If every game was made like episode 3 then I would have been more than happy. I love Episode 1 but it was overly cinematic at the start and overly gameplay heavy at the end. Xenosaga Episode 2 was a pile of :bou::bou::bou::bou: in all ways. Sephex never even gave III a shot because 2 pissed him off so much.

I think the biggest problem with the games was that they took a development approach that was incorrect. They should have done like .hack and developed 1 game engine that they would use over the course of 3 games and put in lots of side quests and other things into each game. Give each game some new on screen action or new combat ability to make them seem not so carbon copyish.

As it turns out they wasted a ton of time and money with 3 sets of character models, art styles, gameplay engines and so on. If they used just 1 and the games were not overly high selling the lower developmental costs still might have made them a success. I think they should give it another go but use the same successful model that another game company does that Namco-Bandia produces and distributes.

Also in the original trailer for Xenosaga Episode 1 you see Jin fighting Margulis which takes place in episode 2. They cut a lot out of episode 1 and a lot from episode 2 and it most everything made its way into episode 3 as they were just cramming text into there instead of voice acting EVERYTHING! This isn't final fantasy or dragon quest with a massive budget.

Bah! I am done complaining. I am happy with how it all ended but I prefer to think that episode 2 never existed. What an annoying game.