In my quest to fondly look back at the PS2 and it's formidable library of rpgs, I've been playing through the old stuff recently. I just finished Xenosaga episode I (thank goodness for GS, 7.99 used) and hoo boy, was it even crappier than I had remembered.
The game has to be the most unbalanced piece of crap EVER. The sad thing is, the battle system initially is kind of fun, chaining different attacks together, deciding when to boost, only using some of your turn so you can whip some ass on your next go, etc. The problem is that in my playthrough, which clocked in at just over 32 hours total, I gained probably 1/4 of my levels (40 or so at the end) IN THE LAST THREE HOURS OF GAMEPLAY. In the first 10 hours or so, there was probably only 3-4 hours of actual gameplay. The rest was sitting through what has to be HANDS DOWN the WORST mess of a plot in an rpg. Ever. Which is saying something.
So yeah, the game was SO TERRIBLE that I'm really tempted to play Episode II and III now, since I never bothered in the past. I mean, can it really stay that bad?