Xenosaga II had terrible, terrible music outside of cutscenes (the music for those were composed by the amazing Yuki Kajiura). That really made me not want to finish the game and that's saying a lot.

But yeah, I actually liked the combos in Xenogears, and I also kinda enjoyed the Gear battles. Xenosaga I's system was also cool, while II's didn't bother me either and I liked the Proto-staggering.

That's kind of the thing about games - don't give yourself an opinion until you try them, because you can't really experience a game from reading about them. They're all great games with different strengths and weaknesses - you won't know what works for you until you try

Also, both Pumpkin and I are recommending them. You remember how things went the last time this happened, don't you?