Apologies for the long wait, but I have now added a story analysis section with the first part of the Xenogears Story Analysis completed.
Most of this article has actually been finished for a few years now, but I did not realize how long the section examining the narrative structure would turn out, so I decided to split the story analysis into two parts. It was originally intended to be just one long article. In hindsight I should have realized just having one article would make it too big since the original story analysis was divided into six parts, and most of the writing that has been restored from the original analysis will be included in part 2. There is also a possibility that it will be divided into more parts, but for now the plan is two parts.
So this is not merely a restoration of the old material, but a new article that I am much more satisfied with, since the one on the old website was very messy and also included references to debates I had with other fans and detractors at the time that are no longer relevant with the passage of time. Having been mostly away from the Xeno fandom for over 10 years now I feel I can approach this endeavor with more detached objectivity and better focus. A much more positive feedback loop has also taken place with new analysis of Xenogears by other people (such as Resonant Arc on YouTube) having improved due to being more competently informed by better resources (such as this study guide) than was available in the past, which in turn actually helps even me discover new and valuable insights every now and then.
Speaking of old debates becoming irrelevant over time, I have also been thinking of writing an entirely new article examining how fan perception of Xenogears, Xenosaga, and Takahashi's original vision has changed since the early days of Xenogears up till now. This from the perspective of Western fans only having access to limited information, and how much of the views younger audience currently have of the series is also transient and will change over time for similar reasons, since, although more information can be found today, there still exists laziness and some information is hard to dig up. I think such an article might be useful since the purpose of this study guide is to make people more informed, and the worst ideas and theories about the Xeno series (or about anything) always comes from the less informed. And unfortunately, a bad idea easily becomes a bad idea in the heads of many.
However, if I write such an article it would be better to wait until after more material has been restored. For now the focus will be on the Story Analysis Section.
Excellent work so far, looking forward to reading the rest. By the way, I don't know if you are aware, but some pointers for models were recently found in Xenosaga Episode 1's data which identify characters or states for existing ones that don't appear in the final release. As you have stated in the past that you were sections like the mirroring article to determine what the original plan for Xenosaga would have looked like, I wonder if this would be of use to you:
ReplyDeletehttps://tcrf.net/Xenosaga_Episode_I:_Der_Wille_zur_Macht_(PlayStation_2)#Unused_Character_Models
I would prefer to see the actual models they are referring to. Heinlein being a separate character from Wilhelm originally is something I'm skeptical of since them being the same person mirrors Miang and The Executioner from Xenogears. And even if Heinlein had a model it could've been a disguised Wilhelm similar to how The Executioner was a disguised Miang. And if they were two separate characters then that would make the original scenario so different that I would not really know where to even begin speculating how the original scenario went, so I don't think it would help me. Only Soraya, Takahashi, or someone at MonolithSoft can tell us how the original scenario really went.
Delete6The Wilhelm and Miang parallel is something that leaves me sceptic as well. Though the details about Heinlein in the forum leak make me wonder if he and Wilhelm were different characters at one point. This one is a stretch admittedly, but Kevin, Vergil and Voyager still use their names with their Testament models. It's like you say though. The higher-ups are the main ones who can confirm anything, and even then Soraya in particular seems to be going out of her way to avoid interacting with the fanbase.
DeleteHere's a link to a photo of all these cut models
Deletehttps://www.reddit.com/r/Xenosaga/comments/184xzyp/all_character_models_in_ep1s_npc_folder_that_no/
The Heinlein model no longer exists and is just a file name but there do exist models and info for some other things. There's an older Cecily and Cath, they also have a bit of data for being playable. If I'm remembering right there was one point where the two girls mirrored Emeralda, maybe something there maybe not. At the very least really brings into question what their original plan was.
Data for Ziggy's wife also exists and what I find really interesting is the step_mam character who appears alongside Shion's dead parents in XS1 but was removed in XS3's version of the scene. It's known that a lot was cut from Shion's past so this is really interesting.
Thank you Robottsie, some stuff in there is pretty interesting, such as the internal code name for Nephilim's model being named "elly" and Wilhelm's model being named "fried" (an even clearer reference to Friedrich Nietzsche). I wonder if they were thinking of going with the name Friedrich for him originally and changing it to Wilhelm pretty late in development...
DeleteMore brief flashbacks from Ziggy's human life was probably intended for Episode I, so I am not surprised a reference to a Sharon model is in there. As for Cecily and Cath, they mirror Emeralda when she is first found but at that point Emeralda is not playable. That they would be playable in unused adult forms does not make sense to me, unless they were originally not shot to death by KOS-MOS but rescued and then later joining your party as playable main characters similar to Emeralda (meaning they were intended as the 9th playable character instead of Bugs). I wonder though, do Realians age and grow into adult form similar to humans? I can't remember any references to that, and we did not see any Kirschwassers grow since the Miltian conflict.