Xenosaga Episode 2 in Development

The only question: when's it coming out?

This week's spate of gaming magazines in Japan brings news that should come as a pleasant surprise to fans of huge, sprawling console RPGS. According to the most recent issue of Japanese magazine Dorimaga, Monolith Soft is working on a sequel to Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht, an epic RPG released in the States back in February. There's no release date for the PlayStation 2-only title yet, but it will likely see release early next year in Japan, after Monolith finishes up GameCube role-player Baten Kaitos. Namco will once again handle publishing duties.

Xenosaga Episode 2 will be a departure for both Monolith and Tetsuya Takahashi, creator of both this series and the infamous Xenogears for PlayStation. Unlike Episode 1, most of the second game's direction and script will be handled by younger staffers; Takahashi himself will assume a Shigeru Miyamoto-like director and concept position in the project. Not much has been revealed about the game itself, but so far it appears to pick up right where Episode 1 left off: Shion Uzuki will be the heroine once more, most of the first game's cast will return, and the plot will concentrate on the Zohars, as well as Jr. and the riddles that surround his existence. The game system will also be "markedly improved," although exactly how is still a mystery.

In a separate announcement, Namco also revealed a special edition of the first Xenosaga for the local Japanese audience. Called Xenosaga Episode 1: Reloaded, the new release will be an "international version" of Monolith's sci-fi monster, similar in style to the special editions Square loves releasing in Japan. Details are scant, but Reloaded will reportedly be a Japanese port of the U.S. Xenosaga, with an English voice track and some enhanced graphics here and there. (No word on whether Reloaded will faithfully cut out the scenes Namco Hometek removed from the U.S. release.)

Although Reloaded isn't due out until October, Monolith (developers of the Xenosaga series) is holding a Xenosaga fan-appreciation event on July 21 where they plan to take the wraps off their newest projects. Stay tuned for further updates as they come--Monolith's plan is to continue with a Xenosaga Episode 3 and 4 in the future, so we could have a lot of fine RPG goodness ahead of us.

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