Normally,
I wouldn't bother with voicing my objections to a particular review, especially
on the reviewer's own website. I'd generally just chalk it up to us having
different tastes in games and move on. However, I feel you've done the review
process itself a disservice with this review, and the only reason I mention
it is because you declared you'd "already covered" the review for a website
which I generally find to be objective and even-handed. I believe that the
gamer who can legitemately find enjoyment in a game everyone else recognizes
as trash is one of the luckiest people in the world, and your review robs people
of the chance to be that gamer. Obviously, as a reviewer it is your job to
wave people away from games that will devour their attention just to reward
them with a horrible experience, but that can be accomplished without actually
poisoning people to the game. Let me give some examples. "Judging by my senses
and perception skills, which are advanced light years beyond any fan of Xenogears
or Xenosaga,..." This is exactly what I'm talking about. Obviously, your site
sells itself on its edgy and acerbic humor, often coming at the expense of
the readers themselves, but this wasn't especially humorous, nor even particularly
relevent to the game. This was, quite simply, an attempt to vilify people who
enjoy this game. However, I contend that it is possible to enjoy Xenosaga even
while being cognizant of its shortcomings. Is any fanservice too much fanservice?
You bet your ass it is! Are the religious references entirely arbitrary? Pretty
much, yeah. Just because I recognize this, should I not be able to enjoy playing
Xenosaga? And if I do, does that make you more intelligent and perceptive than
me? "NO, HOW COULD YOU DO THIS, HOW DARE YOU! YOU ARE JUST LIKE AMERICA WHEN PEARL HARBOR ATTACKED OUR FLEET!"
There's that hyperbole, again, this time in service to a metaphor I found extremely tenuous at best, completely unsupported
at worst. I also find it interesting that you seem to suggest that, because
of Japan's immoral past, they aren't capable of moral behavior now. "The cutscenes
in Xenosaga are not really boring, I thought. They're just really really bad.
And again, since the game is made up of them, that doesn't exactly give you
a lot left to work with." Well, I timed about 8 hours of cutscenes in the 62
hours I've spent playing the game so far. Completely ignoring the fact that
you aren't explaining every cutscene is a bad cutscene, that still leaves about
7/8 of the game untouched. It's understood, of course, that you'll play less
than me since you aren't enjoying yourself, but even assuming you only played
half as much of me, that's still 3/4 of the game undescribed. I think you may
have mentioned the gameplay is "boring." Care to elaborate on that? "Some of
the creepiest motherfuckers you could ever regret meeting, even if it's on
a message board on the internet." Not only does this blanket statement have
nothing to do with the game itself, I would also argue that it's not true.
Well, actually, since it's your opinion, who am I to say that it's not true?
But I don't much appreciate being labeld a creepy motherfucker, regardless. "Everything
right about this game was stolen from FFX. Everything they brought themselves
is fucked up beyond belief, repair, and forgiveness." Really, I just included
this part to ask: exactly which successful part did you have in mind as being
stolen from FFX? Personally, I was of the opinion that the two games were
enjoyable for entirely different reasons--the main things I liked about FFX
being entirely absent from Xenosaga, and vice versa. Would you like to explain
that further? I don't want to judge unfairly, but from the tone of your website
it's hard
to imagine that I'll get a serious response to my complaints; I'm going to
call that good for now. I'll be very interested to hear your response.

Abundantly obsequious,
Jason Love