History YMMV / XenoSaga

* SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing: While it has shown its age (and in many ways has some bizarre LipLock made even worse in the first game), this was considered to be a pretty solid dub. Many people preferred the english voices for the amount of LargeHam and even Epcar's DullSurprise performance of Ziggy (especially in the first episode) even made sense. Special mention to Creator/CripinFreeman as Albedo, who's terrifying portrayal as Albedo made him easily one of the most engaging characters in all of Creator/MonolithSoft repertoir, and possibly their best villain up to this point.

* SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing: While it has shown its age (and in many ways has some bizarre LipLock made even worse in the first game), this was considered to be a pretty solid dub. Many people preferred the english voices for the amount of LargeHam and even Epcar's DullSurprise performance of Ziggy (especially in the first episode) even made sense.

* UnintentionallyUncannyValley: Both Episodes I and II fall into this from the opposite direction:

* TooCoolToLive: [[spoiler: Jin and KOS-MOS.]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow: After Episodes I and II were both criticized for having art styles that suffered from UncannyValley, III went for a hybridized style that was widely praised for being eye-pleasing and avoiding the pitfalls of both.

* PolishedPort: Despite the technical downgrades necessary to make it run on the Nintendo DS, the various changes ''Xenosaga I&II'' makes to the story and gameplay are generally considered to make for a vastly improved experience in many ways, especially for the heavily-maligned Episode II. The plot of both games was heavily rewritten to be more cohesive and less confusing like the single game they were [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally intended to be]], and the static anime cutscenes avoid the UncannyValley issues that plagued its console equivalents. Sadly, it was [[NoExportForYou never brought to the West]].

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: Episode 3 goes out of its way to reverse nearly everything that was disliked about the second game; the battles are faster paced with a more streamlined break system and no more field effect roulette, characters once again learn abilities by leveling and no longer have identical skill trees, character equipment is back, and stores return. It also does a lot to improve on issues people had with the first game, such as the UncannyValley artstyle and E.S. combat being significantly improved from that of A.G.W.S. combat.

** Episode II is the most ironic case, since the change in character design for a more realistic approach, while heavily criticized when it first came out, has made the game to arguably age more gracefully. Of course, the far improved animations, specially in high-quality cut scenes, is a big responsible for this. But even in low-quality cut scenes, the more proportionate face features makes the lack of facial expressions to be far less jarring than in its predecessor. However, the lower polygon count of character models in said low-quality cut scenes look still quite dated on their own, and the fact that you have the far more successful high-quality models to compare them to makes them more noticeable. Not to mention that the animation tone problems mentioned in UncannyValley above still apply.

* UncannyValley: Both Episodes I and II fall into this from the opposite direction:

** In Episode 1, the Song of Nephelim. A very long dungeon with different gimmicks and enemies in each of its three towers and only one save point. The enemies are probably THE strongest regular enemies in the entire game, with nearly all of them having hard hitting area of effect attacks, huge HP, and often come in groups of three or four. Also features four bosses, all of them fairly tricky. The final dungeon that follows is actually a bit of a BreatherLevel in comparison.

* SuperlativeDubbing: While it has shown its age (and in many ways has some bizarre LipLock made even worse in the first game), this was considered to be a pretty solid dub. Many people preferred the english voices for the amount of LargeHam and even Epcar's DullSurprise performance of Ziggy (especially in the first episode) even made sense.

* SophomoreSlump: ''Episode II'' is considered the worst of the trilogy, if not downright a FranchiseKiller. Many people gave up on the series altogether with that game for multiple reasons.
** Some would consider ''Xenosaga itself'' to be this, smack in between ''Xenogears'' and ''Xenoblade.''

* ValuesResonance:
** The fact that the main character of the trilogy is a woman - and she's treated not as special for being a woman so much as the fact that she herself is skilled.
** The fact that the first game advertised that the music was performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra - long before [[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-video-games-are-saving-symphony-orchestras-and-filling-concert-halls/ Video games kept symphony orchestras alive]].

* FoeYay:
** T-elos really wants to merge with KOS-MOS, whether she wants to or not.
** Black testament wants to spend his eternal life with Ziggy, after killing him.

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven: The game required loads and loads of manpower in order to pull off the technical feats it could--especially when you consider that it was a first-generation [=PS2=] title. But man, did we really need that many cutscenes?
* On the other hand, ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}},'' ''Xenosaga'''s predecessor, suffered from budgeting and timing problems, leading to the infamous second disc featuring the protagonists relating much of the story in walls of text. However, it says a great deal about the creator that the story continued to shine and grow even more detailed and complex.
** The English translator forced himself on his own to translate the game by the deadline, even sleeping under his desk to give himself more time to work even after the rest of the team left him. It shows, as the script, with themes based on Gnosticism, reincarnation and the concept of God is faithfully localized, with very little changed and is still an amazing translation today.

* CatharsisFactor: If Shion's behavior through the series is a source of frustration to you, [[spoiler:you get the chance to work your issues out on her face late in the third game. Enjoy.]]

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Orgulla, a schizophrenic [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalist]] [[NinjaPirateRobotZombie cyborg]] boss from ''Episode II'' that is never heard from again after the fight with her.

*** The main point of this contention would be Episode III, particularly during the last third of that episode's story. While in the previous two episodes she had some detractors, the reception of her tended to be clearly more positive than negative. However, [[spoiler:her fixation on going back to Kevin, utterly rejecting her friends and their attempts for help in the process to the point she even ends up turning against them]] made her extremely divisive. Not only in Episode III specifically, but in the series as a whole. Depending on your perspective, you'll feel sorry that her judgment has been derailed so badly, or your sympathy for her will just go out the window. [[spoiler:Although Shion eventually snaps out of it, for many, if not the majority of her detractors, it only happens when it's too little, too late]].
** Somewhat related to the previous one, we have [[spoiler:Kevin Winnicott, also in Episode III]]. Depending on who you ask, [[spoiler:he's either a compelling antagonist and a somewhat accurate depiction of an abusive romantic partner, or a disgusting [[TheScrappy Scrappy villain]] who, instead of waiting for him to get his comeuppance, you just wish he wasn't part of the story at all, since he brings everything down with him]]. A big reason for this is that [[spoiler:albeit the story and even eventually Shion recognize that he was just being manipulative, the narrative still tries to convey that, at the end of the day, Kevin truly cared for Shion, even if he was misguided in trying to save Shion while still trying to follow Wilhelm's plan at the same time. At the very end, Shion has a heartfelt good-bye with him, staying that she understands why he went along with it, and decides to at least cherish the good memories. Again, there are people who thinks this development was compelling, while others don't buy it for one second]].

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: Episode 3 goes out of its way to reverse nearly everything that was disliked about the second game; the battles are faster paced with a more streamlined break system and no more field effect roulette, characters once again learn abilities by leveling and no longer have identical skill trees, character equipment is back, and stores return.

* PolishedPort: Despite the technical downgrades necessary to make it run on the Nintendo DS, the various changes ''Xenosaga I&II'' makes to the story and gameplay are generally considered to make for a vastly improved experience in many ways, especially for the heavily-maligned Episode II. The plot of both games was heavily rewritten to be more cohesive and less confusing, and the static anime cutscenes avoid the UncannyValley issues that plagued its console equivalents. Sadly, it was [[NoExportForYou never brought to the West]].

* UncannyValley: The sudden shift in art style for a more realistic approach in ''Episode II''. Considering how big-eyed and distinct the designs were in the first game, the sudden jarring change was already bad enough as mentioned below. But the characters still had an anime approach in their movements, their expressions just didn't look quite ''right'' as they often veered into DullSurprise, and other problems that resulted in a clash of what the game wanted to be and what it actually was.

** In an attempt to correct for said criticisms, II shifted course by changing the art style to a very realistic one. While this resolved the glassy-eyed issue and was considered an improvement for some characters such as MOMO, for others like Shion and KOS-MOS it made them unrecognizable and just as creepy.

** Orgulla is given a lot of characterization for the one boss fight you have with her and the cutscene before and after said fight, only to never be seen ever again. It's probably what made her such an EnsembleDarkHorse.

* LesYay:
** Shion and KOS-MOS's ambiguous friends or mother-daughter relationship ends up coming off more romantically charged at times. It's especially prominent in Episode III where we hear that [[spoiler: KOS-MOS's awakening required [[PowerOfFriendship her and Shion to grow close]].]]
** Albedo's brother complex towards Jr. retains the same sexual stalkerish undertones as his interest in MOMO, to the point of remarking on his sweet scent and getting a bit excited when he impales him.

* LesYay: Shion and KOS-MOS (it doesn't help that the latter is a RobotGirl with the combat capabilities of a battleship... though it doesn't hurt it either.)
** It's especially prominent in Episode III where we hear that [[spoiler: KOS-MOS's awakening required [[PowerOfFriendship her and Shion to grow close]].]]
* MemeticMolester: Albedo is a little ''too'' fond with MOMO.

* ContestedSequel:
** ''Episode 2'' is pretty much unanimously considered the worst entry in the series, if not downright the FranchiseKiller. Many people gave up on the series altogether with that game for multiple reasons.
** Being a SpiritualSuccessor, this is how many see ''Xenosaga'' as a whole in regards to ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}''. Many people consider it a far less successful attempt in the type of narrative that ''Xenogears'' pulled off back in 1998. See FandomRivalry below.

* FauxSymbolism: It's difficult to tell how much is gratuitous and how much is really symbolic given the themes and plot. In general, ''Xenosaga'' is much worse about it than the ShownTheirWork ''Xenogears'', and ''XenobladeChronicles1'', although that's because there's less of it there.

* UncannyValley: The sudden shift in art style for a more realistic approach in Episode II. Considering how big-eyed and distinct the designs were in the first game, the sudden jarring change was already bad enough as mentioned below. But the characters still had an anime approach in their movements, their expressions just didn't look quite ''right'' as they often veered into DullSurprise, and other problems that resulted in a clash of what the game wanted to be and what it actually was.