Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse

Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse
Developer(s)	Monolith Soft
Publisher(s)	Namco (NA, JP) SCEE (EU)
Designer(s)	Kou Arai
Writer(s)	Norihiko Yonesaka
Aspect ratio	480i (SDTV)
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release date(s)	JP June 24, 2004 NA February 15, 2005 PAL October 28, 2005
Genre(s)	RPG
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	BBFC: 12 ESRB: Teen (13+) OFLC: Mature PEGI: 12+
Media	2 x DVD

Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse (ゼノサーガ エピソードII 善悪の彼岸, Zenosāga Episōdo Tsū Zen'aku no Higan^?) is an RPG for the PlayStation 2 and the second title in the Xenosaga series. Jenseits von Gut und Böse, literally "Beyond Good and Evil", is taken from a philosophical work by Friedrich Nietzsche of the same name. Episode II was directed by Tetsuya Takahashi, director of the previous game and Xenogears, a game that critics associate with the Xenosaga trilogy.

The second installment to the series features the same cast from Episode I, still focusing on Shion, KOS-MOS, and their friends. Episode II differs in that the plot follows the characters Jr. and MOMO closer than previously, exposing much of their past, which was kept secret during the first game.

Gameplay

Story

Episode II begins with a flashback of the Miltian Conflict, where chaos and Canaan are ordered to pilot E.S. Asher to Old Miltia and retrieve the U.R.T.V. units from the Realian rioting near Labyrinthos, the U-TIC Organization headquarters. Along the way, the two men encounter Federation officer Jin Uzuki, who is investigating the root of the Conflict. Uzuki believes that the entire Conflict is a set-up to turn U-TIC into a scapegoat, which, in turn, will keep the larger organization hidden in the shadows. Jin Uzuki holds what that organization wants: the Y-Data, which holds the key to Joachim Mizrahi's research on the Original Zohar. The trio encounters U-TIC operative Margulis along the way, who demands that the Y-Data be returned. Uzuki defeats Margulis in a swordfight. Canaan is then entrusted with the Y-Data, which is the last thing that Canaan remembers from the Conflict before a dark shadow engulfs him.

In the present day, Margulis talks with the Patriarch of Ormus, explaining that Albedo will unlock the safeguard on the Y-Data and lead them to Old Miltia. The two also discuss Ormus operative Heinlein's motives. On Second Miltia, Canaan leaves the investigation disappointed once again; he can not activate the Y-Data stored within him or figure out what transpired after the shadow appeared. Meanwhile, Shion Uzuki and the rest of the party arrive at Second Miltia, where they part ways. Jr., MOMO, Ziggy, and chaos are chased by U-TIC operatives wishing to capture MOMO once again. However, the attacks are thwarted. At Second Miltia's Vector Industries headquarters, Shion, Allen Ridgeley, and KOS-MOS are briefed of the increasing Gnosis threat. Soon after, Shion is reunited with her brother, Jin Uzuki, who is now running a bookstore. Eventually, both parties are reunited during MOMO's analysis of the Y-Data via the U.M.N. During the analysis, Albedo gains control and dives into MOMO's subconscious via the Encephalon. The party follows; Jr. experiences the history behind the U.R.T.V. units, which include him, Albedo, Gaignun Kukai, and Citrine. However, the party is too late; Albedo manages to unlock the safeguard on the Y-Data and open up Old Miltia.

Seizing the moment, both the Federation and Ormus ("Immigrant") fleets launch their invasion into Old Miltian space with a mutual goal of seizing the Original Zohar. The Immigrant/Ormus fleet gains the advantage and quickly descends to Old Miltia. Meanwhile, Shion and Allen return to the Dämmerung to report the recent events to Vector Industries. On Second Miltia, Representative Helmer decides to launch an attack on Old Miltia in conjunction with the Kukai Foundation, Vector Industries, and S.O.C.E.; this way, the Original Zohar is apprehended by a neutral party. However, after Shion encounters Febronia, she remembers that her goal was to venture to Old Miltia and "save Febronia's sisters". Shion and Allen escape from the Dämmerung. Wilhelm, Vector's CEO, watches the escape and states that Shion is an important figure that can not be lost, and KOS-MOS will be the key to absolute knowledge. Therefore, he decides to activate KOS-MOS secretly to assist Shion and Allen at Old Miltia. However, as they progress into Old Miltian space, their advance is cut short by the Black Testament, which forces the group to retreat to the conveniently approaching Elsa.

Reunited, the party launches another strike into Old Miltian space by flying between the two black holes of the Abyss, destroying an Ormus Stronghold along the way. After weaving through the space battle between the Federation and Ormus/Immigrant fleets, the Elsa lands beside Labyrinthos. Inside Labyrinthos, Jin Uzuki confirms his suspicions: Joachim Mizrahi was being used during the Miltian Conflict, the U-TIC Organization, Immigrant Fleet, and Hyams are all fronts for the Ormus society, and Mizrahi forced Old Miltia into the abyss to prevent the re-awakening of U-DO, a powerful wave existence fused with the Original Zohar. In other words, Mizrahi was a hero who was initially manipulated by Ormus, the true organization behind U-TIC and the Immigrant fleet.

The Ω System

At the core of Labyrinthos, Margulis and Jin Uzuki face off once again. Afterward, Shion noticed that Febronia's sisters—Cecily and Cathe, are part of the safeguard to maintain the Zohar. However, the Ormus Patriarch appears, and explains the Ormus and the Zohar will guide humans for eternity. U-DO and the Zohar begin to glow, and KOS-MOS tries to stop it by destroying Cecily and Cathe. The gambit fails; the Patriarch summons another Mizrahi invention—Proto Ω—to fuse with the Zohar and create a weapon that could strike anywhere in space. The Patriarch explains that he will use Ω to destroy the Gnosis and command the galaxy under Ormus. The party is then forced to escape as Old Miltia is morphed into the Ω System, which is the result of the Zohar and Ω fusion. Meanwhile, Gaignun Kukai morphs into Yuriev, the U.R.T.V. creator. Margulis and Hyams scientist, Sellers, betray the Patriarch in favor of Heinlein. The Patriarch is left in the Ω System to fend for himself.

Shion and her allies enter the Ω System and confront the Patriarch, who had previously defeated Albedo. The Testaments defeat the Patriarch and revive Albedo so that he can morph Miltian space into a space-time anomaly. After Albedo does this, Jr. decides to confront his brother personally; he dives into the anomaly and defeats Albedo. Although the space-time anomaly is destroyed, the Original Zohar remains floating in space. Before the Durandal and the Kukai Foundation can rush to acquire it, a star system-sized Gnosis appears: Abel's Ark, which is believed to hold our entire solar system within it. Abel's Ark retrieves the Original Zohar and vanishes. Both chaos and Wilhelm observe with deep interest; the latter also addresses the former as "Yeshua" (the original Aramaic name of Jesus Christ). chaos said he wouldn't hold back anymore while standing outside on the Durandal looking at the Dämmerung, apparently addressing Wilhelm(how he can breathe is beyond any explanation.) After these events, the party separates to try and lead normal lives, although Jin worries that the chain of events is not over (Ormus is still alive, and the Zohar was abruptly seized by a mysterious force). The game ends with Wilhelm and his Testaments welcoming a fourth member to the fold, who is the last Testament needed for Wilhelm's plan. Wilhelm calls this man, cloaked all in white, the "Weaver of the Eternal Circle of Zarathustra."

One year later, Episode III begins.

Development

In June 2004, Namco released the long-awaited Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse. Player continue the story line of Xenosaga Episode I, once again assuming the roles of chaos, Jr. and Shion Uzuki. In true sequel fashion, Xenosaga Episode II answered some of the questions that Episode I introduced, including mysteries surrounding the U.R.T.V.s and the Miltian Conflict. However, most major questions were not answered or explored. Some examples include the true identities of chaos and Nephilim, the significance of Abel's Ark and the true nature of U-DO. These questions were saved for this episode's sequel, Xenosaga Episode III.

This episode introduced significant stylistic changes from the Episode 1. Of note are changes to the character designs, which deviated from the original anime style. Characters' change physically, too, as every playable character except Ziggy received costume changes. Other characters, like Shion, also received dramatic physical makeovers in the progression. In addition to the stylistic changes, Xenosaga Episode II's battle system was modified from the one featured in Episode I. Episode II featured the "boost" command and introduced the "stock" system. The last significant change in Xenosaga Episode II from its prequel was game music. Composition of cutscene music was performed by Yuki Kajiura, a newcomer to the Xenosaga project. The in-game music, including battle themes, was composed by another newcomer, Shinji Hosoe.

This episode also marked several changes that bridged the gap between itself and the series' uncredited ancestor, Xenogears. A.G.W.S. units were replaced in Episode II by different robots known as E.S., which are equipped with Vessels of Anima that are similar to the Anima Relics which were featured in Xenogears. Battles in E.S. units were also separated from character battles, like most of Xenogears, and players may also use E.S. to explore dungeons as well.

Episode II sold below expectations. In many areas, the series seemed to have lost a portion of its core audience because of the reasons explained in the previous section. Episode III was brought into production in 2005. Several months after Episode II 's North American release, it was revealed that scenario writer Soraya Saga, was removed from the series. Monolith's management elected not to continue using the services of Saga, who worked freelance for them on Episode I, Episode II and Xenosaga: Pied Piper. It was also revealed that Saga's contributions to the original script for Episode II had been heavily altered by the new team of writers and editors that Monolith Soft had hired on for Episode II's production. Saga described certain scenes, primarily the ones involving Albedo's childhood, as being edited to the point of being unrecognizable from her original work, while others like the scenes at the UMN Administration Center survived more-or-less intact. (Although most elements that were removed from the original Episode II script as described in Soraya Saga's online FAQ do appear in Episode III). The original chief character designer, Kunihiko Tanaka, also distanced himself from the project since Episode II's production. He was given a "character illustration" credit for Episode II. Shortly after the American release of Episode II, Monolith Soft announced that the main Xenosaga series would be stopped at Episode III.

Censorship

As with Xenosaga Episode I, the US version of the game was censored in order to receive a Teen rating. Albedo attempts to explain regeneration and, in the Japanese version, he pulls a pistol to his head and blows it off. The Western release still featured the blood spatter but the gun was altered to be an orb of energy.

Music

Episode II features a soundtrack with more contemporary sounds; compared to Episode I, Episode II features a large amount of synthesizer usage as well as vocal tracks. The development of Episode II's music was split between Yuki Kajiura (cutscenes) and Shinji Hosoe (in-game music). Kajiura's soundtrack consists of 40 tracks and features vocal pieces by Margaret Dorn, Deb Lyons and Yuriko Kaida. The ending theme "Sweet Song" is sung by Margaret Dorn. The Image theme and its arrangements are sung by Deb Lyons all of which are composed by Kajiura.

Reception

Although the graphics were well received by some players, Episode II received criticism for most of its elements. One of the biggest complaints came from the story, which was considered to be fast-paced when compared to Episode I. This change in the method of plot development may have been an attempt by Namco to broaden the series' audience, although some fans argued that this reform disrupted flow between Episode I and Episode II. Many also complained that the game is shorter than Episode I,^[1]itself criticized for being too brief compared to Xenogears. Fans commonly cite in their complaints a section at the start of Disc Two in which several critical plot developments are simplified into a series of vignettes narrated by Shion. Other common complaints include the modified skill system and the removal of shopping/money system. The new voice actors for Shion, MOMO and KOS-MOS were considered a downgrade by some. ^[2] Musically, famed videogame composer Yasunori Mitsuda did not return to score the music of Episode II, despite getting critical acclaim for his musical work on Episode I, disappointing fans of his work. ^[2]

Episode II has also come under serious fire because of distinct changes with the battle system. In Episode II, action points were replaced with a similar stock system that keeps track of how many extra attacks a character can tack on their normal amount, all characters were placed on the same Ether and Skill tree, the Boost bar now applies to the entire party rather than to individual characters, and enemies must be defeated by weakening their "zones" via chains of attack combinations. In many cases, players cited the fact you spent more time healing from various enemy skills and building stock than actually attacking the enemies. Although some others argued that the concept increased strategy required to win battles, others found that it was both unnecessarily slow and complicated. ^[3] At the same time, the new skill tree was considered by some to have been vastly "dumbed down" from the skill system in the first game. ^[4] Many of the skills are left unexplained as well, often leaving many players confused about their use.

The art style was also drastically altered from the first game, going from an anime style to a more "Westernized" art style with regard to the character designs. Many fans found that this, along with the change in voice actors of several key characters, disrupted the fact that this series was supposed to be one narrative and caused a disconnection from the characters. ^[5]

Episode II was a finalist for GameSpot's 2005 Most Long-Winded Game Title. ^[1] It lost to Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie. In addition, Game Informer called Episode II "a dropped ball of Devil May Cry 2 proportions," citing similar critical and fan disappointment expressed with the aforementioned game. ^[2]

Voice cast

References

1. ^  Most Long-Winded Game Title. GameSpot criticism of Episode II.
2. ^  Xenosaga Episode II review Xenosaga Episode II criticism from Game Informer.
3. ^  Xenosaga Episode II Official Website Official Namco website.

External links

• Xenosaga: Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse at MobyGames