Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse[a] is a 2004 role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft for the PlayStation 2.

[3][4] A character's position on the battlefield can be shifted, which directly affects what attacks they perform and how they interact with neighboring party members.

In the year "20XX", the Zohar—an artifact dating from the beginning of the universe which connects to the realm of a god-like energy dubbed U-DO—was unearthed by an archeological expedition in Kenya; the Zohar is key to enabling humanity to travel in space beyond the Solar System.

[7][10] Important organizations include the Kukai Foundation, a group that acts as a shelter for enhanced humans; the U-TIC Organization, a once-scientific group that now wishes to gain control of the Zohar; and Ormus, a secretive cult who worship Lost Jerusalem which secretly funds U-TIC and operations through a political faction called the Immigrant Fleet.

The planet of Miltia was lost in a space-time anomaly when an experiment involving U.R.T.Vs—an army of 669 genetically modified children designed to combat U-DO's energies—goes horribly wrong.

[9][11] During the events of Episode I, main protagonist Shion Uzuki and her creation the anti-Gnosis android prototype KOS-MOS are forced to escape a Gnosis attack triggered by the discovery of a Zohar Emulator.

During their journey to Second Miltia aboard the passenger freighter Elsa, they are pursued by U-TIC forces; encounter more Gnosis seeking the Zohar Emulator; and Shion experiences visions of a young girl named Nephilim and a deceased friend Febronia, the latter of whom asks her to "free" her sisters Cecily and Cathe.

The main party includes Jin Uzuki, Shion's estranged brother; KOS-MOS, a prototype anti-Gnosis battle android; chaos, a melancholy young man with mysterious powers; MOMO, a prototype Realian created by U-TIC scientist Joachim Mizrahi and modeled after his dead daughter; Ziggy—short for Ziggurat 8—a cyborg who acts as MOMO's guardian; and Canaan, a combat Realian who worked with chaos during the Miltian Conflict.

Other characters include Allen Ridgeley, a co-worker of Shion; main antagonist Albedo Piazzolla, the insane brother of Jr. and Gaignun; Margulis, a high-ranking officer in U-TIC; Sergius, the apparent leader of both Ormus and the Immigrant Fleet; Dmitri Yuriev, creator and biological father of the U.R.T.Vs; Wilhelm, CEO of Vector; and Nephilim, a young girl who appears to Shion in visions.

Canaan and chaos are sent to investigate, discovering that Realians are being driven insane by the "Song of Nephilim", a harmony that affects the mind.

Upon arrival, Shion reluctantly hands KOS-MOS over to Vector officials while instructing Allen to keep an eye on her, while Ziggy prepares to escort MOMO to have the data implanted by Joachim Mizrahi retrieved.

Shion and Allen attempt to reach Miltia, but are almost destroyed by U-TIC forces and only saved due to KOS-MOS's spontaneous activation and intervention.

He installs the Zohar into the Proto Omega, a giant machine built within the structure of Miltia, with the intent of destroying the Gnosis and Federation so Ormus will be free to rediscover Lost Jerusalem.

Shion's group escape on the Elsa as the Proto Omega activates, destroying both Miltia and the surrounding armies of the Federation and Ormus.

After their battle, Sergius is killed by a group of cloaked men dubbed the "Testaments" due to exceeding his role in their plans.

Series creator and Monolith Soft co-founder Tetsuya Takahashi stepped down as director, taking on other responsibilities within the company in addition to being given wider creative input on projects.

[23] Their draft was then turned into the game's full script by Norihiko Yonesaka, who was allowed by Takahashi to handle the storyline of the Xenosaga series following Episode I using his extensive notes.

According to Takahashi, Yonesaka's role was to take his and Saga's notes and turn them into a workable game script, something which required parts of the planned scenario to be condensed or cut.

It was announced alongside the international version of the first game Xenosaga Episode I Reloaded, and the company's new title Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean.

[26] The game was first shown off internationally at the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo, with its release window being announced by Namco in August of that year.

[32] A Special Edition exclusive to Europe released alongside the normal version, containing a movie DVD detailing the events leading up to Episode II.

[39] Aside from the English ending theme, the song lyrics were written and performed in a made-up language jokingly referred to by the choir as "Yukilish".

[36] During its first week on sale in Japan, Xenosaga Episode II reached second place in gaming charts, selling around 186,000 units.

[51] According to their later 2005 fiscal year report, Episode II was one of Namco's better-selling titles in North America, although no exact sales figures were given.

[45] Simon Parkin of Eurogamer praised its characters and plot, but found the story uncomfortably long and complicated, requiring too much foreknowledge of the original game to be enjoyable for series newcomers.

[45] Parkin echoed these sentiments while also noted how mechanics such as Boost and the addition of side quest content made the game better than its predecessor.

[2] GamePro positively noted that the first game's mechanics had been made more approachable for series newcomers,[46] while Massimilla felt that the simplified nature of the character growth system brought down the experience in addition to being shorter than other RPGs available at the time.

[5] Nutt felt that the alterations made battles far more enjoyable despite the character growth system lacking any meaningful customization options.

[47] Dunham echoed other reviewers' opinions on both the upgrades to battle and the reworked character progression system, in addition to the lack of in-game currency to buy items.

[57] Co-developed by Monolith Soft and Tom Create,[59][60] the scenario was supervised by Takahashi and included material which needed to be cut from the original releases of the first two Xenosaga games.