How do you follow up on one of the most ambitious RPGs in the history of the genre? Unfortunately, in this case, you fall flat on your face. Xenosaga Episode II is kind of a mess, so much so that I needed 75 minutes to talk about why.

I begin by spending over 20 minutes discussing the game's development history, and in the process, I hope to once and for all dispel the stubbornly persistent myth that Episode I was a financial failure that caused Namco to meddle in the development of the series. Because that's not at all what happened - the actual story is much sadder.

The rest of the video sees me walking through the story and gameplay from the earliest cutscenes to nearly the very end. Spoilers are aplenty, so if you haven't finished the game yet, do that, and come back when you do.

Works Cited:

Xenogears and Xenosaga Study Guide, http://xenogearsxenosagastudyguide.bl...

Kotaku, "The History of Monolithsoft," https://kotaku.com/from-xenogears-to-...

RPG Fan, "Xenosaga Tops Japanese Sales Charts," https://web.archive.org/web/201509051...

Geimin.net, "Video Games Sales (Top 300 for 2002)," https://web.archive.org/web/201610300...

RPGamer, "Namco Announces Profits, Release Dates," https://web.archive.org/web/201703270...

Xenosaga Official Design Materials, http://web.archive.org/web/2012090409...

Dengeki, "December 2001 Interview With Tetsuya Takahashi," https://xenogearsxenosagastudyguide.b...

Famitsu, "Episode II Interview," http://xenogearsxenosagastudyguide.bl...

Kotaku, "The Real Story Behind Xenogears’ ‘Unfinished’ Second Disc," https://kotaku.com/the-real-story-beh...

Soraya Saga FAQ, http://xenogearsxenosagastudyguide.bl...

Xenosaga Episode II - Weekly Vol.III, Act I, http://xenogearsxenosagastudyguide.bl...

Xenosaga Episode II Soundtrack (Featuring Shinji Hosoe Music),    • Playlist  

Original Sound Version, “Anime Boston 2009: Interview With Kalafina and Yuki Kajiura,” https://www.originalsoundversion.com/...

Xeno Series Wiki, "Music of Xenosaga Episode II," https://www.xenoserieswiki.org/wiki/M...

Table of Contents:

0:00 - Spoiler Warning
1:12 - Introduction
4:39 - The Xenosaga Episode II Myth
6:56 - Xenosaga Episode I Was A Success, Actually
10:12 - The Overambition of Xenosaga Episode I
14:10 - The Truth About Xenogears Disc 2
15:56 - Xenosaga Cut to Three Episodes
17:49 - Changing The Development Team, Part 1
19:48 - Changing The Development Team, Part 2 (The Case of Kaori Tanaka)
23:18 - The New Development Team
25:39 - The Promising Beginning, Part 1
26:50 - E.S. Battles
27:50 - The Promising Beginning, Part 2
28:27 - The First Red Flags
29:56 - Tonal Awkwardness on Second Miltia
30:51 - Composer #1 (Yuki Kajiura)
31:40 - Composer #2 (Shinji Hosoe)
34:16 - Mid-Video Addition Concerning The Soundtrack
35:57 - The Worst Car Chase Ever
37:03 - New Character Designs
38:15 - Hollow Revelations Concerning The Zohar Project
39:38 - Shion and Jin’s Totally Wacky Relationship
40:36 - Inside The Encephalon Again
42:15 - Character Battles, Part 1
46:24 - No Money, No Shops, (Almost) No Customization
48:22 - Character Battles, Part 2
50:51 - Xenosaga Episode II’s Length
51:46 - Side Quests
53:34 - The Xeno Series Disc 2 Curse
55:41 - The Opening of Disc 2
57:48 - The Dammerung
1:00:58 - The Ormus Stronghold
1:03:20 - The Underwhelming Truth Behind The Miltian Conflict
1:05:58 - Shion, Febronia, Cecily and Cathe
1:07:21 - The English Dub
1:13:41 - A Hopeful Conclusion
1:15:29 - Ending Credits