Xenosaga Episode II

by Namco

Product Features

• Engage your enemies with larger, more powerful mechs with their own independent, tactical battle system
• Devastate your opponents with innovative cooperative combat techniques, with refined boost systems and a unique zone attack/zone break mechanic
• Customize your party with power-ups, advanced attacks and over 100 different skills
• Explore lush, expansive environments and enjoy detailed, realistic character designs
• Challenge more than 30 side quests for hours of action-packed adventure

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002CHJAA
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches ; 6.6 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: February 15, 2005
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,182 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #14 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > Role-Playing
  • #87 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > All Games
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com

Imagine if Peter Jackson, instead of continuing his The Lord of the Rings epic in movie form, had decided to tell the story of The Two Towers through limited edition Bazooka Joe comics. The characters would all be there and the concepts behind the story would still be intriguing, but the delivery and execution would be devoid of grace or subtlety. If you're having trouble picturing that, just pick up a copy of Xenosaga Episode II and you will understand all too well. Despite my undying adoration of the first entry, I am sorry to report that this game is a dropped ball of Devil May Cry 2 proportions.

Let's get one thing straight: This is not a bad RPG. It is, however, utterly disappointing in its mediocrity. Even ignoring the radiance of its predecessor, this game features some baffling design choices that seem specifically intended to make it frustrating. It contains a meager 25-hour critical path (one of the dungeons is even repeated!), jarring load times before each fight, and an absence of money or shops that leaves you with a constant shortage of necessary recovery items. I'm not against titles breaking from conventions, but these are some of the worst decisions outside of Charles Grodin's resume.

Unfortunately, the area where Episode II has received the greatest attention is also where it falters the most. It sports a redesigned battle system that focuses much more on combined efforts rather than individual abilities. By stocking extra attacks and using the shared Boost gauge, the party can cooperatively unleash devastating combos. First you attack a sequence of zones on an enemy (which breaks its defense), then boost other characters into the action queue so they can take advantage of the weakened foe. Unfortunately, this method quickly becomes the only viable way to inflict damage on any enemy; whether it's a simple encounter or key boss fight, every battle is a pathetic routine of eating attacks as you build up your various gauges in preparation for the big assault.

My favorite thing about the first Xenosaga was the way it systematically gave the finger to anyone who didn't devote themselves, body and soul, to taking in the whole experience. "Oh, you don't want to watch the plot or figure out the skill system?" the game seemed to say, "Well toughen up, buttercup. It's a long ride." On the other hand, Episode II appears to be aimed squarely at the milquetoasts who couldn't handle the previous iteration, coddling and cooing "Do you want a lolly, sweetheart?" Where the series' balance (or imbalance) between story and action was once the subject of criticism, the frequency of amazing cutscenes is now all that redeems Episode II.

Concept:
Give loyal fans more philosophical puzzle pieces, but make them suffer along the way

Graphics:
Despite some jaggies and Shion's new "bus station skank" style, it is a sleek and beautiful game

Sound:
The voice actor switch-ups are unfortunate (especially KOS-MOS), and the soundtrack frequently jumps between awe-inspiring and comically inappropriate

Playability:
Increased accessibility comes at the expense of engaging customization

Entertainment:
The ratio of "pay attention time" to "play time" is still uneven, but the action cutscenes rank among the very best in gaming

Replay:
Moderately High

Rated: 7.75 out of 10
Editor: Joe Juba
Issue: March 2005

2nd Opinion:
I wish I had better news to share. But facts are facts, and the follow up to one of my favorite RPGs is a disappointment on many levels. Graphics, story, and jaw-dropping cinematics are thankfully not on the list of casualties – those remain truly top notch as they combine to exhibit expressive characters wrestling with interweaving themes of family, betrayal, and the nature of evil. It's too bad gameplay fails to be even remotely as complex. Combat is desperately shallow, especially in the lengthy mech sequences that show up in the second half of the time. The game-spanning series of side quests are contrived and drab, but you're forced to endure them to get some of the better power-ups. And when I started encountering frequent inane box puzzles, I nearly threw up my hands in existential, angst-ridden despair. The whole affair seems amateurish in comparison to the intricate original. So do I think Episode II has a lot of problems? Yes. Will it disappoint you as it did me? Probably. But if you're a fan of the original, do I still think you should play this one? As much as it's going to hurt – definitely.

Rated: 7.5 out of 10
Editor: Matt Miller


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Product Description

In Xenosaga II humanity wages an epic battle for survival against extinction. Earth has been abandoned and what remains of humanity is locked in combat with malevolent aliens called the Gnosis. Travelling through deep space, they'll have to seek out the ancient artifact called the Zohar. Rejoin the characters from the first Xenosaga in the enthralling second chapter of this landmark multi-part RPG saga.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Playing this game is like channeling saidin., April 23, 2005

By 

Karrigan Ambrian "Karri" - See all my reviews

= Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Xenosaga Episode II (Video Game)

The story is Good. The movies are always entertaining, and the story is always interesting. It never reaches the emotional depths that the last game did. There seems to be a greater emphasis on making the whole thing more...unrealistic. The first game presented a believable future - all the technology was explained, things behaved realistically, etc. That's all thrown out in this game...it might sound strange, but it seems to be more "Japanese" than Episode 1. Characters now swordfight in a Samurai style and shout things in what sounds very similar to Japanese. They shoot lasers out of their swords (and it's never explained why). There's even a character that wears samurai-ish robes. It destroys any believability this universe had.

Also, I'm personally disappointed that the game focused so much on Jr. (couldn't stand him from the first game), and not so much on wonderful KOS-MOS, who's not even present in the first half, and barely says two words in the second. And this is a Very Good Thing, because some of the voice actor changes were not for the better. Shion's VA is improved, but KOS-MOS's was a huge downgrade.

The music is also terrible compared to last game's. Episode 1 marked the first time I ran out and bought the soundtrack to a game. The beautiful orchestra and haunting chorus from that game have been replaced by forgettable boppy tunes, with maybe one decent melody in the whole thing.

Now, one to Dark One's taint = the gameplay. The battle system is easily the worst I have ever seen in any RPG. Ever. They aren't random - the enemies are onscreen. This is the One and Only Good thing. When you do touch an enemy, it takes a strangely long time to load. Your characters appear, one-by one. Then the monsters appear, one-by one. Sometimes, you'll be surrounded by the enemy. Other times, you'll surround the enemy yourself. This is Completely Random. Even if you attack an enemy from behind, you won't start the battle at the enemy's back. Which is too bad, as Back Attacks do more damage, and every time you enter a battle, you'll be desperate to scrape up as much damage as possible.

There's no such things as Powerful Moves here. You're forced to hit an enemy in specific "zones", which you do by hitting Triangle or Circle (did I mention the moves you do have no titles? Bye-bye, Moonlight Serenade or Spell Ray). Hit Triangle/Circle in the right order, and you get what's called a Zone Break. Now, you have to Boost your other characters in so they can damage the enemy while it's in this "break" stage. You boost the other characters by having them sit there and Not Attack during their own attack phase.

You are FORCED to do this - while some enemies do have special weaknesses, they're not exactly mind-blowing helpful for the majority of enemy types. Instead, you have to do the Zone Break, or all of your moves will do about 20 damage...to a creature that has 5,000 HP. And there's still 3 other creatures in the battle, all with 10,000 HP each.

Sound fun to you? Admittedly, once you DO get an enemy's weakness down, and get a Zone Break in, then Boost all of your characters in a row to take advantage of the enemy's weakness and the zone break, you can rack up huge damage. Sometimes it's even enough to take a single enemy down - and it only took 10 minutes to build up!

So, yes, the battle system will corrode your soul. Expect every battle to last at least 5 minutes, and that's if you're quick and know what you're doing. Meaning that you've already fought this enemy before and have either memorized it's Zone Break and weaknesses, or you've taught one of your characters a Memory skill.

And here's another embarassing part of the game. Every single character can learn every single skill. This completely destroys any individuality the characters had. KOS-MOS still has a couple special skills only she can use, but they're not nearly as impressive as the classics from the first game. Instead of being awed by what your characters are capable of, you cooly assign specific skills to each character based on what attributes you want in each battle. If that sounds fun to you, it's not. Many of these skills are useless, and characters will repeat skills that are helpful.

It's possible to "unlock" new skills and Double Attacks (two characters team up to attack) by undergoing the torture that is the game's sidequests. You run around, doing good deeds for people. These good deeds are very loosely explained, and very often involve playing fetch from place to place. I didn't even attempt it.

Other things that will leave you a blackened husk inside when the game is done: The puzzles in the dungeons. Oh how I wish my mind could let me forget them so I could live again. Unfortunately I can't, and so I will always remember shooting boxes to form a bridge, shooting boxes to clear a bridge, and shooting boxes of a specific color that explode other boxes of the same color around them. To form a bridge.

In conclusion, let me just say that I hope Episode 3 is better, or I will go insane. Or the Red Ajah will come for me in the form of Final Fantasy XII.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wheres my R - Cannon ??!!, February 18, 2005

By 

David Skipper "Superman" (Memphis TN) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Xenosaga Episode II (Video Game)

...... I'm going to assume the reader has played episode 1, if you haven't this might not explain much. For those of you who have ....

This is a nice sequel. It picks up right where the last one left off. The new look is great, though I didn't mind the old anime look either. The cutscenes are beautiful and usually action packed. However all's not well. They changed the battle system. It took me a lil while to figure just how it works. Gone are the flashy tech moves that made the battles awesome. {I hate that} Tech moves won't catch your eye at all this time around. The battles are harder and much more strategic, but duller. There is however a nice selection of ether and support skills that you can learn to build the charcters the way you see fit. The story thus far makes sense and explains alot of things you might {or might not} care to know. The only other promblem is that the cutscenes take so long. You can pay attention for only so long before your mind wanders. The first had this promblem so I'm not surprised. They don't have an ecyclopedia this time around ..... on episode 1 that thing was vital to understanding the story {at least for me} Fans will love it. Just thought I'd warn you and soften the blow of the new battle system.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, Truly Amazing!, March 6, 2005

By 

citan-uzuki "citan-uzuki" (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Xenosaga Episode II (Video Game)

The Xenosaga series is truly the most amazing and enthralling RPG that I have ever played. The size and scope of the story being told here is nothing short of epic. The game play is very good, with a fine balance between solving puzzles, fighting, and cinematics.

You can complete this game in less amount of time than the previous game. However, the battles in this second installment in the series are much harder and much more strategic than in Episode I. Even minor enemies possess high amounts of HP, and they can also inflict various status effects that must be properly dealt with if you want your battle party to survive. The pace of the battles are faster though. Because some of the battles must be completed within a certain time limit, there is an additional surge of adrenaline rush in trying to plan and execute your moves. The concept of boosting your characters is carried over from the previous game. However, in this one, there are some tricks involved in using boost. Four of your characters have the ability to either "air" (send an opponent flying in the air) or "down" (knock the enemy down). While the enemy is in such a state, more damage can be inflicted by the next battle character. But, you would need to boost properly and at the right time in order to put this chain of events together. Anyway, do not let that discourage you. The battle system has been simplified. Also, the character development system has also been greatly simplified. You do not have the multitude of weapons and armor options here that you had in Episode I. The types of attacks at your disposal have been narrowed down. In other words, the learning curve will be less steep. It seems like the game developers might have wanted to attract a broader range of RPG players to the game. This may be for the good; however, there are some of us who really enjoy the ability to customize our characters to our specifications.

The Mechs play a vital role in this episode. You must use your mechs (or Gears, for those who have played Xenogears) for certain battles. The design of the mechs themselves are quite interesting. It seems that the artists might have taken quite a bit of liberty with their artwork. Throughout the game, you will have three at your disposal.

A new playable character has been added to the main party. You might recall seeing Jin Uzuki during the ending credits to episode I. Here, he joins the party for reasons of his own.

The cinemas and scenes in the game have really gravitated more towards "serious" and "powerful". Yes, there were plenty of powerful and emotional scenes in episode I. However, here you have a couple of scenes that were just downright heartbreaking. Definitely, this is a game for a more mature and intelligent crowd. Our friend Allen is not quite as funny in this one. You do have plenty of lighthearted moments, however, that soon gives way to the very serious themes that dominate the plot.

The sidequests are optional, however, the best features of the game can only be experienced by engaging in them. The much talked-about Cooperative Attacks (where two characters work together to put a very devastating chain of attacks) can only be earned through the sidequests. I suspect that you can easily lose 50+ hours in this game, if you engage in a few of those optional sidequests. I also suspect that there are excellent side stories and adventures to go along with these adventures. I chose to pursue a couple of them and found them to be worthwhile and entertaining. Some of these adventures can only be played after you have beaten the game once and saved. You can then reload your save data and pursue a variety of side stories and quests.

A lot of the questions from episode I are answered here for you. However, most of these answers come towards the end. All I can say is be prepared for one grand story to unfold.

I highly recommend this to anyone interested in RPGs. Particularly, for those who have an interest in watching a great story unfold. You will appreciate the story more if you play Episode I first, however, there is a DVD out there with some of the more important and pivotal scenes from episode I. If you are short on time, perhaps you can locate one of these DVDs and spend a few hours watching them, prior to playing episode II. Is Xenosaga II: Beyond Good and Evil as good a game as Xenosaga I: Will to Power? That is a hard question to answer. That would really have to depend on what you look for in an RPG. However, let me state that both games are great. My only wish is that someday, this story will be released in the form of a novel. The story is just too good.