Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra

 PlayStation 2
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 70 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 59 out of 70
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 70
  3. Negative: 5 out of 70
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  1. Boltfrowah
    Mar 4, 2013
    5
    This series was one of the few games that I've ever actually felt was damn near a "2nd job". Slogging through the 3 games was something that I never knew I was going to end up doing when I played the first one. Constantly mired in endless cutscenes and cinematics, it almost felt like I was more of playing a mini-game during a very preachy, self-absorbed story line. The constant referencesThis series was one of the few games that I've ever actually felt was damn near a "2nd job". Slogging through the 3 games was something that I never knew I was going to end up doing when I played the first one. Constantly mired in endless cutscenes and cinematics, it almost felt like I was more of playing a mini-game during a very preachy, self-absorbed story line. The constant references to philosophy and such doesn't make a game "smart", it makes it pretentious at best. This all combined with a nerfy combat system just didn't do it for me. Yes, Kos-Mos is an awesome character, but even her attacks left me wanting more.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

24
#24 Best PS2 Game of 2006
32
#32 Most Discussed PS2 Game of 2006
74
#74 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2006

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 34 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 34
  3. Negative: 0 out of 34
  1. GamingExcellence
    81
    Considering that Namco Bandai Games and Monolith Soft originally intended Xenosaga to be a six-part story, this third and final episode manages to efficiently cap the vast majority of unanswered questions and plotlines from the first and second games.
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  2. GameBrink
    95
    While these days many RPGs are attempting to change the old-school formula and divorce themselves from traditional RPG lineage, XS EP3 stays true to the formula but through fantastic dungeons, two great and very different battle systems, and a fast-paced 30 hour adventure that’s lacking in filler (so you basically get the same story that’d be in a 60-70 hour normal RPG with random filler plots), it creates a game that’s every bit as fresh as the best non-traditional RPGs. [JPN Import]
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  3. Game Informer
    85
    Xenosaga Episode III has many more successes than failures. But taken in context with the trilogy as a whole, Episode III is the worthy conclusion to an epic that I hadn't dared hope it could be. [Sept. 2006, p.90]
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