Xenosaga Episode II: is an RPG for the PlayStation 2 and the second title in the Xenosaga series. Jenseits von Gut und Böse, literally "Beyond Good and Evil", is taken from a philosophical work by Friedrich Nietzsche of the same name. Episode II was directed by Tetsuya Takahashi, director of the previous game and Xenogears, a game that critics associate with the Xenosaga trilogy.
The second installment to the series features the same cast from Episode I, still focusing on Shion, KOS-MOS, and their friends. Episode II differs in that the plot follows the characters Jr. and MOMO closer than previously, exposing much of their past, which was kept secret during the first game.
Episode II features a soundtrack with more contemporary sounds; compared to Episode I, Episode II features a large amount of synthesizer usage as well as vocal tracks. The development of Episode II's music was split between Yuki Kajiura (cutscenes) and Shinji Hosoe (in-game music). Kajiura's soundtrack consists of 40 tracks and features vocal pieces by Margaret Dorn, Deb Lyons and Yuriko Kaida. The ending theme "Sweet Song" is sung by Margaret Dorn. The Image theme and its arrangements are sung by Deb Lyons all of which are composed by Kajiura.
