Xenosaga Episode III

The development team's aim was to address issues raised by fans and staff with the previous two Xenosaga games, along with bringing the story to a satisfactory conclusion.

Due to the decision to turn the intended six-part series into a trilogy, the original draft for Episode III was substantially reworked.

The mixed response to the Xenosaga series left Monolith Soft staff in a state of low morale, partially leading to the development of Xenoblade Chronicles.

[1][7] Each player character has a "Boost" gauge that builds up during battle, which can be used to either perform two actions in a single turn, or deliver character-specific special attacks.

When full, the mech can enter "Anima Mode", a temporary state where attack power is raised and energy costs for actions are lowered.

In the year "20XX", the Zohar—an artifact dating from the beginning of the universe which connects to the realm of a god-like energy dubbed U-DO—was unearthed by an archeological expedition in Kenya; the Zohar is key to enabling humanity to travel in space beyond the Solar System.

Over 4000 years in the future, humanity has left Earth behind to colonize the galaxy following a terrible event, resulting in Earth's location being lost and the planet being dubbed "Lost Jerusalem": by the game's events, humanity has adopted a new calendar system dubbed "Transcend Christ" (T.C.

[10][12] Important organizations include the Kukai Foundation, a group that acts as a shelter for enhanced humans; the U-TIC Organization, a once-scientific group that now wishes to gain control of the Zohar; and Ormus, a secretive cult from Lost Jerusalem which secretly funds U-TIC and operates through a political faction called the Immigrant Fleet.

The planet of Miltia was lost in a space-time anomaly when an experiment involving U.R.T.Vs—an army of 669 genetically modified children designed to combat U-DO's energies—goes horribly wrong.

During their journey to Second Miltia aboard the passenger freighter Elsa, they are pursued by U-TIC forces; encounter more Gnosis seeking the Zohar Emulator; and Shion experiences visions of a young girl named Nephilim.

[12] The main protagonists are Shion Uzuki, a former employee of Vector Industries; and KOS-MOS, a prototype anti-Gnosis battle android.

survivor who runs the Kukai Foundation with his brother Gaignun and commands both the Elsa and the ship Durandal; Jin Uzuki, Shion's brother and a veteran of the Miltian Conflict; chaos, a melancholy young man with mysterious powers; MOMO, a prototype Realian created by U-TIC scientist Joachim Mizrahi and modeled after his dead daughter; Ziggy—short for Ziggurat 8—a cyborg who acts as MOMO's guardian; and Canaan, a combat Realian who worked with chaos during the Miltian Conflict.

Other characters include Allen Ridgeley, a former co-worker of Shion; Wilhelm, CEO of Vector and the main antagonist; T-elos, an anti-Gnosis battle android similar to KOS-MOS; Margulis, a high-ranking officer in U-TIC; Dmitri Yuriev, creator and biological father of the U.R.T.Vs who has survived through possessing Gaignun's body; Nephilim, a young girl who appears to Shion in visions; and Abel, a young man connected to U-DO.

[12][13] Following her resignation from Vector in the wake of her discoveries and the Gnosis Terrorism, Shion allies with underground group Scientia to investigate.

Entering the hyperspace pocket, the group find the Elsa and investigate the area, encountering both Albedo and Virgil and learning that the Vessels of Anima powering their E.S.

During the group's time there, Shion learns the true events that caused Miltia's fall; her father, Kevin, Margulis and Mizrahi were attempting to control the Zohar through experiments involving both Shion and her mother, but when U-TIC and Federation forces clashed, Kevin and Margulis released unstable combat Realians which slaughtered nearly everyone in the battle.

The group fight Virgil before he is calmed by the spirit of Febronia—who tended him when he was injured on Miltia and with whom he formed an attachment prior to her death—and follows her into the afterlife.

Abel's Ark, summoned by the events in Shion's subconscious, appears in the real world and begins causing planets to vanish as it pursues Zarathustra.

Yuriev activates the Zohar Emulators stored in the Durandal, intent on using them in combination with Omega and Abel's Ark to defeat U-DO by rising to godhood.

Descending deeper into Michtam, Shion experiences visions of Lost Jerusalem, seeing chaos under the name "Yeshua" alongside a previous incarnation of herself, KOS-MOS's physical template Mary Magdalene, and Jesus prior to his death.

Wilhelm reveals that he has been preserving the universe from ending due to human wills that reject connection with U-DO; by capturing U-DO's "eyes" Abel and Abel's Ark and using eternal recurrence, Wilhelm has trapped the universe in a time loop with the power of Zarathustra and the Zohar.

Shion, whose necklace and will are key to activating Zarathustra, is tortured by Wilhelm in an attempt to make her wish for recurrence.

Abel, Nephilim, KOS-MOS and chaos choose to stay on Michtam, drawing all Gnosis to them and using a dimensional shift to move that region of space to Lost Jerusalem.

Shion goes with Jr. and Allen on the Elsa to find Lost Jerusalem, while MOMO stays behind with Ziggy to reconstruct a new travel network with Scientia's help.

In the mid and post-credit scenes, a badly-damaged KOS-MOS floats through space and is contacted by chaos, saying they will both awake when they are needed.

[20] A soundtrack album titled Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra Original Sound Best Tracks, featuring selections from the game's score, was published by Victor Entertainment on July 12, 2006.

[39] The album's brevity was due to the fact that the full soundtrack would have taken up six CDs, and so Kajiura was asked by sound producer Keiichi Nozaki to create samples for a two-disc release.

[40] During its debut week, Xenosaga Episode III reached number 2 in the charts behind New Super Mario Bros. with sales approaching 124,000 units.

[1][4] Parkin enjoyed the battle system's mechanics, but found the rest of the gameplay "extremely straightforward" due to a lack of complex environments or side activities.

[48] 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.

A battle in Xenosaga Episode III , featuring Jin Uzuki attacking a group of enemies during a battle