Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse
You know that old saying, "if it ain't broke, don't try and fix it"? Yeeeahhhhh...
Published: March 6, 2005
Say what you will about the first Xenosaga, at least Monolith Soft whipped up a relatively complex and engaging battle system to keep you entertained between those hour-long cutscenes. And hey, this is a RPG series, which means by definition that they're character and story driven, so why all the griping about trying to present a cinematic story?
Regardless, it should be made plain from the start of this review that Episode II does not dole out such meager offerings during your battles, nor does it steal away time for a full revolution of the big hand on the clock while you let your controller rest. What it does do is inject an overly complex battle system and cuts down on the cutscenes in a way that eventually drags the whole game down to a spot lower than the first entry, despite a host of improvements to the overall presentation.
Chances are, if you're as hardcore into the Xenosaga series as we were around the offices, you probably have this game already. If you're still sitting on the fence, we'll try to push you to one side, but for the most part it's going to take a lot of patience and whole lot of love for the storyline, which somehow manages to stay enthralling throughout the 30 or so hours you can invest in the game.
The storyline picks up right after the events of the first game without skipping a beat. The crew and passengers of the Elsa have finally reached Second Miltia, where they'll be able to extract the ultra important Y-Data from MOMO. There's no real flashbacks to catch anyone who didn't play the first game up -- in fact, the game actually introduces two new characters right out of the blue, so if this paragraph has you confused, get used to it. Episode II certainly won't stop to catch you up.
There are ways to get a little back story, but it comes in the form of a couple paragraphs of computer terminal diatribe, so for the most part you'll really have to digest the storyline by playing through the games in sequence. Little of the prequel's characters' pasts or any of the events that transpire in the course of the sequel's storyline will make much sense unless you've already acclimated yourself to the ongoing struggle between the Gnosis (who, despite being the main crux of the plot in the first game, make quite literally no appearance in the second chapter) and the all-important data trapped inside the head of a very special android named MOMO.
So, go play the first game, because as we're about to bitch and moan about, you'll need to know what's up before you start playing this game, and you'll see how much has changed when you finally do get to launch into a proper battle a few minutes into the sequel.
Regardless, it should be made plain from the start of this review that Episode II does not dole out such meager offerings during your battles, nor does it steal away time for a full revolution of the big hand on the clock while you let your controller rest. What it does do is inject an overly complex battle system and cuts down on the cutscenes in a way that eventually drags the whole game down to a spot lower than the first entry, despite a host of improvements to the overall presentation.
Chances are, if you're as hardcore into the Xenosaga series as we were around the offices, you probably have this game already. If you're still sitting on the fence, we'll try to push you to one side, but for the most part it's going to take a lot of patience and whole lot of love for the storyline, which somehow manages to stay enthralling throughout the 30 or so hours you can invest in the game.
The storyline picks up right after the events of the first game without skipping a beat. The crew and passengers of the Elsa have finally reached Second Miltia, where they'll be able to extract the ultra important Y-Data from MOMO. There's no real flashbacks to catch anyone who didn't play the first game up -- in fact, the game actually introduces two new characters right out of the blue, so if this paragraph has you confused, get used to it. Episode II certainly won't stop to catch you up.
There are ways to get a little back story, but it comes in the form of a couple paragraphs of computer terminal diatribe, so for the most part you'll really have to digest the storyline by playing through the games in sequence. Little of the prequel's characters' pasts or any of the events that transpire in the course of the sequel's storyline will make much sense unless you've already acclimated yourself to the ongoing struggle between the Gnosis (who, despite being the main crux of the plot in the first game, make quite literally no appearance in the second chapter) and the all-important data trapped inside the head of a very special android named MOMO.
So, go play the first game, because as we're about to bitch and moan about, you'll need to know what's up before you start playing this game, and you'll see how much has changed when you finally do get to launch into a proper battle a few minutes into the sequel.
