Development
In September 2005, it was officially announced that Episode III would mark the premature end to the series, which was originally planned to span six titles. The cast from Episode I and II will return; minor protagonists Allen Ridgeley, Canaan and Miyuki Itsumi are playable characters for the first time in the series, albeit only briefly. The keyword database, is still present just like Episode I and Episode II, it also has enhanced features like images and the ability to view in-game models of characters, enemies and mecha. The database has a new feature called "Memory Code" in which any cut scene can be viewed, provided it has already occurred during gameplay in an existing save file. Episode III takes place one year after Episode II, with E.S. units from Episode II and the Zohar Emulators and "techs" from Episode I making a return.
- Censorship
The North American release of the game was briefly censored, the majority of these edits were for scenes of violence and blood that would have elevated the game beyond the "Teen" rating given by the ESRB to the "Mature" level. The storyline however, remains identical in both the original Japanese release and the North American versions.
For example, a noticeable instance of the editing of a scene is when a child reacts to the death of another character by "putting (the blood) back" in the dying individual. In the North American version, the child has nothing in her hands, even though she says and acts like she does.
Read more about this topic: Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra
Famous quotes containing the word development:
“The experience of a sense of guilt for wrong-doing is necessary for the development of self-control. The guilt feelings will later serve as a warning signal which the child can produce himself when an impulse to repeat the naughty act comes over him. When the child can produce his on warning signals, independent of the actual presence of the adult, he is on the way to developing a conscience.”
—Selma H. Fraiberg (20th century)
“The work of adult life is not easy. As in childhood, each step presents not only new tasks of development but requires a letting go of the techniques that worked before. With each passage some magic must be given up, some cherished illusion of safety and comfortably familiar sense of self must be cast off, to allow for the greater expansion of our distinctiveness.”
—Gail Sheehy (20th century)
“For the child whose impulsiveness is indulged, who retains his primitive-discharge mechanisms, is not only an ill-behaved child but a child whose intellectual development is slowed down. No matter how well he is endowed intellectually, if direct action and immediate gratification are the guiding principles of his behavior, there will be less incentive to develop the higher mental processes, to reason, to employ the imagination creatively. . . .”
—Selma H. Fraiberg (20th century)