Now that all 3 episodes are out (and most have played the 3rd episode), I was wondering which you like best (in general, with story only, and with battles only).

My answers;

In general: Episode III wins. I thought the whole feel of the game was high above the others, it felt much more epic. I can't quite tell what exactly gives, but the characters and settings were handled very well. More on that below.

Story only: Episode II instantly loses, it has a considerable story gap on disc 2 (the Ormus Stronghold section). Episode I delivered a good story, but imo it doesn't hold a candle to the story of Episode III. The whole deal with the Testaments and Wilhelm, Yuriev, and other villains felt very epic. It was truly the grand showdown that people had been waiting for.

Battles only: Episode I loses, much too slow paced and a little too hard for my taste (some regular enemies killed off my party with only a few hits, I still remember those flamethrower enemies BBQ'ing my party in the Song of Nephilim). Now if I have to choose between Episode II and III, then I choose *gasp* Episode II. Episode III was easy, maybe even a little too easy. But Episode II had the difficulty just right. And while I'm not too fond of the break zones, I do like the flow of the battles; not too slow and not too fast. And I love the boss fights in this episode the most, by far. However, I do like the ES battles in Episode III most of all the Xeno games (Xenogears included), but on foot I choose Episode II (and I find on foot battles more important, but that's just me; I don't really like mechs storywise).

I tend to favor the third. The battle system is closer to the traditional RPG system I like, it ties up the story nicely, and is just the fun one. I liked the battle systems in all three of them, but yeah, the super opponents powerup moves which cost 99 EP each just made me giggle =)

I favored the third on all three. That episode hit everything for me, it's a fantastic game. The story is absolutely phenominal, the other two combined pale in comparison to the third. I hated the Episode II battle system for the zones, it was much too slow paced for my taste. Not like I need it as fast as action RPG's, I tend to not like those much anyway. But III was simple, uncomplicated but still felt more refined than Episode I's battle system did. But overall I really enjoyed the third one the best, in spite that I still have to beat it, hehe.

For the overall best, I vote Episode I, because it had a more cinematic feel to it than the other two games did (as a lot of you know, I am not a fan of the text box scenes in episode III, III probably would have gotten my vote for this category if it weren't for text box scenes). It also felt like more time was put into Episode I than the other two, and episode III did feel too rushed, which wouldn't have been a problem if they didn't have to finish up such a huge story in a single game, you can really tell where certain episodes would have ended (such as the end of episode V, or the retelling of Xenogears, being at the end of the Abel's Ark "saga").

For best story development, I vote for III for basically the same reasongs that Xerno mentioned, even if Episode III felt rushed, and felt like some of the battles were taken out (no fight with Judah or Joshua?). Over all, episode III definitely has the best development.

Best battle system would be between I and III, and since I played III more recently, I guess I would vote for III, although I don't really have much of a preference in this category, although episode II automatically loses for me.

I picked the Third Episode for them all.

It is a great episode, and I feel, superior to the rest.

Story development, everything. But Story mainly.

I vote Episode III, like the rest of y'all, for the best story development, because it simply has the most story in it. It wraps up most of the loose ends, though I must say I would have like to know about the Relics of God (the Zohar, Zarathustra, etc). You know, how they were made, that kind of thing.

Battle system goes to Episode III as well, hands down. Quite simply, it's the most enjoyable. The system from Episode II sucked, no ifs, ands, or buts. Episode I's system was fun, but it could go from enjoyable to extremely difficult with frustrating quickness. The Tiamat boss fight comes to mind.

Now as far as the overall best episode goes, I pick Episode I. The way the story unravels and creates a sense of mystery and wonder is simply fantastic. Questions like the nature of the Zohar, the true nature of KOS-MOS, U-DO, the Gnosis, etc, how exactly Wilhelm gets his hair to stay like that.... it draws you in and makes you want to know more. I remember the first time I beat Episode I I was pissed because I had so many questions and no answers. And like Grahf said, it simply feels more cinematic.

I went with Ep III for fav episode and for best story devlopment, but the battle system went to XSII <-- even though I really don't like II I thought that the battle system was better than III and a more updated version of I....

I really enjoyed the fights in XSI they were hard yeah... but there was always a simple way to defeat them...

The third and final game in the series was indeed the best. It's the best rpg I've played since Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. Just about everything about that game, storyline, gameplay, graphics, music surpasses the first two by a long shot. Don't get me wrong though, I liked the first two as well.