Does X Series have 'character'?

[WedgeA]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and the series. As a veteran of Elite, Privateer and Galaxy on Fire (mobile), I'm really excited about X:Rebirth. Especially as the UI now seems more user friendly.

My question for this topic is will X:Rebirth have 'character' to it's characters, ship or environment as other franchises do? This will get more people interested in the series as it will be more immersive.

By 'character' I mean memorable and iconic. Something immediately associated with the franchise across different mediums eg. Firefly has the ship, crew and Chinese influenced slang, Wing Commander had the implacable Kilrathi and iconic ships like the Darket and Hornet etc. C&C had the iconic villain Kane ('Kane lives!') and the interesting Nod & GDI factions, whose units were influenced by their divergent philosophies.

Is there such a ship or race or character in the. Series? The nearest I can see are the evil Xenon. But they're rather impersonal as their ships. Evil AI.

Are the Xenon likely to appear as Cylon 'skin job' types? That would add immeasurably to the story.

[Stellen]

Other people may disagree with me, but as a long-term player, in my opinion, no.

The previous versions have really been pure sandbox titles, so any 'character' is one which the player has to add for theirself.

[vahadar]

Imho of course there is that "character",, spaning from the earliest titles you have the Khaak race, which is at the center of many plots, the Brennan "dynasty" (the hero characters for X2 and X3 Reunion). Or the Xenon, just because of their background even if pretty dull race.

[robalexhall]

Out of movie/TV scifi X feels more like Farscape than anything else.

What makes X stand out specifically for me?

I think that would be the music, the sense of being in a huge weird universe (not earth from the future except tangentially) and the ship designs which are very distinctive especially in X3.

[PlasticineDog]

I think X3: Reunion was the last game with any real character. It gave the player character a face and a voice, like in X2. And you had real plot characters to interact with and take missions from.

TC and AP were pretty lifeless (though still a lot of fun, don't get me wrong) the player had no character and the plot NPCs all had the generic faces that every ship in the universe used.

Personally, having only ever played Reunion once, I remember a whole lot more from that game's plot than the several times I played through TC and AP's plots.

[Vandragorax]

I'll agree that X3: Reunion was the one with most character. However everything I've seen so far of X:Rebirth shows that they have really thought about this, for a start I love the little HUD inside your cockpit where you get a video feed of NPCs who are talking to you - it just adds that extra dimension and immersion to gameplay and is definitely a good step

[Ericius11]

That's a rather complicated question. On one hand, there are definitely iconic images/themese in the game. For example, you may notice people quoting the different ways the races speak and act (Profitsssss!). And of course everyone who played X3 knows the Argon girl, Susie, has extremely absent-minded parents. Then there's the UFO whose top secret base (full of treasures beyond belief!!) has yet to be discovered.

So yes, the game has character. But unless you've played the game, you won't understand it. You see, all the examples you (and I) have mentioned hinge upon the fact that other people have played the same games as you. If they haven't, then they don't know Kane from C&C, or who the Kilrathi are. The X-games have a smaller fan base than other games, so outside of these forums, the "iconic" images are completely... alien... ahem, excuse the pun.

[Earth Ultimatum IV.]

Of course there are some memorable characters.

Julian Brennan, the Kha´ak buster.
Kyle Brennan, the Xenon hunter.
Bret Serra, that dude who sacrificed himself to destroy the Kha´ak mothership and saved the Omycron Lyrae.
Ban Danna, the captain of Argon One who participated many battles, together with Bret Serra, Julian Brennan and Saya Kho.
Bala Gi, the great scientist and ship designer.
Saya Kho, that crazy babe.

And in X Rebirth, the two main characters: Ren Oteni, and his co-pilot Yisha.

[Killjaeden]

Other people may disagree with me, but as a long-term player, in my opinion, no.

The previous versions have really been pure sandbox titles, so any 'character' is one which the player has to add for theirself.

Actually, i agree. X lacks iconic stuff (arguably because the ship visuals changed over time from xbtf to X3 and now again in XR, and real characters where only displayed in tiny windows).
The only thing that makes it "iconic" is the Trade fight build think options, and beeing an open world sandbox.

You can't call the persons in the plot iconic. They are a tiny fraction of the game and tbh the plot never was a strong point of X
And with the Skunk looking kind off ugly i see little chance of it becoming iconic as in "yeah, cool, i want that modded into another game". People only ever want ships from other universes modded into X

[InFlamesForEver]

From what I've played of the previous games X has huge amount of character, a really stupid character called the auto-pilot...

I'm hoping that character will be much smarter in the next game!

Jokes aside I don't care for the story or characters in games like X, I just set my own goals and get to them outside of a plot. I usually go for universal conquest but that's just me

[Nomadski]

As per the first response, what you bring to the game yourself will determine how much character the game has, it will be different for every player, it really is a sandbox.

For me the Teladi stand out with their Ferengi - like ways, the dullcet computer voice announcing the sector name, THAT noise when some red targets come in (like a squarky bleep), the feeling of OMG when you inadvertedly arrive in a sector FULL of red.

The Khaak and Xenon are great villains imo, and in the early game you really didnt want to come across them.

In X3 I always had a sense of isolation, if that is the right word to use, it sounds slightly depressing, but being in space it suited the game.

All these things may not be iconic like your examples to the mass market, but to me they all added something to the X universe.

So yes, the game has character, you maybe have to play and experience the game to feel whatever that character is for yourself though.

[Geek]

X series had character... it just had different, various names.
Depth. Freedom. Learning curve.

Do you want proof ? That character was brutally murdered to take over Rebirth.

[Shootist]

X series had character... it just had different, various names.
Depth. Freedom. Learning curve.

Do you want proof ? That chacacter was brutally murdered to take over Rebirth.

Have you played the game?

[Ericius11]

Do you want proof ? That chacacter was brutally murdered to take over Rebirth.

And another perfectly good thread bites the dust...


{Not if you can refrain from responding to it. Ignore it and it will probably go away. Nanook }

[Jumee]

Other people may disagree with me, but as a long-term player, in my opinion, no.

The previous versions have really been pure sandbox titles, so any 'character' is one which the player has to add for theirself.

Actually, i agree. X lacks iconic stuff (arguably because the ship visuals changed over time from xbtf to X3 and now again in XR, and real characters where only displayed in tiny windows).
The only thing that makes it "iconic" is the Trade fight build think options, and beeing an open world sandbox.

You can't call the persons in the plot iconic. They are a tiny fraction of the game and tbh the plot never was a strong point of X
And with the Skunk looking kind off ugly i see little chance of it becoming iconic as in "yeah, cool, i want that modded into another game". People only ever want ships from other universes modded into X

Agree completely with these too, whenever you think about X games there really isnt anything that springs to mind, like a ship, a station, a race or whatever. Dont get me wrong I really like X games but they do not have character (Skunk is too ugly too, so I doubt Rebirth will change that)

[Funktapus]

When I first got into X3, I was pretty surprised by the lack of atmosphere. I started out in Herron's Nebula with no idea what I was supposed to be doing or who I was watching fly around (even a visual explanation for why I was drifting in space, like a cinematic intro). Some people like that feeling of alienation, but I can see how its a turn off for most people.

I think the core of the X games (TFBT) would be much more fun in the context of a lively and charismatic universe. It's okay if we suddenly show up in a strange and mysterious universe, but frame it in terms of a story.

[WedgeA]

Having read through the replies, I agree with those who state that the very lack of an in-depth character driven story framing the game, steep learning curve, the feeling of 'isolation' (appropriate in the depths of space) and the music (Seconds to Eclipse is epic) might actually be what core players associate with the X Series.

Maybe the focus on characters and increased use of NPC's and crew (incl. plot derived crew with some backstory) points to Egosoft trying to find a happy medium.


What if the Xenon in X:Rebirth were to evolve into humanoid forms, like the Cylons which added depth to the storyline in BSG? I always like a villain with a good story ie. the humans created and used us as slaves dispite our sentience and we rebelled and attacked the 12 colonies.....

[Zelnot]

I'm new to the forum and the series.

My question for this topic is will X:Rebirth have 'character' to it's characters, ship or environment as other franchises do?
By 'character' I mean memorable and iconic. Something immediately associated with the franchise across different mediums

First of all, welcome to the forum and to the X universe.

I can not answer your question by looking at a single franchise itself furthermore it may be hard, to find any connection between X Rebirth and Galaxy on Fire. But you may come across some statements like "Rebirth copied this from Freelancer" or "the new Elite stole ideas from X".

However, you would be surprised if you look at what all of the modern Sci-Fi media copy from authors like Isaac Asimov etc, making these statements insignificant. Of course not all of the people ever get thus far - to infinity and beyond!


Or in other, more understandable words: You will never find a Max Payne and Duke Nukem making out with Lara Croft, doing it jersey-style unless you are willing to expand your horizon.

[Earth Ultimatum IV.]

Julian Brennan and his father Kyle Brennan.
Those are probably the most interesting and important characters of the X series.

[gapgap72]

Guys, tell me that the Colossus from X3 is not iconic, and I will be sure that you have never played this series

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