise, although other gameplay aspects such as side activities divided opinion. Xenosaga I & II

4640-505: The music was composed by three people: Yuki Kajiura , who had found fame as a composer for anime series; Shinji Hosoe , who worked on Street Fighter EX and the Ridge Racer series; and Ayako Saso, who had composed for Galaxian and Street Fighter EX . Kajiura worked on tracks which played during cinematic cutscenes, while Hosoe and Saso composed other cutscene music and gameplay tracks. Hosoe and Saso worked together as part of

4720-410: The names of central characters KOS-MOS and chaos being deliberate homages to the universal concepts of order and chaos . It additionally draws on the philosophy and literature of Carl Jung and Nietzsche. Nietzsche in particular is heavily referenced throughout the Xenosaga trilogy, with each entry taking its subtitle from the native title of one of his famous works; for Episode I and Episode II ,

4800-408: The new staff, the original script saw several changes and its planned six-part structure cut down by half. The series made considerable use of Biblical imagery and elements of the works of Carl Jung and Friedrich Nietzsche , with the subtitles of the main trilogy drawing from the works of Nietzsche. Reception of individual titles has been positive, although journalists have commented that the series

4880-478: The novellas included in the first novel, Dragonflight , made McCaffrey the first woman to win a Hugo or Nebula Award . In 1968, Philip K. Dick 's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was published. It is the literary source of the Blade Runner movie franchise . In 1969, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin was set on a planet in which the inhabitants have no fixed gender . It

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4960-515: The performance of mechs. Episode III further expands upon the system, and mechs have expanded functions including dedicated dungeon environments. Xenosaga I & II reworks the gameplay systems; combat takes place during random encounters while exploring, and characters are arranged and have elements of their combat dictated by their placement on a grid. Pied Piper incorporates gameplay systems similar to Episode I adjusted for mobile devices, with navigation separate from battles which take place in

5040-524: The planned scenario for Episode III also being changed. A portion of the intended narrative of Episode II was turned into the plot of Pied Piper . Pied Piper was co-developed by Monolith Soft, Namco Mobile and Tom Create. Following the completion of Episode II and Pied Piper , Saga left the series. When Episode I and Episode II were remade as Xenosaga I & II , which was Monolith Soft's first portable title and co-developed with Tom Create. Takahashi worked with scenario writer Yuichiro Takeda on

5120-614: The play RUR , written by the Czech playwright Karel Čapek , broadcast live from the BBC's Alexandra Palace studios on 11 February 1938. The first popular science fiction program on American television was the children's adventure serial Captain Video and His Video Rangers , which ran from June 1949 to April 1955. The Twilight Zone (the original series), produced and narrated by Rod Serling , who also wrote or co-wrote most of

5200-478: The point of needing to compromise the original plan due to external limitations. Blake Peterson, in a feature on the Xenosaga series, felt that the success of later Xeno titles—which took a different approach and had met with critical and commercial success—meant that the Xenosaga series would not be continued. Episode I received positive reviews upon release. The narrative was generally praised for its complex structure and cinematic approach, while its gameplay

5280-451: The scenario, which was to both include the original games' events and incorporate elements and scenarios cut from the original versions. While doing this, Takahashi and Takeda needed to keep the scenario consistent with the in-development Episode III . The volume of the game's scenario and Takahashi's wish to cut as little story as possible resulted in the game being given a two-dimensional artstyle. Episode III , which began development during

5360-464: The still-popular series, and going on to sell over 38,000 units during 2006. Episode III debuted with sales approaching 124,000, noted as being the lowest debut for the main trilogy. Selling over 181,000 copies in Japan during 2006, it went on to sell 343,000 units across Japan, mainland Asia and North America by February 2007. Takahashi later stated that the series as a whole had underperformed. The initial success of Xenosaga turned Monolith Soft into

5440-419: The subtitles tied directly into the story themes and characters. The subtitle of Pied Piper likewise tied to the game's narrative. The score for Episode I was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda , who had created the music for Xenogears . Mitsuda worked with Takahashi to create tracks based upon specific locations and scenario elements rather than general recycled tracks for segments of the game. For Episode II ,

5520-515: The term speculative fiction to be used instead for those that are more "serious" or "thoughtful". Some scholars assert that science fiction had its beginnings in ancient times , when the line between myth and fact was blurred. Written in the 2nd century CE by the satirist Lucian , A True Story contains many themes and tropes characteristic of modern science fiction, including travel to other worlds, extraterrestrial lifeforms , interplanetary warfare, and artificial life . Some consider it

5600-470: The time of writing technologically impossible, extrapolating from present-day science...[,]...or that deal with some form of speculative science-based conceit, such as a society (on Earth or another planet) that has developed in wholly different ways from our own." There is a tendency among science fiction enthusiasts as their own arbiter in deciding what exactly constitutes science fiction. David Seed says it may be more useful to talk about science fiction as

5680-411: Was allegedly in the planning stages, but it was never released. Wanting to create his own project, unable to get suitable funding from Square, and disagreeing with Square's focus on its major franchises such as Final Fantasy , Takahashi left Square and founded Monolith Soft with a number of staff from Xenogears . Creating the proposal for Xenosaga during 1999 as a six-part series, development began on

5760-434: Was generally praised by critics; while some more technical elements of the story slowed the pace, the narrative was generally seen as the game's strongest feature, while the general gameplay and battle system were also praised for removing the more convoluted elements from the mainline titles. In import reviews, it was commented that the extensive amount of Japanese text would be the largest barrier for those who wished to import

5840-404: Was influential on later filmmakers , bringing a different kind of creativity and fantasy . Méliès's innovative editing and special effects techniques were widely imitated and became important elements of the cinematic medium . 1927's Metropolis , directed by Fritz Lang , is the first feature-length science fiction film. Though not well received in its time, it is now considered

5920-484: Was known for its embrace of a high degree of experimentation, both in form and in content, and a highbrow and self-consciously " literary " or " artistic " sensibility . In 1961, Solaris by Stanisław Lem was published in Poland . The novel dealt with the theme of human limitations as its characters attempted to study a seemingly intelligent ocean on a newly discovered planet . Lem's work anticipated

6000-699: Was later introduced alongside KOS-MOS and T-elos in the game's sequel Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier Exceed . Both KOS-MOS and T-elos starred in Project X Zone for the Nintendo 3DS , a spiritual successor to Namco × Capcom from the same development team. KOS-MOS also appeared in its sequel Project X Zone 2 alongside Xenoblade Chronicles heroine Fiora. KOS-MOS and T-elos made cameo appearances as titular blades in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 .. KOS-MOS's head armor from Xenosaga I makes

6080-406: Was later released in three volumes by publisher Ichijinsha between 2004 and 2006. Additionally an anime adaptation titled Xenosaga: The Animation , which adapted the events of the first game, was produced by Toei Animation . Originally broadcast on TV Asahi between January and March 2005. the anime was later licensed and dubbed for a North American release; originally licensed by A.D. Vision ,

6160-406: Was seen as enjoyable despite initially being complicated even by genre standards and the mech segments not feeling consequential. The graphics and music were generally praised, although the latter was felt to be too sparse. Episode II , which had seen its gameplay and graphics reworked from Episode I , received praise from critics for both these adjustments and the refocusing of its narrative despite

6240-409: Was surprised when the series ended with Episode III as he deemed the series far too ambitious. Jeremy Parish, writing for USGamer , felt that Takahashi managed to "[come] through" despite his planned six-part series being cut down by half, with Episode III being a satisfactory conclusion to the series' storyline. He also noted that Xenosaga showed a trend with Takakashi's work of being ambitious to

6320-408: Was the first of his three- decade -long planetary romance series of Barsoom novels , which were set on Mars and featured John Carter as the hero . These novels were predecessors to YA novels , and drew inspiration from European science fiction and American Western novels . In 1924, We by Russian writer Yevgeny Zamyatin , one of the first dystopian novels, was published. It describes

6400-524: Was too ambitious. While the first game met with strong sales, the series as a whole was a commercial disappointment. The first game also received both a manga and an anime adaptation , the latter being dubbed and released in North America. Following the end of the Xenosaga series, Takahashi and other team members started a new project to rebuild morale, which became Xenoblade Chronicles . Characters from Xenosaga would go on to appear in multiple crossover games. Xenosaga spans five different games sharing

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