Sony Computer Entertainment Europe have confirmed that they will release Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose (dunno bout the title, thats how it read for me), in Europe during November.

The first game passed by without any interest whatsoever by European publishers, and therefore only was sold in Japan and North America. To release the second game in the series can be seen as wrong, however, with this game there will be an extra cd included, which will tell, and show, everything that happened in the previous game.

That is, nothing historical from the first game will be missed.

Good news for Europe, I guess. It will probably add quite a few new fans to the series. On the other hand, Xenosaga Episode 2 is not exactly a very good game to build a new fandom on. It doesn't make a very good basis to attract new people to the series.

However, since most Europeans haven't played Episode 1 (or Xenogears), most of them won't make a comparison and complain about Episode 2's drastic change of overall presentation, and how it should have been. So all in all, it's nice that Europe finally gets to see the Xeno games as well, but it's a pity that they will be introduced to it with the least interesting (although by no means bad) Xeno game.

Either way, I'll still be importing the future Episodes from the US anyway, seeing as localisation takes a long time, especially with a game like Xenosaga ^^ .

Yeah I agree. Even though the same thing was done with Suikoden IV after skipping Suikoden III in Europe, the difference is that Suikoden IV is not a direct continuation of any of the previous games story.
It's biggest connection would be to the first game, which was released in Europe anyway.

Now we have Xenosaga Epispde II come out of nowhere, that based its fandom on Episode I, which in turn based its fandom on Xenogears.
None of those two games were released in Europe.
Personally I think they should release Episode 1 as well at the same time, as a bundle deal for a while, just like they did with Shadow Hearts 2 in the US.
Then at least there would be some used copies going around for people who might be interested later, or available right away for those who want to get the bundle deal.
But I guess watching the movies work. I heard they took out a fewe scenes here and there though. Something about Chaos on teh Woglinde early on.


I might start getting only the Japanese version from now on though. At least they kept the voice actors I was used to, while Episode 2 for some reason switched most of the great voice actors from the first game.

Odd, since eps one and two both have germen titles. The only way I can see this working out is if they give the xenosaga1 dvd movie with every release. They did this in america if you preordered it.

Knowing xenogears story is not neccesery, and probably benificial if european gamers don't have that work of genious to campare eps 2 with. Xenosaga one is needed. Xs2 is a direct sequal, taking place minutes after the first. all the charecters will be lost in translation if the game is released by itself, and we all know the game is confusing enough.

As everyone who has watched the bonus DVD knows, the Episode I segment is still cut short (from 7 to 4 hours) so people will definately miss out on quite a bit. As someone said, Episode II is not the best game to introduce Xenosaga with: it's the second game in a complex series, and it's the worse of the two.

i dont get computer publishers at all! they dont make any sense! release the second but not the first!? and the extra cd that shows you the history missed from the first one is just gonna piss europeans off its like the rest of the world saying, HA! look what we've played hahahahahahahaha (big evil laugh)

i mean call me cynical but they should release the whole series if they are gonna do that well, there's ma 5 cents

I remember there being a preview of Xenosaga EP 1 in a magazine about two or three years ago, I thought it was quite good and was hoping to get it...

But then on the day it was supposed to have been released, it was nowhere to be seen..!

I asked the person at the counter and they said it had been cancelled, I was a little bit dissapointed and I don't like it when they skip games and release the next one instead. It has actually stopped me buying a game as well (Suikoden IV) so I may end up not getting this, oh well.

Uh. All three have German titles. Or rather, German origins.

All of them were books written by the philosopher, Fredrich Nietzsche. Each game had an underlying theme that related to the theme of each of the books.

I wouldn't mind seeing something similar with Episode 3 preorders. If not that, then some other preorder bonus.

Well, it´s too bad we in Eurpoe didn´t get Ep 1, but hey, the second game is better than no game at all. And that movie-disc is a nice little addition too. I have already pre-ordered it.

I came onto the Xenosaga forums for the first time to see if anyone had mentioned the release in the UK. Personally I'm excited just to get another RPG to our shores. I am annoyed that we don't get the first episode and everyone is saying that this isn't the best but I think I'll risk it and try it out. Anyway, there is always episode 3 to look forward to

Guess I'm off to check the reviews on Dreamers seeing as I have no idea about what this game entails.

Given the time that the games have inbetween them. I do agree with the previous statement that they should have been released together.

I also agree that if they were going to try to build a fanbase off of the game that they are releasing this is NOT the game to do it with as Xerno stated. I really didn't enjoy this game at all. It's nearly impossible to build your characters to relatively decent levels as most of the time you go into one area to have 5 monsters and unless you completely leave 4 just don't come back. Especially with the AWGS x_X

yes, these are great news. I remember Xenosaga I, when they siad it was going to come to Europe. I read somewhere where they even compared it to FF X-2 xD. I'm gonna pick this up if it gets to Portugal though ^^;; cause there are games that reach Europe, but there are a few that didn't come to Portugal, hope that xenosaga II isn't one fo them x_x

So no episode one then ;_; *cries*

Well it's not like I don't have the first one, just can't play it ><. Damn you England laws for making chips illegal!!! I'll find a way!

Anyways, I think espisode two ain't going to come over here. I mean it nearly the end on november and still not sign of it. Oh well.

Actually, DayDreamer, Xenosaga 2 is out now in the UK.

Click

Sorry to spam Hikz, but I just had to let DayDreamer know. XD

Ah yes thanks Lem but I picked it up in Gamestation for £19.99 xD.

As for the DVD it's just all the cut scenes. And you know what? It don't make much sense ><. Good thing I watched a little of the anime so it was more clearer. You can obviously tell where the gaming parts fit in between the cut scenes since on minute Shion's in an escape pod and the next she's on a cargo ship >_>. Cheesy ending too lol.

Gonna play it later on today.

Whoa that's interesting I didn't know they were releasing it over here.

Seems odd only releasing ep.2, it's not exactly the most straightforward of yarns.

The free disc must've been more cost efficient than translating episode 1 into 5 or more languages. Shame tho I felt the 1st installment was the stronger one.

well I bought Xenosaga episode II today and already play it

it is a great game, I didn't play it before, but I'm glad now
I bought it.

Well, I finally got Xenosaga II for xmas, however I tried to watch the bonus disk and I'm completly confused. It seems like they just stuck a bunch of scenes together and it doesn't always make sense.

I dunno why they didn't include the backstory in the manuel...

UPDATE: After watching the 5 hours of cutscenes I have a basic understanding of the first game and the characters though I get confused by all these different organisations.

Although I can now gladly play the second episode with an understanding of what has happened it makes it hard to understand the characters in battle. I'm finding it hard to know what characters learn more towards strength, or magic ect. I'm finding it hard to decide what abilities I'm going to give my characters or even which characters I'm gonna use.

Anyway, I'll keep on playing.

I completely agree with Flame! I bought mine last month and am currently still playing it. I'm having a hard time getting into the story and getting to know the characters. It's a huge shame as it seems an epic RPG but I just can't quite get involved in it properly. A back history would have been nice yeh. Or even better, release the first episode in Europe!

However, I am happy playing it and its certainly a high quality game. 'A mech Final Fantasy X' in a way. I must be enjoying it to some extent anyway as I've made a Xenosaga themed sig!

It's a shame you two didn't get to play the first game, as it's a lot better than the sequel (Which suffered from having one of its main writers fired, and the company deciding the direction of the story instead, for some reason) both gameplay wise and definitely story wise.
The music for the first game was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda who made the music for Chrono Cross, and it's simply amazing. The second game had it's music composed by See-Saw for the most part, and even though I like her work and some songs were great, a few of them didn't quite have the effect and atmosphere Iof the music from the first game.

If you have an opportunity to play imported games, I suggest importing Episode 1. It's sold for $15 - $19 in most stores these days, and should be easy enough to find.
But it's good that they included the bonus disc at least. Doesn't cover everything, since some scenes had to be left out, but it should give you a good grasp of the main story.

Here is a clip from a scene with chaos that I heard was left out from the bonus disc.

http://s29.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1G0IZYE...QQ25VNRHNNZ2DTL


If they did, it would be the size of a phonebook. XD This game has one of the most complex stories I've seen in a videogame. I haven't played the second disc of Episode II yet though, but from what I heard it wasn't as good as Episode I.

None the less, I still like the series, and it looks like they made a lot of improvements in the upcoming Episode III.

Thanks Athrun. I'm starting to understand just how complex it is. I'm still having trouble knowing which side I'm on and who is a bad guy or not.

Thanks for showing that scene. I know absoloutly NOTHING about Chaos. I don't even know why he is following my characters about. I especially didn't know he had something to do with the Gnosis.

I'm currently on the second disk, a little dissapointed with just how little I've actually done on the first disk. It started out well with Old Miltia but then the playing through the same place twice just in different seasons seems a little lazy on the creators part. It seems like we are bombarded with information but when we finally get to play something there is very little development before control is taken away from us and we are once again 'treated' to several confusing cutscenes.

I'm also annoyed with how they have introduced Jin's character to the party. On the first disk they made some kind of backstory and character relationship and Chaos seems to be hiding the fact that he knew Jin but in the second section no one says a word about Jin joining. I can see it's potential, I also love the battle system, but I'm having problems with character development and storyline. For instance the drastic changes to Shion's character and look.

Contary to what this essay says, I do like the game. It's very enjoyable but I'm also a little dissapointed. Hopefully the final installment rectifies these problems.

I've been through Episode I, and I enjoyed it. I just got Episode II the other day, and I've yet to play through enough to contrast the two. The only thing that I dislike about II is the absence of the encyclopedia, which I hear is returning in Episode III. It's a shame that the series got cut from six games to three.

Yeah we still don't really know everyones full intention yet. chaos has a bigger role in this than he leads us to believe for sure.
In Episode 1 there was a certain scene where masked Virgil was speaking to us, and he then said "Isn't that right, boss?" and he looked at chaos.
I still don't know what that was about, but then again I haven't played Disc 2 of Episode II yet. (Need to get my new PS2 first.)


No problem. I actually have all the scenes saved on a DVD, so I'd be more than willing to upload the parts here for you guys that you haven't seen. If only I knew which ones they took out. I'll try and find out.


I got that impression from him as well. Especially since they didn't say much when they met again on Second Miltia. But chaos did wave at him like "hi". There might not have been more to their encounter than what we saw in the backstory on Miltia. Then again, I have to beat Disc 2 to find out. lol


Even though the battle system pretty much completely changed from before, I still like it a lot so far. The Break Zone system is at least original and innovative. And I love doing KOS-MOS aerial combos. <3
Something I miss from Episode 1 though is the single tech attacks. Glad they're bring it back for Episode 3 again.


Yeah the Keywords thing was really interesting. You could read a lot of interesting things in there that weren't shown in the games story.
Like the fact that Wilhelm was the CEO of the entire Galaxy Federation, but resigned a few years ago, for unknown reasons. Or Kevin's age (which coincidentally happens to match the 14 year old buy who was seen next to Mizrahi, and said to be his right hand student. And how Shion was hit by the same blast as Virgil's mech, yet she survived without a scratch. And it brings up the meaning behind words like Pleroma and such.
It was a great read, and it updated the further you got into the game. I'm glad that they decided to bring it back in the third game.

From the sounds of it, the third game is going back to basics. I'm hoping that they'll take the best of the first two episodes and combine.

I did notice that scene where he called chaos 'boss', at least THAT was on the DVD. The thing is, Chaos just seems like a nice kinda guy, so I've always been suspecious. I also get the feeling that he doesn't age normally. The writing has hinted at it, especially at the beginning of Episode II with Cannan with the comment of being 'human'.

The encyclopedia sounds like a good idea, I wish they had it on this game because there are so many different companies and allignment and I never have any clue on who's the enemy or an ally or how much power any company has. I basically fight whoever i'm told to fight and go whether I'm told to go.

Disk 2 Starts out quite bland (especially after an awesome boss at the end of disk 1) where you control only one character and your forced to do simple block puzzles. (HINT: Go right up to the corner ) then once again your thrown somewhere big with a lot of characters. Right now I'm in a large room with several transporters (or whatever they are) and I can't be bothered to to proceed for now. I find it daughnting having so many options but no direction.

I have just one question... is there any difference at all between which character leads apart from the look of the leader and different animations when smashing stuff?

Not really, although there are a few sidequest (aka GS Campaigh missions) that can only be triggered with certain characters. I remember there's one that can only be triggered with MOMO (or Rubedo too, I think), one only with Shion, another one only with a male character, etc. That's the only real purpose, apart from putting your favorite character in the lead. =)


Yes, that's right. It's already been officially stated in a mobile Xenosaga substory (Pied Piper). That substory tells us that chaos was working for Wilhelm about a 100 years ago. However, apparently chaos didn't agree with Wilhelm's ways, and thus it seems they are now opposing eachother. Certain events in Episode 2 further imply this, but you haven't reached that point of the game yet (and I wouldn't want to spoil anything =p ).


I think so too, I found the dungeons' layout in Episode 2 more annoying than anything. And it may seem there are many options, but there's really only one of those transporters that will allow you to move on, the other ones all bring you back to the same place (although you can get a few item pick-ups in the process). There will be more of this kind of stuff in the later dungeons as well. =/

Heck why stop with just the release of episode 1. If the managed to add in Xenogears then they can see the things that led up to ep1 and ep2. If you play either Xenosagas without playing xenogears at all then you miss out on all the thinks like the anima relics(the zohar in Xenosaga) and the advent of the women miang, and other such things.

Wouldn't you agree?

Another thing I was wondering though is this what was the relation ship between Chaos and Wilhelm at the end of episode2. Iwas wondering if there had been any previous info on their relation ship. I'm gonna play episode1 and check the encyclopida and see if it will tell me anything. My own search has proved useless, any help would be appreciated.

I had been told it was mentioned or implied in Pied Piper, although having just read through the translation myself (finally xP ), I must say it's quite vague. Though chaos having worked for Wilhelm at some point does make sense. I'll point out why I think so:

Quote from Pied Piper --> Wilhelm (talking to himself): "... Yeshua. Going so far as to get help from others to obstruct me isn't like you... Still, if that's what you intend to do, I too have something in mind... While you hide in the shadows, I will see to it that things get done my way... But I am content to wait... for the day when you will once again return to the stage..."

This was about a 100 years ago. Wether or not chaos is actually working for Wilhelm at this point is rather vague. Although since it seems chaos wants things done differently, yet is apparently working from the shadows, this does imply he might actually be working for him at the moment and is pretending to still be loyal. Either way, chaos' discretion is in vain, as Wilhelm already seems to know what he's up to.

But as I said, it's quite vague... more vague than I expected it to be. ^^''

I too am finding this game pretty complicated x_x. From what I see on the battle system all characters can pretty much learn the same things, only the characters that END the battle gets experience points (wtf?), and the only thing that differs them is their stats. As for the battle system it's VERY different from what I'm used to playing. I don't really understand it clearly. Help?

Well basically, the different factions are like this:

- The Galaxy Federation: The biggest faction out of all, concisting of united nations and worlds from all over the galaxy. They basically controll every single planet except for the Kukai Foundation.
The Federation is run by a council with representitives from various nations. Though at one point in time the Federation had a C.E.O. (not sure if they still have that) which was Wilhelm. But for unknown reasons, he resigned his position a few years before Xenosaga.

- Vector Industries: Vector is only a company, but a very influential and prosperous one at that. Picture Microsoft, but in a much greater scale. Vector have a hand in many things these days. Mostly weapons research though. KOS-MOS is one of their projects, and Shion is one of their top engineers.
Wilhelm owns Vector, and he founded it several thousands of years ago. It existed back when Earth (Lost Jerusalem) still existed.
Remember the opening intro from Episode 1 where a professor/archeologist discovers the Zohar in Africa? That expedition was funded by Vector.
Vector also produces the A.G.W.S. as well as the more powerful E.S. machines that have the mysterious Anima Relic as its main energy source. And they handle U.M.N. gate jumps in space. (Transportation through hyperspace.)

- Kukai Foundation: A independant nation free from the Federation. I believe it was founded after the Miltian Conflict, and many Realians moved there after the war.
I'm not sure how Rubedo and Nigredo came to be successors of this foundation after the founder. Someone has to remind me of that.
They are also collecting Zohar Emulators after the end of the war. Because they are a neutral nation, the Federation doesn't oppose their actions very much.

- U-Tic: A terrorist organisation created by Joachim Mizrahi. Whether they were terrorists while he was still alive is unknown, but apparemtly they have lived on since the death of their creator, and they are also after the Zohar, and the Emulators. Apparently they are a religious group who seek to find Lost Jerusalem, among other things. They also seem to work with the Ormus and the Patriarch if I'm not mistaken.
But they also have some sort of connection with Vector, since Albedo has been seen by their side a few times.

Well since I haven't played the second disc of Xenosaga 2 yet, that's all I know. But that's the basics from Episode 1 mainly.



Only characters that "end" the battle get exp? I think you mean only characters who participate? It's usually like that in rpgs. Anyway, it's not only their stats that separates them, but their fighting style as well.
MOMO and Shion are long range attackers with powerful A zone attacks.
Chaos cannot combo in the air (which makes me dislike him in this game) and neither can Ziggy.
KOS-MOS and Jin can pretty much attack at any range, like MOMO and Shion, but they also have full Zone attacks to their disposal.

Thanks Athrun (again), that made things a lot clearer.

The characters who finished (or maybe just participated) in the battle get the most EXP but your other character do also recive a percentage. However, the thing that annoys me are the class points and skill points seeing as the characters who don't win/participate in the battle don't recive any at all.

I can't say I'm paticulaly keen on the skills either most of them seem quite useless or I just don't have a clue what they really do. I certainly don't know who I should teach them to.

I still don't think I've quite got the hang of the battle system because although I'm winning all my battles and I've learnt about boosts, stocks, breaks ect. ect. I STILL havn't found a use for Rubedo. I pull him out quite often but his attack (even if I hit the right points) does peanuts compared to every other character.

I must once again state that although I complain a lot about Xenosaga II it doesn't mean I don't like it. In fact I am really enjoying playing it (I'm attempting the transporter room later tonight ) but I just think that I would be enjoying it a lot more if they woud have released episode I first...

I'm not so sure about the skills in this game either. What mainly separates this game from the other in this sense is that there are no more individual Tech attacks to learn.
But anyway, I chose to give MOMO and Shion good healing spells early on, and also stat boosting skills that can be quite useful in some boss battles.

One important spell is this games equivalent of Hasteaga (forgot its name) and also Boost +1.
They removed my favorite skill though, which was Commanders Crest. (Basically, in this game it would give you one extra stock for free each turn.)
Try to give at least two characters Analyze early on. It's great to be able to see the enemies stats for free.
Also, try to never invest in a class that you can't afford to finish fast enough, unless it's really worth it. As you know, you recieve some class points back after each completed class.
Medicia All is also a good skill to have early on.

Also note that since chaos can't do aerial combos, it might be a good idea to give him magical spells, since those can be used in aerial combos.
As for the battle system, it's basically that you do 200 - 400% more damage for each combo (boost) hit you make after you break their zone.

Oh and, you probably didn't do all GS missions on Disc 1? Because there's a certain skill you can get on Disc 1 through a GS mission called Psycho pocket, I think.
It allows you to steal items, and this can be important if you want to get all the Dual Techs in the game. Because you can steal stuff from Albedo and other bosses on Disc 1. If you miss out in it though, you might not be able to get those particular things later. It's not a huge loss if you did miss it though.

No no, I'm pretty sure I only saw 3 characters only get exp when I had switched characters many times during battle.

What I don't understand about the attacking is the button combos. Does it really make much difference in attack power if I used the one on the top list compared to the second one? I'm pretty sure I'm playing this wrong o_o'. Also the stock. From what I can see all that does is give me an extra combo.

I suck at understanding this game ;_;

I'm not sure what you mean by "top of the list"? There are three different attacks. Zone A, B and C. And yeah, it matters which one you use, because you're suppsoed to Break the enemies Zone by hitting the correct Zone is order.
If an enemy has BBCC as their zone, you first do BB, then boost in your next character to do CC and possibly also another hit after with that character using the Circle button. Or boost in someone else.
Every hit you make after breaking the Zone in a combo does a lot more damage.

As for stock, it's the only way to use the Circle button in a combo. If you have three stock, you can do two regular attacks, and three consecutive Circle attacks. Those are best to use as either finishing moves, or after the Zone is broken.
Also, you some times gain stock randomly if you hit the enemy witha regular combo.

Stock is also used for special attacks that certain characters have.

OK... I suckie at explaining this, but I'll try:

You've got square (close range) and triangle (far range) attacks. Does the attack power differ? Usually not, although some enemies may be slightly weaker against certain attacks. But the real purpose is to break the enemies' break zone and then crush them with combos. Which goes like this:

- When you attack an enemy, you'll see a B or C pop up. The point is to break through the defensive break zone. If the letter B or C is red, it means you used the right attack. If it's white, that's not the right attack to break the zone, and you need to try again. Once you've broken through the break zone, your attacks will do much more damage and you can "air" or "down" the enemy. When an enemy is aired or downed, you can do massive damage, so then would be a good time to use combos (and that's what boosting is good for).

- You deal "B" damage with square, and "C" damage with triangle. Circle attacks also deal "B" damage. When an enemy's break zone is destroyed, you air or down the enemy with circle (you can't choose airing or downing, it depends on which character you're using).

Example: there's an enemy with break zone BCB. What do you do? Attack square *B*, triangle *C*, square *B*, circle (air or down enemy). You need to break a zone in one turn, otherwise the break effect is lost. So you'll have to boost characters to build up the break and keep the break going for as long as possible.

So what do you actually need to do? Attack square *B*, triangle *C*, boost next character, square *B* ~break~ , circle (air or down enemy), now keep boosting and attacking for a huge, massive-damage-dealing, chained attack. That's pretty much the only way you'll stand a fair chance of winning the harder boss fights.

Alternatively, you could also have done: attack square *B*, triangle *C*, if available: circle *B* ~break~ , boost next character, air or down enemy. I don't really know when exactly you can use a circle attack after two regular ones, it just happens sometimes =p . If you don't want to use it (like when you need a C and not a B ^^ ), just press X to skip the circle attack if you're given the opportunity to use one (boost the next character first, of course. Otherwise you'll end your turn).

When reading this myself, I have this bad feeling that this isn't going to make much sense =/ ... I suggest trying a couple of breaks against some of the weaker enemies, and see if you can get the hang of it. Once you know how it works, it's really quite easy and you'll be pulling off break zones, combos and whatnot with ease... I just find it so hard to put it in words.

I've only just noticed that KOS-MOS has special skills... hahah how foolish do I feel. Anyway, I put down Grandia and finally got round to doing that transporter room and I'm done with that place. However, now I know there are a thousand and one sidequests for me to do and doors to unlock in order to get essential skills. I can see me having to start this game again... now that I know the mechanics and the character stats a bit better a new game should turn out a lot better. Also, because I was trying to rush into the game I hardly talked to any NPC's so I didn't know about these GS campaigns...

I found Shion's and Chaos' swimsuits... I mean how am I supposed to keep my eye on the action when Shion is wearing THAT... So do all the characters have swimsuits or is it just shion, chaos and KOS-MOS... coz the 10% skill points bonus is a nice feature

I take back all I said about Jin... he is a very useful character... especially teamed up with KOS-MOS. Even if he does look stupid with his lack of trousers and bright white trainers...

If you feel up for it, I'd say it might be worth it, as you could get the Double Techs and stuff you missed before because you weren't able to steal from bosses. Albedo has something good, can't remember what.
Just do all the GS campaigns available. And make sure to read a FAQ, because there are one or two you can do early on that can give you a "Failed" instead of "Incomplete" and you won't be able to do it again unless you reset of course.
And by using the Zone Break system, I beat the Encephilon Summer boss in one single combo, I remember.
(KOS-MOS air attacks after Zone Break are deadly)


Yeah they all have swimsuits, and they're quite useful with the + 10% Exp bonus. I know that you can get two of them at the beginning by transfering your old Xenosaga 1 Clear Game save file, but since that game wasn't released in Europe, I figure they must have worked that out some other wy for you.
I think you get KOS-MOS and Ziggy by transfering.


I usually use Shion/MOMO or Junior to team up with KOS-MOS, but that's because I'm not too far into the game yet. I'm not even sure if Jin is on my team yet? But since he is an aerial character, I bet he will work nicely with KOS-MOS.

Yeah the swimsuits are very useful, i have jr's MOMO's and KOS-MOS'.

Can i get any help on getting the other's i'm missing? =p

Let's see: Jin's, Chaos's, Shion's and Ziggy's. I think that's all =p

But overall i think it's ok, i didn't played the first one so i won't compare them.

I've no idea where you can find Ziggy's swimsuit in the European version. Because in the American version you get KOS-MOS' and Ziggy's swimsuits by loading your clear data from Episode I. =p

Shion's and chaos' swimsuits can be gotten by completing GS Campaign #25 (you can actually fail this mission and miss out on the rewards forever =o ).

Jin's Tarzan-esque swimsuit can be gotten by completing GS Campaign #32 (paying off Matthew's debt... the horror! xD ).

Teh paying off mathews debt, a feat I'm still trying to accomplish to this day. Anyway as far as the exp thing goes all the characters get exp but the team not in the fight gets about half, and also they get no skill pts for new moves. And as far as breaking goes I find my team to be quite effective. Kos-Mos, Ziggy, And Chaos. Ziggy is the power house, Kos-Mos and Chaos are healers and really good fighters so long as when you get further in to the game when it requires 2 characters to break an enemys guard you start with Kos-Mos first.

Another tactic is get full boost and stock. Attack with chaos and ziggy to break the guard then off load every thing they have to get more boost, back to max if possible, then use Kos-Mos's special dradon buster, following with a boosted character like chaos boosting in to use the "Boost+1" ether or the "Stock+1" ether till she runs out of boost and or stock then end with a strong magic like Anilihation. This tactic works wonders on really long fights, so you get the most out of every break.

Ok, I just picked up Xenosaga II, since it was £15 down from £35. Woo.

Thing is, when I bought it, the guy at the counter told me the whole thing is in German. o_O
He said if I wanted to return it, I can't take it out the plastic seal, so I just wanted to know what exactly is in German?

The guy at the shop said the whole game, and when I asked "what, even the menus and battle commands and stuff?" He didn't have a clue, and just kept saying he had to tell customers the game was in German before they bought and got angry when they get home or something, lol.

Can anyone clear this up, will I actually be able to play it without knowing German? xD

Huh? If the whole game is in German, then I assume that includes the battle commands and... well, everything else xP . But if you can't understand anything of the story, than the game is most likely going to seem like crap. Xenosaga II already isn't very liked because of the gameplay being rather tedious in some departments (and I think so too =o ), so without getting anything of the story, I think this would be a completely wasted purchase. o.o''

I suggest finding an English copy of the game if you don't know any German. ^^''

It is the English copy of the game, the guy at the store said that all the European version of the game are in German. I opened it anyway, and the instructions are in English, all the screenshots of the battles are in English, maybe it's just the cut scenes that are in German, though I presume, and hope, that there are subtitles. xD

I'll watch the DVD with all the Ep 1 cut scenes and see if that is in German or not. o_O

Eh? Well mines in English. There was a language choice at the start though. Why would it be german anyways if it's a European version?

As for the battle system I think I understand now... did not notice or see the zone thing in the battle or the instruction book ><.

I bet the german subtitles like "Der wille zur macht" and such is what confused him. The games subtitles are always in German. The rest of the game should be in English.
But Lem, if DMC 3 SE might not be released in the EU after all, then I suggest getting a Magic Swap. They're not expensive, and allows you to play imported games.

That way, you could play DMC 3 SE and also Xenosaga 1, which is according to most, a much better game than Xenosaga 2. The second game had one of its main writers fired, the story altered in many ways as well by the company, overriding the director.

i dont know if this has already been posted but if it has, sorry but is there a freeloader for the PS2? cos i cant find one anywhere and there seems to be ones for the gamecube which i thought would be more difficult because of the size of the disk, but no ps2. has anybody seen any because i desperatley want to play the 1st xenosaga. the dvd didnt do anything to make me undetrstand the story of the xenosaga 1 and

i think there making an episode three and then its gonna be even more annoying to miss the first in the series, the only way to play it is get my ps2 chipped and i dont wanna do that, the ps2 has enough problems as it is without something else mucking it up. thank you for your attention, bye!

Of course there is.
Here you go Zanderman.

http://www.modchip-store.co.uk/Swap-Magic-...eys-2-p-76.html

Since you're from the UK, that's a UK site.
But unless you have the slim PS2, you'll have to install some sort of flip top cover I heard to swap discs? Something like that.

If you have a standard PS2, I'd get a mod chip installed instead. Just make sure it's done by proffesionals.

I've started again, I'm currently at the Winter dream world place with all the GS missions available complete. My Goodness this game is complicated but I'm starting to get it. I didn't realise just how important stock and boost are. I managed to beat Level 4 in one go thanks to the use of stock, boost and air.

I'm starting to really like the battle system, especially in boss fights but normal fights are starting to get tiresome.

Ok one question, is there any way I can minipulate how I start the battle out or is it just random. In some games, if you run into the back of the enemy you get a back attack or side attack but on this it seems completly random...

Jr. has a cool tattoo on his arm, for someone who looks like a 13 year old it really suits him. Anyone know if it's a tat or it's something to do with being a U.R.T.V.

Stock + Boost + Air. My kind of combo. <3
If you have all the GS campaigns beaten on Disc 1, make sure you buy the Psycho Pocket skill with someone so you can steal rare items from bosses. Remember to scan them so that you'll know if you get both items they have. They usually have two I think.


Yeah, I only beat Disc 1 so far, and I really like the battle system, but I can see the regular battles as the reason why some people are complaining about the battle system.
In Xenosaga 1 there was an item called Commanders Crest that really helped change the pace of regular battles completely. Had it existed in this game, it would basically grant you 1 bonus stock for each character every time it's their turn.
I heard there is such an item in Episode 2, but it only grants a bonus stock randomly, while Commanders Crest always gave you more AP (Episode 1's equivalent of Stock)
That was especially good in that game because characters could do powerful Single Techs. In this game, I believe only a few characters have them under the Special command.


Well if you shoot surrounding devices and manage to hit enemies with them, it affects how you start out the battle. You could start out with full boost for everyone, and things like that, depending on the device. Other than that, I don't know.


I don't think I've seen it yet, so I wouldn't know.

Yeah, it's a little Red Dragon (as far as I know, you can only see it when he's wearing his swimsuit in battle). It does actually have something to do with his U.R.T.V. background (quote from Episode 2, MOMO's subconsciousness):


Citrine is talking about Rubedo, of course (not Nigredo, as it may seem at first. She's explaining about Rubedo to him). The tattoo is obviously a reference to Rubedo's Red Dragon code name.

On a similar note, later in the game you can see that Albedo also has a rather huge white tattoo, but I couldn't tell what exactly it was. Because of this, I guess it's also quite likely that Nigredo has a black tattoo, maybe we'll find out in Episode 3. ^^

I bought Xenosaga Ep 2 a few weeks ago now, and after watching the DVd and playing the second. i thought it was great.
Therefore i ordered the 1st game from america, and bought (dunno if anyoner has heard of these) Magic Keys, for the slim PS2.
Only problem is that they involve fiddling alot when ur trying to load the disc. If anyone knows a more simpler thing i can use that only involves putting in the disc, or leaving a part in the machine then let us know