Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht

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Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht

Game general and emulation properties:
CERO rating: C
ESRB rating: T (Blood and Gore, Violence)
Widescreen patch available
CPU intensive game
Languages supported:
English: SLUS-20469 & SLUS-20469GH
Japanese: SLPS-29005 & SLPS-29002 & SLPS-29001 & SLPS-73901
Region NTSC-U:
Serial numbers: SLUS-20469
SLUS-20469GH (Greatest Hits)
Release date: February 26, 2003
2004 (Greatest Hits)
CRCs: 6D1276AB
Windows Status: Playable
Linux Status: Playable
Mac Status: ?
Region NTSC-J/C/K:
Serial numbers: SLPS-29002
SLPS-29001 (Limited Edition)
SCPS-55901
SLPS-73901 (PlayStation 2 the Best)
SCAJ-30001 (PlayStation 2 The Best)
SLPS-29005 (Reloaded)
Release date: February 28, 2002
April 3, 2003 (PlayStation 2 the Best)
November 20, 2003 (Reloaded)
Windows Status: ?
Linux Status: ?
Mac Status: ?

Developer(s): Monolith Soft
Publisher(s): Namco
Genre: RPG
Wikipedia: Link
Game review links: Metacritic83/100
Game description: Xenosaga Episode 1: Der Wille zur Macht is an epic RPG that takes gamers on an unforgettable journey. This intergalactic story takes place years into the future, well after the human race abandoned Earth in favor of the next frontier of space. Expect to play over 80 hours of intriguing game play featuring a variety of minigames, character development, and a sprawling sci-fi storyline. Xenosaga's polished graphics, involving storyline, and exquisite music performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra make for a truly cinematic experience.
Episode I begins the trilogy that centers on the characters Shion and KOS-MOS. A young woman employed by Vector Industries, Shion aided in the creation of the battle android KOS-MOS and is present throughout much of the game. During this game, the U-TIC Organization attempts to steal one of the powerful Zohar Emulators, sources of energy used by humans.

Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht is the predecessor to Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose


Test configurations on Windows:


Environment Configurations Comments Tester
Region OS CPU/GPU Revision Graphics Sound/Pad
NTSC-U ?
  • AMD Phenom II X3 720 @ 3.50 GHz
  • AMD Radeon HD 4870 1 GB
1884 GSdx 1846
  • SPU2-X 1.2.0
  • LilyPad 0.10.0
BIOS: USA v2, INTC sync and IOP x2 cycle rate. Enabling texture filtering in GSdx fixes shadow issues and be sure to disable 8-bit textures. Enabling MTVU causes slowdowns instead of a speed up due to sync issues., Using the latest GSdx beta plugins r2693 and setting scaling to 2x will give some minor graphical glitch, Flowofsoul
NTSC-U Windows
  • Intel Core i7 @ 3.40 GHz
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 768MB
1.1.0 (r5517) GSdx SSE41 (5464)
  • SPU2-X 2.0.0
  • LilyPad 0.11.0
Runs at 200% speed.
NTSC-U Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
  • AMD FX 6300 @ 4.12 GHz
  • AMD Radeon HD 7870 @ 1.2 GHz core & memory
1.1.0 (r5745) GSdx
  • SPU2-X
  • ?
Recommended ones only(But not MTVU), As always, this game has very high requirements, and some of the mech battles slowed down to 30 FPS for me. At least two save points (Shion's room on the Woglinde, and the main save point on the Elsa) error out somehow and kick you back to the bios card selector. Also the two or three black and white cutscenes don't show video(just black screen, but audio playing) in HW or SW mode, unless you save state and then load state. These are both known bugs I think.
NTSC-U Windows 8.1 64 Bit
  • Intel Core i5-3230M @ 2.60 GHz
  • AMD Radeon HD 8770M
1.2.1 (r5873) GSdx AVX (r5875)

<spoiler show="Settings" hide="Hide">

  • Renderer: Direct3D11 (Hardware)
  • Internal Resolution: Custom
  • Custom Resolution: 1024x768
  • Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
  • Shader Configuration:
    • FXAA

</spoiler>

  • SPU2-X (r5875)
  • LilyPad (r5875)
If you set HW Hacks -> TC Offset to X 0000 Y 1000, you get rid of the "Shadow Stitches" and weird Text outlines. Run at smooth 59.94 FPS, micro sound glitches every couple of minutes during load heavy sections, otherwise near flawless emulation, couple of hours in no crashes. Zordan
NTSC-U Windows
  • Intel Core i5-750 OC @ 3.00 GHz
  • AMD Radeon HD 5850 1 GB
1.3.0 (git 2014/06/14) GSdx 0.1.16 SSE41
  • SPU2-X 2.0.0
  • LilyPad 0.11.0
USA v02.00(14/06/2004), Defaults + MTVU (Multi-Threaded microVU1), Using custom resolution (1920x1080) the game run at full speed with a few slowdowns in some fights or cutscenes (30-50 fps)., A few save spots appear to be broken (like the one on Elsa spaceship). When you try to use them, game crash and put you to memory card selection screen. The positive for the save on Elsa ship is that you can still use it to enter virtual realm just you cant save. Use save states instead.
NTSC Windows 8.1 Professional x64
  • Intel Core i5-4690K @ 3.50 GHz
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4 GB
1.3.1 (git r530 g62beb3a) GSdx

<spoiler show="Settings" hide="Hide">

  • Renderer: Direct3D11 (Hardware)
  • Internal Resolution: 6x Native

</spoiler>

  • SPU2-X 2.0.0 (r530)
  • LilyPad 0.11.0 (r530)
BIOS: USA 2.2.0(10/02/2006) No Speedhacks, No Game Fixes - Presets Disabled, minimal crashing, use save states if you're not near a save point. INVALID_STRING_NAME
NTSC-U Windows 10
  • Intel Core i7-920 @ stock
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
v1.3.1 (git 966 g260c127) GSdx SSE41
  • SPU2-X 2.0.0
  • LilyPad 0.11.0
All recommended hacks including MTVU. Direct3D11 full speed 99% Time. OpenGL requires Blending unit=none and is still 50% slower than D3D if no limiter
NTSC-U Windows 10
  • Intel Core i7-3770K
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
v1.5.0 (dev-1901 g489a89a) GSdx 1.1.0 AVX

<spoiler show="Settings" hide="Hide">

  • Renderer: OpenGL (Hardware)
  • Internal Resolution: 4x native
  • Texture Filtering: Bilinear (PS2)
  • Accurate Date
  • Blending Unit Accuracy: High
  • Configure Hacks:
    • Half-pixel offset

</spoiler>

  • SPU2-X 2.0.0
  • LilyPad 0.12.0
BIOS: Europe v02.20 (10/02/2006), Runs at 100% mostly. Half-pixel offset HW hack fixes shadows. 13xforever
NTSC-U Windows 10 Pro
  • Intel Core i7-8700K @ 3.7 GHz
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Ti (8 GB)
v1.5.0-dev-3264-gd77d440a0 GSdx 1.1.0 AVX2

<spoiler show="GSdx Settings" hide="Hide">

  • Renderer: OpenGL (Hardware)
  • Interlacing: Automatic (Default)
  • Texture Filtering: Bilinear (PS2)
  • Allow 8 bit Textures: Disabled
  • Large Framebuffer: Disabled
  • Internal Resolution: 6x native (~2160p 4K)
  • Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
  • Mipmapping: Automatic (Default)
  • Automatic CRC Level: Automatic (Default)
  • Accurate Date: Fast (Default)
  • Accurate Blending: Basic (Recommended)

</spoiler> <spoiler show="HW Hacks" hide="Hide">

  • Half-pixel Offset: Normal (Vertex)
  • Round Sprite: Full

</spoiler>

  • SPU2-X 2.0.0
  • LilyPad 0.12.1
Playable at full speed.
  • EE/IOP settings at defaults.
  • VU settings at defaults.
  • Speedhacks at defaults, except MTVU enabled.
pandubz
NTSC-U Windows 10
  • Intel Core i7-4790 @ 3.6 GHz
  • AMD RX 570 8GB
1.7.3474 Native-4x Internal resolution/defaults N/A Default Slowdown in SW mode during tech/ether attacks and when multiple A.G.W.S are on screen, but fullspeed in HW renderers. GameDB applies appropriate fixes/hacks automatically so there is no need for adjusting settings. Transition screens (battle animation and opening the menu in the field) do not scale with resolution and remain at native res. Nyahello



Test configurations on Linux:

Environment Configurations Comments Tester
Region OS CPU/GPU Revision Graphics Sound/Pad
NTSC-U Manjaro 17.0.3 Gellivara
  • Intel Core i5-7600K
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
1.5.0-dev-2190 GSdx AVX2

<spoiler show="Settings" hide="Hide">

  • Renderer: OpenGL (Hardware)
  • Internal Resolution: 3x native
  • Texture Filtering: Bilinear (PS2)
  • Accurate Date
  • Allow 8 bit Textures: OFF
  • Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
  • Blending Unit Accuracy: Basic
  • CRC Level: Automatic
  • Enable User Hacks:
    • Half-pixel offset Hack: Normal(Vertex)

</spoiler>

  • SPU2-X 2.0.0
  • OnePAD 1.3.0
Runs 100%, MTVU hack OFF gave speed boost. There seems to be a small glitch with some characters hair though I wasn't able to remove it.


Trivia

  • Original names: ゼノサーガ エピソードI 力への意志 (SLPS-29002) & (SLPS-29001) & (SLPS-73901), ゼノサーガ エピソード I リローディッド 力への意志 (SLPS-29005)
  • Also known as Xenosaga Episode I Reloaded: Chikara e no Ishi (JP), Xenosaga Episode I: Chikara e no Ishi (JP)
  • Prior to the release of Episode II, a "Reloaded" version was launched in Japan, including new alternate costumes for MOMO and KOS-MOS as well as a theater mode.

Known Issues

Smaller/aliased minimap icons in HW renderers

  • Status: Active
  • Type: Minor
  • Description: Software anti-aliasing (AA1) is not yet fully implemented in hardware, which is used for the triangle icons on the minimap. This is more obvious at native resolution.
  • Workaround: Use SW mode or a higher resolution multiplier.

Amplified banding in HW renderers

Black surfaces in cutscenes

  • Status: Active
  • Type: Minor
  • Description: Many of the cutscenes have black surfaces scattered on the environment or on characters. Gameplay isn't affected. (https://github.com/PCSX2/pcsx2/issues/2737)
  • Workaround: Use Vulkan HW renderer or SW mode.

Overlapping shadows

  • Status: Active
  • Type: Minor
  • Description: Instead of a single blended shadow, multiple pieces appear to overlap on the active player character's shadow
  • Workaround: Set blending to medium in DX11/12 or use any other HW renderer.

One row of garbage pixels across top and left side

  • Status: Active
  • Type: Minor
  • Description: During cutscenes and some gameplay you may notice one row of garbage pixels across the top of the screen or along the left side.
  • Workaround: Zoom the screen in using CTRL + "Numpad +". You can reverse this with CTRL + "Numpad -". Alternatively use cropping feature in 1.7 QT.

Corruption/garbage on save icons

Fixed Issues

Ghosted frame after loading screens and FMVs

  • Status: Fixed
  • Type: Minor
  • Description: A single frame from before a loading screen starts or the last position an FMV ends on remains on screen for a short duration when resuming gameplay, known to be a regression (https://github.com/PCSX2/pcsx2/issues/6625), only affects HW renderers.
  • Workaround: Use SW mode (issue resolved and closed).

Shadow puppet lines

  • Status: Fixed
  • Type: Minor
  • Description: Controlled character's shadow will have "puppet lines" in both OpenGL/D3D11
  • Workaround: Go to Config > Graphics settings > Hacks, turn on "Enable HW Hacks", go to Upscale Hacks and set Half-Pixel Offset to Special (Texture). Alternatively set Skipdraw to "1" to remove shadows.
  • Notes: HPO is set automatically by the Game Database in 1.7 when upscaling.

Various Lines in Menus/HUD when upscaling

  • Status: Fixed
  • Type: Minor
  • Description: Various lines show up in menus and HUD elements when using an Internal Resolution greater than Native.
  • Workaround: Set Round Sprite to Full.
  • Notes: Round Sprite is automatically set by the Game Database in 1.7 when upscaling.

Characters sometimes have no shadows in cutscenes

  • Status: Fixed
  • Type: Minor
  • Description: Characters don't have detailed shadows in cutscenes, only the simpler ones that are just circles.
  • Workaround: Config > Graphics settings > Hacks > Enable HW Hacks and enable Auto Flush. Enabled by default with GameDB in 1.7.
  • Notes: Auto Flush is automatically set by the Game Database in 1.7.

Flashbacks render as completely black with D3D11 (Hardware)

  • Status: Fixed
  • Type: Minor
  • Description: Cutscenes involving flashbacks with a black and white filter instead render as a completely solid black box. Gameplay isn't affected.
  • Workaround: Use the OpenGL renderer instead of Direct3D11.
  • Notes: Fixed in 1.7, DX11/12 renderers are usable.

Saving at specific save points may crash the game

Missing text

  • Status: Fixed
  • Type: Minor
  • Description: Text will be faded (or completely missing) in Hardware mode.
  • Workaround: No longer an issue as of at least v1.5.0-dev-3264-gd77d440a0. If present on older revisions, go to Config > Video (GS) > Plugin Settings, and set Renderer to any of the "(Software)" options.

The gallery


Public compatibility forum links