Alan Batsford10-02-2006CIS 487Xenosaga II ReviewXenosaga II is the second game in an RPG trilogy from Namco for the Playstation2. While storyline is a big appeal for most games in the RPG genre, Xenosaga makes an attempt to go above and beyond in this department. From the gameplay perspective, it tries to break apart from other RPGs from Japan. Xenosaga II uses a turn based battle system, but with a great deal of modifications that set it apart from the pack. Since the Playstation 2 has limited hardware power, art direction is the key to making captivating visuals in Xenosaga II. Namco did an excellent job at adding details that do not require the latest graphics. Being the second part of a trilogy, Xenosaga II picks up exactly wherethe first game left off. For players who want to find out what happens next to the heroes, this is a strong hook. The game flow is both traditional and unique at the same time. Tradition in the sense it circles from dungeon to puzzles to boss to cutscene then to the next dungeon. Theunique part is that there is very limited “over world”, where the player does free roaming exploration in a large environment. There are a few cities and locations to see, but nothing on the scale players usually experience in other RPGs of the same type. This is viewed as a drawback, but given the setting to be deep space where there are countless planets to roam, including these environments for free exploration would be impossible to develop.The first thing to notice about Xenosaga II dungeons is that the enemies are on thefield with the player. Battles do not occur at random like most RPGs. Battles start when the player touches the enemy. One of the biggest setbacks to the fun-factor of Xenosaga II is the length and difficulty of an average enemy encounter. Most enemies will be intolerably difficult for their status as pre boss underlings. Some encounters in the later dungeons are long and more dangerous than several bosses, including the final boss of the game. When battles are won, three kinds of experience points are granted. How the player can use the points to power up characters will be covered later.Puzzles appear occasionally in dungeons to break up the long and daunting enemyencounters. They are typically easy to solve within a few minutes. The problem with puzzles is that they are all illogical given the setting they take place. In one such dungeon, the player is in a laboratory attempting to access the last part. To continue, the player must solve an overly elaborate weighted elevator scheme that’s keeping him from continuing. In the very next room is another puzzle that blocks the player’s path. I couldn’t imagine anyone working at this laboratory for very long before getting fed up with solving 4 puzzles just to get from one end of the complex to the other. The effect of the puzzles is welcome, as it breaks up the pace of the dungeon, but the consecutive appearance and contrived presentation ruin the suspension of disbelief.The bosses of Xenosaga II are the high point of the game. They are very challenging, but usually never frustrating (except for E.S. bosses). Each boss comes with a unique strategy he uses against the player, and likewise, requires a unique strategy to bedefeated. Most boss fights require the player to make good use of every aspect of the battle system. Also, a very easily forgotten aspect of boss fights is that the story does an excellent job of building up their importance. Since Xenosaga II’s greatest aspect is the story, the boss fights are the most exciting parts of the game.The battle system itself is very involved and will take the player some practice to become skilled at using it. The battle system has some real time action element to it that will disorient most players used to the placid style of turn based combat. For every character, the X button while bring up the menu for extra options such as using an item, magic, stock, escaping from the fight, and trading places with a character on the sidelines.Square, Triangle, and Circle buttons all initiate an attack at the targeted enemy. Each attack will deal damage from a specific range, the game identifies the ranges with zones A, B, and C. Close range attacks started with the Square button are zone B. Medium range attacks are triangle button and zone C. The attack zone for the Circle button is unique to each character, and only a few can provide zone A. Every time a player’s turn comes up, the character can attack twice with any combination of Square and Triangle (SS, ST, TT, TS). However, the character is only allowed one Circle button attack. As the player deals damage to the enemies, the boost gauge fills. When the gauge is full, the player receives 1 boost. The gauge can be filled for a maximum of 3 boosts.When a player has a boost at his disposal, he can boost any of his characters at any time so that they have the very next turn no matter what. This allows the player to chain his character’s attacks together, or interrupt the enemies’ onslaught when healing is desperately needed. Lastly, each character has a stock. This allows for characters to add trailing Circle button attacks to the end of any combo. For example, if a character has 1 stock, he can perform SSC, STC, TTC, CC, etc. All the characters can hold a maximum of 3 stocks to perform very long combos. Characters earn stocks randomly based on their stats, or from using the stock command.To deal massive damage to the enemy it’s required to find the zone combination that gives them “Break” status. When an enemy has been hit in their Break zone, they are more vulnerable to all forms of attacks. Most enemies on the field have a Break zone of only two zones. For example if the zone of an enemy is BB, to Break that enemy two short range Square attacks are required. Break wears off the moment the character finishes attacking. With that in mind, and remembering that typically a character can onlymake combos of 2 hits long, hitting an enemy in their Break zone seems pointless. The action element of the battle system comes into play. Once the player has built up at least one boost, they must have one character initiate the Break zone, then as the character performs the attack animation, boost the next character. This will allow a continuous chain of attacks, and the boosted character and take full advantage of the enemy in Break zone. In addition, when an enemy has been hit with their Break zone,