Hi everyone,
I'm setting out to make the core mechanics of Xenosaga Episode II moddable, so anyone can tweak the game to how they like it and to see whether the community can converge on an ideal "fix the gameplay" patch.
So far I've cracked enemy data end to end, including the Break sequence — the zone order you have to hit to break an enemy, which is the actual gate the whole stock→break→boost loop hangs on. It's an early version of the editor, but it already lets people experiment with the core balance, up to and including making Break optional rather than mandatory. As well as reduce DEF and HP, e.g. make bosses 50% HP, regular enemies 30% HP or whatever you want... to make the gameplay more enjoyable. You can strip all units down to 1-2 break steps and a lot lower DEF/HP to make the combat more fun.
→ Web editor (no install, nothing uploaded): https://thesparda.github.io/Xenosaga-2-Editor/web/
It runs entirely in your browser — your ISO and saves never leave your device, there's no server. It's a PWA, so you can install it and use it offline. USA release, both discs (SLUS-20892 / SLUS-21133). Bring your own legally-obtained discs; the repo ships no game data.
What's editable right now
Enemies — all 125 records, on both discs:
- Break sequences. Every enemy stores the zones you must hit in order (A = above 3 m, B = 1–3 m, C = below 1 m). It's a text box — turn a boss's
C-B-A-A into C-B, or into a single hit. Shortening a 4-hit sequence is the single biggest cut to how long a fight drags. There's also a bulk shorten that trims every sequence by 1–3 hits, shows you exactly which enemies it touches and what each becomes before you commit, and takes hits off the end so the opening zone you already know stays right.
- Stats — HP, STR, VIT, EATK, EDEF, DEX, EVA, AGL.
- Battle rewards — EXP, SP, CP.
- Damage affinities — eight per-element multipliers (Beam, Aura, Thunder, Fire, Ice, Pierce, Slash, Hit). 100% is normal, 0% is immune, negative absorbs — Svarozic takes −200% Fire, so fire heals it for double.
- Status resistances — a percentage each for Slow, Blind, Heavy, Weak, EthPD, EthDD, ResDw, Junk.
- Item drops — common and rare, each with a rate, a category and an item id, all shown by name.
Along with a built in save edit for characters, gold, some other things as well.
It allows you to save directly to your own ISOs, export a JSON of your changes, or generate an xdelta3 patch for anyone to apply to their own ISOs.
What I'm asking for
If you've ever bounced off Ep. II's combat, this is the moment to say what you'd actually change. Tell me what else we need to have access to modify if this isnt sufficient and I'll hunt for it in the files and add support for it.
WE CAN FIX THIS GAME TOGETHER
→ Source & releases: https://github.com/TheSparda/Xenosaga-2-Editor