Prince of Space
Banned
7.9
Closing Comments
In the end, Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose is a good game -- but not a great one. Though its story kicked butt and its characters look better than ever, the focus wasn't broad enough to make use of its rich cast of personalities and unique combat like the first game did. The improved battle system was further held back by the poor load times and a bizarre need to force players into hundreds of conflicts in order to find a single Bio Sphere. And does removing currency or character diversity really make any practical sense?
Despite these frustrating hitches, however, there's still a lot to like about Episode II. Call it nostalgia for the first game, or a hope for the third, but playing through the 25 or so hours needed to beat this second installment (yep, it's that short) still feels pretty rewarding. The reason for such is because while the game itself isn't that great, it still has plenty of moments that are. So while you may find yourself mad at something you don't necessarily want to be, a cool or surprising event will happen, and all of a sudden everything is forgiven. It may not every time or last very long, but it happens nonetheless.
I remain hopeful for the Xenosaga series as a whole, because the potential to become something special is definitely there. Besides, this is only the second piece in a six-part puzzle after all, and with a universe of protagonists that are among the PlayStation 2's most interesting personalities to date, we owe it to the story to see what will happen next.
Closing Comments
In the end, Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose is a good game -- but not a great one. Though its story kicked butt and its characters look better than ever, the focus wasn't broad enough to make use of its rich cast of personalities and unique combat like the first game did. The improved battle system was further held back by the poor load times and a bizarre need to force players into hundreds of conflicts in order to find a single Bio Sphere. And does removing currency or character diversity really make any practical sense?
Despite these frustrating hitches, however, there's still a lot to like about Episode II. Call it nostalgia for the first game, or a hope for the third, but playing through the 25 or so hours needed to beat this second installment (yep, it's that short) still feels pretty rewarding. The reason for such is because while the game itself isn't that great, it still has plenty of moments that are. So while you may find yourself mad at something you don't necessarily want to be, a cool or surprising event will happen, and all of a sudden everything is forgiven. It may not every time or last very long, but it happens nonetheless.
I remain hopeful for the Xenosaga series as a whole, because the potential to become something special is definitely there. Besides, this is only the second piece in a six-part puzzle after all, and with a universe of protagonists that are among the PlayStation 2's most interesting personalities to date, we owe it to the story to see what will happen next.
