Xenosaga Episode II Info Divulged

New characters and one major design makeover.

This week's issue of Japanese games mag Famitsu has the first in-game screenshots from Xenosaga Episode II, Namco's newest PlayStation 2 RPG and sequel to the anime/SF role-player they released earlier this year in America. The PS2 title, currently under development over at Monolith Soft, still has no official release date, although Monolith may announce one at the Xenosaga fan event they're holding next Monday.

The biggest surprise to stem from this week's Episode II debut is the new look all the characters are sporting?although the article refers to "slight adjustments" in the character designs, it's really a bit more drastic than that. Shion, the heroine of Xenosaga, has undergone quite a makeover?the glasses from Episode I are gone, her hair's a little longer, and as a result she looks like a much more mature woman than before. The rest of the characters also have been changed?their eyes aren't as big as before, and the effect makes Episode II look less like Episode I and more like something resembling the Final Fantasy movie.

As discussed earlier, Episode II will feature at least two new main characters?Shion's brother Jin Uzuki, and a mystery man with red hair. KOS-MOS, Chaos, Jr., Albedo, and Margulis are all confirmed to be in the sequel, at least two new mecha?the E.S. Asher and E.S. Isaachar?will also appear. (Neither of these bots are A.G.W.S. units, so it's likely they'll have different abilities from the mecha you worked with in Episode I. They're much bigger than A.G.W.S. bots, too.)

In addition to this Episode II info, Monolith also revealed more on the new features they'll include in Xenosaga Episode I Reloaded, the (so far) Japan-only update to the original. In addition to the English voices, Japanese gamers will get to use some brand-new costumes on their party for use in battle. (Ever wanted to see Momo in her Kirschwasser outfit? Now you can! Yikes!) Reloaded will also let you freely access movies you've already seen, and an Episode II running movie will be included on the disc. The re-release is still scheduled for an October release in Japan.

Some decent screenshots of Episode II should be coming shortly.

Comments [0]

post a comment

Post a Comment