Xenosaga fan disc in the works

TOKYO--Namco has revealed that a Xenosaga fan disc is in production. Titled Xenosaga Freaks, the PS2 game is being developed by Monolith Soft. The fan disc will consist of two minigames, a database, and a playable demo of Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose. This is according to Famitsu magazine.

The first minigame, titled Xenocomi, is a comical side-story adventure game that is played by selecting choices from a command window. Xenocomi can be played from the viewpoint of six selectable characters: Shion, Kos-Mos, Chaos, Momo, Ziggy, and Jr. The second minigame, XenoPittan, is a Xenosaga edition of Namco’s crossword puzzle game Kotoba no Puzzle: Mojipittan. The words used in the game and the shapes of the crossword maps will all be related to Xenosaga.

The database, which is referred to as Encyclopedia of Xenosaga, includes a library of information on the worldview of Xenosaga, ranging from information on the characters to the significance of keywords such as "DME Junky." The Encyclopedia is presented in multimedia style and includes footage and images related to the subjects covered. The Encyclopedia of Xenosaga is linked to the other three games inside the disc, and the selectable entries will increase as the player goes through the minigames.

The demo of Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose will be focused on a flashback scene that took place 14 years before Episode I and II. As a playable demo, the game will include numerous battle scenes, although details have yet to be revealed. Chaos, Jin, and Margulis are among the characters that will apparently appear in the demo of Episode II. A mysterious youth who has appeared in previous screenshots provided by Namco also seems to be in the demo. The character has been identified as a male Realian named Kannan.

Xenosaga Freaks is currently 70 percent complete. While the game's release date is still unannounced, the preview disc will be available at retailers well before the full game is released.