MARREND'S PROFILE

I might not be able to later, so! Misao nomination update meow now!

Nominations rose by 7 this month, bringing us to a total of 47! This rise isn't breaking any records by any means, whither it is within the context of this year, or in reference to either 2022 or 2021. Though, technically speaking, it's still in the top three months for this year, but, I dunno if that's really saying much, given how low the nominations have been this year overall.

October could go either way in regards to the number of nominations. Given the numbers at hand for this year, I'd be willing to lean on the side of it being another slow month. Perhaps I'll be delightfully surprised? We'll see, next time on the Xenosaga Episode 2 LP month!

Congratulations on reaching the initial funding goal of the Kickstarter, Housekeeping!

Art has certainly leveled up. Darigaaz.

Last time, we had a rather extended flashback with Canaan on Old Miltia from 14 years ago. At some point, chaos brought Canaan's attention to something looming on the horizon. However, the camera became as static, and then blinked out before the chapter closed.

This chapter opens in the present, inside one of Second Miltia's government offices, as an operator congratulates Canaan on his total loss count to 127. The remaining banter in this cut-scene here is mostly inconsequential, so, I'll skip over it. Canaan is called over to Representative Helmer's office, and they talk a bit about the data, and the person who gave it to him. Then they get to business. Helmer wants Canaan's help in regards to the subconscious dive into MOMO's subdomain. He's noticed a rise in activity from the Immigrant Fleet and U-TIC, and feels a measure of precaution would not hurt. I don't recall if the Immigrant Fleet was mentioned in the previous game, but, this is a faction that might come up again later.

In fact, the very next scene introduces us to this faction with the next scene. An old man in dignified priestly vestments reads from a book, as a silver-haired woman approaches, reporting that Chief Inquisitor Marguils has a situation update in regards to the Y-Data. Who appears in the communications circle but Commander Marguils from U-TIC? Which is an interesting move to let the players in on the possibility that there's a tie-in with these two factions before the player characters, and their allies, learn of it themselves.

Anyway, the situation report that is given isn't really anything we haven't been told before. Though, the tidbit of the Y-Data having high levels of protection, and only by accessing it from the UMN Control Center on Second Milita would have any chance of actually getting to it, is technically new info within the context of this game. Of course, Margulis continues his report, that the their next move is already underway. Great. Juuuuuuust great. In the next room, Marguils has a chat with Pelligri. Two operatives, Richard and Hermann, are already in pursuit of the target. As for Pellegri herself, she is allowed the use an ES, the Issachar.

The game...

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...switches Gears back to the Elsa. Okay, I had to get that joke out of my system, and I will not apologize for it. That aside, there is literally only one way to proceed with this LP.



Last time, on Xenosaga Episode 1, KOS-MOS did what should have been impossible, and protect the Elsa's deadly decent into the atmosphere of Second Miltia. A bit of time must have passed between then and now, with KOS-MOS present on the bridge of the Elsa. We eventually hear Shion narrate her report on KOS-MOS' latest activity. I'll note that this report is entirely done with audio, and has no subtitles.

As to the content of the report, it's basically a summarization of the events that occurred in Xenosaga Episode 1. However, I will note that during the cut scene that plays as Shion narrates, it shows Allen talking to Jr, with Jr giving him a good nudge in the gut. He lands right smack dab into Shion, which somehow knocks her glasses off, falling to the floor. Just as they hit the ground, Allen steps on them, and, well, yeah, they're broken. We'll never see Shion wear glasses again except in flashbacks, or in a short portion in Xenosaga Episiode 3 since, apparently, she doesn't need them to correct a vision impairment.

This has always rubbed me the wrong way, because those glasses have held in place despite all the stuff that happened in the previous game. However, if I recall correctly, they were supposed to be a gift from Kevin. So, ultimately, I think the idea here is to show that Allen just keeps screwing up his chances to be with Shion at every possible moment and opportunity.

There's another scene at the dock on Second Milita, but, it's not really worth mentioning, except it's the game kinda reintroducing the cast? They definitely changed the voice actress for KOS-MOS. MOMO has certainly changed up her character model, and I think they changed her voice actress as well. Ziggy looks and sounds the same as always. Jr is... still mostly looks and sounds like Jr? chaos, well, is chaos. I touched a bit on his voice actor before, though, chaos doesn't speak any lines during this scene.

Anyway, Ziggy uses a public communications kiosk to talk to Subcommittee member Juil Mizrahi, updating her on the situation. I kinda feel like Ziggy should be using a more secure means of communications than a public goddamn kiosk, but, whatever. When he mentions MOMO is looking forward to seeing her "mommy", Juli becomes shaken. After the call ends, we gain control of Ziggy, and the music...


...starts playing. This particular song is a little grating to me, but, I could just be getting flashbacks from my original play of this game, where I attempted to do as many side-quests as possible. I will state now that I will not do anything of the sort in the context of this LP.

That aside, the next cut scene triggers when we have Ziggy leave the space port. There's a vehicle that gives me limousine vibes that auto-drives the team to their next location. However, it's not going to be a smooth ride. A pair of mechs appear on the scene, and clearly want to make trouble. One grabs the vehicle, and the glass ceiling cracks under the pressure/force. Jr fires of some bullets, and the glass shatters, the vehicle landing back on the highway. The mechs continue their pursuit, unaffected by Jr's guns, but the vehicle doesn't stand a chance of escape as long as it's on auto mode. This is MOMO's cue to take the wheel, and with Jr telling her what point to aim for, kicks the car into high gear. The mechs are undeterred by this, and one fires missiles towards an area ahead, making an explosion/collision in the process. MOMO's skills at piloting are unwavering, and manages to side the vehicle across the guard rail, or a facsimile thereof.


Yeah, you can say that again! They manage to get into an underpass, but, one of the mechs crashes in from one of the sides. MOMO does what she can, but, the vehicle ultimately crashes into a wall. The party, surprisingly, isn't worse for the wear, though, so, they'll have to go the rest of the way on foot. Cue the next dungeon.


Looking at the skill menu, Jr, MOMO and Ziggy have the same number of skill points chaos started with during last session. I'm more inclined to believe that this is part of the data transfer bonus. However, they are woefully under skilled, but, that can be fixed in a few battles. I will note here that MOMO is something of a special case, as she can only use Circle attacks. I will also note that I was wrong before about Circle attacks requiring Stock. You can follow up a normal attack or an initial Circle attack, with an additional Circle attack, or multiples thereof, if said character has Stock. Since this is the strategy I typically use, that might have lead to my confusion earlier.

There's maybe three of four areas before Jr contacts Gaignun, and even then, he's asking him to inform Helmer of where they are headed. It feels a little off that he doesn't try contacting Helmer himself, but, I guess this is to showcase that something is up with Gaignun that not even Jr is fully aware of. Gaignun has maybe one or two lines here, but, I think they changed his voice actor as well? Could be my imagination.

Three areas later, a chopper flies over, sending out a security net. If the party gets caught, a combat is engaged, automatically surrounded. There is a game engine cutscene to demonstrate this, but, other than that, it's a timing puzzle, as there are areas on the side that are safe from the net. There's a save point after the danger zone that I use.

There's a mini-boss in the next area. An aerial enemy, which Break zone was AA. So, my strategy ended up seeing MOMO break it, then boost Ziggy to down it, then Boost Jr to follow up. If I had any boost left, maybe go back to either MOMO or Ziggy. Another save point maybe two areas after this, then the boss fight against Richard and Hermann.

These two are mountains of HP, however, they pose no real threat? I have the party focus on Hermann first, and while he buffs himself with an armor field, and thunder protection, his offense feels a little lacking. Sure, if his mace/hammer hits, it deals a good 200 or so damage, but, he only attacked with it maybe twice before my party disabled the mech. As for Richard, he mostly stabs at the party with a rapier that deals maybe 50 or so damage if the attack connects. Richar's shield is equipped with a missile launcher attachment, and it was used once to damage my party for an chunk of change. Nothing a good Medica 2 couldn't handle.

However, the following cutscene sees Pellegri arrive on the scene with the Issachar, and launches...


...something that looks and animates something exceptionally similar to the aerods that the Vierge uses in Xenogears. As the rods float menacingly over the party, ready to activate again, shots are fired at them, and they become disabled. This is Canaan piloting the Asher. The two ES get into a tangle, and as they struggle, the craft cease functioning altogether for a while. Pellegri eventually manages to break off from the melee, then reluctantly orders a retreat. There's a small exchange between Jr and Canaan before the Asher flies off, it's realian pilot calculating that further pursuit at this time is unlikely. This leads MOMO to ask if Jr knows him, which leads to a cutscene back to Miltia of 14 years ago, where chaos and Canaan, who have gotten back to the one-armed Asher, finds Jr carrying the limp body of Gaignun. chaos has some interesting quips here.

chaos: The red horse carries war, and the black horse, famine. Upon those tiny backs, bear they great calamity.

chaos: So he was infected as well? The rider of the white horse.

If we follow through with these references that chaos is going with, there should be one more "horsemen". Or, to put it another way, there should be at least one more special/infected URTV that hasn't graced the screen.

Anyway, cut to Shion, KOS-MOS, and Allen at Vector's 2nd R&D division on Second Milita. So, uh, news flash, people. Because of the Gnosis phenomenon, over 120 star systems have poofed into obivion, and Vector is trying to keep this fact quiet. How may star systems have humanity colonized in this galaxy that 120 colonized star systems going eerily silent not raise questions to begin with? How long Vector able to keep this fact quiet is also questionable. The director states that if the Gnosis are left unchecked, humanity only has a few years left as a worst-case scenario. We are not informed of what a best case scenario is, but, Shion is more inclined to know how all this relates to KOS-MOS, and whatever future developments she might have.

A projection displays KOS-MOS' tertiary weapons system. A brief pause here, as I remind the reader that good, old Elly-wannabe Nephilim showed Shion a vision of U-DO engaging with KOS-MOS equipped with said tertiary weapons system, and the resulting explosion of those energies eradicated everything within at least the local star system. If not more. So, Shion's following trepidation about it's use has a legit foundation, though, there may be more to that foundation than merely Nephilim's vision.

Funnily enough, the director brings up U-DO, and I get the general impression that if they are showing Shion the tertiary weapons system, and talking about U-DO, they might also be considering the very showdown that was shown in Shion's vision. Yet, Shion does not voice anything about the visions shown her, and only asks what would happen if she refuses to cooperate. Which she is not in a position to, apparently. Despite being head of sotfware, the fact that the project is backed by the government means they are the ones calling the shots.

She begrudgingly agrees, and after she leaves the meeting room is a flashback with Kevin. That done, and a bit with Allen, we gain control of Shion, and I make for the save point in the space port. In the city, we find a Bunnie mascot sitting right in the path of the map transition path, so there's no avoiding it. Nor the small blat it does that introduces the Global Samaritan Campaign. This is basically this game's side-quests, and a tracking system, and I cannot state how utterly annoying it is to attempt some of these. At some point, I promised myself to never do them, and my experience with this game since then improved by doing so.

Anyway, I decide to talk to a lady standing next to a Segment Address to at least unlock that side-quest. Again, like Episode 1, I will not go out of my way to complete this side-quest, but, I will at least interact with it in some way, unlike the GSC. Our main target, however, is a little cafe called the Moby Dick. Cue the cut-scene on entrance, as well as...


...this music. This is largely a fluff piece that touches on the rocky relationship that Shion has with Jin, with Jr and chaos also meandering in later. Next, we skip over to Gaignun, Mary and Shelley having an audience with Helmer. I don't know if the voice actress for Mary was changed, or the direction they gave her was to tone down the southern accent. Shelly sounds about the same, though she only has one line in this scene. Gaignun sounded, well, he still sounds a little off? After Mary and Shelley leave, the remaining pair have a discussion about, what else, U-TIC's activity, and MOMO. Speaking of, the 100-series prototype was invited to the meeting. The meeting then moves to what we've heard a billion times by now. That MOMO is to undergo analysis at the UMN control center on Second Militia in an attempt to acquire the Y-Data that sleeps within her.

Helmer asks of Gaignun to do some reconnaissance. He agrees, goes outside the meeting hall, then makes mental contact with... Albedo? The short conversation between the two doesn't lead me to any kind of conclusions, but, Gaignun concludes that Albedo intends to link with U-DO no matter what, and that he has some kind of plan for Jr.

Back to Moby Dick's, Jr is stuffing himself with curry. The scene reveals that is recipe is the basis for Shion's own cooking skills in this regard. There is a small exchange concerning MOMO and KOS-MOS, but, when the conversation turns to KOS-MOS, Shion's mood dampens. chaos tries to mediate some empathy, comparing KOS-MOS to Jr's antique collection. Shion isn't exactly happy about this comparison, but, it does provide a needed chuckle from the group, and a lifting of tension.

Cue Jin entering the store. He greets the bartender, and the return greeting was about to mention Shion's presence, but, her seat is empty? Jr has finished his plate, and sinking down in his seat, but then notices the figure of Shion kneeling in the corner. Confused, he watches as Shion makes several hand motions, none of which he can properly interpret.

Jr: Man, I give up! What are you trying to say, Shion?
Shion: Not so loud!

It's too late. Jin has detected something. He moves over to the occupied table, but, happens to look at Shion's direction, where, out of embarrassment, she manages a "Long time no see."

He introduces himself to chaos, which, um, they already know each other? It's been 14 years, though, so, maybe I'm overthinking things. Anyway, the scene continues as more fluff to establish the rocky relationship between the Uzuki siblings. Shion does her best to avoid being with her brother, but, fate has other plans. Sure, she kicks Jr under the table after spouting a small fib about her work schedule (one that he was about to correct), but, a call from Allen solidifies that she can take things easy for two or three days. One less point for Allen. Again. Jin invites Jr and chaos over, and while chaos initially says they don't want to intrude, a little silent pleading from Shion changes their minds. Let's hit up the save point in the city before continuing.

Leaving the city map to the Second Milita map provides an announcement that shuttles to the Durandal have become available. There's no real reason for us to visit either the Durandal or the Elsa at this time, but, I suppose this is indicative of additional side-questing opening up. If I had any desire to do any of that crap.

A cut-scene triggers when we arrive at the Uzuki residence. This is yet another fluff piece, where Shion has a few words to say about Jin, his hobbies. As a quick note, she was of the belief that he was running a medical practice. Which may have been true for a while, but has since turned the house into a makeshift bookstore. Which leads us to Jr browsing while the two squabble, finding...


...quite a number of books that he found. Though, I half suspect this showing is something of an exaggeration to relay how much of an antique nut Jr is for the context of this game.

Cut to a U-TIC ship, where Marguils is consulting with the scientist, Sellers. I don't think I talked at all about Sellers last game, but, I don't think he appeared much either? He's has some relevancy to the game, so, yeah, let's name-drop him. Anyway, his report is rather brief. The asteroid where they had held MOMO before Ziggy rescued her has been destroyed. It's location was leaked to the Federation, so, I guess it's use as a hideout has run it's course. Pellegri approaches, and receives an order to operate once again with Richard and Hermann to secure the original Zohar, once Albedo breaks the seal on Old Miltia. They seem pretty confident that Albedo will succeed on his end, but, I guess we'll see.

Back to Second Miltia, Jin brings up the subject of paying respect to the graves of their parents. Which Shion profoundly refuses to do. She has her reasons. She doesn't want to have to remember how her parents died, and places some amount of blame for their deaths on Jin for not getting there sooner. Well, she likely doesn't mean to, but, it just gets blurted out. She excuses herself from the table to maybe cool her head, but makes it a point to say she's not visiting her parent's graves before she leaves.

Jr leaves soon after, and chaos asks if he could stay overnight. Jin welcomes the company, and the two have something of a fireside chat in the evening. The conversation starts with Shion, then moves to U-TIC, then to comparing the human race to moths, as both are drawn to light, unknowing of it's inherent dangers. Jin moves back to Shion, guessing she's been a bit of a problem. Which, well, she hasn't really? Not to the crew of the Elsa, at least.

The morning comes, and Shion has shed her Vector outfit for...


...this outfit, that she'll be wearing for the rest of this game. Regardless, the two parts ways. Shion is fretting over KOS-MOS again, and chaos is with Jr and the Foundation, supporting MOMO's analysis. As chaos, we move into the city to save the game before reporting to the UMN control center, where absolutely positivity nothing will go wrong. To see how much sarcasm there is in that statement, stay tuned to the Xenosaga Episode 2 LP!