I’ve been replaying Xenosaga again from the beginning. I’m beginning more and more to think that, as the years go by, the Trilogy will eventually be recognized as a great work of literature, similar to the novels of fifty to sixty years ago (Lord of the Rings, anyone?).
Going through the opening of the first game, I can appreciate how much foreshadowing and planning went into the series. T-ELOS is mentioned, and Shion dreams of chaos in the graveyard of anima. chaos recognizes KOS-MOS, and asks her, covertly, about her identity. The accident with the KOS-MOS archetype seems perfectly clear now, as does the identity of the person how gave Chernkov the controller. A few small changes in premise clearly occurred as the series was developed, but that’s hardly surprising given its massive scale.
Anime is an art form; video games are closely related to a greater or lesser degree. Xenosaga is the space opera, perfected.