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Trumpet Thief
11-11-2004, 07:41 PM
Xenosaga II is going to be epic and it's going to be very, very good from everything that we've seen. To get some glimpses of the new world, head over to the Media Page for some new screenshots and check back tomorrow for an interview and some video footage.


From the presentation of Episode II, it appears that the developers were more focused on abolishing the foundation they’ve set up in Episode I and restarting from scratch. This is evident in the redesigning of the characters, the simplified battle system, and the omission of various key elements that made Episode I a unique game (i.e. UMN database, integral role of the Procurator [U-Kun], ability tree, etc.). Xenosaga, a game that has, since the beginning, come off as rather bland and ambiguous has only further extended this feeling in this Episode of its epic saga which really only serves to set the game up for further failure. In order for future episodes to even have the hope of silhouetting the game's ambitious goals, a lot off effort will be required of the people down at Monolithsoft. Nietzsche, the philosopher whose work Xenosaga’s episodes have been named after would expect no more and no less of Monolithsoft than an overcoming.


chaos: I'm having mixed feelings about this game now. Many saying that it's worth buying, while the "Zenosaga" site giving a full review on how horrible this game is, and it's effect to the whole series.

Rubedo: According to some other previes (ie. the one by IGN) it's said to be marvelous, from what they've seen. Anyone planning on getting this game, or a huge fan of the series nonetheless?

edczxcvbnm
11-11-2004, 07:54 PM
I really did not like int's Review/Preview. Too me he kept compairing it to episode I instead of having it stand in its own light. Its not bad but I just don't really agree with the way he said a lot of things.

I was not impressed with the story of episode 1 but I really did like the game play. I look forward to the same experience in episode II.

The only thing mentioned is that the game is about 20 hours long...which to me is perfect in length. Short enough so that a reply will not have me picking up another game inbetween and lose interest in my replay.

Thats me though and I think I was the only person over at Zenosaga that didn't like int's review. Seemed a bit fanboyish to me.

TIME WILL TELL ALL!

Trumpet Thief
11-11-2004, 08:00 PM
chaos: Even though that whole site was devoted to ZS, it was only one man's opinion. The others, who hadn't even played it, just went along with it.

Rubedo: Personally, I think I can guarantee that I will love this game. I never had a problem with the first's gameplay, I doubt I will with this one. Plus, it's been mentioned that more storyline is revealed in this game.

edczxcvbnm
11-11-2004, 08:17 PM
I think the main problem with the peeps over at Zenosaga is that they are not getting anything of what they are expecting and they don't like it or are just insanely dissappointed.

Trumpet Thief
11-11-2004, 08:19 PM
Rubedo: It seemed as though they were forcing themselves to mock Xenosaga II. Seriously... they almost NEVER brought up any positive points, and when each screenshot came up, they'd put something that mocked the game to hell.

chaos: They must be jealous ;)

edczxcvbnm
11-11-2004, 08:22 PM
Yeah. Incase you didn't hear the Xenosaga anime will be coming out in January sometime. I want to believe but I just know it is going to suck. There has not been a good anime based off of a game yet.

Trumpet Thief
11-11-2004, 08:26 PM
chaos: I've heard. From one of the screens posted on an Xs forum, Shion is still going to be showed in her nerd form. How sad :shame:

theundeadhero
11-11-2004, 08:28 PM
I'm going to play XenosageII but I didn't like the first one very much. I only made it through for the storyline. I think the thing that turned me off the most was how hard it was to earn money and "x" points.

Trumpet Thief
11-11-2004, 08:30 PM
chaos: Well, it's said that XSII is revamped for more action, and other stuff, in case you like fast paced games.

Rubedo: Didn't hear much about those kind of points in the second game, so who knows? :rolleyes2

-N-
11-12-2004, 04:23 AM
Let me just say one thing about Zenosaga.com: It's a good repository of information, but I would never trust their judgement. Like has been pointed out here, it's int's opinion and eighty other people too dumb to form their own. I'm sure ed isn't the only one displeased with int. I would probably be too if I could find his damn review. But yeah, I've definitely been disappointed every time I read any subjective article that's ever been there - I probably will again.

That being said, I generally dislike the Xenosaga series in general because I know it's going to suck tons of money and mental energy that I could better spend somewhere else. Dividing a game into episodes is precocious, too. This is probably my personal feelings about XS1 venting out here, but as beautiful as that game was made, a lot was just fluff and doesn't even merit any further development to begin with. I fail to see how XSII could even be any good to begin with.

Remember the days where a two-disc game meant more than 20 hours of gameplay? And that was two CDs, mind you. This is 2 DVDs? Where's the story? It's really obvious that Monolith hasn't really planned anything out in terms of story, and is just winging it, so to speak, and making up for the utter lack of content on their DVD with bunches of random, useless, extra stuff I don't feel like doing.

As I said earlier, XS is going to be an addictive money-sucker because I will continue getting games to find out what happens next regardless of whether it is a beautiful game or a crappy game. XS1 was damn beautiful, but it was damn lacking too. Looks like from what I've read so far that XS2 continues the trend.

Rest in peace, Xenogears. :(

edczxcvbnm
11-12-2004, 05:10 AM
Don't get me wrong. Int is the http://forums.eyesonff.com/images/smilies/lovesmile.gifhttp://forums.eyesonff.com/images/smilies/lovesmile.gifhttp://forums.eyesonff.com/images/smilies/lovesmile.gifhttp://forums.eyesonff.com/images/smilies/lovesmile.gifing man. The fact that he runs his site the way HE wants and does so much on his own. He is a great webmaster. I trust his opinion to an extent but I can't help but just view the way that he wrote the review as fanboyish.

The thing with episode one was it was obviously meant to be much longer. I can beat the game with only half the abilities...if that and under level 30. The battle system was obviously designed for a much longer game but it just never panned out due to time constraints. More proof of this is that the Jin Vs Marguilus battle was cut from the game meaning that probably a good portion of episode II was suppose to be in Episode I.

So many problems with the series but I just find the battle system fun. Maybe they worked on some parts of the game a little more...like masking battle load times.

As for being two DVDs. I do believe that is due because they just had to have 5.1 surround sound.

EDIT: Damn this stupid drama. No more about the people over at Zenosaga. This is suppose to be about the actual GAME.

Shadowdust
11-16-2004, 04:16 AM
Despite positive or negative reviews, I usually only trust myself in these situations. Everyone will have their own expectations, as will I. I just can't wait to see what's been added to the battle system. Besides, it doesn't take much to appease my expectations as long as the story stays on cue.

SomethingBig
11-16-2004, 11:29 AM
I still have extremely high expectations for Xenosaga II and am still more excited about this game than I am about FFXII(yeah, FFX really dealt a blow in my faith in Square). I loved the reward system from Xenosaga with the Tech and Skill points. They made for incredible customization. It was bland in the beginning, but became good at the end.

Fukami-Haruda
11-20-2004, 07:54 AM
I heared the buzz about Xenosaga II's shortcomings, but I'm still keeping an optimistic outlook. Most of the complaints were that the story focuses a lot on the URTV incident and doesn't answer a lot of the questions raised in episode 1. I don't think that's a bad thing. I mean this is only EP II out of 6, so what if it concentrates on a back story? Think of it this way, with the entire game focusing on that, the story's gonna be MUCH more fleshed out, beefier and just...um..fuller.

The new character desighns don't bother me either. I got used to them. They still look anime-ish to me (which is fine in my book) only more mature anime. If i was to compare, EP 1 looks like Escaflowne or Fushigi Yuugi while EP II's character desighns remind me more of Akira or Perfect Blue.

As for the mysteries not being answered, it's only freaking EP II outta six! There's still plenty of games left to take care of that.

The only thing that I'm worried about is the actual gameplay. I heared that there are some radical changes in the game like no existance of currency. Therefore the only way to get items is by enemies dropping them or chests. And maybe sidequests. However if the story's good enough I won't mind.

P.S.

Namco almost like punished people for buying the delux japanese EP II box set. It came with the most hideous KOS-MOS figure. See for yourself http://moccosep2.hp.infoseek.co.jp/moc00.html

P.S.S.

GameInformer had an article about EP II and they too were praising it. They also said the American version will include 3 extra, optional bosses that are kinda the equivelant of the ultimate weapons in VII.

Triple T
11-23-2004, 07:06 PM
chaos: I've heard. From one of the screens posted on an Xs forum, Shion is still going to be showed in her nerd form. How sad :shame:

It might've been XenoFreaks you saw. :mad:

Annyway, Xenosaga II only sold 200'000 units on the release date in Japan, as opposed to Xenosaga I's 800'000. And don't expect any changes to the loading before the battle, either...

Shoeberto
11-23-2004, 09:13 PM
The battle system in Xenosaga was boring for me because I loved the Xenogears system and wanted that sort of in-battle depth rather than the amount of stat customizers. That's just how I am.

I played through it all because of the story. That's what I will probably play through ep. 2 for. I've learned not to trust the opinions of any reviewer that doesn't share personal interests - that is, unless it's someone I consider to be a friend saying something is good or bad, I take it with a pinch of salt. That's the way episode 2 will be. I won't form opinions until I get to play it.

edczxcvbnm
11-24-2004, 02:54 AM
It might've been XenoFreaks you saw. :mad:

Annyway, Xenosaga II only sold 200'000 units on the release date in Japan, as opposed to Xenosaga I's 800'000. And don't expect any changes to the loading before the battle, either...

Xenosaga I didn't sell that much in Japan. It sold about 230,000 upon release and then made some more topping off around 350,000-400,000.

The game sold better in N.A. than in Japan...which is why they need to include Xenofreaks for us!

Trumpet Thief
11-24-2004, 03:04 AM
It might've been XenoFreaks you saw. :mad:

Annyway, Xenosaga II only sold 200'000 units on the release date in Japan, as opposed to Xenosaga I's 800'000. And don't expect any changes to the loading before the battle, either...

chaos: I was talking about the anime.