I like xenosaga 2, the intro is amazing, and I dont mind slow combat systems and enjoy big combo turns. While it has some excellent music, its worth mentioning that Yuki Kajiura only did the cutscene music of xenosaga 2, and while its good its not as good as her cutscene work in xenosaga 3 or Mitsuda's amazing score for xenosaga 1's scenes. The music you actually hear in game is done by Shinji Hosoe, hes alright but very hit or miss. Theres some tracks i really cant stand such as the music in the URTV research area or Second Miltia City. but others are fantastic like Labyrinthos is one of my favourite field themes in all of xeno. one thing not mentioned too often but i like in xenosaga 2 is the dungeon design, some of the puzzles tricked me up for a bit and i found them enjoyable even the postgames ones. but the fact so much content is left for the postgame kinda shows how underwhelming this game can feel, not much of worth happens in the grand grand scheme and it was obvious the game was rushed since they couldnt even figure out ways to justify spots to put the content they already developed. It really wouldnt have been so bad to move one of the extra dungeons and replace the section at the start of the game where you enter the same dungeon again only the season has changed, wouldnt have been that hard to justify since its virtual. speaking of postgame, the sidecontent for the npcs is really terrible and hardly enhances the world at all, it just felt like filler, yeah theyre optionall but its in the game regardless. the optional bosses were fun tho. You mention the character interactions is alright but a lot of the characterization and tone can feel off in a lot of scenes, Shion for example is much more whiney than usual and not in an emotional way which I can enjoy (I like her a lot in xenosaga 3 even though her actions in that game can be considered controversial) but her new voiceacting is graining on the ears. its painful sitting through her hiding from Jin in the cafe or whatever. and even though a lot of focus is on Jr. she is still important and its disappointing how scenes that couldve been great didnt hit as hard as they should (like the zohar replicant twin scene) Compared to xenosaga's 1 maturity in philosophical themes, amazing subtext, excellent cinematography, 2 is really jarring. even more so since it takes place right after 1, where the tone was perfect at the end of 1, 2's present day intro starts off in a city almost destroyed and no npc cares and the music is all joyful, then you have an action carchase which doesnt match the stakes of what just happened at all. Its all just very sloppy and needed many rewrites. When you play and analyse xenosaga one you can really feel the mastermind of Takahashi and Soraya Saga going through the script many times and adding a lot of depth. meanwhile the writers of xenosaga 2 have said they 'didnt quite fully understand it all' (paraphrasing). so a LOT of scenes lack the meaning or depth they would have from someone who understand all the intent behind everything and what they represent. Nothing in Xenosaga 2 interests me as much as Cherenkov's, Ziggy's, Vergil,KOS-MOS's plotlines in Xenosaga 1, them and a lot of other characters feel really deep. Xenosaga 2 its just Jr/Albedo (who were just as good in saga 1 i'd say) and the intro with Chaos & Jin is great which is the most unique thing 2 has going for it imo. Xenosaga 1 is unmatched in its story production having so many directed cutscenes. 3 is very emotional and good as well especially for Shion, Vergil/Feb, Jin and Allen. thankfully they didnt bring back some of the terrible performances of 2, but the lack of cutscenes with the same direction and cinematography of 1 was a disappointment but they had a lower budget I think but atleast the content within it is very good. As for the combat, while I do enjoy 2, i find the combat in 1 and 3 just as good or most of the time better. 1 does have a problem of broken tech attacks but it wont always work and the bosses of 1 are really enjoyable and can have many boost turns in a row still for combos when you settup to 1hp for big damage which is still a lot of fun. I like the progression system more. 2 feels good some turns but a major problem is the stock command is far too broken and many many turns is just building up your parties stock so you can do anything of worth. so that can make it lack a lot of depth compared to setting things up in the other games. I feel like 3 has the best of both, theres still a lot of settups and big turns you can get but it felt very balanced and the progression system is pretty good though not as good or customizable as 1s. and 3 just feels really fast and smooth to play which helps it a lot. It just feels quite refined and well balanced and it feels your choices have meaning in the battles which 1 and 2 can lack in sometimes either being smash big tech or spam stock into the combo. so yeah I like 2 but its still easily the weakest of the trilogy, I consider 2 a 8/10, 1 is a 9.5/10 and 3 is a 10/10. sorry if this was incompressible.
also i find it funny the things i like most in 2 and the most consistent things are gameplay related. no wonder people who skip it and watch the movies don’t enjoy it as much…
Go off king, we need more Xenosaga 2 defenders or at least more people who are willing to look at the things the games did well. The combat in Xenosaga 2 had so much proof of concept for mechanics that made their way into Xenoblade
I'm playing Xenosaga II right now, and I can't agree more! I don't know if battles take longer than in Episode I, but they feel more engaging to me because most of the time is spent making actual tactical decisions, instead of just waiting around while a tech attack animation plays.
I have heard a few fellow german people praise the game. Of course, this comes with the catch that it is the only Xenosaga we ever got because "Europe? What that?", so of course they have nothing to compare to. I will probably play them all when I finally get to saga anyways. Including 1+2, even if it is going to suck that I won't be able to enjoy its expanded story content because the fantranslation hasn't gotten that far and probably won't for a few years.
If I could only make 2 changes to the game: 1. I would try to get rid of the 7 second battle start up times. 2. Every character would start each battle with 2 or just 1 stock. These 2 things would speed up battles significantly. Any other changes I’d make: 1. Double or Triple Dual Tech damage numbers to make them worth the sacrifice of using. 2. Include the Journal entry from 3 summarizing the events of 2 to help explain events better. Otherwise the game is solid. Also worth mentioning how side quest debt BS can be mitigated using psycho pocket, obtained from GS #1, by stealing 22 missable Dual Techs from the Nun/Cyborg.
I haven't played this since I was a kid and I really disliked it except for the soundtrack (love it!!) and some story beats like the incredible opening, the Jr./Gaignun/Albedo storyline, and the Margulis and Jin rivalry. That being said, this is an awesome video and props for going to bat for such a divisive game. I like your point that the combat system required players to switch up combos instead of just spamming your strongest attack like in Ep 1 and Xenosaga, that's the weakest point in either of those games and wastes the amazing attack animations. I wish this could be like Metal Gear Solid 2 which went from being extremely divisive to universally loved after the series was complete and it became clear what the point of that batshit insane game was. Excellent content man.
The fights in Episode II absolutely are NOT slow. Most people just don’t pay attention to how the system works well enough to exploit it. For most mook type enemies I never once used the stock command during any of the fights, even those who have a pool of HP so large as to requires combos. As long as the enemy’s break zones require less than three inputs you can easily get a free stock as part of the break bonus mechanic. At the start of the game the break bonus is likely to trigger at least 25% of the time if not more. You can learn skills early on that increase the chance of earning a break bonus (free stock) to the point that every other successful break nets you a free stock. Of course this doesn’t apply to MOMO or Shion as they only have circle attacks, but for all other party members you can still inflict damage on enemies while at the same time building up stock. This is SO much faster than using the stock command for multiple turns and the start of a battle as well as throughout the battle as that is such an unnecessary waste of time that I find sometimes triples or quadruples the length of battles, especially against mooks that only require a couple hits once aired or downed in order to defeat. The only time you should ever be using the stock command is against tougher enemies whose break combs are more than two zones in length, or to build up Shion or MOMO’s stock (which you really don’t need to do that often) or to refill EP if you are running low and you have that skill equipped (which again, if you know the mechanics Is just as easily done by putting the character in reserve for one or two fights as they regain 25% of their EP (or more if they have the right skill equipped) for every battle that ends with them being in reserve (the key term bring ends, meaning you can use them the entire fight if you want and immediately switch them into reserve close to the end of battle and that counts as being in reserve the entire fight and therefore nets them a free 25% EP restore. All that is to say the battles in this game are very strategic and if you know the systems can be both challenging but the same time be quite fast and very dynamic.
@@paragonoftorna2548 the battle mechanics are a bit more involved in 2, plus it's satisfying to use your accumulated stocks to go to town on an enemy that's been launched
Everyone complains that the game is slow, but no one wants to acknowledge the universal solution of turning on turbo mode. Because let's be honest, not a single person in 2023 is playing it on a PS2 for the first time, and every emulator I know can speed up the gameplay.
The only problem I have with this game is just the normal battle combat. I love everything else about this game. It’s just a shame because you can see that the bosses are a lot better. There was potential with the combat, it just fell flat. Most notably Ormus Stronghold. That place sucked. Story though is phenomenal
I always try to explain the mechanics first. Back attack multiplier, Dual spells, elemental stack, and understanding who’s able/unable to attack in the air goes a long way. Also worth noting completing GS Campaign 1 and getting Psycho Pocket ASAP. Other than that the only tip I’d give is steal from bosses, and 22 rare steals from the ?Nun/bodyguard/servant/cyborg? Note: elemental stack is a bonus that adds up. Every attack with an element will add damage consistent with the combo. Firex3 doesn’t seem like much but firex14 is very good because it’s layered on top of every fire element attack before it. Just beware because Shions O attack changes elements per hit. And no more than 1 element can be applied at a time.
I like xenosaga 2, the intro is amazing, and I dont mind slow combat systems and enjoy big combo turns. While it has some excellent music, its worth mentioning that Yuki Kajiura only did the cutscene music of xenosaga 2, and while its good its not as good as her cutscene work in xenosaga 3 or Mitsuda's amazing score for xenosaga 1's scenes. The music you actually hear in game is done by Shinji Hosoe, hes alright but very hit or miss. Theres some tracks i really cant stand such as the music in the URTV research area or Second Miltia City. but others are fantastic like Labyrinthos is one of my favourite field themes in all of xeno.
one thing not mentioned too often but i like in xenosaga 2 is the dungeon design, some of the puzzles tricked me up for a bit and i found them enjoyable even the postgames ones. but the fact so much content is left for the postgame kinda shows how underwhelming this game can feel, not much of worth happens in the grand grand scheme and it was obvious the game was rushed since they couldnt even figure out ways to justify spots to put the content they already developed. It really wouldnt have been so bad to move one of the extra dungeons and replace the section at the start of the game where you enter the same dungeon again only the season has changed, wouldnt have been that hard to justify since its virtual.
speaking of postgame, the sidecontent for the npcs is really terrible and hardly enhances the world at all, it just felt like filler, yeah theyre optionall but its in the game regardless. the optional bosses were fun tho.
You mention the character interactions is alright but a lot of the characterization and tone can feel off in a lot of scenes, Shion for example is much more whiney than usual and not in an emotional way which I can enjoy (I like her a lot in xenosaga 3 even though her actions in that game can be considered controversial) but her new voiceacting is graining on the ears. its painful sitting through her hiding from Jin in the cafe or whatever. and even though a lot of focus is on Jr. she is still important and its disappointing how scenes that couldve been great didnt hit as hard as they should (like the zohar replicant twin scene)
Compared to xenosaga's 1 maturity in philosophical themes, amazing subtext, excellent cinematography, 2 is really jarring. even more so since it takes place right after 1, where the tone was perfect at the end of 1, 2's present day intro starts off in a city almost destroyed and no npc cares and the music is all joyful, then you have an action carchase which doesnt match the stakes of what just happened at all.
Its all just very sloppy and needed many rewrites.
When you play and analyse xenosaga one you can really feel the mastermind of Takahashi and Soraya Saga going through the script many times and adding a lot of depth. meanwhile the writers of xenosaga 2 have said they 'didnt quite fully understand it all' (paraphrasing). so a LOT of scenes lack the meaning or depth they would have from someone who understand all the intent behind everything and what they represent. Nothing in Xenosaga 2 interests me as much as Cherenkov's, Ziggy's, Vergil,KOS-MOS's plotlines in Xenosaga 1, them and a lot of other characters feel really deep. Xenosaga 2 its just Jr/Albedo (who were just as good in saga 1 i'd say) and the intro with Chaos & Jin is great which is the most unique thing 2 has going for it imo.
Xenosaga 1 is unmatched in its story production having so many directed cutscenes. 3 is very emotional and good as well especially for Shion, Vergil/Feb, Jin and Allen. thankfully they didnt bring back some of the terrible performances of 2, but the lack of cutscenes with the same direction and cinematography of 1 was a disappointment but they had a lower budget I think but atleast the content within it is very good.
As for the combat, while I do enjoy 2, i find the combat in 1 and 3 just as good or most of the time better. 1 does have a problem of broken tech attacks but it wont always work and the bosses of 1 are really enjoyable and can have many boost turns in a row still for combos when you settup to 1hp for big damage which is still a lot of fun. I like the progression system more. 2 feels good some turns but a major problem is the stock command is far too broken and many many turns is just building up your parties stock so you can do anything of worth. so that can make it lack a lot of depth compared to setting things up in the other games. I feel like 3 has the best of both, theres still a lot of settups and big turns you can get but it felt very balanced and the progression system is pretty good though not as good or customizable as 1s. and 3 just feels really fast and smooth to play which helps it a lot. It just feels quite refined and well balanced and it feels your choices have meaning in the battles which 1 and 2 can lack in sometimes either being smash big tech or spam stock into the combo.
so yeah I like 2 but its still easily the weakest of the trilogy, I consider 2 a 8/10, 1 is a 9.5/10 and 3 is a 10/10.
sorry if this was incompressible.
also i find it funny the things i like most in 2 and the most consistent things are gameplay related. no wonder people who skip it and watch the movies don’t enjoy it as much…
Go off king, we need more Xenosaga 2 defenders or at least more people who are willing to look at the things the games did well.
The combat in Xenosaga 2 had so much proof of concept for mechanics that made their way into Xenoblade
I'm playing Xenosaga II right now, and I can't agree more! I don't know if battles take longer than in Episode I, but they feel more engaging to me because most of the time is spent making actual tactical decisions, instead of just waiting around while a tech attack animation plays.
I have heard a few fellow german people praise the game. Of course, this comes with the catch that it is the only Xenosaga we ever got because "Europe? What that?", so of course they have nothing to compare to.
I will probably play them all when I finally get to saga anyways. Including 1+2, even if it is going to suck that I won't be able to enjoy its expanded story content because the fantranslation hasn't gotten that far and probably won't for a few years.
I'm glad you'll eventually play it. Xenosaga is amazing and there are some aspects of it that I like more than Blade
If I could only make 2 changes to the game:
1. I would try to get rid of the 7 second battle start up times.
2. Every character would start each battle with 2 or just 1 stock.
These 2 things would speed up battles significantly.
Any other changes I’d make:
1. Double or Triple Dual Tech damage numbers to make them worth the sacrifice of using.
2. Include the Journal entry from 3 summarizing the events of 2 to help explain events better.
Otherwise the game is solid.
Also worth mentioning how side quest debt BS can be mitigated using psycho pocket, obtained from GS #1, by stealing 22 missable Dual Techs from the Nun/Cyborg.
I haven't played this since I was a kid and I really disliked it except for the soundtrack (love it!!) and some story beats like the incredible opening, the Jr./Gaignun/Albedo storyline, and the Margulis and Jin rivalry. That being said, this is an awesome video and props for going to bat for such a divisive game. I like your point that the combat system required players to switch up combos instead of just spamming your strongest attack like in Ep 1 and Xenosaga, that's the weakest point in either of those games and wastes the amazing attack animations. I wish this could be like Metal Gear Solid 2 which went from being extremely divisive to universally loved after the series was complete and it became clear what the point of that batshit insane game was. Excellent content man.
The fights in Episode II absolutely are NOT slow. Most people just don’t pay attention to how the system works well enough to exploit it. For most mook type enemies I never once used the stock command during any of the fights, even those who have a pool of HP so large as to requires combos. As long as the enemy’s break zones require less than three inputs you can easily get a free stock as part of the break bonus mechanic. At the start of the game the break bonus is likely to trigger at least 25% of the time if not more. You can learn skills early on that increase the chance of earning a break bonus (free stock) to the point that every other successful break nets you a free stock. Of course this doesn’t apply to MOMO or Shion as they only have circle attacks, but for all other party members you can still inflict damage on enemies while at the same time building up stock. This is SO much faster than using the stock command for multiple turns and the start of a battle as well as throughout the battle as that is such an unnecessary waste of time that I find sometimes triples or quadruples the length of battles, especially against mooks that only require a couple hits once aired or downed in order to defeat. The only time you should ever be using the stock command is against tougher enemies whose break combs are more than two zones in length, or to build up Shion or MOMO’s stock (which you really don’t need to do that often) or to refill EP if you are running low and you have that skill equipped (which again, if you know the mechanics Is just as easily done by putting the character in reserve for one or two fights as they regain 25% of their EP (or more if they have the right skill equipped) for every battle that ends with them being in reserve (the key term bring ends, meaning you can use them the entire fight if you want and immediately switch them into reserve close to the end of battle and that counts as being in reserve the entire fight and therefore nets them a free 25% EP restore. All that is to say the battles in this game are very strategic and if you know the systems can be both challenging but the same time be quite fast and very dynamic.
The loading times to get in and out of a fight are sometimes longer than the fights themselves
3 is my favourite easily best of the saga. I'll give it a try I've only played 1 and 3 and I'm from Europe lol
Saga 2 is definitely the most different but it's not as bad as people say
The in game OST is underrated. The old milita music is great and the haters need to clean their ears out.
Truly. Saga 2 is so underappreciated
We only got xenosaga 2 in Europe.
I'm aware
I would easily rather play 2 over 1, despite how frustrating the battles can be when there's multiple enemies
That's how I feel. I don't know what it is but I find 2 a lot more enjoyable than 1
@@paragonoftorna2548 the battle mechanics are a bit more involved in 2, plus it's satisfying to use your accumulated stocks to go to town on an enemy that's been launched
Everyone complains that the game is slow, but no one wants to acknowledge the universal solution of turning on turbo mode. Because let's be honest, not a single person in 2023 is playing it on a PS2 for the first time, and every emulator I know can speed up the gameplay.
I'm that person playing on PS2...
The only problem I have with this game is just the normal battle combat. I love everything else about this game. It’s just a shame because you can see that the bosses are a lot better. There was potential with the combat, it just fell flat. Most notably Ormus Stronghold. That place sucked. Story though is phenomenal
The combat does fall apart a bit (especially E.S. combat) but I still enjoy it quite a bit
I always try to explain the mechanics first. Back attack multiplier, Dual spells, elemental stack, and understanding who’s able/unable to attack in the air goes a long way. Also worth noting completing GS Campaign 1 and getting Psycho Pocket ASAP. Other than that the only tip I’d give is steal from bosses, and 22 rare steals from the ?Nun/bodyguard/servant/cyborg?
Note: elemental stack is a bonus that adds up. Every attack with an element will add damage consistent with the combo. Firex3 doesn’t seem like much but firex14 is very good because it’s layered on top of every fire element attack before it. Just beware because Shions O attack changes elements per hit. And no more than 1 element can be applied at a time.