Xenosaga 3

[Sephiroth]

its cool, i managed to get the anime. was good. then when i got my copy of episode 2 in it came with a dvd with all the cutscenes from part 1. so i know whats going on thankfully. Just finished watching it today, now am gonna make a start on the 2nd game.

[Rocketshipper]

the episode 1 cutscene DVD cut out a LOT of stuff. The DVD runs like 5 hours, but the total amount of cutscenes in the game is about 8 and 1/2 hours. (And I know because I recorded them all onto a VHS tape while I was playing ^_^)

[Tsukuyomi]

Aya, that it so weird. I was just playing this game this past weekend and kept dying because I couldn't get past that one monster thingi that starts with a "G". I played the first one tho. You know where those two people are making out,"N-no, I wasn't doing anything. I mean, I was working... of course." That just cracked me up (hahaha). When I did get past it finally the door wouldn't open for me (double hahaha)!

[Tommy]

I am not neccessarily stuck, I just gave up on Episode 1. There are alot better RPGs I own, but I will eventually get back to it.

Unless, there is some gigantic plot twist that makes the game alot better, I`m going to hold ot on this series since I heard Episode II is a disaster.

So far, Xenogears owns this.

[kazekami]

I liked Episode 2. I thought the story was awsome! The only thing was that it was short. And the side quest are tedious and take at least twice as long to complete as the actual game did. However the story was AWSOME!

[Rocketshipper]

Yeah, I liked Xenosaga 2 a lot more than the first game. I liked being able to launch huge 12+ hit combos on the enemies and cause tons of damage, and the story was great. The graphics were improved a lot too, and the action sequences during cutscenes rocked. Margulus vs Jin!!!!

[Sephiroth]

i think i got all the major stuff covered between the ep 1 dvd & the anime, it took a while to get used to the battle system on 2, it was kinda weird. i'm enjoyimng the plot alot, it kicks butt.

[Rocketshipper]

Did you watch the Episode 1 DVD in english or japanese? I was really annoyed with them because I think the DVD is dubtitled.

[Tommy]

Wait, is the combat system different in Episode 2?
Any cool new characters?
I may continue.

[Sephiroth]

i got the DVD to play the subtitles after the intro scene, but they were quite hard to read so i switched to the english dub. Thought i might as well get used to it for when i started playing hte english version of pt. 2.

I dunno how different the combat system is from 1, it involves stuff like hit locations, boosting your characters in battle order, and the addition of multiple characters doing team up ether skills. THere is some new chars, and you get to run around in E.S. occasionally, soa far only 1 of the new chars has been playable though, Shion's brother Jin (unless he was playable in the original).

[Rocketshipper]

Episode 2's system is pretty different. as Sephiroth was saying, you can attack enemies in different "zones" and certain enemies have different zone weaknesses. If you attack the zones in a certain order (different for each enemy) you break their defense, and can do even more damage. certain characters can also knock enemies to the ground or bounce them up into the air, which can cause even more damage ^^. The characters can still boost like in episode 1, but now they have a shared boost gauge, which is a HUGE improvement over the individual boost gauges in Episode 1. (you can also increase the capacity of the gauge with certain items, for even bigger combos ^^) Characters can perform double tech attacks or enhanced ether spells by boosting together. Characters can also "stock" attacks, up to three at a time, and use them later (This allows a character to attack up to 4 times in a single turn) Ether attacks, as well as abilities like anti-poison, are learned by using points earned in battle to unlock them, but in this game all the characters have access to exactly the same spells and abilities. Instead of being able to switch into the AWGS whenever you want, their are now AWMS only dungeons. AWMS can unleash special attacks by stocking too, and their attacks change based on what characters you put in the co-pilot seats (the pilots are fixed)

I enjoyed the combat system in 2 more than 1, it felt like it went a lot faster than in the first game, especially with leveling up. It's not totally perfect though. The main complaint is that the characters are basicly interchangeable. The single character tech attacks from episode 1 are gone and each character can learn exactly the same spells and abilities, and most have the same fighting abilities too. For example, Jin and Kos-mos are pretty much exactly the same. Neither have elemental attributes to their attack, both of them do Piercing damage, and both of them can knock enemies in the air.

http://www.rpgamer.com/games/xeno/xenosaga3/propaganda/xenosaga3propaganda012606.html

Xeosaga 3 magazine scans!!!

[Tommy]

Hmmm.....is the storyline from I completly covered when I play through II?

BTW, that is definately the child form of the original Fei. No doubt in my mind.

[Rocketshipper]

what do you mean is it "completly covered"? Like, can you play 2 wthout having finished 1? I'd say you should probably beat 1 first before playing 2, unless you can watch the Episode 1 DVD or watch the anime like Sephiroth did.

[Tommy]

Well, I`ll just finish I.

[kazekami]

Considering that the second game starts where the first game ends you should finish the first game before playing the second. The DVD doesn't give the entire storyline. Theres a lot missing.

I can't wait for episode 3. Though I am disgusted Shion and KOSMOS are wearing less. 0_o

[Sephiroth]

cool more scans. I'm enjoying the 2nd game, its a pity episode 1 wasn't released over here :/ i happened to miss practically all teh sidequests so far in 2 though. i have started the pay off teh captains debt oneand thats about it.

[Tommy]

Oh, another question.

The one thing I dislike about Xenosaga is the serious lack of music.
Is there more music in II?

For example, at least ONE town track.

Sheesh, and I thought Star Ocean was too futuristic for an RPG.

[Rocketshipper]

That was another thing a lot of people complained about. The in-game town BGM is incredibly annoying ^^. I muted the game a lot during town exploration (especially since you have to do so much of it with all those side quests) I don't remember much about the dungeon BGM, just that it wasn't bad enough to make me mute it. The final dungeon BGM did get annoying, but that's probably because I played through it like 15 times -_-.

The Captain's Debt Sidequest!!! AAAARGH! I hate that sidequest. Most of the other ones were fine, but that one...*shudder*. The only way to pay it off in a reasonable amount of time is to play the last dungeon over and over and steal TWENTY+ of those items he has and sell them. And after I finally stole enough items to sell and pay off the debt I accidently erasedthe save. *is scarred for life* Next time I'm just gamesharking myself 20 of those stupid items

[Tommy]

Alright, I guess I`ll just listen to it once and play my radio in my room if I don`t like the music.

[Rocketshipper]

more media!! When it rains it pours ^^

http://www.rpgamer.com/games/xeno/xenosaga3/art/xenosaga3art012806.html

artwork

http://www.rpgamer.com/games/xeno/xenosaga3/screens/xenosaga3ss012806a.html

new screen shots. Abel! Woot! Looks like his role will be big. It's about time, especially since he was in episode one for only like, 1 second ><. And Allen is a playable character now!! lol

[CDLviking]

And Allen is a playable character now!! lol

Possibly the worst news I've ever heard.

When was Abel in Episode I?

[Rocketshipper]

he appeared very briefly in the ending sequence. You can find more info and a screen shot here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side_Characters_(Xenosaga) (warning: contains some Episode 2 spoilers, so don't read down farther than Abel)

[Sephiroth]

i wonder what allens char will actually do in combat? from what i've seen of him so far he wouldn't fare very well...

hmm interesting by the look of those screenshots you may be able to unlock the old costumes from the previous games. kinda like teh swimsuits in 2.

[Tommy]

Maybe Allen can complain so much the aliens will hate him and go away.

[Rocketshipper]

Bump!

http://www.rpgamer.com/games/xeno/xenosaga3/screens/xenosaga3ss030106a.html

the new batch of Xenosaga Episode 3 pictures ^^

[Rocketshipper]

Where did everybody go???? Don't you want to see the NEW TRAILER!?!?!

http://www.rpgamer.com/games/xeno/xenosaga3/xenosaga3mov.html

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LRE47MdVcug (youtube link)

YAY! Bring on the game! *warning!! trailer reveals the identities of the Red and White Testaments!*

*watches trailer* [spoiler] wow!!!! lots of action! This game is going to rock. It also looks like it;s going to have to be really long, to fit everything in. As for the testaments, YAY we guessed right. [/spoiler]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4WOlnGqZgU8

this links to another new promo I found on youtube

[Tommy]

Well, I`m trying to beat Episode 1.

Stuck on yet another boss. Tiamat is difficult but I can beat him. I heard Xenosaga II is harder and longer so I probably won`t be purchasing III at this right.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Man! I still need to finish Xenogears!

[Tommy]

Xenogears has a plot that takes place after Xenosaga.
I started Episode 1 while in the middle of Gears so don`t worry.
I found Gears to be HIGHLY superior.