Monolith Soft and I have an on again, off again relationship. The earliest game that they developed which I was aware of was Xenogears for the PS1, which is considered a classic by some. Personally, I found it as boring as dirt. The battle engine, which admirably tried to be different, seemed broken and bloated and not at all fun. Character customization was likewise extremely limited, and the awful camera angle combined with the “jumping” segments made navigating the game world a complete chore. On the other hand the story, considered by many to be the main draw of the game, seemed overly pretentious and appeared to fall apart right in front of my eyes (probably hampered further by a frustratingly dry translation). To top if all off, I have a genuine, personal dislike for impractical giant mech robots, and Xenogears had them in spades. And yet, despite these obvious issues, when Xenogears came out for PS2 I couldn’t help myself. Encouraged by positive press and yet mostly aware of what I was getting into, I picked up the game shortly after its release while it was on sale. The game turned out surprising me, and remains one of my favorite RPGs of this generation. The battle system was completely revamped and absolutely fine tuned, and thanks to the slot system which awarded special conditions to each round, as well as the boosting mechanic that allowed you to “cut in line” for turns, battles avoided the “tap x” condition so prevalent in many console RPGs and kept the game’s numerous enemy encounters interesting. The character customization options were incredibly diverse, giving players the option to make characters whatever they wanted. If you wanted KOS-MOS, the android superweapon to specialize in support and healing, fine. If you wanted Momo, the diminutive Realian with a magical girl complex, to be a Gnosis destroying powerhouse, go right ahead. While the character’s featured skill trees and natural growth patterns geared towards their supposed roles, you had the freedom to take the characters in any direction you wanted to. Of course, there was also the story, the source for much love and hate among Xeno-fans. Tremendously long in the tooth and every bit as pretentious as Xenosaga, the Xenogears story at least handles its presentation better. The game is peppered with half hour long cinemas, unanswered questions, and complex plot points that are all supposedly part of what will ultimately be a six chapter saga. Unlike Xenogears, however, I found the story and, more importantly, the characters of Xenosaga much more accessible. The story did lead to the first chapter’s one major downfall, however, which was an ending like a car wreck: an unimaginative boss battle serves as the game’s cap, which ends up feeling like a half finished movie. Finally, three years later, players are given the opportunity to step back into Xenosaga’s world. I went into the game hoping for a continuation of the original’s great battle and customization system, as well as a faithful (and more satisfying) extension of the story. Did the game meet my hopes? Well.. yes and no. First off, as my lengthy introduction should probably indicate, Xenosaga: Episode II is no place for a beginner of the series to start. While Episode II does kick off with a brief tutorial, it mostly covers new features to the series. But more importantly, the star of Xenosaga is supposed to be its story, and it’s a whopper indeed. Jumping straight into Episode II most likely means being completely lost within the story, and since the second game does not include a repository of story-based information and terms like the first one did, you won’t be getting much help putting the pieces of the first game together. For those who are returning, it’s pretty easy to assume that if you liked Xenosaga Episode I, you’ll like Xenosaga Episode II. That’s not to say the game is a straight sequel with no big changes, because that would be a lie of gigantic proportions. There have been three major changes to this sequel that distinctly separate it from its predecessor: The visuals, the battle system, and the character customization system. First, the visuals, which would be the most immediate change. The first game starred very anime looking character, complete with gigantic eyes and tiny mouths. The newest game features a cast that has been “westernized”: Eyes have been scaled back to reasonable sizes, heights have increased, heads are proportional. Going directly from Episode I to Episode II is a bit of a jarring experience, and while the new look lends itself better to the subject matter of the series (in addition to being more detailed), the loss of cohesiveness in the series in terms of its presentation makes the transition from original to sequel a bit off putting. On their own, however, the visuals are quite nice, featuring varied locales and detailed character models. The dramatic changes don’t end there, though. The battle system, my personal high point in the original, has been given an overhaul. Many of the same mechanics of Episode I are still present, including boosting, but their implementation has been changed. The AP system has been dumbed-down a bit into something called “the stock system.” You can choose to skip a turn and “stock” it to get a longer attack later on. It’s absolutely necessary to use this function to defeat the game’s more difficult enemies, but it’s not quite as versatile as the old AP system. Also, instead of giving all the characters their own boost, all characters share one boost bar. This change completely alters the strategy of the battles: you will find yourself attacking with weak characters just to build boost (which builds quite quickly). In addition to this is the new Zone Break mechanic, which is the one new complexity added to the battle system. Each attack can strike one of three zones on an enemy, and performing the correct attacks in the correct zones will result in a “zone break”, which leave that enemy defenseless. After a zone break you can toss enemies into the air, knock them to the floor, and generally create much more damage. And, as long as you keep boosting new characters into the fight order, that enemy won’t be given the chance to recover. The result is quicker battles that have you thinking several turns in advance to ensure you can unleash an offensive blitz that will leave your opponent in pieces quickly. Like Episode I, button mashing will get you dead fast whereas planning carefully, even in regular fights, will reward you plentifully. The last major change, and this one I feel is a step backward, is the character customization system. While it’s certainly unique, it feels much more limited than its Episode I brethren. Characters receive skill points from fallen enemies that can be used to buy abilities from a skill tree. The skills vary from increased resistance to status ailments to starting battles with one stock ready to increasing physical power when your allies fall: they range from standard RPG trimmings to absolutely unique superpowers. The system is balanced and allows for some great combos, but it’s the only real form of customization you get. There is no armor or weapons to equip (you can equip certain skills that duplicate armor), all characters can learn the same spells from the skill tree, and you have no control over the stat growth of your character. No matter what you do, tiny Momo will never be able to match Ziggy in terms of offensive capabilities. That, and the hassle required to open up certain branches of the skill tree, make the new character customization system sufficient, even above average, but still a few marks short of the original game. Another change that’s not so readily apparent is in the sound department. The music is much different: I’ve heard some say they prefer the new, more somber and much more “synthesized” style of music to the older orchestral style music. Personally, I thought the old soundtrack was better, with its symphonic-like arrangements better fitting the story than the newer, more anime-styled tracks. Also, some of the voice actors have changed, most notably Shion, KOS-MOS, Momo, and chaos. The new voice actors provide more than just better acting, they also significantly change the tone and personalities of the characters. Shion’s episode one performance made her feel a bit detached and separated from anything that didn’t relate to her work at Vector. The new Shion is more personable, more critical and even a bit more manipulative. The mysterious boy chaos seemed friendly and even a bit cheery in Episode one, but his new lower, more brooding voice makes him seem more somber and reserved. These two former choices sat well with me, outside of the annoying lack of cohesion, but KOS-MOS’s new voice simply does not mesh with the character. In Episode I, KOS-MOS was clearly more than a simple weapon, as her habit of disobeying Shion and acting on her own would attest to. In Episode II, she plays a much smaller role, and seems more obedient and less mysterious. While part of this can be blamed on the script, the new voice actor for Shion sounds less robotic and more like a kind young lady. I certainly couldn’t see this KOS-MOS threatening to destroy the windows of the Elsa to gain entry, a’ la Episode I. Of course, all these elements are meant to push forward one element of the game itself: the story. The convoluted tale of Xenosaga continues here right where the original left off. It’s paced much differently than the first episode: it truly is “episodic” in that, now that the cast has been assembled, it can focus on one plot point from start to finish. In Xenosaga Episode II, that plot point is the relationship between wonderkid Jr., Kukai Foundation leader Gaignun, and the insane Albedo. The game’s storyline begins at Second Miltia and ends in Old Miltia, and though the storyline isn’t as dense as Episode I’s, it feels much more complete. It also answers a surprising amount of questions, though it creates just as many and leaves several unanswered. The story isn’t as long as Episode I’s, and so it follows that the proper game itself isn’t either. You can expect to put 20 to 30 hours into Episode II before the credits roll, though searching for the optional content – and some of the best skills – increases that playtime significantly. The side games of Episode I are left behind (oh, Xenocard, how I miss you) in lieu of a new “Samaritan Global Campaign”, which are essentially just glossed up NPC quests with some nice rewards. For completionists, however, there’s more meat on Episode II than there was in Episode I. While the original game had limited sidequests and a game that was fundamentally over as soon as the credits rolled, Xenosaga II includes a wealth of bonus dungeons, bosses, and missions that give you an excuse to power up your characters and take the battle system to its limits. To me, this was a tremendous draw, seeing as Episode I gave you the means to create a truly powerful team but never gave you the opportunity to test its limits against anything. In all, Xenosaga Episode II is a worthy successor to the original, though its stylistic and gameplay related differences sometimes clash with the nature of its predecessor. The game is far from perfect, but to anyone who enjoyed the original (and really, those are the only people who should even be considering this game), you’ll find more to like here.
Other Helpful Reviews for Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose
The first Xenosaga was a unique RPG experience for me. I had never played a game that featured so many cut scenes, most of which were considerably long. Fortunately the scenes were done very well, and it made for an en... Read Full Review
Xenosaga is an RPG series split into episodes. Episode 2 starts where the first game left off, however if you do not know the story from the first game, you will be lost throughout most of this episode wondering what’s ... Read Full Review
