14 replies to this topic

[XenoPrincess]

Well I have been thinking alot about this and I must say their were a quite a few areas in Xenosaga Episode II that I hated. I was wondering if others thought the same. Personally, here is what I thought about the areas.

Old Miltia: I thought this area was very easy as yes it was the first area you really fought in the game, but overall I felt it was the easiest too navigate.

Second Miltia on disc 1: This area was very easy as well also it was a good place too level up on disc 1 because the soldiers from utic you fought were rather easy and it was simplistic too navigate.

Subconscious Domain: The subconcious Domain it was indeed easy too navigate, yet I found the enemies in this area quite difficult personally.

The Dammerung: This area gave me a little bit of trouble because the puzzles within it were kinda hard and the wind tunnel was a little bit annoying but overall it was an okay area and it was a great place too level up Shion.

The Elsa: This place simplistic just as on the other games it also had some fun stuff too do their.

Ormus Stronghold: This place I hated with a passion the end of it was complex just too get the stupid things too go off at the same time, the puzzles were awful. I hated Orgulla fighting her gave me so much trouble.

The Durandal: I must say this place was rather simplistic as well but it was always fun too explore in my opinion.

The Submerged City: This place was a pain too me, because it took me forever too beat the stupid people in the machine however it was easy too navigate in my opinion.

Labyrinthos: Well just navigating was hard, I personally disliked it just not on the same level as the Ormus Stronghold.

Finally the Space Time Anonomally Area: I felt rather dissappointed at this area I expected it too be more challenging and it was not however beating Albedo at the end made it worth it because the ending of XS2 brought a tear too my eyes every time. So a little dissappointing but overall good Area.

So, you heard my speel on the areas now time for you to tell me what you think of the areas in XS2 so yeah and wow I wrote alot lets see if I can make this become a habit lols ^^

[Zeal]

I agree with pretty much everything you said! But specially:

Ormus Stronghold: damn Orgulla, I hate her too... took me like a billion tries to finally beat her. Actually I had a hard (very hard) time with the Patriarch too.
You know, the only reason I continued playing XS2 until I cleared it was the plot, because I really hated the battle system, so I had trouble in lots of fights I shouldn't have.
And yeah, the stronghold's puzzles sucked too!

Space-Time Anomaly: the area itself wasn't that disappointing for me, but the boss fight was. I mean, come on, he even casts Safety on you, lol

[Hyuga]

I believe it was after the Orgulla fight where you have a set time limit to leave the dungeon.
Granted, I've never run out of time there, but it's never fun having to rush through something.

Orgulla/Manes wasn't the easiest to fight but Margulis was a pain with the H-Stop technique.

[MermaidsTear]

I rushed through Xenosaga II. When I played it i didn't really take my time or took the effort to get extras/sidequests/GS campaign.
The areas themselves didn't really bother me too much. The BGM is what bothered me the most. Some areas forced me to mute the game and put on a different soundtrack. especially second Miltia.
There was this one puzzle in XSII that really got on my nerves. the one when you have to adjust the paths of sparks or something so they all reach the center at the same time to activate the self-destruct of the dungeon.
It's a good game though but like all Xeno games the greatness is brought down by dumb little things that should have been done differently. It would have been a lot better with Takahashi/Saga being more involved. Mitsuda too...WTF were they thinking.

[XenoPrincess]

MermaidsTear, on 07 February 2012 - 07:36 AM, said:

I rushed through Xenosaga II. When I played it i didn't really take my time or took the effort to get extras/sidequests/GS campaign.
The areas themselves didn't really bother me too much. The BGM is what bothered me the most. Some areas forced me to mute the game and put on a different soundtrack. especially second Miltia.
There was this one puzzle in XSII that really got on my nerves. the one when you have to adjust the paths of sparks or something so they all reach the center at the same time to activate the self-destruct of the dungeon.
It's a good game though but like all Xeno games the greatness is brought down by dumb little things that should have been done differently. It would have been a lot better with Takahashi/Saga being more involved. Mitsuda too...WTF were they thinking.

Ahh, I see I personally enjoyed the BG music but that is my opinon and the dungeon at the end where the time limit is I believe it is inside the Ormus Stronghold the one you are thinking of I hated it very much as well.

[Zeal]

MermaidsTear, on 07 February 2012 - 07:36 AM, said:

There was this one puzzle in XSII that really got on my nerves. the one when you have to adjust the paths of sparks or something so they all reach the center at the same time to activate the self-destruct of the dungeon.

Yeah, that's the one I was thinking about! I tried it many times and thought "hey, I don't wanna waste my time with this crap", so I checked a walkthrough. I hate doing this, but that puzzle just sucked.

[Vepaot]

MermaidsTear, on 07 February 2012 - 07:36 AM, said:

The BGM is what bothered me the most. Some areas forced me to mute the game and put on a different soundtrack.

This times x10. The music on the Elsa made me want to punt baby kittens over fences. That and the battle system was atrocious. Fighting the Patriarch, you have to do small hits here and there, blocking most of the time to build up stock, then buffing with damage enhancing ether....and I'd get so unlucky trying to set the perfect combo up and he'd boost over my boost and kill the person set to actually start the chain. So I'd lose 3 stock on one character, a boost, and I'd have to revive the dead person and rebuff them. 20+ minutes of preparation just for one attack to fuck everything.

Seriously, fuck Xenosaga Episode II.

[MermaidsTear]

Sangre Sanctus, on 07 February 2012 - 04:12 PM, said:

the battle system was atrocious. Fighting the Patriarch, you have to do small hits here and there, blocking most of the time to build up stock, then buffing with damage enhancing ether....and I'd get so unlucky trying to set the perfect combo up and he'd boost over my boost and kill the person set to actually start the chain. So I'd lose 3 stock on one character, a boost, and I'd have to revive the dead person and rebuff them. 20+ minutes of preparation just for one attack

That was one of my biggest complaints with the battle system. seemed like the only way to win was to build up to a big attack with as many party members as possible. one error or wrong button pressed and it's like taking a couple steps back to where you were 5 minutes ago.
if the enemy survives the attack? rinse and repeat until they're done. kind of a chore. plus random encounters could wipe you out easily unless you knew the right attack patterns.
It wasn't broken but definitely a lot of room for improvement. Learning it was the hardest part for me.

[XenoPrincess]

^ I felt the battle system was innovative and yes their was room for improvement I must concur with that. However, their was also many aspects I found quite redeeming, I liked how you could change the pilots in the Es's and get diffrent attacks. That was quite fun too play with I often used Shion and Momo together. I also loved how Es Zebulan could use ether attacks that its pilot knew I missed that in XS3, Just I preferred the battle system as far as the E's went.

Goodness why am I doing these long posts recently my sucha strange habit developing lols.

[Hyuga]

The hidden bosses were interesting even though they took forever and a day to defeat.
Ultimately I agree with all who say that the Zone System was in need of work.

[XenoPrincess]

^ True the hidden bosses were rather challenging I agree as well as the nonhidden bosses, The bosses in XS2 I felt were much more of a challenge than they were in XS1 or XS3. However like the zone system was in need of work but their ES battle system was epic in my opinon

[Ramsus]

I thought for a playstation 2 game the environments were rather detailed. A dabbled in texturing and those places would be a nightmare. Xenosaga 2 had a reasonable amount of faults environments were not one of them.

[Sapphire]

I definitely agree about Ormus Stronghold. The music gave me headaches, I hate Orgulla (I beat her in one try, but I still hate her. Though the level grinding I did on the ship where you can only use Shion really helped =P) and I hated the puzzles. =_= I thought I never would hate a area in the series more then I hated KOS-MOS's subconscious area. Ormus Stronghold proved me wrong.

[XenoPrincess]

lols see tolds u ormus's stronghold is evillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll and orgulla i hatesssssssssssss

[Sapphire]

XenoPrincess, on 19 March 2012 - 07:34 AM, said:

lols see tolds u ormus's stronghold is evillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll and orgulla i hatesssssssssssss

Orgulla isn't bad if you're in the late 30s level wise. Long (Thank goodness for Momo and her high evasion and vast amounts of EP :3), but not really annoying. The fight lasted 30 minutes for me, so I really wanted to get it over with. Granted, I thought a few times "I'm screwed" T+T, but it's really not a bad fight if you're in the 30s level wise (I learned my lesson from Xenosaga 1, every boss after the whole inside the Gnosis event found multiple ways to kick my ass, so I wasn't prepared to take my chances with Xenosaga 2). Long, yes, but not bad if you keep yourself healed. Thank god for Momo and her high evasion and speed, I would of never survived the fight otherwise. Margulis is pretty bad too, and I thought I was done for when H Stop started (I boosted and had Jin kill him before he had a chance for the last turn to be over). I agree about the spark puzzle though. I never ragequitted and said "Screw this, I ain't wasting my time with it", but it is quite annoying. I figured it out eventually, but it's still annoying. >.<