Ok, this game is nowhere near the master piece or excellent game everyone here makes it to be.
Gameplay got generic and the plot have a lot of plot holes and conveniences. Some of them stems from the 2nd chapter mess that Namco provoked and some others are on the game itself.
So why so many people think that this is a 5/5 game? I think it's because this game has one of the most BEAUTIFUL BITTER SWEET ENDING EVER IN ANY VIDEOGAME, even with all the flaws, the ending got me, like I did this epic trip with beloved characters, but alas, when I put aside the ending and think about all the way I did through Xenosaga, 65% cutsecenes or more, poor world building, under developed characters, the mess about the 2nd chapter and so many more... it was not, in fact, an epic trip...

I'm sorry to say that I can't recommend this series, it's not worth the time, but with the plot twist of Xenoblade 3 dlc maybe this series can get a second chance and I hope Takahashi and her wife can learn from all that went wrong in the past and all of their experiences with the blade series to give Xenosaga a golden revival.

Update PLEASE READ:

This game was the result of Namco poor decisions of trying to make Xenosaga a more "appealeable series for western audiences".
They demoted Takahashi to a writting/suppervising role, they fired Soraya Saga (Takahashi's wife) and because of their silence she almost commited suicide, and they forced a focus change from Shion to Jr, that's why he gets even more unnecesary development.
Later for Xenosaga 3 Takahashi and Soraya tried to fix the 2nd chapter mess, with the Xenosaga 1&2 for the DS (that sadly it's only in Japanese), the Xenosaga 2 resume on Xenosaga 3 and a lot of cut content intended for the 2nd Chapter with "spin off games" like Pied Piper that tells the backstory of Ziggy and A Missing Year that tells you why Shion abandoned Vector.
The second chapter was meant to focus specially on Shion's backstory, but Namco had other plans... here's the video of the missing year and Pied Piper summary, thank you Smartest Moron for taking the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZo74bgiHd4&t=9s

TL,DR: Don't play Xenosaga 2, it's been retconned, read the "Xenosaga 2 Summary" on Xenosaga 3, if you understand japanese watch Xenosaga 1&2 DS, and then watch the summary of Pied Piper and A Missing Year before playing Xenosaga 3.

Gonna be honest and quick:

1) This game is like 65% cutscenes, and they're long, some of them have save points in between them.

2) Most of the story of this game it's just a setting for the next games. This is more evident because the game does A LOT OF INFO DUMP, the game is literally throwing a lot of concepts and therms and you'll have to remember it for the next games.

3) Gameplay is well done, the only complain I have is that a lot of the abilities (Ether, Skill and Tech) are behind walls of points that you won't be able to obtain without grinding the shit out of this game, that's a really poor decision given how little gameplay is on the game.
It's a shame, that you can't get to experiment with all the abilities because of this, and also because there's no point, becuase yes, there're some optional bosses, but there's no fucking way that those bosses demands that amount of grinding also because if you get the 6 robot parts, you unlock the Erde kaiser, and that mech can do 9999 points of damage ignoring all defense to all enemies, and only 2 end game enemies have enough health to survive that.
Not complaining, I love those kind of things in rpgs, because it rewards you for exploring the game, it's just weird that the developers block 40% of your abilities behind point walls, but they're ok with giving you this thing with no penalization...

Recommendations:
- I'll share with yall the HD pack for every Xenosaga game for the PCSX2, for those who wants them. Tnx to Panda_Venom for doing and sharing these packs: https://gbatemp.net/threads/xenosaga-trilogy-usa-hd-remaster.612395/

- The best team is Shion, Jr and Kosmos by far.
- Save your Tech Points for all characters for their lasts Tech Skills. You can use some of these points to upgrade the speed of the firsts tech attacks that can target all enemies tho, it will help you through the game.
- Save and use Kosmos Tech Points to only upgrade X-Buster tho, trust me, that thing is versatile and broken and it'll help you a lot. Only like 3 bosses are resistant to that attack, but the other characters will be support enough.
- Unlock Shion's "Boost 1" and "Quick" Ether Skills and transfer them to your other main party members. (Medica/Goodbye/Boost 1 and Analyze/Refresh/Quick to unlock them)
- Gather the six robot parts to get Erde Kaiser, that'll do 9999 points of damage ignoring all defense to all enemies to speedrun the final part of the game if you're tired and just want to be over with it.
Use the Angel Ring to half the cost of EP that the mech demands and play Poker Level 4 on the casino, obtain 10000 points and buy 99 of the first pack to have 99 ethers so you can spam the hell out of Erde Kaiser.

Final thought: Even tho I liked it, only when I finish the series will I know if this game was worth playing.

If you're a Nier fan hear me out:

1) THE STORY IS EXTREMELLY GOOD, it's way worth watching it, it's on pair with the other 2 Nier games, this IS Nier 3, not because Yoko Taro says so, it's because the game's blatantly clear about it.
But most importantly, the story of Reincarnation fills all the holes and doubts in the Nier lore, I literally can't picture a 4th Nier game unless it's thousands of years in the future, but...

2) Gameplay SUCKS, it's not a good game, even for gacha standarts...
The gameplay it's just mash buttons or put auto-mode and make big numbers, if you have low numbers, you can't access Nier lore and have to go to make some pulls or use your sweet credit card.
And when I say you have to use your credit card, I mean you have to use it A LOT, because the grinding required to pass some stupid walls to continue the story is ASTRONOMIC. How ASTRONOMIC? Well, first wall can ask you for 5000 cristals and second wall ask you for 12000 OR 18000 OF THEM!!!
And don't think about using an emulator, yes you can use Macros to make grinding automatic and make sure you get those cristals (because yes, not only you have limited attempts but the fights not always leave you cristals, only the hardest quests guarantee you some) but due to it's gacha nature, your play time is limited with stamina, and it takes 24hs to refill it.

My recommendation:

- First (and this is optional), read the 10H mini-novel "A Much Too Silent Sea".
It's not mandatory, but it gives you context, it's like watching Ant-Man 2 to understand why in Endgame Scott was trapped in that machine.
Here's 10H novel: https://nier.fandom.com/wiki/A_Much_Too_Silent_Sea

2) Watch, the story on youtube. Again THE STORY IS REALLY WORTH WATCHING, but do not lose your time playing this thing.
The story is divided in 3 seasons and is already finished. The story of the 3 seasons together last almost 20hs.
I'll put the videos for all the seasons down below.
Shout out to BuffMaister for his hard work.

Season 1 Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbE-6D_dLPA&list=PLaoKfFfkcXxCHnkLqjm6DUKWpgBaqVBjQ&index=22

Season 2 Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whQCIqiGds8&t=15880s

Season 3 Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAam56qxIK0&t=25197s

And finally, it's a shame that Yoko Taro decided to make the 3rd Nier game a gacha... If this story was made in any other game format (aside of a light novel) it would easily be a master piece on pair with the other 2 games.
It pains me that a story this good and this beautiful won't be discovered for a lot of people because of this greedy and poor decision.

I'm gonna be completely honest about this game, I LOVED IT, but it has a BIG problem. It's difficulty design...
Hear me out, this game has long ass dungeons, some of them are criptic and you have to figure out yourself how to beat them. Nothing problematic for sure, BUT, you literally have 1 save point, the inn.
So, the developers expects you to wander around most of the dungeons, like a decapitated chicken, busting your brains out figuring what to do or getting annihilated with the difficulty of some other dungeons, being because of some op enemies or because poor plataforming, and if you die YOU HAVE TO START FROM THE INN ALL OVER AGAIN.
And I know that the checkpoint chests exists, still they are pretty far away from some difficult dungeon parts, and if you die you'll have to start slightly closer than in the inn.
And talking about criptic, how the hell are you suppose to know how to beat the final boss? I had to look it up and there's no way someone could beat that without a guide.

Like I dunno to which audience this game aims, you would think it would be for childrens because of the goofy and cute dialogue and aesthetic, but then they kill you with it's brutal game design.

Still, even after all this rant I still enjoyed and loved this game, it has a lot of possitives too, from charming characters, to unexpected twists and really good mechanics for it's time.
If you love classic action RPGS and specially if you love Squaresoft games, then I recommend it to you, if I wasn't trying to be objective this game would be a 4 to me.
But if you play it, please, do it with save states and a guide if you respect your time.

One small extra rant WITH SPOILERS:
I don't get why they choose to put those loser thieves as bosses instead of Bubbles, Gingerelle and Roothrick (although I enjoyed Topo's fight).
Like Jon saved those guys from poverty, why would he risk their lives? wasted potential...

If you go to this game expecting to find a Squaresoft kinda gem like Chrono Trigger/Cross, Parasite Eve or Xenogears, forget about it.

The Last Story it's an ok game that could have been better if the character writting and storytelling was better and focused on the important things, plus it has lots of clichés.
Gameplay it's ok with road for improvement, some of the battles are creative (although the damn npcs don't stop yelling at you to do something ALL THE TIME, even if you're doing it) and some of the others are just tight timings and bosses with stupid health.

Overall an ok entry, not close to the best Squaresoft had to offer...

With cliches as bad as the worst hollywood movies, inconex and rushed little story, horrible collitions, bad placed save points, TERRIBLE or lack of hints, place holders instead of characters and some other things that I might be forgeting, I finally understand why Medievil died in it's secuel and why it didn't receive a remake.

Sir Dan deserved something better... It's not a terrible game, mostly because of the things the first game did right, but it's a huge downgrade if you compare it with his great precuel.

I don't get, WHY PEOPLE SAYS THIS GAME IS AWFUL? THIS GAME IS INCREDIBLE.
I think people compare this game with more recent games or with their homonimus Metroidvania games, when in reality, this is a 3D take ON CLASSIC CASTLEVANIAS.
The game is segmented in stages, LIKE CLASSIC CASTLEVANIAS, it's more methodical LIKE CLASSIC CASTLEVANIAS and it's levels are more focused on plataforming and it's secrets on power ups LIKE CLASSIC CASTLEVANIAS.

Strong points:

1) Excellent level design
2) Superd controls, yes, don't pay attention to anyone who says otherwise, you have to rate the controls based on the game age, and it has better control and enemy lock on than Occarina of Time and Majora's Mask. It fixes the problems that Castlevania 64 gameplay had.
3) This is not a precuel of Castlevania 64, it's a REMAKE. Cornell's story is the precuel, once you beated the game you unlock a second character, Henry, and if you play through Henry's campaing completing his objectives you unlock Reinhard and Carrie, the protagonist of Castlevania 64 and with them THE ACTUAL CASTLEVANIA 64.
4) Picking up with what I said, 4 playable characters, each of them has some unique bosses, different gameplays and secrets.
5) A good bunch of secrets in various areas including secret bosses.

Weak points:

1) The camera, like almost all the games of the N64 and PS1 era.
2) The story is somewhat cliché-

Overall, an EXCELLENT and injustified hated Castlevania game.
PLAY IT IF YOU LOVE THE FRANCHISE.