Exile (1988 video game series)

Edit links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the video game series by Telenet Japan. For the unrelated 1988 game from Superior Software and Audiogenic, see Exile (1988 video game). For the also-unrelated 1995 game series from Spiderweb Software, see Exile (1995 video game series).
Exile
XZR
PC-9801, X1 turbo, TurboGrafx-16, Sega Genesis
First releaseXZR
1988
Latest releaseExile: Wicked Phenomenon
1993

Exile (エグザイル, Eguzairu, originally stylized XZR) is an

1992
, which was also localized by Working Designs for the North American market.

The Exile series centers on Sadler, a Syrian Assassin, who is the main character of each game. The original computer versions were notorious for featuring various references to religious historical figures, modern political leaders, iconography, drugs, and time-traveling assassins, although some of these aspects were considerably toned down or omitted in the later console games, with the English versions rewriting all the historical religious organizations into fictional groups.[1]

Games

XZR: Hakai no Gūzō

top-down perspective
scene from the MSX version of XZR.

XZR (エグザイル 破戒の偶像, Eguzairu: Hakai no Gūzō, lit. "XZR: Idols of Apostate"), the first game in the series, was originally released for the

overhead perspective and side-scrolling sections.[1] The plot of the original XZR has been compared to the later Assassin's Creed video game series.[5] The soundtrack for the PC-8801 version was composed by Yujiroh, Shinobu Ogawa and Tenpei Sato.[6]

The game centers on Sadler, a Syrian

Jewish village, and searching for Ouroboros. Eventually, Sadler makes his way back to Baghdad and murders the Caliph. It is then revealed that the Caliph was his father and they were separated when Sadler was kidnapped as a baby by the Assassins. The game then switches focus and enters a subplot about a Mongol invasion before Sadler is warped to the 20th century, where he must assassinate Russia's General Secretary and America's President, ending the game.[1]

Likely because of its controversial ending, Telenet chose not to port the original XZR when they decided to bring the series to home consoles three years later, opting to remake the sequel instead.

XZR II: Kanketsuhen

XZR II (エグザイルII 完結編, Eguzairu Tsū: Kanketsuhen, lit. "XZR II: Final Chapter") was released on December 17, 1988 for the

MSX2.[7] The soundtrack for the PC-8801 version was once again composed by Shinobu Ogawa and Tenpei Sato.[8]

XZR II depicts the further adventures of Sadler after the events of the previous game. Now living in the time of the

Tachikawa-ryu. Afterwards, Sadler travels back in time to Eden and meets Bacchus. Sadler also murders Hiram Abiff, a Masonic
figure. After defeating Jubelum of the Three Ruffians, Sadler receives the Holimax.

Exile

Exile (エグザイル〜時の狭間へ〜, Eguzairu: Toki no Hazama e, lit. "Exile: Into the Boundaries of Time"),

Renovation Products and the TurboGrafx-CD version published by Working Designs
. Exile is a remake of XZR II which rewrites most of the story, cutting one portion of the final act in which Sadler time travels to the present day (as it referenced the ending to the original XZR), and removes the character of Sufrawaldhi, Sadler's fourth traveling companion.

The Genesis version removed scenes deemed inappropriate, such as a burning village and instances of naked women in the later areas. Working Designs was asked by NEC to change some of the names in the TurboGrafx-CD version, concerned about the religious and drug-related elements. "Hence, the Christian Crusaders became the Klispin Crusaders. Given the rules from NEC, it was a pretty sensitive subject, so direct references had to be changed", explained Vic Ireland, who worked closely with the game's localization.[1] A town of crucified heretics being burned alive was left in the TurboGrafx-CD release, but removed from the Genesis version.

Exile: Wicked Phenomenon

The cover of the US version featured a photograph of a handcrafted final boss.

Exile: Wicked Phenomenon (エグザイルII 邪念の事象, Eguzairu Tsū: Janen no Jishō, lit. "Exile II: Wicked Phenomenon"), the final game in the series, was released in Japan for the Super CD-ROM2 add-on on September 22, 1992. It was released in North America on July 31, 1993, once again published by Working Designs.[11] While the previous games featured heavy religious elements, Sadler is now striving to defeat chaos and solve the mystery of an ancient tower.[12]

The game's cover art featured a photograph, a rarity for North America, of the game's final boss, handcrafted. Vic Ireland commented on it, saying that "the Exile 2 cover is polarizing. People love it or hate it. It's basically aping a style of diorama that was really popular to advertise games in Japan. NCS/MASAYA did quite a bit of it, and I wanted to bring that to the US as well. So, I chose Exile 2 as the game to try this on. The practical effects guy who did the little models on the set in the ad, had done FX work for movies like Tremors and has since done work for WETA in Australia. The smoke was a time exposure to give it a thickness and glow. When we ran the ad, EGM or Gamepro (I can't remember) sent us a survey they did months later with their readers that had that ad listed as the 'most remembered' ad from the whole magazine, which, I think, justified the experiment. We tried it again for Vasteel, but the results weren't that great, so we only used part of one of the space scenes on the back cover of the jewel case".[1]

Common elements

Characters

The protagonist of the series is Sadler (voiced by Kaneto Shiozawa in the Japanese CD-ROM version and by Blake Dorsey in English), a young warrior from the village of Assassi who excels in swordsmanship and martial arts. His companions include Rumi (voiced by Yūko Minaguchi in Japanese and Rhonda Gibson in English), a female fellow warrior from Assassi skilled in acrobatics and espionage; Fakhyle (voiced by Kōji Yada in Japanese and Keith Lack in English), an elderly magician who lends his powers to Sadler; and Kindhy (voiced by Hirohiko Kakegawa in Japanese and by an unknown actor in English), a silent giant with unmatched superhuman strength.

Gameplay

The series' games feature side-scrolling areas where players fight enemies. This is the final battle from Wicked Phenomenon.

The XZR/Exile series are

magic points
), two more statistics are represented on screen: AP (attack power, the player's offensive capabilities) and AC (armor class, the player's defensive capabilities), which are determined by Sadler's current level and equipment.

One notable aspect in the original computer versions are the presence of illicit drugs. In addition to conventional items such as a potions and medical herbs, Sadler also uses narcotics such as

marijuana and peyote
to heal himself or increase other attributes. The player's AP and AC statistics (represented by a heart-rate graph in the computer versions and green bars in the console version) are affected by the drugs Sadlers uses. Overusing certain drugs would result in side effects, including death. Exile, the console version of XRZ II, replaced most of the illicit drugs with fictionalized equivalents (e.g. Opiates became Heartpoisons), that lack the negative side effects of their original counterparts.

Exile: Wicked Phenomenon revamps several aspects of the previous games, ditching the hideout screens and adding the option to switch between Sadler or any of his companions (Rumi, Kindi and Fakhyle) during action segments, using each of their unique abilities. Wicked Phenomenon also brings back all the illicit narcotics missing in the original Exile, with the English version of the game using altered spellings for their names (e.g. cannabis became "cananavis"). While the AP and AC gauges are no longer present on the HUD (which instead shows the player's health, experience points and cash), the player can still use drugs to temporarily enhance their offensive and defensive stats.

Reception

Exile was rated 24.23 out of 30 by Japanese magazine PC Engine Fan.[10] It was later named one of "Renovation's Top 10 Games" on IGN.[13] Levi Buchanan of IGN said that "the translation in the Genesis edition is pretty bad, but that has little effect on the breadth of the adventure itself". The game was also featured in a positive light in the book The 8-Bit Book – 1981 to 199x by Jerry Ellis.[14]

Exile: Wicked Phenomenon was given a decent review from John Huxley at defunctgames.com. He wrote that "Exile is a solid game that successfully marries action and role-playing", but said that it was not as deep of an adventure as Ys I & II. He also mentioned that the voiceovers are "terrific", only complaining that the graphics in the cutscenes are "a little thin".[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Szczepaniak, John (2009-04-11). "Hardcore Gaming 101: Exile / XZR". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  2. ^ "Nihon Telenet advertisement". MSX Magazine (in Japanese): 41. July 1988.
  3. ^ "Nihon Telenet advertisement". MSX Magazine (in Japanese): 51. August 1988.
  4. ^ "'Might Have Been' - Telenet Japan". Game Set Watch.
  5. ^ Leo Chan, Sunsoft scores Telenet Japan franchises, Neoseeker, December 10, 2009
  6. ^ "XZR PC-8801 Original Soundtracks". VGMdb. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  7. ^ "Nihon Telenet advertisement". MSX Magazine (in Japanese): 71. January 1989.
  8. ^ "XZR II PC-8801 Original Soundtracks". VGMdb. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Exile (1992) at IGN". IGN.com. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  10. ^ a b "ROLEPLAYING GAME". PC Engine Fan (in Japanese) (PC Engine All Catalog '92: PC Engine Fan Appendix): 33-48 (34-5). August 1992.
  11. ^ "Telenet Japan at IGN". IGN.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2003. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  12. ^ "Exile: Wicked Phenomenon IGN". IGN.com. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  13. ^ Buchanan, Levi (2008-06-17). "Top 10 Renovation Games". IGN.com. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  14. ^ "The 8-Bit Book – 1981 to 199x". Hiivebooks.com. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-12-05. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  15. ^ Huxley, John (2008-01-13). "Exile - Wicked Phenomenon". defunctgames.com. Retrieved 2009-11-06.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Exile_(1988_video_game_series)&oldid=1186919852"