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good game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: February 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

this was a very good game from namco. too bad the graphics and gameplay isn't as fun as the first one. still if you like rpgs go get this game.

Not as excellent as Xenosaga I, but still good!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Xenosaga II-Jenseits von Gut und Boese came in November to Europe and was the first Xenosaga, which was released here!!! But we European players never played Xenosaga I before, so Namco released the second Xenosaga in a great "Special Box". In this box was the game itself and a Movie-DVD with nearly all Xenosaga I movies.
Back to topic, in my opinion Xenosaga II is a pretty game with cool movies and a battle system that makes fun.
The music in this game was composed from Yuki Kajiura in the movies and Shinji Hosoe in the rest of the game. I think Kajiuras music is really good but Shinji Hosoe did a bad job, with his elevator music ;o)
The graphics are okay but I couldn't see anything outstanding.
In the end I must say, that Xenosaga II is a good RPG, even if it's not so wonderful than the first Xenosaga. That's the reason, why I imported Xenosaga I from your country ^_~
But at last the most PAL-players are happy, that actually (my dictionary doesn't give me the right English translation for "ueberhaupt" ;_; sorry) Xenosaga II come to Europe yet!!!!
So I look forward to the third and last Xenosaga and hope, that this Episode will be like the first!!!!
Many greets from Germany.....Viele Grueße aus Deutschland ^^

Not as expected

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I loved the first Xenosaga. Then, this arrived. Episode 2 isen't a bad game in terms of the story, the intro is absolutely DYNAMITE. Then you get into a battle. Now, if you like tactical stuff, this is a good game for you. But if you're trying to fight your way through a hoard of enemies to get to a save point in record timing, I say save your money. Gone is the amazingly well-done battle system in the first episode. In its place stands a completely out-of-nowhere new way of battling that takes 15 minutes to get rid of a couple of easy enemies( the easy ones in this game have around 2000 Hps). Ridiculous, but that's not all. The enemies have weak "zones" that depend of the height of the attack that you input.The zones are A,B and C, A being the highest. Triangle=C, square=B and Circle=A -SOMETIMES-. See what I mean? It's completely screwed-up and you have to become deeply
addicted to the game to understand its full potential. And if that wasn't enough, they changed the voice actors too. Kos-Mos's
voice sounds more like an operator than a robot's and Momo sounds like a brat. At least, chaos' voice has improved. I'd prefer playing episode 1 twice than playing this. I just hope Namco comes out with a better sequel, otherwise spend your moey on something else (like Shadow Hearts, for example).

STORY GREAT! Battle engine took turn for worst

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Xenosaga II....okay we all said it, the battle engine blows now. Bosses are crazy hard. All I can say is get some dag-gone sword ethers to help and put aside some time to play. Get a walkthrough somewhere so you don't have to be so tortured. I really love the Xenosaga story line so I had to get this for my collection. Alot of voice acting changed. I actually like the up-beat music of the towns you walk through. I didn't bother to do the final side-quests after you beat the game--hey, I was studying for boards. Get it if you're a fan or you'll be REALLY lost in the third installment. The third one rocks and really makes up for number 2.

A big step down

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Long loading times at the start of every battle. A battle system that forces you to fight a certain way; a certain way that makes even the trivial random encounters take >5 minutes per battle. A short main story arc with dozens of annoying side quests that will have you spend more time walking from point A to point B (namely between 2nd miltia and the Kukai Foundation) than you will doing everything else in the entire game.

The story even seems to lag a bit in the beggining, but luckily the second half of the game or so seems to pick up the pace. As The cutscenes and story are good, but seem lacking compared to the first one as well. Albedo can only laugh maniacally for 5 minutes straight a couple of times before it gets old.

Did I enjoy playing the game? no. Do I recomend it? no. But,...since I plan on playing the 3rd episode as well (which is supposed to be much better) I trudged my way through it.

Why are the pretty ones always so dumb?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game with a great deal of anticipation. I had absolutely loved the first game, and I even hail that game as one of the best Sci-Fi RPG's of all time. I got this game and was immediately immersed in the opening scenes and first few steps of gameplay. When I got to the first boss fight that wasn't a flash back, I was swept with a deep despair......I realized that i absolutely hated this game with all my heart and soul.

This game is the biggest disappointment I've experienced since i played Final Fantasy 5 (which I personally think was the worst game in that series). They kept the same characters (though with a few disappointing voice cast changes) , they upgraded the character design models (well most of them) and they still had the same amazing story that made me love the first one. The story in this game actually delves deeper into the complexity of the world this game is set in, and answers several questions left over from the first game, as well as adding new ones. everything was generally kept the same, but as with all RPGs in a series, people always assume that they need to completely change part of the operational makeup of the game to add a new feel, something that doesn't make you feel like you're playing the same game again. More often than not, it's the battle system, in this case it was one of the biggest mistakes in gaming history.

Game Informer called this game "a dropped ball of Devil may Cry 2 proportions" and they were right. The battle system in this game has something to do with zones and certain attack forms that correspond to them, it really doesn't matter. All you need to know is that the enemies remain at about the same level of strength as they were in the previous game, but the strength of your characters is severely handicapped. All of the relished special attacks and super moves from the first game are gone, and replaced with pale little sissy slaps that conveniently have the same names. I actually had to have characters wait to charge up points to launch a succession of attacks (much like you did in the first game to use special moves) just to be able to inflict as much damage as a casual kick did in the first game. This makes fighting in this game, the most frustrating and completely uninteresting part of the entire game and, this being an RPG after all, IT ENCOMPASSES 1/2 OF THE FREAKING GAME.

I played through to the end (don't ask me how i tolerated doing it, it'll just piss me off more) and in terms of the story it was a homerun. The story is once again amazing, but sadly carries all the depth the game has to offer. if this had been a 3 hour animated film, it would have been worthwhile, but as a game this is a pale imitation of the greatness of Xenosaga 1. If you're curious about the story, buy a cheap copy of it, use a cheat machine to blast through the game quick, soak up all there is to the story and then sell it or return it. You won't feel bad, there isn't any game to be played here beyond watching the cutscenes.

Xenosaga Ep. II: What Are You, a Moron?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 8
Date: August 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

One of the most common complaints is that Xenosaga Ep. II's battle system is annoying and ponderous because "even in 'regular' battles, it forces you to spend many turns Stocking just so that you can do decent damage to enemies." This is actually a form of codespeak. What these people are really saying is "I'm not very bright, and even after several hours of playing Ep. II, I somehow never realized how to use the battle system efficiently. Duuuurrr!"

Ep. II puts a great deal of emphasis on each character's attack attributes. Attacks are classified as either Physical or Ether, and then there are elementals (fire, ice, lighting, aura) and finally there are types (slash/pierce/hit). Sound complicated? Eh, a little more so than the average RPG. Not nearly as bad as something like Vagrant Story. All you have to do is use Analyze on any enemy you're unfamiliar with to see their weaknesses, and then use the Change command to bring in the character that has the proper attack, if they aren't already in your battle party. When you come across enemies with Physical/elemental weaknesses, there are Ethers which you can cast to add that element to a character's physical attack. If their weakness is ether/elemental, then just use the standard elemental spell Ethers against them. This is all you need to do to make battles flow at nice, normal pace.

For some reason, the vast majority of Ep. II players seemed to never realize this. Instead, they saw their only option to be using the Stock command for nine (NINE!) turns in a row before beginning their attack. Even on wimpy garden variety wandering monsters! They took no heed of enemy weaknesses, using characters with physical/fire based attacks against enemies weak vs. ether/ice. RPG players used to have a reputation for being the more intelligent gamers. I wonder what happened...

A lot of Ep. I fans never bothered to play Ep. II because negative word of mouth spread so quickly amongst the fanbase as soon as the JP version was released. But now that Ep. III is out (and it's truly fantastic) a lot of them will finally play Ep. II soon. I hope they do better than the first rounders did.

Some hits, some misses, overall, Not that bad.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: March 31, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I preordered Xenosaga Episode II, and did actually receive the DVD. I was so excited to receive the game, until I read EGM's review, and then I was a bit worried that I wasted 50 bucks.
However, I suppose this game and the gamer can have a love or hate relationship.
Xenosaga II changes the looks of the characters, the battle system, and some of the voice actors.
To be honest, I liked some of the new features, and of course, the story was very juicy.
The good things about this game: The story is as complex as the first, introducing only a few new characters and continuing RIGHT where Episode I left off, except for a 1 hour flashback where they introduce Canaan and Jin. The battle system is faster and the zone and Double Techs are nice, but require some practice to get right, and the Double Techs can be almost impossible to get on some. The character's new looks are smooth, though some may like the old anime style. I don't mind, either is fine. The environments are beautifully rendered, very colorful and rich. Music in the cutscenes is stunning, by the new composer Yuki Kajiura. The ending is the entire reason to play this game, though, in my opinion, though the story itself is good.
Some Misses on their part: Though the battle system has improved in speed, the characters moves once again get very stale very quickly. If you have Jr. use a OOOO attack, he will say "Eat this!" four times in a row, and it's enough for you to want to rip your hair out, especially when you're in a long boss battle. The bosses will also do this, especially if they like a certain attack, and their's are longer sayings. The voice acting for Jr., Albedo/Gaignun, and Margulis was stunning, however, Namco changed many of the voice actors. Shion's isn't that noticable, so I won't gripe about it, however, KOS-MOS is a big disappointment. The first voice actor for her was perfect, playing the android role very well, however, the second game has her sounding more like a teenage human girl than a battle android. (I'm picky on these things.) MOMO's voice wasn't that great either, having her sometimes sound like a constipated old woman in battle when she says certain things. Her voice is more like that of a 3 year old learning how to talk than a 12 year old girl. chaos' voice was changed, but for the role he plays, it's probably better that way. His voice is deeper and more mature sounding now. Canaan's voice actor wasn't that great, and though he wasn't supposed to show emotion when talking, if Canaan was grunting or making a sound when he was hurt, it sounded terrible. I noticed that Namco used many of the voice actors from Tales of Symphonia in Xenosaga II. And, the biggest gripe is how short the game is and how many threads it leaves untied. The game can be completed, with many GS campaigns, all cutscenes, and a level of around 40 in about 25 hours. Episode I clocked around 45 hours for me on the final save point; a big cut in time. Also, the game leaves many things unexplained, such as where did Orgulla come from? Or the Patriarch? Never explained. Let's hope that they are maybe explained in Episode III. Also, they don't have an encyclopedia in II. I enjoyed the encyclopedia in I, and was hoping they would have one in the second installment, but, alas, they didn't.
Based on opinion:
Many people don't like the fact that the series has extremely long cutscenes. However, without them, I really question how the story could be told as it is so complex. The cutscenes have been cut down to about 6.5 hours compared to about 8 in the first game. You can skip these cutscenes, however, and not worry about them.
Recommended? All in all, I recommend the game for somebody who PLAYED THE FIRST GAME. If not, you will be so lost, you won't know what the heck is going on. If you got the DVD, great, watch it and perhaps go online to get more on the story. If not, then go buy episode I and play it before Episode II, or it won't even be worth it. However, I do recommend this to a fan of the series.

To tough for me

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: March 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game because I thought it might be a good game to play. But I didn't get very far in playing it. I was really disappointed and felt that I had waisted my money. The game stategy is very complicated. I just couldn't understand and handle it.

Absolutely Awful

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: March 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

After sludging through this game, it's pretty easy to see why the 5 games announced were reduced to 3. Honestly, I can't believe that the series got the funding to wrap things up after this. This "game" just fails in every possible respect. From the clunky battle system, to the ridiculously over-thought skills tables, and even the so-called plot, the whole thing is a convoluted, nearly unplayable mess.

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