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I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed completely

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: February 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I just finished this game last night, and I'm still blown away. I should have expected it, but still, the ending shocked me, and I couldn't help but nearly cry at the heavily religious themed ending. This wasn't the only time I was filled with emotion in this game. Scenes with the 'villain' gave me simpathy for a character who seemed to deserve none in the first game, and were often very heavy in nature. Shion is forced to make a choice which breaks her hearts and an emotional player's as well. This whole game is infused with emotional depth and philosophical ideas in a way no other video game can compare to, and will never fail to amaze the player at the power Xenosaga has over their hearts.

This amazing story is told through cut scenes with good graphics, some lasting at least 15 minutes. I never found myself tired of the endless cut scenes because the improved character models look great, the story is enormous, and the action scenes are greatly done.

For fans of the first game, gone are the four experience types, now you get three, and one of them you rarely get. Skill points are used to learn abilities on the new skill tree. All characters share the same skills, but each can put the skills to use differently. Class points are earned easily, from bosses and from mastering parts of the skill tree. Exp is earned from fighting battles, as usual. Some people say that the skill tree makes all characters nearly the same, but this is far from true. some characters have stronger ether (magic) casting ability, some have ether based attacks, strong against a few types of enemies, but horribly weak against others, some have strong physical attacks, some can only hit ground enemies, and some can knock enemies into the air and then hit them hard. Stocking allows you to build powerful combos to utilize the new break system. In the break system, certain move sets will 'break' the enemy, after which they will recieve slightly more damage and can be knocked to the ground or into the air. Using the improved boost function, which now goes with the entire party, as well as enemy party, you can have your other characters attack the enemies which are in the air and deal at least twice the normal damage. Gone are the long, annoying, repetitive animations from the first game, battles now go almost twice as fast, causing the game to be about half as short as the first. There is no money system in this game, although you can sell items for a side quest, so all items must be found or aquired from enemies, although eventually you will get spells which will make the items mostly unimportant, and the 'psycho pocket' skill will allow you to steal usefull items from enemies. Sadly, gone are Yasunori Mitsuda's orchestrated themes, now Yuki Kajiura is in charge of the music, which seemed to me to be so 'Phantasy Star 2' (Sega Genisis), which isn't a bad thing, I just miss the orchestra.

Anyway, I think I've summed up the differences well, so if you can get by those, you will hopefully enjoy the game. By the end of this game, even more than in the first, you will feel that you are standing in the middle of two very powerful, ancient forces, and the series is reaching the point of being an epic. If you haven't played the first yet, there's a lot going on in this game, it will be confusing to someone who hasn't played the first. It's a greatest hits title, so you can pick it up without emptying your wallet.

I Really Wanted to Love This Game...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'm a big fan of the first installment of Xenosaga. Speaking as a woman who enjoys RPG's, it's difficult for me to find a game that really appeals to me. I need to feel involved in the story and attached to the fate of the characters, and a lot of the hack 'n' slash games out there just don't do it for me. Xenosaga was different. It was set in space (a nice change of pace) and I loved the engaging storyline and fun characters portrayed in Episode One. As far as I was concerned, the game offered the perfect balance between plot development and mindless fighting. When I heard that XENOSAGA EPISODE II Jenseits von Gut und Bose was in development, I waited anxiously for its release. Now that I've played the sequel, however, I'm disappointed, and that's a bummer. I really wanted to love this game.

The second installment has issues. It's still worth playing, if you like the series and enjoy the storyline (which I do). Most of the problems are outlined in the other reviews (boring battles, etc.), so I won't waste your time listing them again. There is one thing (in my opinion), however, that makes it almost impossible to get through this game - the music. Episode I had nice background music - sufficiently (but not overly so) epic in battle and nicely soothing when in town or on the ship. It complemented the 90+ hours of gameplay necessary for finishing the game. The soundtrack for the sequel, however, is without a doubt the most annoying music I have ever been subjected to - always either feverishly heroic or nerve-gratingly inane. The music in Second Miltia alone makes you want to poke your eyes out. I finally resorted to playing the last chapter of the game with the sound off most of the time. If and when Chapter III is released, I sincerely hope that the soundtrack is better.

Predictable

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: August 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Alot of reviews have been given for this game as "REALLY BAD." I'm one of those people who lets things slide. I'm a big RPG gamer. If you're just looking for fighting in a game. Stay away from this one. This needs alot of role playing consciousness. It has a FANTASTIC storyline (surperior to alot of other RPGs), but the game should have been a movie if you ask me. This game goes back to the past, alot of flashing back and forth and alot of surprises. On "The Trio" as I would say. Jr. Albedo and Gaignun. Don't worry about other characters. They're not as important here. But don't let that get you down.

It summerizes everytime I turn the game on to back where I left off, (loading from memory card) so that should help people who dooesn't game much. I couldn't understand why people wouldn't get the storyline if the UMN at the beginning of the game allows a feature to review what has already happened. I'm guessing people are giving irks about that.

I would probably complain about the voice actors and battle system, alot of people would probably say the same thing. I do not mind KOS-MOS' voice actor as much as Shion and chaos. chaos (Yes no caps) is too stoic for me, after playing Xenosaga I (over and over in order to get his character down, hey he's not human!), I'd say he doesn't add much to the action in the beginning where all the cool fight scenes are. The beginning of this game, IS AWESOME. Yes AWESOME. (Voice actors killed it.)

Shion, I would say, is a mess, her attitudes and momentum throws me off everytime a new situation becomes bad. How can she sound so perky all the time? I would definately go with the voice actor in Xenosaga I if I were to choose between the two. And the old voice actors are wonderful as always, Albedo, Jr., Gaignun, and Captain Matthews. Yar they're the same.

The battle system, yes it's a pain. You're not actually fighting. You spend most of your time "stocking up" and letting your enemies rag doll you most of the time. Stocks are like AP in Xenosaga I, except you can only add one stock each turn, or use an ether "Stock 1" to add a stock to another character. After you attain a certain amount of stocks you are presented a number of combo options. The more stocks, the better combo. It becomes an issue because I would have to run around and train in the same area in order to get enough levels or TM points (in order to get Medica All, it becomes valuable, trust me.) I was hoping that this game system would take a tiny bit from Final Fantasy X (because you can to switch characters in battle) however, unlike FFX, this only allows share of spoils (TM points EXP etc.) to the remaining three characters standing in battle. It becomes a real disadvantage if you have characters that have some abilities, but not others. (Medica, Revert, Refresh, etc. although they all have the same abilities to learn, such as Psycho Pocket.) I would suggest picking three main characters and if you do have a strategy guide, ignore the character reccomendations. I chose to maintain Jr., KOS-MOS, MOMO, or Ziggy. (Robotics addict.) Unlike Xenosaga I, tech attacks are only avalible with doubles. So say you have KOS-MOS and Shion, if you have the key for the ability Double X-Buster with a boost and a certain amount of stocks, you can do a tech a attack. Once per battle.

Also, alot of people are confused about "break zones." It's hard to explain in words, there are tutorials in the game. But it's something so that you think you'll always have to rely on combos. It's like suppose you have an enemy with a break zone of B, A.
On your controller there's a:

O which represents "A" or "B" (Some characters such as Shion and MOMO have only B as combos so you press O all throughout for a "B")
Triangle which represents "C"
Square which represents "B"

Those buttons represent letters. Characters have combos accordingly to the buttons you press. So you attack with Square and O. Then their zone is broken. You give more heavy damage by following the character with O buttons for "break bonus" this just means you successfuly broken through their break zone and you are currantly giving more than average damage.
This all comes down to your characters. Characters have different combos. It's much more simple to play it rather than explain it. There's more to it though. Battle slots are still there, and a few more quirks.

A few notes:
Jr. - A bit weak. He doesn't have a lot of enemies that has a weakness for him. But I use alot of skill upgrades so that he gets to make quick work of Albedo.
KOS-MOS - She's super strong against Gnosis. (Fitting of course.)
MOMO - She's a super valuable asset. I use her ALOT. Her ether bow kills.
Ziggy - He's good against anything. Like bosses.

Another battle system irk is the "Move" command. I use that command to do efficient back shots. But the stupid thing is that if I move to the other side, my character is facing his/her back towards the enemy. Then I'll have to wait next term to attack in order to make her face the enemy. (Confusing ya.)

Speaking of areas, the maps are smaller compared to other games I played, so there's fewer enemies to bash. A bit convienient but gets tiresome if you're trying to get treasures around the block. The UMN encephalon has changed. Now you don't have to worry about exiting through a plate. Just start menu and exit. But I really hate knowing that two disks can only contain about 30 maps. It goes by fast. I mean, really fast. Before the first disk was over I was halfway through the stradegy guide. (And I don't usually buy stradegy guides.) The only things that are making the game longer are the GS campaigns, I'd totally reccommend that you do it or else you won't get all the nifty stuff that would make gameplay a bit more "exhilerating." Like double tech attacks and all those other cool items. (Believe or not I haven't used any item in the game yet, not even a Med Kit.) I'm a thrifty person, knowing that there is no currency = no shops. And I hate the puzzles in this game. It gets on your nerves eventually. Even little tiny puzzles.

The maps are beautifully rendered. One thing I'm ticked off about is that there's no radar. You just have to wait to be ambushed unless you memorize every quirk in the area (which doesn't take a lot since you eventually visit the maps over and over.) Sometimes you can't even smash the traps before the enemy ambushes you.

Although I can't say the same for the characters, even though it's become all realistic, it's become too femme for me. KOS-MOS' new design throws me off, and that's why I put the bathing suit on her for battle, Shion is also a bit femme for me. But I would totally think guy gamers would fall for them eh.

I would also say the same for the guys, they grown cuter, but I still am not pleased with the new character design after I played it.

E.S.s I almost forgot about that. (I was reading other reviews.) Piloting the E.S. is like the A.G.W.S. only more bulky and cooler. The thing that pissed me off for the E.S. is that it's slow on the maps. No matter which E.S. you chose, Dinah, Zebulan, Asher. It's slow. Pathetically slower than the human lead characters. I would love it if they had more abilities and hope that they STOP STOCKING UP. I almost died because half-way I did not have Zebulan (that's the only E.S. that can use ether = heal). But I love the E.S. Much more detailed and beautiful things than the A.G.W.S.

Music is a bit more techy. Very techy. I don't like most of the soundtrack. Gives me a headache. I love orchestra, but that's me. (like Chrono Cross, FFX, and Xenosaga I etc.)

Three stars, it's not the living saga, there's not a "true game" thing going on. Not enough for me to play over and over. If you're into SCI-Fi storyline, random philosophies, techy mechas. (Like me) This game would probably love you. But not as much for me. (And I ain't no star wars fan but I'm loyal enough to keep Xenosaga as my favorite RPGs)

Didn't live up to its title

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I am one of those people who is addicted to the Xenosaga series. But that is only because I played the first game. This sequel tried to fix everything that was not perfectly mainstream about the first game and ended up ruining almost everything that made the first game worth playing. That might be a bit of an exaggeration since I did enjoy this game, but it's not far off.
The new character designs are not nearly as polished as the first games characters were. The environment graphics are better, but not by much. The changes in voice actors for Shion, KOS-MOS, and MOMO were not welcomed or appreciated. I had a difficult time trying to reconcil the characters I loved in the first game with the new versions.
The game play started out being confusing and ended up being annoying. The way it works is that each enemy has a break code, and you have to figure out that break code and then usually boost a second character to continue your attack after you've entered it to do any real damage to your enemies. This ends up making battles long and drawn out to the point where sometimes I wanted to stop in the middle of them.
This games comes in two discs, the first disc is mostly cut scenes. The second disc is a string of pointless and difficult boss fights.
The only redeeming thing about this game as a Xenosaga installment is its story. Granted, this game was much worse than the first in linear story telling, but those who want some answers from the mysteries proposed in the first game get a small taste of the truth. Even though I think that the developers have forgotten half of the stuff that happened in the first game at this point.
If you loved the first game, I'd recommend playing through this one just to know what the thing was about and to see the ending. Then I'd start hoping that someone with brain is in charge of the third episode.

A Worthy Sequel ( with a few changes)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: February 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The first Xenosaga was a great game, and my all time favorite. This one comes a close second. There is a new battle system, and graphics are overall enhanced. And if you have at least a decent home theatre system, the game sounds absolutely magnificent, especially during cut scenes where Dolby Digital 5.1 kicks in. On my 51' HDTV with Bose surround system, it was a true slice of heaven and the cut scenes became truly something of an epic. Words simply cannot do justice to how good the overall experience of the game can be with the right system. I haven't seen many games with this high of a production value. I understand that the number one complaint about the first game was the long cut scenes and now you have the option of skipping them (although I personally loved every minute of it and don't understand why you'd want to skip them, as they are vital to the game.. the series was never meant to be a 'light' RPG..)

Few changes have been made that may or may not be good depending on one's taste. One, they changed the voice actors for a few characters. Two, there is a new music composer, so if you loved the music from the previous game, you might be a little dissapointed. Finally, and this is just a rumor I heard and I may be wrong on the details, one of the original story writers seem to have left the game. As to where this will take the future progression of the Xenosaga series, I don't know. But the story so far was very satisfying, and I'm already looking forward to the third one. Since there hasn't been any RPGs of this caliber for PS2 recently(Except for Shadow Hearts 2, but it was released nearly 5 months ago..) do yourself a favor and give it a try. Oh, and if you still haven't, make sure you play the first one before you play this one. The first game can be picked up for around $15 bucks now I believe, truly a bargain if there ever was one. You won't be dissapointed.

Fan of the Xeno series? You'll love it. New to the game? Very good game, try it.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: March 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Simply put, Xenogears + Xenosaga 1 & is the absolute best storyline, and best role playing experience on the PS2 to date.
I do strongly believe that Xenosaga 2 has the best storyline in any RPG I have ever, ever played, including Final Fantasy 7, Xenogears, and hundreds of others. Because RPGs are strongly reliant on storyline for gameplay, I consider this to be the pinnacle of Role Playing on the PS2. Final Fantasy X comes close, as does Star Ocean, but in terms of storyline, this game beats them.
However, I did have to mark down for a few other minor flaws. This game is highly a niche game, only for those who enjoy the style, and the sci fi setting. It's also very short.....20 hours if you play straight through (no leveling up). Maybe 38-42 hours if you take up the side-quests and want a strong character.

Gameplay: The first Xenosaga highly relied on cut scenes and narrative. In fact, I absolutely could not stand the battle system. Xenosaga Episode 2 still relies heavily upon that storytelling through hours of cut scenes, but it fixes the battle system.

The battle system is, simply put, one of the most fun turn-based systems I have ever experienced. While Xenosaga Episode 1's battle system seemed slow and unwieldy, Episode 2 has a fast paced, action packed, and highly challenging battle system.

You have 3 characters on the screen at just about all times, these characters can be switched off in a manner much like FFX, but it costs a turn in this game, causing it to be more tactical.

Each turn you have many options; you can attack (more on various attacks later), stock (save a turn for the next turn in order to get a combo), use ether (read: magic), or change your battle party.

If you choose to attack, there is a whole slew of options here as well. Most importantly is learning the weak points of the enemy. Every enemy, including bosses, have a certain attack combination that will be most effective against them. When you attack, you can press either square, which is a B zone attack, Triangle, which is a C zone attack, or circle, which is another B zone attack. Certain characters also have an A zone attack, but this is only against flying opponents. You must expierament with the enemies in order to learn the zones they are weakest in. Sometimes, you may be required to 'stock' for a turn in order to attack the enemy in its weak zone.

"What is the advantage of attacking weak zones?" you ask. Well, it allows for large scale, damage pounding comboes that are absolutely essential in this game. Once you have hit all of the enemy's weak zones, you can do a "break" on them. This involves the circle button. Once a character is 'broken', they can be tossed into the air, or attacked while prone on the ground. This can add up to tons of damage if you plan your boosting right.

Boosting is another integral part of the combat system. Pressing the R1 button brings up a 3 slot meter which is sometimes empty, but it may feature the character potraits of some of your characters. If you press R1, and then the button (square, triangle, or circle) that that character's potrait is on, they will boost forward, and immediately after the acting unit has taken its turn, this new character will have a turn.

Enemies, however, can take advantage of all of these systems as well. If you do not plan well, or randomly attack without comboes, the enemy will break you, boost ahead several times, and can easily destroy one of your characters in one short, brutal assault. Countless times my entire party was destroyed by simple enemies that should have been no problem, merely because I did not plan ahead. You will get very, very used to seeing the game over screen. The plus side of this difficulty is that you feel real exhiliration when you win, it is a great accomplishment. Note that even with power levelling, it won't help you much in some situations, believe me, I tried.

Finally, there is Ether. Ether skills are basically magic, if you know anything about RPGs at all, then you know basically what is present here, healing ether skills, attack ether skills, nothing big.

I forgot to mention the E.S. units. These are basically mechs, and were called A.G.W.S. in Episode 1. Many points in the game involve you using these to move around and fight, and now they have an independant battle system. It's basically the same as the one with your characters on screen, except that you only have one attack a turn, no comboes or anything like that. It is just an added piece of fun to an already awesome game.

There is a skill system in place. After every battle you earn class pointss and/or skill points. These can be spent on getting new ether skills, or new upgrades to your characters that can make them more resilient when you equip them. Every character has the same skill set, and this is a minor flaw that slightly brings down the gameplay score, but not the overall enjoyment in the least.

Finally, one other flaw with the gameplay is that there are no weapons, and no armor. Both of these are RPG standard fare, and it seems kind of odd to not have either. This may just be something the developers decided not to do that I disagree with, but it still seems a little odd. Note that this really does not detract from the game in any way.

In Xenosaga 2, they also opted to add a lot more puzzle solving than episode 1 had. The interesting thing is that these puzzles, while challenging, don't take away from the gameplay expierience at all. In fact, I found many to be very enjoyable.

The storyline of this game is simply incredible. But, keep in mind that it is basically required that you have beaten Xenosaga episode 1 if you want to understand it at all, or at least be acquainted with the story in some manner. If you haven't played it, the best way is to get the bonus DVD that came with the game, there are probably some somewhere around, maybe even on ebay, that allows you to see 4 hours of cut scenes from the original. This can substitute in for those who dont want to spend the 60-80 hours required on Xenosaga episode 1 to beat it.

Anyway, I digress, Xenosaga 2's storyline is more of the space opera fun. Often times I got very emotional, and the game can tug on your heartstrings. In the ending sequence of the game, a spectacular event lasting about 15 minutes, I was seriously in tears. This game can do that to you, the storyline is that good. It is also filled with entrigue, betrayal, new discoveries, and new secrets. It is truly incredible. I have seen certain reviews that say the storyline doesn't solve everything, it doesn't solve all the mysteries. Let me tell you something: it's not supposed to. Xenosaga is going to be a 4-8 part series, and the storyline is continuous. It makes no sense at all to have the story be complete in only episode II. I see no reason why anyone could possibly complain about it.

Graphics: The graphics of Xenosaga 2 are basically the same as they were in episode 1. No real improvements at all. They are still great though, and the cut scenes are gorgeous. My one real complaint here is that the lip sync is sometimes off (a problem with just about every RPG with voice overs), and some of the environments are a little dull. This is made up for in the environments that are simply breathtaking.

Sound: The soundtrack of Xenosaga Episode 2 is godlike. From the opening theme to the battle music to the catchy Japanese sounding tunes that ring in your head forever, this music is INCREDIBLE. The voice acting is also absolutely superb, I have zero complaints, this is a rarity. Sound effects are also very appropriate, and very well done.

Value: The game is hurt in the value department only because of its length. To put it in perspective, the first playthrough took me about 28 hours, but more like 30 if you count all the times I died and had to go back to the point I got killed at. After you win, you can use your game clear file to access even more goodies like some bonus bosses, dungeons, and side quests, and this helps make up for the shorter length. Personally, I think its the best $50 I have ever spent.

Tilt: Finally, the overall enjoyment. This game is simply the most enjoyable game I have played on the PS2. I completed it after several all-night gaming sessions, and it will most likely keep you up too. The Role Playing experience here is superb, the storyline is possibly the best in RPG history, and the battle system is incredible and in depth. There is virtually nothing not to like. As an avid RPG gamer, I recommend this game as highly as is possible. However, there are a few things to consider: can you handle the challenge, and do you like the Space Opera/Anime feel? If you answered yes to both, get this game.

The series killer?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Pros:
- Mechs are a bigger part of the games (you actually have to use them),
- The graphics of the cutscreens are great, and the graphics overall are better
than before,
- A couple of the characters look better,
- Much harder than Episode I,
- More optional bosses,

Cons:
- New battle system is a load of mouse spunk (can I say spunk?),
- Most characters look worse (especially Kos-Mos), and Jin travels
throughout space with no pants on,
- Almost all of the sidequests are terrible,
- Very short,
- The story is much weaker,
- The dictionary is gone; and so are Shion's glasses,
- No shops. Why are there no shops?
- Too much more to list. Just bad. The movie "Howard the Duck" is better than
this.

How can a game be so good...and yet so bad?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Okay, first off, the story aspect of Xenosaga II is awesome. Totally amazing, maybe my favorite video game story ever. It's incredibly deep for a video game and it manages to induce such a wide range of emotions. The graphics are also great, although not much improved over the last game. The music and sound are quite nice. For all these things, I have to give Xenosaga II an overall 4.

However, the gameplay aspect of Xenosaga II is horrible. There are so many bad things about it that I can't even begin to name them all. I beat the whole game in 30 hours and it could have been done in just over 20 I bet. The abilities that you have at the beginning of the game are all that you'll ever need, so the "skills" that you learn are totally useless, other than healing and a few support skills. The only effective way to defeat an enemy is to stock 9 actions at the beginning of every battle while the enemy just attacks you. There are no stores or shops so you have a constant shortage of items. The battles are inconsistent, sometimes they will be incredibly hard, and then the next battle with similair enemies will be easy.

And then theres the Good Samaritan Campaign. Remember all the fun minigames in Xenosaga I? Well they've been replaced by about 40 "side events", most of which involve running senselessly between the Kukai Foundation and Second Miltia. If you do many of these then it will take HOURS. But who needs to save the future when you can deliver letters, wash windows, and fix water pipes? Of course by the end of the game, you realize that most of these gs campaigns were useless anyway since you never need to use the abilities that you gain. To distract yourself from the monotony of these events, I would suggest making your favorite fighter the leader (I like Jr) and shooting cars at the Kukai Foundation since this is certainly more entertaining than most of the gs stuff.

People critiszed Episode I for to many cutscenes, so they cut them down in Episode II. However, in this game, the cutscenes are the only redeeming feature. If they were to cut out the gameplay and just make this a movie, it would be much improved. This is quite different from Xenosaga I which was very much the whole package. I still have to rate this game pretty high though because the cinematic aspect was perfect. Fans of the series will thouroughly enjoy this game if they can suffer through the gameplay.

Its the story that matters anyway

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: September 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Before I begin this review, I'm going to say that I am not going to explain many things about the gameplay since all those who reviewed the game before me point it out more than once.

The main problem with the game is that, as the first one, it is way too short. Judging from the production time for each of the first two installments thus far (about two to three years each) it is unlikely that any of the following installments are going to be any longer, as it would take twice as long to make a 50 hour game on this scale. Second, the difficulty is there, somewhat, but my first time through the game, even through the dozens of boss battles, I never actually died. Never. The first episode was much more difficult.

NOW, for the main point of my review...one does not play Xenosaga for groundbreaking gameplay, so hearing people talking about the bad decisions with the battle system or the repeating dungeons makes no sense. With Xenogears (episode 5 of the series for those who haven't played that masterpiece), the gameplay was important. In Xenosaga, one plays in order to get to the next cutscene. The story IS the reason why Xenosaga has the kind of popularity it has. Its the reason why people talk about it on countless forums and write fanfics. Episode 1 had a great foundation-setting story that introduced the main players of the first 3 episodes of the 6-part saga (episode 3 will be the last with Shion and co., although reportedly KOSMOS and chaos are going to continue on until the very end, hmmmm...). The story in episode 2 does not disappoint. In fact, I think it was better than the first one. Let me explain.

In episode 2, the focus for about sixty or seventy percent of the game is on Jr., Albedo, Gaignun, and MOMO. Other characters, including KOSMOS and even the gnosis, take back seat to the URTV subplot. Now, one might call this heresy, since Shion is the main character, arguably, and she is not the main focus of the game. However, the shift in focus serves wonders in hindsight, since the various flashbacks into the past allow us to see how most of the less major characters tie together. I don't want to ruin any surprises for anyone, but just let me say that basically every character that has a speaking role is all tied together in some way to the events 14 years prior on Second Miltia. It was important to have this part of the story because it serves as a bridge between the first and upcoming third installment. Without it, many of the motives that drive each of the characters would not be understood. Why was Jr. so close to MOMO in episode 1? Why was Juli Mizhrahi reluctant to see MOMO, her supposed daughter, who is also a machine? What led to Jr. and Albedo being on Second Miltia, and what were they doing? How is chaos involved with anything at all? What happened in Ziggy's past? Who is Nephilim? Who is Wilhelm, and who is the red cloaked man who speaks with him? These questions and more are either answered or considered in this installment. Now, the game does go to great lengths to raise new questions, but it does so in the process of clearing up several other things that were left unclear about the characters themselves from the first part.

It would be better to call the first installment a swashbuckling action adventure, whereas this one is more of a character study. I'm not saying that this doesn't have some of the most exciting cutscenes in video game history, but it is much more intriguing when we have characters like chaos and newcomer Jin sitting down in the twilight begin philosophically discussing human nature in the context of their own experiences. This game really is a stepping stone that puts it into epic status, where the story is sweeping and spans over generations of experiences of dozens of different people.

If you go into this game expecting gameplay, you're playing the wrong genre, let alone game. RPGs haven't been original since FFIV introduced Active time battle anyway. But if you go into episode 2 understanding that you are about to experience something that transcends simple video games, you will be more than happy with this. This is by no means a great game, but the story is simply beyond anything you've ever read. You don't play Xenosaga, you experience it. Perhaps Xenosaga would have been served better as a gargantuan series of novels, but Tetsuya Takahashi chose to make video games, and I have to respect that.

An RPG to look forward to.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: January 30, 2005
Author: Amazon User

No, I haven't played this game, but I can't believe people are giving 1 and 2 star ratings to a game that has not even been released yet!! Stranger still is that these low ratings are being given to a game whose predecessor received critical acclaim! Anyway, I am very much looking forward to this game. All previews thus far have been very positive. I'm always a sucker for a good story and I'm sure this one, like the first game, will have it in spades. The graphics look sweeter, they are making the battle system more fun, and it looks like they are addressing the problem of the extremely long cut scenes from the first one. Any RPG fan should definitely keep a good eye on this one.

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