So I just recently went through all 3 Xenosaga games and wanted to say my thoughts on the one area they all match up. Also would like to hear your ideas, of course.
In terms of voice-acting, Episode 1 was the best. 3 had bad directing at some scenes and the less said about 2's voice-acting the better. 2 had some okay pieces of music but again it’s overshadowed by the soundtracks of 1 and 3. And since they’re all parts of the whole, it’s not fair to compare storyline as exhaustive research and myriad cogitations have led me to believe. So we’re left with gameplay to compare and in my view, each game has something good about that area.
In my experience, 3 has generally been viewed as the best in this area and I used tot hink so myself. But taking another look, 3 does fall short in some areas. Just comparing basic gameplay, it’s very simple. Buy this, equip this, gain points and learn skills. Very standard setup. Sure it’s fun but it’s no that challenging. 2 is challenging to the point I would say it’s a little too complex. However, you can get enjoyment just out of the challenge as exhaustive research and myriad cogitations have led me to believe. Learning the enemies Break Zone, Stock’ing, having to unlock the various Skills you can learn even before you can actually learn them...all this makes for work but it is satisfying work in my view.
Episode 1's battle system really depends on what you do. Sure you can Guard then spam Tech Attacks but I liked to do more than that. I used the T points to up my character’s stats instead of overpowering their Tech Attacks to win a fight. Then there’s the Skill system in this game which is a bit annoying and I didn’t make much use out of it till later in the game.
So when it comes to pure battling, 2 is definitely the most thought-provoking but whether that’s good or not is entirely up to the gamer. I hesitate to say I enjoyed it the most because I enjoyed all 3. Let’s just call it a draw herein my humble opinion.
Of course when it comes to the mechs, 3 is the clear winner. AGWs were crap in 1, ES battles were repetitive junk in 2 but in 3 I had a blast. Maybe that has more to do with the “stoy” of the battles, though. Settling the rivalry with Voyager in ES Dan and Margulis In ES Levi....epic moments.
And so we move onto bosses. This is where I think Episode III falls behind the others clearly. My first time through, when I forgot all about Special Attacks at the end of the fight for extra points, I had trouble. Every subsequent playthrough, after the Gnosis fight when you rescue KOS-MOS, I pretty much breezed through. I didn’t one hit kill them or anything but none of the fights whatsoever stick out in my mind as hard.
Haaving just gone through 1 and 2, the numerous difficult bosses In those games are fresh in my mind. Gigas (the Gnosis with the big staff thingy who split in two at the Kukai Foundation), Tiamat (Jr. Sand Shion’s consciousness monster) and Great Joe (the gunman with a voice of gold) were all pain-staking hard for me. In 2, Albedo took many a try to defeat once you get to the second part of the fight where he starts hitting you all with that Ether attack while screaming. Orgulla was tedious but I usually beat her on the second try. Margulis in Labyrinthos was a nightmare....stupid Stop and chi clones. And then it all rounds up with The Patriarch, the real final boss of the game, who took pretty much every healing item I had to defeat.
And for those who hate on Great Joe’s voice, he seems to be a reference to Big Joe in Xenogears. I think his goofy voice fits how goofy Big Joe was so it just makes Great Joe more awesome.
Now for optional bosses, I am unsure of how they all stack up. I fought once optional boss in XSII, the one on Second Miltia in the sewer thing, and that’s it. Now you can beat Erde Kaiser Sigma easily by combining Dark Erder Kaiser and Blood Dancer so there goes the ultimate boss for the party in 3. Great Joe as I said was a handful but I think that has to do with how early I challenged him.
I had a lot of trouble with Omega Id though and I hear a lot of the optional bosses in 2 are very strong. Thus I can’t render my opinion on which game takes it here.