Maken X: Жиғаншор жауынгерлік ойын

1999 video game

Maken X is a first person hack and slash video game developed by Atlus for the Dreamcast. It was published by Atlus in Japan in 1999, while Sega localized and released the game overseas in 2000. Gameplay has the Maken—a sentient sword like being—"brainjacking" or taking control of multiple characters across a variety of levels; combat is primarily based around short ranged melee attacks, with some characters sporting additional abilities such as ranged attacks. The story is set on near future Earth during a time when the world is descending into chaos due to natural disasters and political upheaval in Europe and rising political tension between the United States and China. When the facility where the Maken was developed is attacked, the sword bonds to main heroine Kay Sagami and is sent on missions against the group responsible for the attack. Depending on dialogue choices and brainjacked characters, seven possible endings can be achieved. Concept work began during the middle of production on the Persona 2 duology. Featuring staff from the Megami Tensei franchise including artist Kazuma Kaneko and composer Shoji Meguro, development took approximately two years. It was the first game developed by Atlus to feature full voice acting, and one of the company's earliest fully 3D titles. The game was met with mixed reviews, but sold well in Japan. An enhanced remake for the PlayStation 2, Maken Shao: Demon Sword (魔剣 爻), was published by Atlus in Japan in 2001 and in Europe by Midas Interactive Entertainment in 2003. It changed a number of gameplay elements, introduced further cutscenes, adjusted the music, and added the third person perspective in response to a common trend in Japan of first person games causing motion sickness.

Maken X is a first person action hack and slash video game where players control a variety of characters wielding a sentient sword dubbed the Maken. On the world map, players can select a variety of levels including main story missions, zones holding new playable characters, and levels involving key non playable characters. If the player character's health is fully depleted, the game ends.

Maken X is set in a near future version of Earth, described as "five minutes" into the future, the limit of precognitive vision. In the world of Maken X, the spirit is a scientifically proven concept referred to as PSI, which arises from a separate dimension and is the source of emotion and sensation. Amid rising tensions and flagging negotiations between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China, the European Union is collapsing due to growing misfortune across Europe. The Maken's first and primary host is Kay Sagami; the daughter of the institute's leader Hiro Sagami and a Chinese mother who died when Kay was still young, Kay dreams of following in her father's footsteps. One ending has the Maken follow the Blademasters' orders, destroying the Sangokai and Geist while saving both Kay and Sagami; it is then sealed away as it has the potential of becoming a second Geist. Another ending sees the Maken allowing Kay to die, taking control of the American President following Geist's defeat. The third ending shows the Maken abandoning its mission in order to save Kay, which brings it into conflict with Geist—with the help of Kou, the Maken sacrifices itself and restores Kay to her body. Alternate versions of this route show the Maken being offered a deal by Geist if the Maken refuses to allow itself to die for Kay—accepting the truce restores Kay, while refusing it restores Sagami while the Maken permanently takes over Kay's body. Another route sees the Maken refuse to follow the Blademasters' orders and instead side with the Sangokai, killing Lee and joining Geist in creating a "utopia" by controlling human thoughts. If the Maken refuses to follow both the Blademasters and the Sangokai, it kills Geist while allowing Kay to die. The Maken is contacted by Lee's spirit, who says that the Maken is now the only being left capable of restoring the world.

The concept for Maken X arose while Atlus was part of the way through developing the Persona 2 duology (Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment) for the PlayStation. Producer Kouji Okada was one of the original creators of Atlus' Megami Tensei series. Longtime Megami Tensei artist Kazuma Kaneko acted as art director and character designer. The game was developed by internal studio Atlus R&D1. Most of the development team were directly carried over from the second Persona 2 game. Speaking in an interview, Okada and Kaneko referred to the development period for Maken X as quite turbulent. Kaneko felt at first that the game was an "odd job", but over time he became deeply involved as the game graduated into being an important project for him. It was the first time the team had tried development with the Dreamcast, which proved more versatile and powerful than expected. The developers initially wanted a "neat" development project, but demands came for a more expansive project, resulting in the game's scale greatly increasing and the development process becoming chaotic, with more staff coming on board to help development. Due to these factors, the period of trial and error when creating the gameplay lasted much longer than intended. The game was also the first time the Megami Tensei team had attempted development of a game outside the role playing genre. The musical style, which was described by Okada as "all techno music with heavy drumbeats", was intended to make the game feel "lively and fast". Due to his work, Meguro was unable to contribute to the Persona 2 duology at the time despite his previous involvement with Revelations: Persona. An official soundtrack was released by King Records in Japan on December 23, 1999. An album of remixed tracks from the game by a number of guest musicians, Maken X Remix Soundtrack L'Image, released by Avex Mode on January 19, 2000. The Maken X album, which became fairly rare in the years following its release, was later re released by Atlus on iTunes on June 1, 2011. A new remix track was included as an exclusive to the digital album.

Maken X was first announced in November 1998. Maken X was published by Atlus on November 25, 1999. While Atlus' earlier Megami Tensei titles were aimed fully at the Japanese market, Maken X had been designed from the outset to have an international appeal. One of the points Atlus was concerned about for the international version was the use of Nazi imagery for some enemies. Due to what were described as "cultural points that could be harmful", the game's graphics were altered for the international release to avoid controversy. The gameplay remained unchanged between versions. Kaneko described the voice recording as the most difficult part of the localization. Maken X was eventually released in North America on April 25, 2000. In Europe, the game was released on July 7 of that year. While the basic gameplay and the original plot were carried over, several adjustments were made. The biggest change was a shift from a first person to a third person perspective; this was done due to a recurring problem with Japanese gamers dubbed "3D sickness", where people became motion sick when playing first person games. The title's added "爻" character, an archaic Chinese symbol, was used as it represented two "X" characters, showing the game's status as an evolved version of Maken X. Meguro returned to compose for Maken Shao, remixing many paces and adding additional musical elements. Maken Shao was published by Atlus in Japan on June 7, 2001. It came with both standard and limited editions, with the limited edition having exclusive cover art. A mini album of new and remixed music from Maken Shao, titled Maken Shao Mini Soundtrack and released alongside the original album's iTunes release to celebrate the game's tenth anniversary. It was published as Maken Shao: Demon Sword by Midas Interactive Entertainment on June 27, 2003. This version was later re released by Midas Interactive Entertainment on the European PlayStation Network on February 27, 2013, as a PlayStation Classic title.

A manga adaptation written and illustrated by Q Hayashida was released between January 2000 and November 2001 by Kodansha. Titled Maken X: Another, the story followed a similar path to the original game. The manga was collected into two volumes and released under the title Maken X: Another Jack by Enterbrain on December 25, 2008. A comic anthology was published by Kodansha in March 2000. A novelization titled Maken X: After Strange Days, written by Akira Kabuki and published by ASCII Media Works, was released in April 2000.

In Japan, the game received high scores from critics. The Japanese Dreamcast Magazine gave Maken X scores of 9, 9 and 7 out of 10 from three critics, placing it among the issue's highest scoring games. Famitsu gave the game a score of 32/40, consequently receiving the magazine's "Gold" award. James Mielke of GameSpot called Maken X a strong addition to the Dreamcast library and a good game in its own right,

Nerys Coward of Official Dreamcast Magazine praised the story, calling it "theatrical and intriguing", Maken Shao entered Japanese charts at No. 2, coming in behind Phantasy Star Online Ver 2 and ahead of the PlayStation port of Shin Megami Tensei. Total sales for Maken Shao in Japan during 2001 stand at just over 40,000 units.