Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Written by Chris Reiter  on October 05, 2004

First Impressions: What does the subtitle "Jenseits von Gut und Bose" mean? It's American-German for, "Who gives a crap? This game's going to be suh-WEET!"

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Most critics it seems were undeniably jaded by Namco's Xenosaga RPG offering early last year. I can understand a game being of poor quality because it doesn't play well. But because of the skippable movie sequences being too long? Come on! Outside other spectator's opinions, I was very drawn to Xenosaga: Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht. So much so, that I've typed out "Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht" on a regular basis and have remembered its Germanic formula correctly each and every time. It became a habit. I felt in all honesty that Xenosaga was my number one game of 2003. And, I'm hoping Xenosaga II will be every bit as grand as its first entry. Back on track in continuing the prescheduled six-part series of this mammoth RPG opus, Namco's Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose is nearing completion now. Let the waiting commence.

Some gamers are already aware of how Xenosaga's saga comes to a close. For those of you that don't, you better get cracking on playing that game. Xenosaga II follows the exploits of most of its returning main characters like Shion, KOS-MOS, Jr., MOMO, and the rest into the next chapter. Like the Star Wars films, you can't just watch one -- you have to watch them all. Episode II begins 14 years p riortothefirstgame'ssetting.Chaos, Xenosaga's mysterious white-haired guy, and Canaan, a newcomer specialty Realian (the kind of android MOMO is in the first game), are on a secret mission in the middle of a Realian crisis where the humanoid robots have gone haywire. Their mission is to obtain the Y-Data information that holds the key to the cause of the Realians' main source of malfunctions, and to whomever is the maker of this mischief. Meeting up with Shion's older brother Jin (a samurai) at this stage, the team ultimately will come in confrontation with Margulis, the stern chieftain character who was seeking MOMO in the first Xenosaga. Eventually getting out with partial extraction of the Y-Data, the game opens up to the present where the second game left off as the group is arriving on Second Militia and is parting ways on a whole new journey from here on out.

Xenosaga in practice was by no means a simple game to grasp immediately. Even with a lengthy and interactive tutorial, it could easily take a player around 10 hours to finally get a hold of the battle system and its assemblage of aspects. While there's much truth to this, it only made playing the game more enjoyable when all the loose ends became crystal clear. Xenosaga II, like the former, will include a similar preparation method for Xenosaga inductees new and old alike, all of course for the redesigned elements of combat. What's been removed? What's been rejoined? One thing that'll be missing now is the entire AP system with the AP special attacks characters were once able to act on. Another is the entire shop system. Vendors aren't waiting around for you any longer -- you'll now have to fight and beat enemies, destroy pieces of the environment, and complete quests to earn your keep. This will ultimately give players a greater reason to participate in battles and the options around them even more.

Fortunately, for those worried about having to drag themselves away from the goal of entering only the required aspects, enemy encounters in Xenosaga were brilliantly designed. This second time with the game, developer Monolith Software is doing away with and adding some more content in combat to add a fresh start for the series. Boosts and the event slots are still around, as the fighting will take aim with both character and A.W.G.S. alike (now dubbed E.S.) using a "break" combo maneuver that can deal 50 percent extra damage by exposing an enemy's weakness in their "zone" of height (depending on how small or tall they are). What's changed, however, is the addition of a stock system. This now allows characters to gain momentum of power while resting up from the heat of combat. There will be two separate methods for which the stock will come in handy. Either by inflicting a heavier amount of damage to an enemy, like after placing them into a "break" condition and proceeding to eliminate them from there. Or another way with stocks is to utilize it during team-up attacks, in which case two different party members will have a chance to double up and spell out enemy death.

But outside the gameplay's mechanics, no change can be bigger (or more speculated upon) than Xenosaga II's departure from its super-deformed 3D anime characters. Opting for a more "mature" theme, Monolith's new style will transform most of its characters into "realistic" looking people rather than the cartoony characters that were met in the first game. Personally, I was extremely pleased with Xenosaga I's art form already. While it's hard to accept the fact that KOS-MOS and Shion won't have their cutesy demeanor any longer, I can respect Monolith's decision in wanting to take the series to new grounds. We'll see where this is headed.