Xenosaga: Was mi�riert

This dungeon

This dungeon exemplifies everything I hate about this shitty fucking game.

Aw, you missed one of my favorite moments. After Ziggy is done laying out his reasoning why super long lifespans kind of suck, KOS-MOS turns and nods at him.

Which, you know, she doesn't really do a whole lot of that emoting thing. Even less when she's nothing more than a subconscious copy or whatever. So what Ziggy said was just that meaningful to her that even the faintest subconscious copy still broke her usual robotic character to nod in agreement.

It will make more sense in Episode III, but I always felt it was a good moment.



And yeah, the Subconscious Domain suuuuuuucks.

I kind of forgot Ep 2 was this messy this early. It's doing a lot of throwaway mentions of huge themes/plot points, I guess because it's afraid the player will forget them.

Oh yeah, this dungeon is godawful. It's the specific moment in my life when I realized that a video game could be bad.

When you're right, you're right. For the Director's Cut:



KOS-MOS hears something interesting for the first time this episode.

If you don't mind me asking, how old are you? I figured that out back in the 90s...

Damn, that font's a bitch to try and read in the screenshots. Any chance you could transcribe those lines?

Higher res screenshots would also be nice, especially for combat gifs.

Oh god this ongoing playthrough is making me so happy. This is a great way to relive a flawed but interesting game without actually having to play it again. Yuriev is a boring as hell character concept made absolutely awesome by his actor, but not until his increased presence in Ep. 3. I <3 Yuriev.

EDIT: For all its flaws, nothing rubs me the wrong way like the VA changes for Shion and KOS-MOS. Shion went from one of my favorite protags to a kind of void of personality, and KOS-MOS' new actress sounds unemotional in the wrong way.

26 I was a teenager.

I finally got around to playing Xenoblade X, but even with Xenoblade it's interesting how much it feels like they got an editor to say "no" to some of the bad ideas in this series.

We'll see if anything past this jogs my memory, but I'm pretty sure this dungeon or immediately thereafter is where I realized XS2 was awful and put it down forever without a second thought.

I'll always have the soundtrack... (the Kajiura one, of course)

Which means everything after this will be new and exciting!

I only kept going for the storyline and writing.

Then I hit XS3's awful, awful, AWFUL AWFUL writing and I regretted everything in my life.

The bad ideas serve the game. A healthy amount of bad ideas can humanize a plot for a game that fails to connect to the audience in any other way (which is pretty much every game)

I'm really glad the first thing this editor said was "one plot, one game".

I’m still trying to juggle JPEG/GIF size versus “can this be viewed on a phone”. I feel like I’m at a comfortable sweet spot, but I’ll try to transcribe any text that is 100% relevant. Mind you, half the stuff these guys say could be practically “grunts”, but anything important I’ll try to transcribe or otherwise describe. Anyway, on with the show…


Previously on Xenosaga: Turns out there’s a dungeon in MOMO’s head! We went through it, and…



Hey! This dungeon looks a lot like the last one! Meet the other chief reason the “Subconscious Domain” is the worst dungeon in Xenosaga Episode 2: you have to run through it twice. Welcome to Subconscious Domain (Winter).



6:13, for posterity.



So not only is this dungeon exactly the same as the “previous” dungeon, it also offers monsters that are just palette swaps of the previous dungeon’s monsters. This, seriously, is a special kind of lazy. Incidentally, aside from color changes, the only indicator I noticed that these were “different” monsters was that they had to be rescanned. Aside from that? They seem exactly the same, though there are likely subtle differences.



One change from the Summer version: most of the “dead ends” now contain treasure. Not any useful treasure, but at least it feels like there’s some reason to go down random paths. I have to wonder if the annoying sidequest I mentioned last update was added later in production to do something with Summer’s redundant dead ends. Not that it helps your first trip through the area…



Ya know, this is usually the kind of dungeon/area I love in video games. In no other medium is there that “joy” of revisiting old areas under different circumstances. For instance, I love comparing the maps of 600 AD and 1000 AD in Chrono Trigger and noting the subtle and dramatic differences. I love the crashed research satellite/ship in Metroid Prime. Here? This is the exact same dungeon with a different coat of paint, and some of the more interesting areas, like the hidden shed/teleporter in the Summer domain, are simply blocked off or eliminated. This is just a lazy, completely unnecessary area.



Can we use the shortcut we opened up in the Summer version? Nope!



Like, seriously, this is a dungeon in the mind of a teenage girl. This could be a floating castle! This could be a soaring pegasus battle! This could be a Sev'ral Timez concert! This could be the God Damned Thunderdome! It could be literally anything a person could imagine… and it’s a nondescript forest. Twice. They didn’t even bother to do something interesting like freeze over the stream, nope, gotta knock over that same tree again.



Slight change from the original area: those infected URTVs are wandering around the whole dungeon now, as opposed to just the finale.



Same stupid log/rock puzzle again. Sigh.



The third area with the jumping cliffs now hides a Red Segment Door instead of a treasure chest. So it’s like a treasure chest, but you need to find a key somewhere the hell else in the universe. Joy.



And, yes, you can reopen that shortcut for easy travel should you ever return to this area. I know I won’t.



Finally! Something new! The final area of Summer was a straight path to the end, but now the final area is a series of icy cliffs that form a sort of maze.



Thanks to higher cliffs that allow you to use a little pre-planning to navigate the lower bluffs, it’s kind of a neat area, but for a section that’s merely one whole screen, it’s too little, too late for this dungeon.



Don’t worry, you can’t fall off the cliffs, despite terrible winds and tiny, icy logs to traverse.



Every once in a while you’ll get hit with a pack of five Monster URTVs. This is the worst, and takes forever. It’s not difficult, just the damn things take far too long to defeat for such weak opponents.



There we go, just about at the beach now.



But… looks like the trip was a bust. DAMMIT!



Sakura assures this doomed expedition that it’s just a little longer. Suuuuuuure.



Hella doomed.



Yeah, this is not going to end well.



Monster shadows are never a good thing.




Good, yes, we need another patented Albedo freakout after all that.



Twinsies!



So, uh, fun fact: you’d think this whole incident is pretty damn important, because it ties off the whole “what happened to MOMO’s sister?” plot that was like the whole point of this area…

CONTINUED NEXT POST

But it’s kinda hard to tell what is “actually” happening here…



And what is MOMO/Junior’s memory of the events influencing what we’re seeing. Did Junior and Sakura really overreact to an unusually shaped shadow?



Because it looks like MOMO is starting to come out of it thanks to Kiddy Junior’s misery.



And Kiddy Albedo is getting a little… bold for the whimpering coward we see later at the Old Miltia going out of the universe sale (well we saw the event already, but it happens later in this Albedo’s timeline).



And MOMO/Sakura (MOura?) identifies that this whole stupid simulation was a trap anyway.



Kiddy Junior hulks out again, just like on The Song of Nephilim.



And it causes real life Junior to hulk out at his real life bro.



Allen is really concerned! He’s not going to leave that chair, but he’s concerned!



Yeah, see, this whole thing, aside from just being a waste of time, was an Albedo trap. So… how much of what we’re seeing is a living flashback, and how much is just there to mess with Junior’s head?



And shouldn’t Junior, who, ya know, has these memories, have seen this coming? Shion figured it out, at least, and she’s usually the last to know.



Whoops, it’s not just a trap, it’s a door.



Heeeeeere’s Albedo (modern flavor, not kiddy).



He just kinda casually headlocks Junior and starts smelling his hair. Ah, brothers.



Noogie!



Shion (who is currently forcing me to scan the thesaurus for synonyms for “idiot”) still just wants the brothers to reconcile. This is despite the fact that Albedo is clearly here to kill everyone and everything.



Albedo assures Shion that everything is cool. There’s nothing to worry about!



They’re pretty much as close as two people can be.



Albedo really wants Junior to unleash his URTV powers and basically kill everybody in the room. You know, shouldn’t The Brews jack-out or whatever? This is just Albedo telecommuting into a simulation…



Yeah, because his plans have been going so poorly so far…



Junior once again uses his Saiyan aura to repel Albedo. I guess it also heals that hole Albedo shoved through his chest. And… his coat heals, too?



Albedo not pleased…



Boss fight!



So this might be the most interesting boss fight in the game, and may even be the entire reason this battle system was created. See, you may recall that Albedo is almost literally invincible: he heals from anything. This is represented by the fact that you can inflict basically zero damage on the jackass.



However, after hitting the right spots, you will make his arms numb. Oh… kay? That’s… cool?



Keep hammering that same spot, and you will blow up Albedo’s arms. See? There they go.

CONTINUED NEXT POST

Now you can unleash all hell on an unarmed Albedo. Hope you stocked and saved up some boost, because now is the time to break the dude and cause massive damage.



Albedo might not be as handy as he once was, but he can still cast ether with his stumps. It’s not like breaking his arms is an instant win.



And, after a few rounds, Regeneration will kick in, and you’ll have to repeat the disarming process.



If you’re not quite getting how this works, “Sakura’s consciousness” will let you know exactly what to do.



Albedo is a troll to the end, so occasionally he’ll erase your status window to make the battle a little more annoying. This only causes you to not know your character’s HP/EP count… so I guess heal if you’re at all worried? Actually, you can “bypass” this problem by choosing a healing spell, and you’ll then get a mini readout of your target’s HP. I’m assuming that was unintentional. Regardless, you can still see Albedo’s HP count and the turn order, which seems a lot more useful.



After a couple of arm regenerations, Albedo will get bored…



He’ll grow back the arms, and go into a sort of berserker mode. Now he’s big on dealing the damage, but takes full damage himself, regardless of arm status. Time to end this thing.



You sometimes see this message after Albedo attacks in his final phase. I have no idea what it means. I will take this time, though, to comment that you should definitely steal from Albedo, as he is carrying an item that will unlock a duel tech for MOMO and Junior. I’ll show that off at the end of the update.



Finally, Albedo down.



Naturally, the boss battle meant nothing, and the scene picks up almost as if the whole battle never happened. Oh well, it was at least a fun way to fight a guy that has two games worth of invincibility established.



Move over Cleopatra, Shion is the true Queen of Denial.



Albedo notes that Junior is actually winning this battle. Well, as much as Junior can win without outright walking away.



But things are starting to tip into Albedo’s regenerated hands.



You may recall that the last time this happened, MOMO put a stop to it. Looks like she’s waking up just in time to do that again.



Time-out!



MOMO powers activate!



Whoops, all according to plan.



This isn’t outright stated, but apparently the final “lock” on the Y-Data was that MOMO had to tap into the data herself… or something… and Albedo or Juli Mizrahi couldn’t just brute force their way in. So Albedo set up this whole ridiculous scenario just to get MOMO to the point where she unleashed her own power and opened the way to the Y-Data.



Albedo makes an oblique reference to this fact, and then grabs the Y-Data and runs.



Now everyone decides to jack-out.



Good news! MOMO is back! Hooray!



Bad news! Albedo got the Y-Data. Boo.



And now Albedo is going to unlock the way to Old Miltia. Double boo.



Albedo was hanging out in the ES Simeon this whole time. Dude kicked all our asses and didn’t even have to get out of his chair.



Guess Albedo is impressed with his bounty.

CONTINUED NEXT POST

The whole Simeon starts pulsing with… I don’t know… Y-Data Power.



It all just looks like Greek to me.



And… Albedo disintegrates? Did Albedo just die? It was really unclear.




I guess he did just die! Hooary! Albedo is dead! Somebody order some cake!



Commemorative save!



7:37… Yep, another hour I’ll never have again.



Did I mention that Xenosaga Episode 2 is two discs? Well it is, and it’s weird, because I’d swear there are less cinema scenes in Episode 2 than Episode 1, and Episode 1 was only one disc. Wonder if they were just bad at compression.

Speaking of behind the scene postulation, let’s talk about writers. Kaori Tanaka aka Soraya Saga was a graphic designer for a few games you may have heard of, like Final Fantasy 5, Romancing SaGa, and Final Fantasy 6. She was partially responsible for the characterization of FF6’s Figaro brothers, and is credited with determining Figaro’s setting as well as the brothers’ classes and backstories. This, technically, makes Soraya responsible for Chainsaw Edgar.

Fast forward a couple of years, and Soraya and her husband Tetsuya Takashi submitted a script for Final Fantasy 7 that was declared “too bonkers” and “lacking any and all giant moogle/cat robots”. Thus, that script was modified, and eventually transformed into Xenogears. We all know how that turned out.

So, as you’ve probably guessed, Soraya and Takahashi were also responsible for Xenosaga. Mostly. According to Soraya, she was fired riiiiight aaaaaabout now. Yes, the original mastermind for Xenosaga was “informed her services would no longer be needed” about halfway through Xenosaga Episode 2.

This… would explain why this plot becomes such a mess……. If it wasn’t already kind of a mess.

Incidentally, Soraya has been alternatingly outspoken and then quiet about “what should have been” for Xenosaga Episode 2. Combing the net, I’ve found that a number of plot points would eventually still find their way into Xenosaga Episode 3, like, for an obvious example, the awakening/reveal of KOS-MOS’s “true identity”.

But a few “plans” that were dropped and never get resolved include…

• The death of Sakura (guess that explains that)
• Some conversations between chaos and Testaments (probably would have been cryptic nonsense anyway)
• Some conversations between Nephilim and “Fei” (kid from the ending of the last game)
• Junior actually physically growing up (!) and being available “older” in battle (!)
• Gaignun having a battle… or… something?... with the Zohar Emulators stored in the Kukai Foundation

Again, there’s other stuff removed from her “plan”, but most of it resurfaces in Episode 3. Also, there’s one other biggie, but it has a… let’s call it “comparable” scene in Episode 2, so we’ll cover that when we get there.

Also, for the curious, Soraya appears to have been the type that spends five seconds rolling her character, and then seventeen months writing a complicated backstory explaining that AGL of 2. In other words, all the “tragic pasts” of the cast are entirely the invention of Soraya, and anything that lives in flashback land (like our various encephalon dives or Ziggy’s eventual origin story) is all Soraya.

Also, Soraya Saga and I have the same birthday, so clearly this LP was predestined.

Anyway, just something to keep in mind if things seem at all… off… in the coming updates.



The end of Disc 1 would be an ideal place to stop, but let’s get a little prologue going for Disc 2.



Like the XS1 recap that took place during the opening chapter, this montage is narrated by Shion, but not subtitled for some reason. Here’s the narration:

“When Albedo released the seal, the lost path to Old Miltia was reopened once again. In response to this incident, the Federation government and the Immigrant Fleet both began their invasion into Miltian space. Their objective was to gain control over the original Zohar which was still sleeping on Miltia. However, the Immigrant Fleet had anticipated this incident and successfully broke through the Federation's blockade. The Immigrant Fleet began their descent into Old Miltia. In its confusion, the Federation government's response was slow and disorganized. Though they deployed ships to try and secure the region, the Federation was unable to stop the Immigrant Fleet's advance.”

So, basically, The Patriarch’s private army snuck into Old Miltia when no one was looking.



And the Federation Government is about as organized as, well, most governments.



Wilhelm seems to have a new buddy, though. Incidentally, I want to say this is the first we’re seeing Wilhelm in XS2.



“I pray for a quick death for our enemies.”



The Immigrant Fleet has some weird-ass looking ships.



Pretty hefty firepower, though.



So Old Miltia is out of its black hole prison… but it’s not like black holes just go away. Pretty much everything that happens in this section of space is… physically dubious. A wizard did it.



“I see this mostly because I’ve murdered a couple of ‘em.”



Holo-Margulis claims that he’s got this all under control. Dontcha worry, old man.



The Federation is “disheveled” because damn near everything they’ve done since this series began has resulted in like 8,000 exploding ships. They’ve gotta be down to the D Team by now.



The Patriarch claims he has faith in Margulis. Once again, no idea if he actually believes in Margulis, or he’s just a slimeball that tells that kind of thing to his top general as easily as the janitor. “Steve, I have complete faith in your ability to adequately deal with what happened in that bathroom.”



Elsewhere…



More narration!

“Meanwhile, after receiving orders to appear before Vector, Shion and Allen returned to the Dômmerung, stationed in Miltian space…”



Oh boy, Miyuki is back! I want to say the redesign was not kind to her…



Looks like the ES Asher has a new buddy.



“In response to the Immigrant Fleet offensive, Representative Helmer dispatched Miltia's standing forces to support the Federation. Helmer also planned out a covert operation to acquire the original Zohar on Miltia. This mission was secretly supported by both Vector and the Contact Subcommittee, and would be carried out by the Kukai Foundation.”

So Wilhelm once again appears to be a good guy. At least he’s being generous with these ES crafts.

CONTINUED NEXT POST

So, yeah, once again, it falls to the Kukai Foundation to save the whole of the universe, predominantly because of a little universal constant called “plausible deniability”.



“Upon receiving Helmer's request, Jr. and the others made preparations to descend into Old Miltia in the newly restored Elsa. In addition, to ensure the absolute success of this mission, several new members also joined their ranks.”

Elsa get equipped with Canaan.



And this dork!



Aw, MOMO gets to stick with MO-mom.



But it turns out that MOMO could potentially help the Elsa’s mission with her swank Realian powers.




Juli has had a complete change of heart after the whole “MOMO almost died thing” and doesn’t want to let MOMO out of her sight. Sorry, suddenly caring mom, it’s time to empty that nest (that has been filled for the last, what, twelve hours?).



“She never saved any universes. And she was a terrible pianist.”



… But kind of a quiet. It’s an amusing endcap to the whole of the last three updates, because MOMO barely speaks during this scene, and Juli just keeps telling MOMO her personality traits. Maybe MOMO’s brain is still in sleep mode, because, during this entire scene, all MOMO says is “yes” (three times) and “mommy!” (twice).



Anyway, Dr. Mrs. Mizrahi has had too many breakthroughs for this Episode, so time for her to take a powder.



So Jin and Canaan just joined the Elsa crew with Junior and chaos. MOMO is hopping on the Elsa, and you can presume Ziggy will come along, too. That just leaves the Vector crew…



And we’ll pick up next update with the contrived circumstances that get Shion and KOS-MOS back into the main plot.



Oh, and completely out of sequence, here’s that Double Tech we scored off Albedo. No subtitles for double techs, but it’s just “Ready, MOMO? “ “Yes, Junior!” “Silver Duet!” Aside from being visually interesting (and seemingly unrelated to anything), it’s a pretty lackluster dual tech. That is to say, it’s a duel tech.

Next time on Xenosaga: Shion? Shion!? SHIIIIIIION!?!

IIRC, the explanation given as to why XS2 and 3 are two discs while XS1 was one disc was dual layer discs were more expensive than two discs at the time.

Whether or not that's true I dunno. There aren't more than like... 30 dual layer discs in the PS2 library, and at least two of those are Sony(God of War 1+2). GT4 might be dual layer as well.

A Space Wizard!

And yeah the whole Soraya thing explains a lot. I wonder how the series would have turned out if she stayed on.

Better. Shit went off the rails when she left. Even if she loves flashbacks and shit way too much, looking at what happened after, I can only think the series would have continued to benefit from her presence.

Either you don't know what that means, or I should be very afraid of what's to come.

yes

Yes you should.

God, XS3's writing is so awful.

Previously on Xenosaga: MOMO is safe, Albedo is dead, and that whole Y-Data issue is a thing of the past. Wow, that would have been a great place for Episode 1 to end… Anyway, Old Miltia popped out of its black holes, and now every named person and organization in the universe is in a mad dash to get there.



Well, except this broad. And she’s not even listening to Miyuki!



So, Shion is back on the Dammerung, Vector’s home base, and she’s cranky about it.



And it probably doesn’t help that her former underling/maybe friend is demanding she actually do her job.



Right about then, all time stops, and the lights go dim.



Only one reason that ever happens. Hello again, Nephilim.



Back to reality! I guess Neph just wanted to stop by and show off her new ugly model.



“I’m hallucinating a whole bunch, so I’m gonna lay down.”



Evolving graphical style?



This is getting to be Shion’s catchphrase…



Allen’s true purpose is revealed! He’s Shion’s dealer!



So you can now explore the Dammerung. It’s basically a three-screen town, and is overcrowded with NPCs that have nothing interesting to say. You know, I understand that they wanted to show off Shion’s new outfit, but you’d think this would be the one place in the ‘verse where her old uniform would make sense…



Where we want to go is blocked by an ant.



You may remember the Dammerung from Episode 1 as the gigantic ship that dwarfed the entire Kukai Foundation. Now that we’re inside and exploring the thing, you can spot brief glimpses of your mammoth surroundings. It’s hard to see in this shot, but those looping trails are effectively highways inside the ship. Vector’s Dammerung is effectively a flying planet.



It turns out Miyuki was calling Shion from like three doors down. Also, she casually reveals that Shion’s old glasses were a gift from her dead (not dead) fiancée. Maybe Allen is one of those bungling savants…



Talk to Allen, receive drugs, go back to your room and trip balls.



You won’t be allowed to revisit the Dammerung “town area” ever again, so if you really want to hammer those NPCs, do it before returning home.



4:20 take naps e’ery day.



Bad trip, Shion dreams of some people in tubes. Or something.



And Feb. And the Zohar.



“Man, I haven’t seen you since the last game. I hope everyone remembers that nonsense!”



If you’re playing Xenosaga Episode 2 immediately after Episode 1, this seems really redundant, or maybe like Feb is getting impatient with Shion accomplishing nothing. If you played XS2 two years after XS1, this is kinda essential.



You were just staring at them! Dammit, woman, where are your glasses?



“Uh, MOMO is the magical girl. I think she’d be better at curses…”



I miss the tree…



Maybe that’s her mantra?

CONTINUED NEXT POST

Please, Feb, try to be a little helpful.



“At least it wasn’t that one where the hobbits keep punching me in the thighs.”



Next time you’re behind on a project at work, try to explain that the reason you were late involves hallucinating magical cursed robots.



Come on, Shion, do your job, then gleam the cube. Oh well, back to the same stupid room as last time.



Shion heads over to the com room and discovers that figments aren’t just localized to her place.



“How many cryptic, extraordinary entities do you know, Shion? Wait, don’t answer that.”



“Could one of you please start explaining something?”



Yep, we already got that.



Let’s see… was there anything unique about that place? I think there was a Zohar… How many Zohars are in the universe, again?



Dr. Pepper… or the mysterious Brand X.



“It is for your sake, as well as theirs. It is something very important to both your past and to your future.”

Yeah, because ghostly little gingers appear out of the ether to inform you of choices that have absolutely no consequences.



“This isn’t rhetorical!”



“I am trying, but someone won’t give me directions.”



Finally! Yes, Shion, you have to go to (Old) Miltia. Considering this was outright stated by Nephilim, Feb, and Blue Virgil last game, I’m starting to doubt Shion’s reasoning skills.



And a creepy warning about “he” awakening for the road.



Allen inadvertently terminates this little mystical powwow.



“Like, back to your room, or…”




In Xenosaga: The Movie, KOS-MOS is played by Scarlett Johansson, Kristen Stewart is covering Shion, and I want to say Allen is played by… Patton Oswalt.



Every superpower in the universe is making a play for Old Miltia… but I suppose none of them tried using the excuse “but a ghost told me.”



Hey, remember a couple of updates back when Shion was randomly thinking about KOS-MOS’s giant weirdo ship? That.



“I only know about it because I read your diary! I mean… nothing!”




Allen is such a dedicated little toady.



Shion doesn’t actually complete this sentence, but even the least attentive player can probably guess…

CONTINUED NEXT POST

Time to hit the previously blocked elevator. Looks like Widder is taking a widdle nap.



From here on, it’s dungeon time.



Allen is along for the ride, but only to offer moral support. He will happily watch Shion die if the battles get to be too much.



So we’ve got a party of exclusively Shion. Considering Shion wasn’t required at any point in MOMO’s Subconscious, it’s entirely possible this is the first a player is using Shion in combat at all.



Better stop by the menu and beef up Shion’s skills and such. At the very least, dropping some healing ethers onto the gal is a good idea.



I have to give Xenosaga credit for this one. As Shion is your entire party, it may seem like a good idea to avoid any and all combat, as you’re as vulnerable as you’ve ever been in this game or the last. However, the first “random” battle is completely unavoidable… but it doesn’t chase Shion, and is standing right on top of a trap. This allows you to acknowledge “fight a-comin'”, hit the menu, “equip” Shion, and then gain the handicap of the trap for your first only-Shion battle. Ultimately, it’s a clever way to indicate to the player that you’re going to have to fight.



All that said, this entire dungeon is dumb as hell. As we covered the last couple of updates, Xenosaga Episode 2 has a very complicated battle system based on weak points and boosting and all sorts of other factors. With just Shion in the party, though, you only ever have one combat option (press circle), you can NEVER “break” an opponent, and boosting after your own turn is completely impossible. In short, everything interesting about XS2 is jettisoned for an entire dungeon.

The good news is that the monsters are scaled to fight exclusively Shion, so it’s not like any of this is hard. It’s just… boring.



The main “hub” of this area is a large hangar with random robots skulking around. There’s not much reason to engage security droids, so feel free to implement any and all sneaking skills.



Some bots waste their entire turn just whining at you. I suppose they’re there to balance out Allen.



There’s a save point at the end of the hub area, and you’ll pass by it as a matter of course every time you “unlock” more of this area. Save points restore your HP/EP in this game, so even if you’re really bad at pressing the circle button, you should be able to salvage a win out of this area with the free healing available here.



This is the room directly behind the save point. It has a number of rooms labeled with letters.



Each room contains something (like a Red Segment Door in Room A… but usually just monsters), and a number. This will be important later.



The end of the hallway has four different numbers, and the only locked door, Door H. If you’re really industrial, look at all the numbers in all the doors, figure out which number is missing, and acknowledge that that number must be connected to Door H. Or don’t. We’ll talk about it later.



There’s a garage area in the south of the hub, and it’s here that I have to compliment Xenosaga on building this whole dungeon to actually look like a real “forgotten experiments go here” kinda area. Like, I could totally see this being Vector’s old car hole in a real, this-doesn’t-have-to-be-a-level environment.



Like now we’re on top of this gigantic tank. That’s just the kind of thing you leave lying around.



There’s this “can you press circle with the right timing” puzzle on the right side of the tank that I’m sure impacts something… but hell if I know what.



The other side of the tank houses a turret that offers the choice to be a Super Shion or an Annoying Allen. You know the answer to this one.



This causes a healthy portion of the area to explode…



Which reveals a new doorway (and Allen’s cowardice).



New area, new stuff to destroy. Guess that’s one way to create some stairs.



This room features one of the first big stupid block puzzles of Xenosaga Episode 2. The idea is to eliminate blocks to create a perfect walkway across the second floor of this room. “Heavy” steel boxes cannot be destroyed, and the stacks are nowhere near equiheight at the start. It’s vaguely like Catherine.



Good news is that the game knows you might not be any good at this, and offers a simple reset button.



Here’s how a winning hand looks. This puzzle doesn’t take that much thinking, and is basically training for some of the later challenges we’ll see.



Past the block room, Shion hacks a security console to confirm that they’re in the right basement (reminder, the Woglinde is huuuuuuuge).



“We’ve already blown up half the room, Allen. There’s no turning back now.”

CONTINUED NEXT POST

Or that.



Now we’re above the save point, but we can activate this handy elevator to get that sweet save point healing.



Oh boy, conveyor belts!



If those numbers look familiar, it’s because they correspond to the rooms with the letters from earlier in the update. Fall down the “wrong” path, and you’ll drop into the correspondingly labeled room (and probably fall into a battle). The idea is to aim for the “missing” number that will put you on the other side of that locked door.



The station you’re looking for, incidentally, is #4. Choose any other room, and you’ll be using that elevator again.



See, here we are on the other side of H, and it’s time to dive further into the depths.



Lotta stairs in this place. Good cardio.



We’re not there yet, but we can see our goal behind the glass. Aw, this is where that flashback took place.



Down some more stairs and we’ll find this weird puzzle with a glass floor and an unreachable second floor.



The trick is to destroy all blocks but the far right “support” block, and then weigh down the glass until you have a makeshift ramp up to the next floor. This… seems wildly impractical for Vector employees.



But, hey, why not?




The final area of this dungeon is a wind tunnel. Hug the walls and any obstructions, and you should be able to jog to your destination.



Going up?



Yes, we know, every third robot already said that.



Ah, yes, mandatory boss battle.



This might be the most perfunctory boss(es) in gaming. You could basically fall asleep on the circle button and win this battle without effort.



Like at least one bot will probably be dead before the third turn.



Wow. Almost a whole minute! Thrilling climax for the area.



Here we are, finally at our goal. This ship look like a squatting robot to anyone else?



In a nice bit of reality, they can’t just press the “go” button on something that has been rotting in storage for two years (and… probably wasn’t done yet, either?).



Still, a keen looking piece of kit.



Whoops, security team finally woke up. Shion destroyed every security droid from here to her room, but she’s not going to willingly battle a trio of Realians.



Allen is in the pilot’s seat, so maybe having the might of an entire space jet will help him “be a man”.



Or at least press the “fire” button with all the force of a great typhoon.

CONTINUED NEXT POST

Yay! Victory over like three security guards through superior firepower!



She’s just glad he didn’t soil the pilot’s seat.



Weenie. Weenie man.



It can change a hawk to a little white dove…



Emasculation confirmed. Moving on.



Wilhelm watches Vector R & D First Division Chief Uzuki steal a little more than paperclips.



“Hey, Albedo unlocked Old Miltia. Uhh… the entire galaxy already knows that? Sorry.”



I’m going to assume Wilhelm is talking about… Miyuki?



“People always try to live a life of choices between 'good' and 'evil.' They make pessimism their foundation, and praise misfortune and sorrow. And then they try to seek a pure heart. Yet this is nothing more than their individual view, born out of comparison with others. Is she who thinks of others 'right'? Is he who opened the door 'wrong'? Only those who stand in a place beyond that point can comprehend the true essence and gain knowledge of absolute truth.”

Phew, I thought I might have to explain the title of the game at some point, but, thanks Wilhelm. You summed up that “Beyond Good and Evil” thing pretty succinctly.



“I mean, you built her, right? Before she killed you? Remember that? Huh?”



“In any case, the intermission is over and the players stand upon the stage. All that remains is to wait for the knight to appear. And for that, it is necessary that someone play the role of the villain.”

No! Dammit, Wilhelm! We have enough villains in this story!



Just ask DC Comics.



I can’t help but wonder if this is a meta comment, as the second disc of Xenosaga Episode 2 just started, and, as the halfway point of XS2, we’re literally just about at the halfway point of the entire trilogy. Hey, I might finish this thing before 2025!



And then a whole bunch of enemy drones and a Big Core appear. Guess Wilhelm had his villain on speed dial.



ACTION SEQUENCE!



Big Core is apparently using some laser powers that… wait… why would a pair of scientists be impressed by a ship that is being piloted “beyond the limits of the human body”? You two build unstoppable robots professionally!



And Big Core unfolds to reveal its ES Mode. While it isn’t revealed during this game, we’ll call this craft by its real name: E.S. Dan. That… okay… that’s not very intimidating.



Let’s scoot across the universe and take a look at KOS-MOS’s space coffin.



Whoops, looks like she’s up and about again.

… Ya know, once again, I want to point out that this would have been the ideal beginning of Xenosaga Episode 2. There could have been this great symmetry with KOS-MOS “reawakening” in a manner similar to the start of XS1… but… nah.



I’m no robotician, but I want to say it’s more than a little weird that KOS-MOS is working without a power supply.



And our final redesign of the game appears. She kind of has a “half finished” look… that probably would have made more sense last game. Like her shimmering hair, I want to say that this is an effort to make KOS-MOS look more “alien” and “unique”…. Or maybe transparent plastic got cheaper between games.



KOS-MOS’s space coffin transforms into a rad space motorcycle. Was… was the solitary wheel always a part of the coffin’s design? I feel like that’s something that would be hard to explain.



"Later, squares."



“Shion is calling me.”

Err… yeah, sure. Android has a psychic link across the galaxy, that’s… that’s normal.



And she motorcycles straight up and into the sky. I like to imagine that, three seconds after she crossed the atmosphere, the remaining scientists all agreed to claim Shion stole KOS-MOS and call it a day. Wilhelm would believe it.

CONTINUED NEXT POST