Um hi I've beaten Xenosaga I recently, ((I LOVED the game by the way lol)) and I was just wondering is Xenosaga II as good as I? I keep hearing people saying that II was horrible is this true?

Nope. Ep. II is not as good as Ep. I. Many of the major voice actors changed, 95% of the music is terrible, and portions of the plot are just simply not as interesting. And the gameplay isn't anywhere near as good. The battle system is just stupid, period. They also got rid of individual skill sets, and made it so each character could learn every skill, which I detest.

But.... it can be enjoyable, and there are parts of the story which are really, really good. So I'd still play if I were you; just don't expect greatness. And keep the mute button on your remote handy.

Depends on who you ask. Most seem to dislike it a lot, but I personally still enjoyed it quite a bit. Some of the changes that turn most people off are; repetitive battle system, crappy music (mostly), voice over changes (most for the worse). But as I said, I still enjoyed the game. But I can see why most people are disappointed.

Wow they changed THAT much in Xenosaga II? Hmm well I guess I will still get it even though it has some disappointing changes. ((I like Xenosaga that much lol )) And plus I am very curious of what the story leads to ^^ Thanks for replying you two

Well the good news is that Xenosaga 3 is as amazing as the first, if not better in some aspects like the battle system. So if you want to experience the whole story it's worth playing through Episode 2 as well. It's not terribled, but it got very boring very fast once I got to Disc 2. On Disc 1 I still very much enjoyed the game, including the battle system which I thought was fun, and I even spent time leveling up my characters because of it. But boy did that change once I got a bit into Disc 2...
Anyway the story in Epi 2 does pick up a lot close to the end of the game. Unfortunitely it ends just when it started getting good.

Cool!! ^^ Thanks for telling me that Athrun Well I'll be sure to get II so I can understand the story and then once I beat that it's on to III. Wait II got two discs?? Wow good mercy it must of been a LONG game..for it to have two discs

Sadly, XSII's 2 discs added together are still shorter than XSI's 1 disc. Xenosaga II is quite short, especially for an RPG. Yet with all the extra bonus dungeons and quests, I managed to spend 80+ hours total on the game. But the story itself is the shortest of all 3 Xenosaga games. So basically, if you skip the optional stuff you'll be done with this game very quickly.

Ah I see. Well okay. ^^" Is the bonus dungeons and sidequests worth doing? ((I am so sorry for asking so many questions ))

Yeah Episode 2 is quite short. The first disc ends before you know it. It ended for me at arround 11 hours in, and that includes running arround doing every side quest (GS campaign) available at the time, as well as leveling up and battling enemies for fun.
Disc 2 is longer but it still doesn't add up to much in the end. I don't remember what my save time ended on exactly but I would guess at arround 25 or 30 hours.

Episode 3 is also split up into two discs, but it's much longer than Episode 2.
Oh and Xenosaga Episode 1 may be just one disc, but it's on a dual layer DVD so it's basically the same size as two regular DVD's.

As for the bonus dungeons and such, I skipped them completely once I got to the end of the game. I just wanted to play Episode 3, and in that game I did every bonus side quest and such. But from playing Episode 3 I know now that you might want to do the Dark Erde Kaiser sidequest at the end of Epi 2 because it continues in Epi 3.

Oh and paying off Captain mathiews debt in Xenosaga 2 isn't worth it. Even though you get what was my favorite attack in Episode 1 and 3 (KOS-MOS X-Buster) it was totally not worth it because it takes way too long, and on top of that the X-Buster attack was completely useless. It takes up all 3 stocks just to use it. (You'll understand the importance of Stocks once you play Episode 2) and it's not even more powerful than the regular attacks you could make if you had 3 stocks, so I say save yourself the time unless you feel like fighting a boss at the end of the game multiple times and stealing a rare item from it over and over and over and over until you have enough to sell to cover his debt that will earn you the X-Buster.

Well, you don't really get anything for completing the extras; just some items & accessories, but you have no use for them anymore once you're done with the bonus dungeons. So the real reward is... uhm, bragging rights? =p

Though you can also collect some information: the names of 3 optional super bosses. If you send those names to an e-mail address (which is hidden in the game, if I recall you get it by talking to a Bunnie), you get access to a small Xenosaga II bonus site. And in case you're wondering, that bonus site is still up (just checked it).

lol! Ah okie dokie smokies I think I got it ^^ When I get the money ((IF I get money XD)) I will get both II and III I think I got all the info I need thanks a lot everyone ^^ I'm all set umm until I need help again. "" Sorry to have bother ya'll with these questions but I really appreciate it ^__^

Wait, what?! *reads starting posts* The music isn't good? If we're going to talk about music, shall we talk about Ep 1's... Silent rooms? And battle theme that is the same as the boss theme? While I agree, some of the music in the second one may not be as good as the first one, the fact that they have music at all makes it ok. And I for one enjoy a lot of the music in the second one. Plus it's Yuki Kajiura, FYI, who rocks majorly. And the battle system and skills are certainly better as well. It allows for less linear character development and allowes the player to customize the character the way that they want. But Athrun's right as well, the third one is the best.

The music is a mixed bag, but in general it was quite bad. The themes playing in towns and dungeons are horrible, it's like a kid playing with a synthesizer. <<'' Though I agree the battle themes are decent (fairly good, even), but I didn't like Yuki Kajiura's work with the music in the cutscenes very much. She changed her style somewhat in Episode III (it's more like Mitsuda's approach), and I liked her work much better in that game.

Yuki Kajiura (a.k.a See-Saw) does rock. Unfortunitely her involvement in Episode 2's music was limited only to a few cutscenes. The rest of the game is not composed by her. But her contribution to the game with Communications Breakdown and Fatal Duel (Jin vs. Margulis) was very liked by most fans. But that's a very small part of the game, just a few cutscenes. The rest of the game has music that wasn't very popular with the fans.
I'd rather have the game be quiet out in the fields like in Episode 1 than having to listen to annoying music I don't like.

Episode 1 may have had the same battle theme over and over, but that one battle theme puts any and all battle music in Episode 2 to utter shame. Mitsuda made a great battle theme for the game, and I never got tired of it.

You know, I would rather have no music than bad music. I mean, come on. Second Miltia ends the argument right there. Really the only song I really, really like is U-D0/Febronia which plays during the scene in Labyrinthos with Proto Omega and the Patriarch.

*Scratches head after reading all the posts* You know this topic makes me wish I had Xenosaga II and III right now ((I'm so broke it's just not funny >.<))