Hey guys

Under Athruns advice, i'm starting a topic looking for any advice regarding Xenosaga episode one, but obviously if you can hold back on the spoilers I would really appreciate that.

So far I am loving this game I have waited years to be able to play this and its definitely worth it so far I am absolutely hooked, brilliant story, brilliant characters and I love the setting.

So far the only thing I have heard in regard to secrets is finding something and transferring the save data to Xenosaga 2 but will that work since I have the NTSC Xenosaga 1 and a PAL Xenosaga 2?

Thanks in advance
Mike

If you finish XSI you can save your clear data, which gives some extras in XSII. As far as I know this won't work with the NTSC-PAL difference. You'd get swimsuits, which in the PAL version you'll probably find somewhere else, and also bonus skill points (depending on the levels of your characters at the end of XSI). In PAL XSII you'll have to start from scratch.

As for other advice, I'm not really good at giving battle advice. But make sure to answer all of Miyuki's e-mails at the start of the game. It'll reward you with a nice extra later in the game.

Well I can tell you that PAL Episode II data doesn't transfer to NTSC Episode III so I'd assume it wouldn't work but everything you get from Episode I transfer data is available in the PAL Episode II game anyway (except the extra skill points but that's not a big deal) so really you won't be missing out on much... You get KOS-MOS' swimsuit at the beginning of the game and Ziggy's at the end...

Imo starting Episode II with those extra skill points (which can be many depending on your characters' levels in XSI), is much more fun. You won't have to collect skill points and level up as much at the start, and things will generally be easier. I'd recommend saving that clear data for sure.

Edit: Oh right, except you can't load it in the PAL XSII. Whoops...

Good to see you started playing the game. =p Yeah you can't transfer files between PAL and NTSC versions, so you could get the NTSC version of Epi II if you want, or just transfer between the PAL version of Epi 2 and Epi 3. (Btw is Epi 3 even out in PAL yet? I don't think I've seen it...)

Anyway here's a tip. Try to get Shion's Queen's Kiss skill at least before you get to the Cathedral Ship. It allows you to steal from enemies and bosses. Once you are there you can steal a rare item from a boss named Gargoyle. The item is called "Commanders Crest" and it's one of a kind. It'll enhance your fighting a lot. I hope you get it because most people tend to miss it. Keep stealing until you get it.
I'll explain what you can use it for when you get it, but trust me it's worth it. =)

Thanks for the tips and help fellas

I don't think we'll be seeing Xeno 3 over here but you never know they surprised me with Shadow Hearts 3 and the sMT games:) I already bought Xenosaga 2 from over here which i'm quite pleased with, so I can't see me buying the NTSC version for a costume, but you never know lol!

I'm at the Catherdral ship now but i'm pretty sure I don't have that skill yet what shall I do keep levelling up? I got my ass handed to me by the main boss Gargoyle(twice so far) anyway, so I think levelling up is order no matter what lol!

Oh, well good thing you read that in time then. =p
Yeah try to get that skill with Shion. I think it's at the top right on her Ether skill list, or maybe the one to the left of the top right one. (Not sure) But you can try and then reset if its the wrong one, so you don't waste any points. You can also use Momo to steal, but I'm not sure what her skill is called. But definitely get Queen's Kiss or you'll miss the Commanders Crest. It's the best item in the game.

You don't have to get Queen's Kiss before Cathedral Ship though. Just have MOMO as the lead character for that dungeon, and it will give her a stealing ability eventually (among other things, like a lame transformation sequence). She steals using a fishing pole. The ability will be one of her fist ones (she only has 4 or 5 in general, but it's off of her main tree) on the second tree. It doesn't take too much effort to get.

I'm sure somewhere in Europe/Australia/South America wherever it is that PAL functions, there's a disk with Episode 1 transfer data on it. I found Episode 1 transfer data on the Namco Transmission disk that came with Soul Calibur 3, which came in handy since at the time I didn't have a Xeno 1 or its clearsave .

But if you don't, it really makes a very slight difference anyway.

Oh you could do that on your first visit in the Cathedral Ship? I came back close to the end of the game and did that side quest, or whatever to call it.

Well in that case I suggest taking Denim's advice. Have MOMO as your lead character and search all over the cathedral ship for some glowing things (I think?) that will trigger some stuff with MOMO like new abilities. They only appear if MOMO is the lead character of your party I think. Since you're at the end you have to backtrack a bit.

Ok thanks fellas i''ll give that a try This game is so damn good though I love the music and I know cut scene heavy but it has such a great plot and character development anyway I don't mind one bit. I've ordered Xenosaga 3 too and I should recieve it on Friday with some luck A good bargain for £17 too.

I'm warning you man, while Episode I and III are nothing short of awesome, Episode II is nothing better then awful, really awful, to the point where it pissed me off playing the game. Shion's character does a complete 180 and the story goes downhill after disc 2. Not to mention that every battle is insanely long due to the fact that enemies have TOO much hp. I knew that you guys started at Episode II, but I didn't realize that you never even got III. What the hell is Namco, Monolith Soft, or whoever is in charge of marketing trying to do, make the Xenosaga trilogy look like they were all bad games over there?

My advice on Episode I? The only thing I can say is that while the stats for A.G.W.S may look nice, they're generally crap throughout the whole game. If giving a choice to fight a battle on foot or on A.G.W.S, you are usually better off on foot.

Thanks buddy i'll keep it in mind regarding the A.G.W.S I have been over using them a bit recently

To be honest I can be very forgiving regarding rpgs and I have already heard that the second was disappointing in comparison to the first, but at the same time i've heard from a quite few players that they loved it regardless of the changes they made. I think there is a good chance that i'll still enjoy it what ever its flaws are.

Yeah I totally agree with you in regard to Namco, they are terrible when it comes to releasing RPGs in Europe, we only ever saw Tales Of Eternia and Symphonia over here and they have already confirmed to me there'll be no chance of the others making it over here, so yeah importing is the only smart option if you are an RPG fan.

Right, I have MOMO's Star wind but how do I steal? This has had me baffled for hours now and i'm going out of my mind. I can get her to transform, but I can't seem to find the option to steal, is there one?

MOMO uses a Tech Attack to steal, while Shion's Queen's Kiss is an Ether Attack.
I found this in a FAQ:



MOMO

Name: Magic Caster
Target: One Enemy
Range: Far
Type: -
Attribute: Line
Level: -
Description: Steal rare item {During Star Wind transformation}
Speed: 200
Wait: 20


Shion

Name: Queen's Kiss
EP: 8
Ether Points To Improve: -
WT: 4
Improves From: Boost 1
Improves To: -
Target: One Enemy
Description: Occasionally "Instant KO" / Steal Items

By the way, another tip (although you may have already done this) is to transfer Medicia All to everyone at this point. And hopefully you transfered Momo's healing spell that costs 2 MP to other characters because it heals as much as Shion's but at half the MP cost.
Oh and get Boost with Shion if you haven't. It's very useful in boss battles.
And don't waste too much points upgrading every new Tech Attack you get. you're going to need those points for the best ones later. Only upgrade the Speed to Hi speed so you can do it after one button push *instead of Square Square then Triangle, you can do just Square then Triangle* (I'm sure you got that down though, just saying) and upgrade the delay status. Both those are chgeap to upgrade. but upgrading the power can get expensive.
The ones I suggest wasting some points on power is everyonesd long range Tech Attck. You're going to be stuck with them as your only good long range attack for a long time. That is Shion's Spell Ray, Kos-Mos R-Shot, and so on... They are worth upgrading a bit.

Oh and you might want to start extracting skills from accessories and upgrading your skill level. Because to extract the ability from the Commanders crest (that way everyone can use it) you'll need to have it on Level 5 or 4 I think. Your level will upgrade after you extract the abilities from a certain number of accessories.

As for A.G.W.S. they're not that useful, but they can serve as an "extra life" so to say. but close to the end of the game you can actually get some very useful equipment for your A.G.W.S. Mainly the AIRD-thingy that looks like the same thing with a similar name from Xenogears. (Elly used them with her Gear)

AEROD?

AIRD is the exact same thing, except everyone can use them - though MOMO does it best. It's the best thing Zebulun has to offer in 2 and 3.

If you really like AGWS, you can buy two more at the end of the game. I actually did it. They're pretty fun if... really expensive.

Thanks for the help man, I appreciate it, I levelled up from a level 15 to a 20 on the Cathedral Ship running around looking for MOMO's item lol! I got there in the end and kicked the Gargolyes ass and got the Commanders Crest as well as the other item

I am still trying to get my head around the boost functions, there is alot more to Xenosaga than meets the eye I love all the customization involved, its a such a great game, and definitely has one of the best storylines for a game I have experienced if not THE best. I know I keep going on but I just didn't expect to love this game as much as I do.

Oh yeah I just ordered the US Xenosaga Episode 2, I just couldn't resist

It's not that hard; you attack and fill your boost gauge (but I'm sure you knew thàt). You can boost the character on the LEFT with the SQUARE button, the one in the MIDDLE with TRIANGLE, and the one on the RIGHT with CIRCLE. If I recall, you can't boost a character if it's already in the waiting list at the bottom of the screen (or was that in XSII, I forgot >_> ).

Nope, in neither XS1 or XS2 you can't boost people already in the queu unless you have the ability to do it.

What makes XS1's gameplay silly is that boost functions are for individual characters, making characters like Ziggy worse and characters like MOMO better. Ziggy needs a White Ring AND it's ability to have equal speed to everyone else, KOS MOS and chaos just need the ability, and if MOMO got both, she'd be doubling everyone all the time and boosting very very often. With less speed, the boost gauge fills up slower too, unless you do a lot more damage. I managed to fix this problem by focusing on Ziggy and KOS-MOS's regular stats, so that even though they had less speed than everyone, they still managed to get as much boost because they did so much more damage.

The good thing about boost is that you can take advantage of the Turn Bonus (the icon at the bottom of the screen) by boosting in a character on a specific turn, and pushing back the enemys turn. One good thing is to use boost the turn before the Boost Bonus appears. Then that character will come in on the Boost Bonus turn and fill up the Boost guage very easily. Also it can be used to prevent a boss from taking the Critical Hit Bonus turn, which can be dangerous.

The only thing about the Boost System that annoyed me in the first game was that it could make the battles unfair at times, since enemies can just use it randomly. I was very happy for that the second and third game showed the boost game for the enemeis.

Glad you feel that way. I felt the same when I first played it. The story and characters are excelent. And it's still among my all time favorite rpg's along with Suikoden 2, Chrono Trigger, FF8 and Shadow Hearts. By the way, what do you think of FF8? (I'm always asking people who like Xenosaga, since they all seem to like FF8 for some odd reason. I think the complex story writing is a bit similar in both games.)

And the part about it having a lot more cutscenes ompared to other rpg's is just from people who can't see past the 3D motion. The only difference between the cutscenes in Xenosaga 1 and any normal textbox dialogue in any other given rpg is that it's now voice acted and with a moving 3D camera. I remember having just as many "dialogue scenes" in say.. Final Fantasy 7. People see the moving camera and voice acting and suddenly think it's a completely different concept and complain about it in a negative way. Well you couldn't "break free" from the dialogue conversations in most other rpgs either. But I prefer having those scenes voice acted with a moving 3D camera rather than just text. It's a much more effective way of telling the story, if done right. And Xenosaga has the best set of voice actors I've seen in a game since Metal Gear Solid.

So how far are you now?
You should get an item called Double Buster as soon as possible. It's in one of the Segment Adress doors. It needs to be used along with Commanders Crest.

Actually yeah I really enjoyed Final Fantasy 8 next to 7 its my favourite FF game. I can definitely see where you are coming from especially with the whole Sci Fi fantasy feel, its great, and it still has one of the best endings and openings in the series. I have been thinking about replaying it actually but I have such a large backlog of games that I don't know when i'll get round to it.

The cut scenes don't bother me at all, in fact i'm enjoying them, I am finding there is a good balance of gameplay and cinematics, and the story is interesting and enjoyable enough for me to want to see more. I also think it depends on how you play it too, I always take my time with wandering around the new towns, settlements or ships, talking to the NPC's and customizing my characters so it never feels overdone to me. I t definitely helps that the voice acting is some of the best I have heard.

I'm only in about 26 hours at the point where the (spolier) Durandal has been captured and Jr and co has been accused of an aggressive act of war against the federation, so I have to make way back to the Elsa and get to KOS-MOS, I would be further on in the game except I have been trying to clear out the spare room ready for the baby which is only 4 and a half months away.

I'll keep my eye out for that item I have managed to get a few doors open already but there are loads left for me to find, but I have quite a way to go. I'm a bit annoyed today actually I was expecting Xenosaga 2(NTSC version) to arrive in the post yesterday and it still hasn't got here today, it is a Saturday though and I am hoping it was just the Bank Holiday that threw everything off a bit otherwise I will have to order it again - which would mean I paid for the same game three times in less than a month since I already bought the UK version.

I wouldn't worry too much, game deliveries can take longer than expected (I've experienced it myself). But so you bought both the PAL and NTSC XSII versions? You should sell the UK (PAL) version then, the NTSC one has the most extras thanks to the clear data from XSI. All the PAL version has done differently is the location of a couple of swimsuits.

I've been thinking about replaying FF8 some day too. I already played it 2 times though. =p

Good thing about the baby. =) I hope everything is going well for your wife. Did you know that it's common for women to have a misscarige the first time they're pregnant though? I didn't know that until my girlfriend told me a few weeks ago. Scary, but I hope that doesn't happen to you guys. Just saying in case you didn't know that it's not very uncommon if it happens. But I hope it doesn't.

Anyway, the segment address door with the Double Buster is onboard the Elsa, so it's hard to miss. =p I think it's in the hangar. Not sure where the key is though.
Anyway I'll explain what it's for, and the commanders crest.

Double Buster lets you (if you have enough AP) to use two Techs in a row. For example Triangle, Circle, Circle.
Right now I assume you've set your favorite tech attacks to High speed so that you can use them for only 4 AP, right?

Well what Commanders Crest does is that it adds an additional 1 AP to each turn you get. That might not sound like much, but it really is.
It means that you'll be able to go all out every single turn, and even though you do you'll have 6 AP every other turn (without having to save up) and be able to excecute two tech attacks in the same turn.

First turn: +4 AP (+1 AP) = 5 AP
If you go all out here you'll still only be able to use up 4 out of these 5 AP, leaving 1 AP at the end of the turn.

(Triangle, Circle)

Next turn: 1 AP (left from the previous turn) + 4 AP (+ 1AP) = 6 AP

You'll be able to do Triangle, Circle, Circle which is very effective when fighting any enemy or boss. Especially once you get KOS-MOS X-Buster and the other characters stronger attacks. For Shion it takes awhile before she gets *something*-rain, but you should get KOS-MOS X-Buster pretty soon I think. (If you haven't already.)

You should extract the skills from Commanders Crest and Double Buster so that everyone can use them. =p

Yeah, I hope you're right, its just VG plus are so quick with deliveries I couldn't help being a bit disappointed its not here yet, Its only two days over though so with some luck i'll get it early next week.

I was thinking about selling the PAL Xenosaga 2 but I kind of like the boxset and presentation so i'm a little bit undecided.

Argh don't say things like that to an expecting dad! but yeah My wife and I had a miscarriage about a 2 years ago on the third month and that was hands down the absolute worst time in our lives. Miscarriages are most common within the first three months as that is the most delicate stage of pregnancy. My girl is just over Five months now so the likelyhood (touchwood) of a miscarriage is a hell of alot lower, Chances of a successful pregnancy after the first 3 months(13 weeks) is increased by 65% and obviously the chances of success are much higher again after the fifth month(21st week). Actually we had the second scan last Wednesday everything is healthy and normal the baby is growing fine(quite big already) and to top it off its boy!!!



Ok thanks for the advice man I appreciate it. I am only just learning how to set and use the tech attacks not all my characters have them yet though Shion and MOMO have theirs, and I am sure I got KOS-MOS tech to work once or twice.

For the Tech Attacks, always make sure to upgrade their speed from LOW to HIGH (as Athrun pointed out already). That way you will only need 4 AP to use the Tech Attack. This is something I only discovered myself when I reached the end of the game... no wonder I had difficulties with several boss fights. ><

No worries i'll be doing that

I just realised this game is reminding me of Blade Runner, especially in regard to the Realians which really remind me of the Replicants in Blade Runner - (small spoller)forced to do man's labour and war but created so much like a human that they have strong feelings and human emotions themselves. I'm loving it

Good point on the Blade Runner comparison, Realians and Replicants are indeed similar. And then there's also the URTV, but I'm not sure how much you know about those already, so I'm gonna shush now. =p

--------------------------------------------------

Out of curiosity, where did you get by now? Just wondering, because I didn't spend much time on my first playthrough. I skipped a lot of optional things, but if I recall you take your time for exploring everything. One tip, which I've had in the back of my mind, is to go back to the Dock Colony before heading into the Song of Nephilim (to upgrade your AGWS). Because you can't go there once you've entered the SoN. But perhaps you're already past that point. ^^''

I'm going to barge in this topic... I too have Xenosaga Episode 1! Woo! However, I'm not that far through. At the moment I'm on the Elsa, Ziggy & MOMO have just met up with the rest of the crew. I'm trying to decide who I want in my team. I'm pretty set on having chaos, but it's a toss up between MOMO and Shion (I need the support) and also I'm undecided on Ziggy or KOS-MOS.

Is this the kind of game that all your characters have to be a high level though? I remember watching scenes later on during the 'dive' where the characters split up.

I'm still getting to grips with this game... I haven't used any of my points up, but at the moment I think the only thing I'm going to do is improve their ethers, switch the speed of thier techs and set some skills... I'm not touching stats just yet. It's annoying that it's Tech points that also do stats, it's T points that I need the most >.<

I also have Xernosaga DS... but I'm not playing it until after the weekend... I can't find any translation of it, or even translations of things like the the menu's and names of skills so it's going to be a lot of work playing it probably. I did try it out for a couple of minutes and I just love the look of it.

I finally decided to re-purchase Xenosaga Episode 1 a few weeks ago after I figured I didn't give it enough of a chance the last time I had it (Only set me back about 9 bucks, although it didn't come with a manual), and my opinion of the game has definitely changed since the last time I played it. I'm currently at the Kukai Foundation, but I'm about to head back to the Durandal again.

The story's moving in a really good direction so far, even though I dont fully understand everything that's going on. Like, who is that shining girl that keeps appearing before Shion? That's probably what I want to find out about the most. My favorite character right now is probably Commander Margulis. He seems like the most cunning and evil character introduced so far, plus the voice acting for him is awesome. Granted, I haven't seen much of Albedo yet, so that might change.

I'm just getting the hang of building stats and techs for my characters. I usually stick with the one type of tech I need to beat specific enemies in a dungeon, and then level up the corresponding stat, so I can deal the most damage (ex. I build up ether atk whenever ether-type attacks are most effective against the enemies in that particular dungeon). AGWS are really useful during boss battles, but they're such a pain in the a$$ to maintain--costing me 2000GP for a simple HP upgrade, and even more for some of the equipment. I need to find out how to get more SP and Gold from battles so I can level up my characters skills and stats more effectively.

All in all, this game is awesome, and I'm very glad I gave the game another chance.

Its been so long since I've played the first. I got a PS3 but didn't know about something you can get to transfer memory card data into it. I dont know if I really feel like buying something I'll use just one time so I may start over Xenosaga back to the first. I figure I may see some things I forgot about or see things in a different way after playing the third game (albeit not beating it). But I definitely agree with you there Elazul, its a great game. We are all glad for those who give it a second shot or even play it and like it. Definitely play and beat that and the other two as well.

10 out of 10 for getting his name right! (I've seen all kinds of alternatives... Margulus, Margilus, Margilis x_X ) But seriously, Margulis is one of many major characters in the series, so you can expect to see a lot more of him. Actually, I'd say his presence grows stronger with each episode.

Cherenkov is also an interesting character, but not as major as Margulis and others. He has an interesting story, though. Keep playing and see for yourself.

I just finished Xenosaga 1 and WOW!! What a game. Its everything I could have ever hoped for and more. It also has one of the best endings i've seen on any game and the soundtrack is amazing, it was definitely worth the wait and effort just to get to play this game and enjoy every minute of it.

Thanks again for the help guys I really appreciate it, I did manage to finish it with all the robot parts to get the Erde Kaiser which certainly made the last two bosses a doddle, but no doubt I have missed quite a few other hidden secrts i'll definitely come back to this game one day anyway, and I can safely say it ranks up there as one of my favourite RPGs.

Now i'm a bit undecided about jumping straight on to Xenosaga 2 or trying something else to break it up a bit.

It definitely has an amazing soundtrack (the only problem is that it has one single battle theme throughout the entire game except for the final battle. But the battle theme is so good that I actually didn't mind.) You should check out the OST. Especially "The Miracle" which plays when Kos-mos shoots the Song of Nephilim. It was shortened down due to the scene and kinda faded in the background, but it's a very good track and resembles One Winged Angel very much. And the voice acting was top notch as well.
Btw, did you notice that Virgil was looking at chaos when he said "Isn't that right boss?"
And do you have any theories on the red cloaked man who is seen with Wilhelm?


Glad you liked it, it's one of my favorite rpgs as well up there with Suikoden 2, FF8, Chrono Trigger and Shadow Hearts.
Just wondering, did you ever setup a Doubl Buster + Commanders crest? It changes the way the battles play out as you can go all out in every turn and still get 6 AP every other turn to fire off two tech attacks in a row. A lot of people miss out on this.
And Erde Kaiser kills Albedo in just one hit so it's not recommended to use as the boss battles are pretty easy anyway, but it's a fun thing to have. There are two optional bosses otherwise and you can get A.I.R.D. (or whatever it's called) systems for your AGWS, but other than that there's not all that much optional left in the game.
I did enjoy Xenocards though and the casino.


Well Episode 2 isn't as good as Episode 1, especially with the changes in voice actors and everything so there's no real rush but having Epi 1 fresh in memory might help with some details.

Yes, I did notice that about chaos he definitely seems to be holding something back but what that is I don't know its very intriguing. I have no idea who the cloaked man is though other than the fact he is obviously linked to Virgil. It makes a change that the plot isn't very predictable in the series too.

I'll definitely check out the OST I loved the ending song too, its instrumental sounded very celtic and I love that. Yes, the voice acting was superb some of the best i've heard.



I actually screwed up on the combinations, I don't think I found the Double Buster either. Plus I didn't actually have my skill setting high enough to extract certain skills because I didn't grasp how to do it properly until the end, ah well it makes a second playthrough worthwhile and thats when the guides come out lol!



Yeah, I think I might just start the second one today, I don't have the greatest memory at the best of times and I think i'll be too anxious to continue where the first one left off. Ah well TOA will have to wait even longer I suppose lol!

Off topic question, Athrun does my sig cause your browser to go screwy? Only it seems to all the posts disappear underneath it for Denim.

By the way well done on your design on that sig I like it, did you do the gif in Flash or Photoshop?

Well this is speaking only from my Episode I observations (and discussed a few times before you joined the forum) and not based on any knowledge of Episode II and III.

First off, do you remember the scene where Cherenkov recieved a control console for the Kos-Mos archetype? (That ended up killing everyone nearby after she woke up.)

Well I noticeed a few things about this scene.







For one, his hair shows the same type of bang in front that Kevin has. Secondly, who else has access to something like that besides Kevin or Shion? And also, this person just seems to vanish in thin air and when Cherenkov looks arround there's seemingly nowhere to go. Later I noticed that Virgil could vanish/teleport after he became the blue testament, but that might be a coincidense.

Also, do you remember the coincil briefing Ziggy on his mission to get the Y-Data? They mentioned that besides MOMO there might be one more person who has it. Mizrahi's right-hand-man. They showed an image of him and Mizrahi from a surveilance camera from 14 years ago. All that can be seen in the image is that it was a boy with dark hair and that the boy seemed to be 14 years old. Kevin died at the age of 26, two years ago. That would make him 28 if he were alive today. It matches the kids age.

Moving on, Kos-mos used the X-Buster in a scene where her eyes turned blue to absorb a huge amount of Gnosis. It's a weapon she shouldn't have according to Shion and Allen, and she starts thinking of Kevin's words about "the real Kos-Mos" that he talked about.
Later in the game you see the Song of Nephilim, a Mizrahi invention, use the exact same blue light to absorb Gnosis.

So how does Kos-Mos end up with Mizrahi technology? Most likely because of Kevin, and my guess is he died intentionally and at some point after that he must have somehow implemented these changes into Kos-mos without anyones knowledge from the shadows of Vector after Shion destroyed the Archetype. And since Wilhelm owns Vector and the red cloak seemingly has the same voice actor as Kevin...

Also, Kos-mos was in contact with someone right after she shot Virgil, while standing on top of the Woglinde and placing a tracker device on the Gnosis that stole the Zohar emulator.
"...affirmative"
"the target was only an emulator and not the original zohar"
"...affirmative"
"I will now proceede towards second Miltia as originally planned"

My guess is that someone (most likely Kevin or Willhelm) ordered Kos-mos to shoot Virgil so that they could somehow revive him later for whatever reason. I don't really buy that story about him "standing in the way". It's quite clear that she was in contact with someone arround that time.


Nope, nothing like that.


I used Virtual Dub to get the images and then I made the gif using Image Ready which comes with Photoshop.

Ah very clever, I use Photoshop CS2 but only for image editing , and fixing photographs on which I may screwed up the lighting for or the odd blemish here and there there's much potential to Photoshop its amazing.

Excellent theory regarding Kevin it definitely makes sense, I can't believe I didn't twig. I did wonder if he was still alive but didn't put two and two together. Thanks for that I appreciate it.

Well I started Xenosaga 2 just now, I have some free time this weekend and like I said my anxiety is getting the better of me lol! So far I think its good and i'm really enjoying it, the graphics are fantastic, really pleasing to the eye. Jin seems like a very good character so far, if he shows up later he'll probably be a permanent party member.

As for the voices I can live with them and i've heard alot worse. Rubedo, Ziggy and Commander Margulis have to be the same voices though if they aren't they sound almost identical to me. Shion and Chaos sound quite similar in a way too but MOMO and KOS-MOS are definitely different.

I also quite like the main theme music too, the one at the title screen and the fight scene between Jin and Margulis.

Here's a tip. Disc 1 will be over before you know it, so as soon as you can move arround in Second Miltia, do the GS campaigns available ASAP. If you can't be bothered to do them all (and remember, some of them won't let you try again if you fail) then at least do the one which will allow you to learn Psycho Pocket. You need it now if you want to be able to steal an item called "Awakening I" from the boss at the end of disc 1. Awakening lets you learn new dual tech attacks. Not extremely important if you miss it, but you won't have another chance of learning it.


Luckily the voice actors go back to normal again on Episode III, but yeah, Rubedo, Ziggy and Margulis, as well as Albedo and Nigredo have their original voice actors even in Episode 1. Most people found chaos voice to be completely different in Epi 2 though and unfitting, but Momo sounds pretty similar to her previous voice actor. As for Shion, I'd have to say no on that one, and in fact I think she's un convincing in some scenes. Shion sounds more stuck up in this game than before, and well... lets just say I look forward to Episode 3 when Lia Sargents now nostalgic voice is back again as Shion's voice for the game. Just hearing her say "The gnosis!" in the Epi 3 trailer gave me a very nostalgic feeling.

Ok cool thanks for the tips I appreciate it, I have only heard Shion speak once or twice as i'm very early in the game at the moment so no doubt i'll be agreeing with you very soon. You are right, from what I have heard so far I find Chaos sounds a little emotionless and unsympathetic compared to the original. I just mean't the pitch and tone of his voice sound quite similar rather than his personality you know like someone doing a voice impression, but hey thank god the original actors are back though for Ep 3

How long is Ep 2 by the way?

Yeah he does a bit similar in that they both speak in a very calm tone, but the kindness and emotion seems all gone that the original chaos had when he spoke. This new chaos sounds more grown up and a bit on the emotionless side. Though I don't dislike his new voice actor, since they both could easily fit chaos personality as far as I know, I'm just used to the other one setting the bar for chaos personality now, if you know what I mean. Two different types and both could probably work, but I set my mind on the one I heard first, and frankly I think he brings more to the table in terms of the personality he portrays in his voice acting than Epi. 2 chaos does.


*Pauses the game to check the timer*
Right now my timer is on 31:59:00 and I'm in the final dungeon. Though disc 1 was shorter than disc 2. The first disc was over at arround 12 hours into the game and that includes me running arround and leveling up and fighting extra battles just for the sake of it, as well as doing all of the GS campaigns available at the time.

Yeah, i'm the same with Chaos, I sort of like the new voice it makes him seem more like a force to be reckoned with, rather than being too nice, but its just a matter of getting used to it.




Well, 30 plus hours isn't too bad. I'm like you I do alot of messing about with battles, talking to NPC's and levelling up and so long as Xenosaga 3 is a bit longer then i'll be a happy man.

Xenosaga 3 did everything better, from what I hear, including game length, so the quality should be top notch again.
As for Episode 2, the story was pretty dragging for the most part, and for the most part not very interesting, but it got really good close to the end, so don't fret when you're halfway through and think nothing good is coming because it will. Eventually...

Oh and I just finished Episode 2. I'm going to start playing Episode 3 later tonight.

I defeated the optional bosses, got Erde Kaiser, and have everyone's All-Hit tech attacks set to HI (Shion's Rain Blade, Kos-Mos's X-Buster, Ziggurat's Executioner, etc). I'm ready to go to Proto Merkabah and kick some Albedo a##.

So those cloaked guys were called the Testaments? And is Wilhelm one of them? It seems like they're the main enemies to fear in this game besides just the U-Tic Organization. It's cool that Virgil's still alive, even though he was kind of a prick. I felt like they killed him off way too soon back on Woglinde. And the whole mystery behind Kevin as well as Kos-Mos's hidden abilities really has me intrigued. It makes me wonder just what Kos-Mos's real purpose was besides fighting the Gnosis, considering the real people behind all her abilities seem to be the "Bad Guys" in the whole conflict. I gotta admit, I'm already psyched about getting around to playing episodes 2 and 3 just to be able to figure all of this out.

I'll probably have the game beaten within the next few days. Cant wait for episode 2.

Good job. Don't be afraid to up their power and recovery speeed as well. These are the attacks you'll be using from now on. Oh and extract the abilities from Commanders Crest and Double Buster for everyone as well if you haven't already. I would say avoid using Erde Kaiser on the final Bosses as it's an instant win, and besides, the final boss is the only one with a new battle theme so you might want to hang around for a while and listen to it. The battles are pretty easy anyway.

And yes, they are called Testaments according to the Xenocards. If Wilhelm is one of them is unknown at this point.