Xenosaga II comes to Europe

By Ellie Gibson Published 5 September, 2005

There's a Special Edition too.

Sony and Namco are bringing the second instalment in the Xenosaga series to European PS2s this autumn.

Xenosage Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose (Beyond the Good and Bad, or something) is an RPG set 4000 years in the future. Shion and KOS-MOS must obtain the original Zohar and face the ultimate challenge of survival, and while antagonists believe the Zohar holds the key to unlocking infinite power, others feel the Zohar will unravel the mysteries of the past and save the world from the ethereal alien race, the Gnosis. It says here. Oh, and you must uncover the mystery surrounding the Miltian Conflict, apparently.

You can customise characters by choosing from more than 100 different skills, and the game's battle system uses combo attacks, a refined boost system, tag team attacks and a zone attack / break system. Gosh.

We're promised more than 70 hours of gameplay spread across two DVDs, and us lucky Europeans will also be able to buy a PAL-exclusive Special Edition version of the game, with spanky packaging and an exclusive movie DVD explaining the events leading up to the game's story.

Xenosaga Episode II is out on October 28.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (44) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Rociel #1 7 years ago

    Oh that's really useful. One of the most confusing franchises in recent memory and we join in half way through. Imagine trying to watch Being John Malkovich with only half the stuff in it. That's how this is going to be.

  • abigsmurf #2 7 years ago

    The movie DVD is a nice touch.

    Would've been nice if they'd packaged the first xenosaga too.

    Would've been even nicer if they released a port/emulated version of Xenogears too...

  • Dragul #3 7 years ago

    UUHhhh many thanks manco for your generosity... a DVD explaining the first game... UUUHHHH AHHHH, oh F**k you Namco for your generosity...

  • Teeth #4 7 years ago

    pfeh

    Pointless releasing the second one am I right?

    Namco in antagonistic, ill-conceived and bone-headed EU release shocker.

  • Scimarad #5 7 years ago

    Miserable sods, at least you're getting one of them - The better one, I might add:-)

    The bizarre thing about the movie DVD is the amount of stuff it leaves out - Not things that are essential to the plot but just some nice scenes.

  • Decoded #6 7 years ago

    I agree with Scimarad; getting Episode II is better than nothing (which for a long while seemed what Europe would get) and the story will be perfectly understandable after viewing the movie DVD.

    It's a great game so don't miss out, PAL gamers.

  • absolutezero #7 7 years ago

    I hate Namco.

  • itamae #8 7 years ago

    As usual I agree with Scimarad and Decoded, but then again I've played Xenosaga 1+2 already. The XS 1 movie DVD is better than the actual game in my opinion, which apart from cut-scenes solely consisted of boring dungeon crawls and lengthy battles. And the DVD comes with optional Japanese voice-over which is a nice bonus as far as I'm concerned.

  • Dragul #9 7 years ago

    A dungeon crall... :( I really like that type of game... And yes the second one is better then nothing but I still would like to play the first one... like I already said F**K you Namco

  • tengu #10 7 years ago

    'Exclusive' movie DVD? I think not, seeing as it came with the American version.

    Sadly, this is likely to sell bugger all in Europe, when it might have done a little better if Namco had released the first game back when it first came out. A shame, cause it's a great series. But fuck Namco anyway. In the ear.

  • sleepless #11 7 years ago

    Why on earth I have to be Xenogears/Xenosaga whore who will now have to buy PAL version even if already paid 80+ bucks for NTSC versions of Xenosaga Ep I, Xenosaga Ep. II. Damn you Namco for your late decisions :/

    For those who want only watch and not play - <A href=http://www.onegaistudio s.com/>Story sequences from XI, XII and various other games</a>

  • Danj #12 7 years ago

    I wonder what their source is for this information? Because when an advert for XSep2 was reported to have shown up in a Tekken 5 box, I emailed Namco UK about it and they said the same vague crap they said before about Episode 1, so I assumed that meant they weren't going to release it. If Eurogamer's information is based on this same advert, I think they'll find they are sadly mistaken.

  • sleepless #13 7 years ago

    I wonder what their source is for this information?

    It is official information from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe/Namco. You can find it on Games Press (Friday) with PAL packshot (today - Monday).
    Edited by 1 at 05/09/05 @ 19:39

  • Tomo #14 7 years ago

    I'm very interested in this. Aren't these Xeno games as great as the FFs ?

    Looking forward to it.

  • 786Beast #15 7 years ago

    i've had this for............7-8months

  • Les #16 7 years ago

    "(Beyond the Good and Bad, or something)"

    Like you Nietzsche lovers didn't know it translates to "Beyond Good and Evil"...

  • Hunam85 #17 7 years ago

    the dvd is probs the pre-order one from the US, but still, give us the first one, it was better, actully i dont care, i allready own both

  • Teeth #18 7 years ago

    Nietzsche was a complete lunatic. Bonkers crazy.
    Edited by 1 at 05/09/05 @ 21:56

  • Kon #19 7 years ago

    "We're promised more than 70 hours of gameplay spread across two DVDs"

    WTF!?? Who promised that? I've read a bunch of reviews of the game all over the net and most of them complain about the short lenght of the game (~25h).

    Well, i for one am happy that the game is getting a release. Considering that i don't have the time to play through the supposedly quite lenghty original, i prefer to just watch the DVD and then enjoy the game. Moreover, i never played Shadow Hearts 1 and that didn't stop me enjoying SH:Covenant.

    I hope the 25h gameplay are correct as i can only invest more time than that for very few and select games (*whishes Nippon Ichii would do a game that didn't take two and a half lifes to complete*), and seeing as i still have some 10h+ to spend on Tales of Symphonia, this will probably be next in line.

    Now Namco, be nice and bring over the two new tales games. Abyss is looking oh so very sweet.

  • captain-future #20 7 years ago

    \o/ yeah goes well with my soundtrack of part I + II ;)

    I own part I and am happy that AT LEAST part II gets a EU-release so shut up you nay-sayers.

  • #21 7 years ago

    what's the anime series like?

    just spotted 12 episodes and was wondering if a) it's worth watching and b) if it would help / poil it for me jumping in for the 2nd.

  • Hunam85 #22 7 years ago

    The anime series is a remixing of the first game's story, changes minor things and a few major things, nothing that breaks the story tho, just a shuffle, its well worth watching tho, only subbed at the moment

    the problem with just the movies is that you dont get the awesome UMN database thats in the first game which is a giant list of meanings/references thats said in the game and sheds tons of light and info on everything, which of course isnt in the second game (what were they thinking!?)

  • TILT #23 7 years ago

    Nice to get the special edition DVD... it was only available for preorders in the USA and is nearly impossible to get now. The first episode was so long, I forgot a lot of story details on the way... it will be good to get a summary (admittedly a very long one)

  • Scimarad #24 7 years ago

    On the subject of game length I think the clock was up to just over 40 odd hours when I finished and that wasn't with all skills, all side quests etc. You can breeze through it really fast if you want but there are loads and loads of sidequests. Seriously, read a FAQ on the battle system before you start - you won't regret it and it will make SO much more sense:-)

  • Blerk #25 7 years ago

    Just when you think it can't get any more bizarre, it does. Part 2 without part 1? Yeah. Way to go.

    /taps side of head

    As for the 'genorisity' of the movie DVD, isn't it not the case that if you didn't have that DVD you wouldn't have a clue what was going on in the actual game?

    Colour me gobsmacked at the ineptitude.

  • Xerx3s #26 7 years ago

    Namco can take that dvd and shuff it some place where it doesnt belong.

  • TILT #27 7 years ago

    "Just when you think it can't get any more bizarre, it does. Part 2 without part 1? Yeah. Way to go."

    Well, it's not unheard of, same goes for Katamari Damacy, Vol. 2 only for Europe because of technical issues(?) IIRC. Wait a minute, that's Namco as well! WTF? Three cheers for modchips and North American online shops!

    That aside, does Namco have a good track record concerning PAL conversions?

  • Danj #28 7 years ago

    YOUR SEARCH FOR ITEMS CONTAINING 'XENOSAGA' PRODUCED THE FOLLOWING No Results

    If it's coming out in October, shouldn't shops like <A HREF="http://shop.game.net"& gt;GAME</A> be taking preorders this month?

  • Blerk #29 7 years ago

    Well, it's not unheard of, same goes for Katamari Damacy, Vol. 2 only for Europe because of technical issues(?) IIRC.

    Katamari Damacy doesn't have a complex, volume-spanning storyline though, does it? :-)

  • TILT #30 7 years ago

    Katamari Damacy doesn't have a complex, volume-spanning storyline though, does it? :-)

    Err, well, now that you mention it, more of a simple, not-spanning-anything-and-not-having-any-bearing-on-the-game -whatsoever storyline, granted. Anyway, first example that came to mind, so you can't be too picky.

    Will the Euro DVD also have the optional japanese voiceovers, like someone said the US one has?

  • Scimarad #31 7 years ago

    Seriously Blerk, you aren't missing much - The cutscenes were by far the best part of Xenosaga ep1.

  • Feanor #32 7 years ago

    The only real problem I had with Xenosaga 2 was the new voices. The new Shion was fine, but the new MOMO wasn't half as good as the original. Getting to hear the Japanese voices on the Xenosaga 1 movie disk was cool - it's cute when they call Junior "Chibi sama".

  • Blerk #33 7 years ago

    So how long's this movie DVD, then? Hour? Two? Five? :-/

  • tengu #34 7 years ago

    Closer to four Blerk, about 3h 45m iirc. It skips out significant chunks of the game, mainly character stuff that has little to do with the main story, but were fun all the same :(

    It's got dubbed or subtitled options though, so not all bad.
    Edited by 1 at 07/09/05 @ 12:16

  • Blerk #35 7 years ago

    So let's get this straight... Before you can play the game you need to sit through a four-hour movie? :-/

    And it really is 'essential' to watch before playing the game?

  • tengu #36 7 years ago

    Hmmm... yeah, I'd say so.

  • Blerk #37 7 years ago

    Hmm. :-(

  • Feanor #38 7 years ago

    Watch it in two or three sittings and it'll be fine, Blerk. If watching an hour of cut scenes in one sitting annoys you you shouldn't get Xenosaga 2 at all! :)

  • WulfBane #39 7 years ago

    Episode 1 was a better game then Episode 2. My game review score for this game is 7.0. The game's interface sucks big time, Namco, has made the biggest mistake of reinventing the interface and in the process made a shoddy job of it.
    There is no game economics in this new release, so you don't have to waste your time looking for money (sucks).
    All your game character get to use the same magic skills, Techs are Pre-defined (Screwed) The Bots are cool, better then the previous installment but then you don't get to customize it like we did in EP1.
    My advise rent it.

    Spoilers:If you have the last clear save in your 8MB memory card, from EP1 then you'll get a pair of swimsuits for two of your game characters, when you start a new game in EP2.

  • Scimarad #40 7 years ago

    I respectfully disagree.

    The interface on the second game was a little confusing at first but you certainly get used to it - and it DOES look much nicer than the one in Ep1. As for the skills, it's just a matter of deciding which role you want each individual character to perform; If you want them to be the same as Ep1, get them to learn the same skills. I don't know about you but I always tried to spread quite a lot of the skills between the various characters in Ep1 as well.

    But you've failed to mention how much a huge improvment the new battle system is, the fact that there is actually a soundtrack outside the cut scenes now and the huge amount of sidequests you can do. Not to mention much improved graphics, much bigger robots etc, etc.

    That said, I understand all this is down to personal taste.
    Edited by 1 at 08/09/05 @ 07:15

  • Machetazo #41 7 years ago

    Europe isn't exactly anime land, is it? I mean anime has penetrated American culture and telly far more than its impact has been largely felt here.

    Why Namco didn't simply do the decent thing and either bundle the two PS2 games, or sell them seperately (since they're both still technically "new";) is the only question I have about this whole debacle. Even if "1" arrived first, then a few months later "2" followed; that would be better than all this "must watch a DVD before you can fully enjoy the actual game" hoo-ha.

    I've read similar comments about the games length as Kon. You want a 70-80 hr. game? Buy Tales of Symphonia. That I can say is a lengthy quality RPG. This simply seems to have left most US reviewers cold.

  • Scimarad #42 7 years ago

    "This simply seems to have left most US reviewers cold"

    Yeah, but please remember these were the same reviewers that were generally describing SMT:3 Nocturne as the game of the year....

  • WulfBane #43 6 years ago

    The latest feed back I read was that they (Namco) will kill the series after Episode 3. The original plan was a six part episode but they have decided that the series is not doing very well as planned so they intend to kill it.

  • Xiphon #44 6 years ago

    I personally think it's about time Europe got a decent RPG.
    The only good RPG'S that have come out for a while are Tales Of Symphonia and Shin Megami Tensei:Nocturne.
    Xenosaga has the potential to become a big hit over here if marketed correctly.

    Oh yeah, on GAME, Gameplay and Amazon the game is called Xeno Saga.
    Where as on Play.com it's Xenosaga.
    Edited by 1 at 09/10/05 @ 15:16