Part of an epic trilogy of games, Xenosaga does not disappoint for those who are big fans of the RPG genre. With beautiful cut scenes and a complex story, I've enjoyed following through these two games towards my ultimate goal of completing all three.
Differences between these include the money system. In game one, it is important to invest your money in the stock market wisely to not only earn big dividends, but special products from the companies you send money to. They will send you weapons and special items you can use to help in your game. The second game focuses mostly on selling extra items to pay off a debt for the captain of your ship. It is a massive debt and you are rewarded with some really good stuff if you do manage to pay it off, but it's likely you won't get that done until the post-game quest is almost finished.
Another major difference is the skill system and how you earn certain equipment. The first game includes weapons you can equip to your characters and mechs, ether spells you can unlock and add to your list of available spells, and ways to transfer spells and items between characters. The second game opens these spells and items to all your playable characters, but each one has to earn them on their own through battles and earning the points to unlock them.
The tutorial is a lot different as well. Instead of putting you in an actual simulated learning environment, they walk through a portion of the backstory behind Xenosaga and you're able to get what seems like 'on the job training' for how to fight in both your mechs and as your characters.
Special attacks are automatic, as there are no tech points in the second game. If you have certain characters in your party, you can build up to doing double attacks if you have the right boosts and attack order ready to go. Also, the mechs have different special attacks based on which characters are inside piloting them. There's a large number of combinations between paired characters and mechs giving you several options on how to set up your attacks. You also have the ability to switch party members at almost any point in the game, making it much easier to utilize the attacks you want when you want.
Another thing that changed is the way save points work. Because the shops are no longer available due to a different money system in the second game, save points are automatic bio-spheres, meaning that just walking through a save point will fully restore health and ether points, even without actually saving. You also now have the ability to use any earned bio-spheres you collect through the game at any time.
The second game has many more side quests as well which reward you with various items if you fulfill them. There's something called the Global Samaritan Campaign, and you have over 30 different quests you can do to gather up items and points towards unlocking skills.
Both games are extremely complex, but worth the effort with beautiful graphics and almost cinematic cut scenes. I also recommend either getting a strategy guide or finding a walk-through to assist you because of the complexity. It'll definitely help.
Buy 2 Game Combo Pack - Xenosaga I & Xenosaga II Playstation 2 PS2!
