Xenosaga(R) EPISODE II Limited Edition Strategy Guide [Paperback]

David Cassady (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 14, 2005

BradyGames' Xenosaga EPISODE II Limited Edition Strategy Guide includes the following:

 

• Reveals game secrets to complete sidequests and defeat hidden bosses.
• Complete walkthrough, enhanced by area maps.
• Character profiles, with tips on how to equip and customize each major character.
• A.G.W.S. data includes everything gamers need to know about the powerful battle craft.
• Complete mini game coverage.
• Signature Series includes bonus content, an exclusive foldout and more!
• Bonus CD featuring music from game’s original soundtrack, composed by Yuki Kajiura. The music style is mostly electronic and upbeat, although it does also include some symphonic songs as well.

 

Platform: PlayStation 2

Genre: Role-Playing Game

This product is available for sale in North America only.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Brady Games (February 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0744005302
• ISBN-13: 978-0744005301
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #271,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm nothing more than a guy that loves video games.

I managed a software store in Indianapolis when I encountered Brady's publisher. The company hired me to assist in developing their new line of video game strategy guides, which was a very limited assortment at the time. They had published on a few Electronic Arts sports titles for the Sega Genesis, Mortal Kombat, and Sonic the Hedgehog.

It was a very interesting time for our business. Strategy guides were transitioning from tiny booklets into full-size, full-color, magazine-like books. We had the opportunity to make a huge impact and try something very new and unique. I'm very thankful for the experience. It was simply an amazing opportunity.

"Virtua Racing" for the Sega Genesis was my first project as an author. It took a week to write and some of that time was spent sleeping on an office floor. It was not a book I wanted to write. Our publisher made it clear I didn't have a choice. As painful as that first project was, it shot my career down a completely unexpected path. It led to projects like Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and eventually, my favorite, Final Fantasy VII.

Final Fantasy had always been a favorite series since it released for the NES. VII proved to be a monstrous task. We had no idea what we were getting into at the time. Final Fantasy projects now require a team of authors, but I'm proud of what we accomplished given the resources available. It was a learning experience for everyone involved.

I continued to write for several years with Conan being my final project. It has been a wonderful ride and I met some amazing people along the way. The people at BradyGames really care about the products they produce. That is not something you find with every publisher.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Good, the Bad, and the Indifferent, February 26, 2005

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Xenosaga(R) EPISODE II Limited Edition Strategy Guide (Paperback)

This guide has the misfortune of being a bit better than the game it was created for. As a result, even an adequate guide suffers from the company it keeps. There are fully descriptive sections on the characters, their defense systems, as well as a detailed walk through complete with maps. Unfortunately, if you follow the walk through, your $50 console game will take about 20 hours to complete (not counting some long script episodes) and you won't be a happy camper. Slightly longer if you follow all the mini-games.

On the other hand, without the guide the game will take forever to play, as you suffer the contunual frustration of figuring out the complicated battle system and some of the more obscure sidequests. So yes, you will benefit from the guide, just try to use it as little as possible or it will spoil the game rather than enhance it. I found the sidequest information particularily helpful. Oddly enough I followed this strategy and thus missed a several oversights in the instructions for some subquests. It was only when I went through the guide carefully that I discovered them, and it is a misstep that will keep you from completing an entire side quest. You can still finish the game, but slightly irritated.

Outside of that, this is one of the best guides I've seen in a while. It's printed on solid paperstock with excellent graphics and writing. Sometimes the battle instructions get a bit vague, but for the most part, a lot of information is presented in an effective manner. There are a few glitches and you are sometimes guided into approaching a boss battle the long way around when a more direct, brutal approach would actually be as effective.

Because of the mentioned problem I have to give this a three star rating, although although everything else is excellent. Be warned if you decide to buy it.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great Content... Poor actual production quality, August 8, 2005

By 

Andrew Smith "Rabidamoeba" (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Xenosaga(R) EPISODE II Limited Edition Strategy Guide (Paperback)

Long time Amazonian, first time reviewer.
I normally don't have a whole lot to say and that's why I don't send in reviews. But I just had to after buying this several months back.
I was very excited that (1) the game was coming out and (2) there was going to be a special limited edition version of the guide with a Music CD and Posters and the like. I had preordered this and everything, I finally get it and start playing the game and right about 15 minutes into it the binding gives and pages are falling out all over the place. At first it was only the first few pages of the start of the game portion of the guide but after a few minutes they were just leaping off the cheap glue binding. By the time I beat the game it was the whole book of many pages just being held together by the slightly nifty fold-over flap that is part of the cover.
I'll admit, it was actually convenient at times having the ability to place pages from different areas of the book together but it was still a pain keeping them in order.
So if your looking for a quality book like I'd prefer you'll want to stay away from this but otherwise if you'd like to buy something thats just gonna fall apart in to pieces, this might just be what your looking for.

3.0 out of 5 stars Xenosaga, January 20, 2007

By 

Anonymous "Anonymous" (Utah, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Xenosaga(R) EPISODE II Limited Edition Strategy Guide (Paperback)

The Xenosaga Strategy Guide came with an outer protective cover (which was nice as it keeps the book from getting destroyed) and a sound track; although the sound track was not something I personally cared for. The book was well-written; it gives you the information needed to get through the game. I gave it three stars because it is just the typical strategy guide.