Xi: Continuum — Halfway Home
by ted2112, HSM team writer
One of the biggest games in Home has to be Xi:Continuum. It’s started so cryptically; the build-up was very well done. Before you knew it, the new Xi was here. I know many of us are playing it, and for those who still on the fence I suggest checking out KrazyFace’s excellent Dispatches from Xi right here on HSM for a taste of what you’re in for.
What I want to talk about here today is simply the game itself at its halfway point. Xi:Continuum is a augmented reality game that exists in real time on a forty-seven-day cycle. Each day you get a mission, or fact-finding research task. When you’re done you can’t continue the game; you have to wait until the next “real day.”
This version of Xi is the second on Home. The first one met with critical acclaim and has taken a place in the folklore of Home itself. There was no chance the new Xi could possibly live up to to our lofty memories of the first game; however, Xi: Continuum is an amazing game worthy of the Xi name, and if given a chance you will be swept away in it.
Xi: Continuum does a lot of thing right. The continuum itself is a blend of the surreal, and the bazaar familiar. The world is a dream-like city that seems to exist in an ethereal state of reality. You feel alone, yet surrounded by people. The way nDreams chose to portray fellow players in the game was spot on. Your fellow travelers are depicted as simple icons moving all around you. This allows us to truly focus on the biggest sandbox type of environment I have ever seen in Home, and all the clues and riddles in it rather than a public space and all the distractions that can be.
To call the space huge is an understatement. The continuum is a multilevel city with parks, buildings, mysterious corners, public transportation system and Stonehenge itself. The game space also ties into your personal apartment called the Vertigo Apartment. You alternate between exploring the city and time in your apartment. As you progress in the game, your apartment changes from a simple small space to a massive modular space that mirrors the continuum and also looks like it was designed by Salvador Dali himself. The nDreams team did a great job with the risk/reward unlocking of the apartment, which becomes a game unto itself.
The missions so far have been okay. The in-space missions have been a little on the repetitive side, and I’m not a fan of the battle system, but the out-of-space missions have been very fun and challenging. The build-up so far in the game at this halfway point has introduced us to all the competing factions within the continuum, and a very colorful cast of well-designed and unique characters. My personal favorite is MerylSilvertongue, a mysterious form of sleek silver with glowing eyes and a smile that says, “I know something you don’t.” It’s clear that the downhill side of this halfway point will be accelerating into a crescendo of action as the competing factions fight for control of the continuum.
At the mid-point of the game I still don’t know what’s going to happen. The writers have done a very good job at keeping their cards close to their virtual chests, without losing us in the process. The intricate web of characters and motives are delightfully intriguing, and we are still not totally sure who the good guys or the bad guys are. Most games spell things out from the first second, and I rather like not knowing what’s going on, as it heightens the experience. I just hope it’s not a letdown.
The amount of time we spend in the continuum is perfect. It is a place we can linger if we want explore or collect data packets, or play the 
card battle game to complete one of the many sub-objectives in the game. But, mostly, it is a place we can play, complete our daily objectives and then head back on up to the surface of Home and our usual activities there.
Overall, Xi: Continuum has been a delight to play and has a sense of community that brings people together, and that is just the kind of game we need in Home. We need to look past the frustrating long loading screens and comparing it to the original Xi to truly see the game as it is: a fun and immersive world unto itself.
I hope the people who loved the predecessor of Xi:Continuum will see it as a game “in the tradition of,” rather than falling short of the original. At this halfway point I’m hooked and can’t wait to find out what awaits me each day when I enter the continuum.
January 2nd, 2013 by ted2112 | 4 comments
ted2112 is a writer and a Bass player that has been both inspired and takes to heart Kurt Vonnegut words...."we are here on planet Earth to fart around, and don't let anyone tell you different."
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Like the concept, like the days when there are missions , been too many days where ive just had to pick up an email and that completes the days activities, I can handle the repetitive missions as I play GTA. Storyline has no real links to original XI except for involving certain names. overall in the confines of home its not a bad games. I would however shorten the playing cycle by taking out the days when the player just picks up an email.
The biggest problem Xi: C faces is its users. We’re all so used to being spoon-fed our games we can’t think for ourselves anymore. There’s LOADS of stuff related to Xi: C out there in the real world to find out about the characters, locations and story intricacies but people are not taking the initiative to find these things out. Instead they’re going to their space, skimming over the mail from their Primer then hitting X and going “Oh right, that’s me done for the day then”. This is exactly the OPPOSITE way to playing it properly. One of the reasons Xi was so cool in the first place was because of the fact you could go online, root around for a bit and find leads to things that some others never knew about. The Quinta Essentia is a good example of this; if you do zero research on this you’ll still be pretty lost about what it says, but just by doing a simple search about it with an internet browser will probably reveal most of its secrets to you.
All the clues are in each mail you get daily, and nDreams are doing a really good job of spacing out the breadcrumbs in my opinion. The people who think there’s not much to do in Xi: C and are claiming boredom are just not clever enough to use A) Their own instincts to follow the clues left in the Primer and B) Their own imagination. Sorry but, truth hurts huh.
Nice article Ted, a good summation of Xi: Continuum. Oh and HAPPY NEW YEAR FOLKS!
Good article and review. I don’t own the space and the game sounds intriguing but I just don’t have the time to play it. I saw a friend’s space and it was really cool looking, so hopefully I can hang out in theirs!! Hope you finish the game and it has a great ending!!!
The way I look at it we dont get a free apartment with game, we get a free game with the apartment. Many apartments now have unlockable aspects to then today. With Vertigo it’s the same. Turns to a HUGE apartment while advancing in the game.