Platform: Playstation 2

Genre: RPG

Number of Players: 1

When you think role-playing game sequels, generally that involves a completely different cast. No matter how attached we may have grown to them, the cast of most RPG's are only around for but a single game, something we've seen with other series like Final Fantasy (the exception to that rule being Final Fantasy X-2) and Dragon Quest as well as many other games. When Namco released the first Xenosaga however, the prequel to Square-Enix's Xenogears, we all knew what we were in store for. It had already been announced that we should be looking forward to sequels that would continue the story and would also involve the same cast. It's been two very long years of waiting, but finally the long awaited follow-up, Xenosaga Episode II: Jeneits von Gut und Bose, has arrived for many eager fans across the globe.

Episode II picks up right at the end of the first game, for the most part at least. Initially we do get to see a bit of back story involving chaos, but from there we see the characters that we are all so familiar with; Shino, KOS-MOS, Ziggy, Jr., and little MOMO. The general theme from the original game still is ever-present here of course, the Gnosis are still posing a threat against all of mankind and the search for the legendary Zohar continues. More details are given regarding the origins of the genetic children as well as many existing connections (Jr. and MOMO for example) and there are plans on Vector's end up further upgrade KOS-MOS, there are reunions that are both positive and negative, and devious factions working against Second Miltia. More than anything else, the second Xeonsaga expands on what fans of the original already know, and while the game does cover some of these events, newcomers might simply do better to buy both games before diving right into number two.

Xenosaga II is something of a double-edged sword with both positive and negative things about it. If you played the original game, you will notice there have been a few changes with the game itself in terms of both look as well as on the gameplay end of things. With the original game, it was just character combat that was focused upon, but right after you start playing, you will be introduced to the mecha side of things. These battles are essentially just like the character battles you will engage in during the game.

Even with the tutorials, combat can be a little strange growing accustomed to. Xenosaga operates and what is more or less a combo system, and it's very important to pay attention to the damage and effect it has on your opponent. For example, you may fight one enemy where for one character, triangle and then square deal of a good deal of damage, but for another character that technique may not be as effective. You can also select stock, a means of essentially saving energy to release and stronger attack. You can even do double or team attacks and even special attacks in some cases if you've learned them, and this is another of the more interesting features that Xenosaga offers. I also love the fact that you can swap out characters during battle, something that is very appreciated, especially if you're in a battle where you know that one character will fair much better than another that is currently in the group.

Having played more than my fair share of RPG's, I'm fairly accepting of fact that many of them will simply give you a few bonuses to stats as you level, but that's not necessarily true here. Xenosaga II rewards you with skill points. These can be spent on buying new abilities for your characters such as spells, attacks, and even status bonuses. You don't need to actually level up to gain these, but there is a trick to it. There are different skill levels and to open the higher ones, you will have requirements that you need to meet. There are even those that you will need to find the means to unlock within the game itself, and this brings in a rather interesting mini-quest to go through beyond just finding the Segment Addresses. This can make interesting combinations to characters, and for those of us that are perfectionist, and can lead to a good deal of battle time while we try and keep all the characters in our party at the same level. I also like that the fact (and I can't recall if this was a part of the original game) that your submenu will allow you to see what characters have team attacks and what the requirements are to active them in battle.

Visually Xenosaga II looks slightly different that its predecessor, but not drastically. The original game had quite an anime look about it, but the characters now have a slightly more human look to them. The backgrounds are heavily detailed and there tends to be quite a bit to take in. The cutscenes are much set up just like they were in the first game and that involves in-game graphics as opposed to full-blown computer animation. This has been the trend over the past few years though, and I'm wondering what direction Square-Enix will be taking with their next entry into the Final Fantasy series.

There are some bad aspects of Xenosaga II however. To begin with, the combat tutorials are going to be a little vague for those that have never played the other Xenosaga. They focus more on the changes with the game itself and not so much on exactly on how combat should be undertaken. The major complaint however is the cutscenes. I really do appreciate a good and well thought out story, and the original game delivered that. Xenosaga II however shows that there is such as thing overkill. Over five hours of the game is made up of cutscenes in the beginning, though there is a little actual playtime thrown in, but not often. Much of the time you will find that you are simply moving your character from place to place in order to load yet another animation sequence to further move the story along. That in itself seems like a waste. I simply would have rather had the cutscenes flow continuously or at least have one DVD that was just all game related movies. This business of running to another located for a grand total of about 30 seconds is ridiculous. There were a few times when I paused the game (yes, you can paused the cut scenes by pressing start) I had a difficult time not pressing triangle to simply skip through them. Think of the story sequences as being something like the huge highway car chase in Matrix Reloaded. It was okay for a little while, but there came a point when it simply needed to stop, and that tends to be the case here more often than not.

If you can get past the lengthy story elements though, you will find the Xenosaga is a very good follow up to the original and reunites fans with their favorite characters as well as some new ones (and there may be something a little special for those of you who have finished the original game and have your save file.) I would urge however that with the next game that there is a better balance between story and game. We all like playing games, but having to watch them for hours on end does being to grow a little tiring. When Namco said that is was going to be an epic game, they certainly meant it, and if you have the patience for it, you'll find that Xenosaga II delivers both a sold story as well as fluid gameplay, and these are the most important things that any RPG fans looks for.

-mike-