After a long wait by fans, Namco has finally released the sequel to 2001's Xenosaga. The first game was well received by RPG fans as a game in the same universe as Square Enix Xenogears. Xenosaga: Episode II has finally reached North American shores to continue the series' epic storyline.

The storyline in Xenosaga II picks up where Episode I left off. All of our favorite characters from the first game make reappearances such as the scientist Shion, the young gunslinger Jr., and the weapon against the Genosis, Kos-Mos. The epic space odyssey only continues to expand in its grandeur with no end in sight. As the characters and the plot deepen, new truths are revealed, but never without creating a new mystery.

Characters in Xenosaga II have gotten a facelift. This time around, the designers at Namco have decided to take a more adult-looking approach to all the characters in the game while still keeping a definite anime feel. Out of all of the characters, Shion has changed the most, relinquishing her glasses and changing her dress to appear more adult. Kos-Mos and MOMO have also received big changes. MOMO appears to be a few years older and Kos-Mos has blue energy waves throughout her hair. Most other previously known characters are almost completely recognizable.

One of the surprises in this game is that all cut-scenes are done using in-game graphics. The larger, more important ones are pre-rendered, but are still not CG as in the Final Fantasy series. This is not a bad thing though, being that the in-game graphics are superb, and do not detract from the story telling sequences. Whether airborne mechs are battling or a flashy sword battle is taking place, the cinematography in the cut-scenes is riveting and top notch.

Having good characters and storyline along with good action sequences is a must for the success of Xenosaga II because of the length of time you will spend watching and not playing. Fans of the series already know that one of the complaints made against the series is the incredible amount of time between gameplay sequences. To give an example, there are times when the designers have given the player save screens at the end of a scene only to continue the storyline through another cut-scene. There are many parts of the storyline that are interesting and perplexing, but for every one of those there is a scene that may test your attention span. This reviewer found himself needing a break amidst a few of the 45 minute story sequences. This is not to say I did not want to know what would happen, but only that it felt like I was watching more than playing.

The other half of Xenosaga II is the RPG gameplay the fans have come to enjoy. In Xenosaga I, there were six playable characters, while this time around, there are several more. The combat in the Xenosaga series does not include true random encounters. Instead, the area maps are littered with visible enemies who will cause you to enter battle if they come into contact with you. The area maps also contain destructible objects that sometimes hold secrets and enemies, but many times are there to block your path. These areas are very well detailed and give a good sense of atmosphere.

Once your character comes in contact with an enemy on the area map, the meat of the gameplay begins. During combat, you will have control of up to three heroes at a time. The combat system in the Xenosaga series is different in some ways from other mainstream RPGs. In Xenosaga, when it comes to a character's turn to act there are more choices available to them that could confuse newcomers to the series. Some of the different actions in the combat system include button combinations for attacks, "boosting" to skip characters ahead in turns and even stocking turns to unleash multiple attacks on one enemy in a single turn. These features required a substantial tutorial in the first game and make reappearances in Xenosaga II with very little explanation of how they work. The tutorials in this sequel mostly cover the new features of combat which add even greater depth.

The new features of the combat system, while complicated and somewhat difficult to grasp, add a whole new layer of strategy to the game. First off, it is possible under certain circumstances to use one character to launch an enemy airborne with an attack and boost another character ahead to pummel them in their vulnerable state for additional damage. Another major addition is the linking of the attack buttons to certain hit locations on the enemy. Each enemy you encounter will have weak points that will yield more damage when struck and possibly give the player a chance to launch them into the air or knock them to the ground for additional damage with the next character in line. Finally, team attacks have also been added in which two characters take their turns at the same time to make a flashy attack that does extreme amounts of damage.

Xenosaga II has definitely made some improvements from the previous game. While the storyline is great and the characters are memorable, the movie sequences still feel as though they drag on at times in the same way they did in the first game. The changed combat system will be met with mixed reviews from fans and critics alike. While I enjoyed the system, once I understood it, I felt there should have been more tutorials dedicated to it. For any fans of the first game, I highly recommend this title. For newcomers to the series, I recommend this title with caution that you will be hitting the ground running in respect to the storyline and might have trouble keeping up. Namco's Xenosaga II is a worthy addition to any RPG fan's library of PlayStation 2 games.