I  am busy wrapping up my PS2 collection by picking up any good RPG I can find.  I joined the PS2 world late, but I am making up for lost time.

Well, I have the first Xenosaga. The story wasn't that great to me so getting through the long cut scenes was at times annoying. If you dig grinding it out on an RPG it's worth your time.  It's a quality game but the story and characters were forgetable.

** Dragon Quest VIII kind of ruined PS2 RPG's for me. Metal Slimes should be in every game

Xenosaga when compared to xenogears is shit quite literally its a pure and simple interactive movie you will literally have about 5-10 hours of gameplay the rest 20-30 hours is CGI cinemas.

Had to quit Xenosaga the first few hours in. And this is from a guy who absolutely adored Xenogears even the second disc with all the static narration.
What the hell is with Square disappointing me with all their franchises I loved the first installments of?
Parasite Eve followed by Parasite Eve 2, Chrono Trigger followed by Chrono Cross and Secret Of Mana (I know technically it's Seiken Denetsu 2) followed by Legend Of Mana. Ugh

Tedious and convoluted  game. 

Wow, I am not hearing any love here.   It reviewed okay.  Time will tell if I like it I guess.

I've only played Xenosaga II and III and thought the latter was one of the best games the system has to offer while I gave up on the former after just a few hours of play. I don't like having to use trial-and-error to break through enemy defenses before I can actually start to do damage. The pacing also felt off to me because they turned every conversation in the game into a cinematic (and the majority of the game is spent watching these). I mean, is it really necessary to keep panning the camera when 2 people are talking? It didn't set the mood for me at all and was just annoying because I couldn't speed up the conversation.

The sequel was much better paced and uses simple dialogue boxes to present most of its story. Of course, they only did this because they suffered major losses from Xenosaga II and didn't have the funds anymore to put so many cinematics in the game (the series was actually supposed to last 6 episodes and have 2 spin-offs but got cut short because of this).

So yeah, I hated Xenosaga II, but for reasons very personal, so it's still very possible you'll like it.

As for recommendations... Well, you already have some of the best RPGs the system has to offer (like Dragon Quest VIII -- which pretty much the best RPG of all time IMO), so there isn't a whole lot I can recommend, but you definitely need to grab Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne if you prefer your RPGs to be a bit more old-school.

"So yeah, I hated Xenosaga II, but for reasons very personal, so it's still very possible you'll like it."

Xenosaga is one of the best RPG series on the PS2 in my opinion, but I definitely wouldn't play them out of order. Plot is way too convoluted for that.

"Xenosaga is one of the best RPG series on the PS2 in my opinion, but I definitely wouldn't play them out of order. Plot is way too convoluted for that."

It ain't no Xenogears but it is still pretty good.

The Japanese are infamous for pissing all over previously successful RPG game genres.  Haven't you all noticed this trend yet?

Check out Rogue Galaxy. I had a lot of fun with that. The weapon upgrade system was addicting.

"Check out Rogue Galaxy. I had a lot of fun with that. The weapon upgrade system was addicting."

"The Japanese are infamous for pissing all over previously successful RPG game genres.  Haven't you all noticed this trend yet?
"

I personally loved the trilogy. I thought the story was great, but the at the second chapter there really is a downfall. It's not terrible, but you can clearly see that something was wrong at the time of the game making. And it's nowhere bad enough to keep you from completing it, as long as you like this type of game. The third one is good againg, though my personal favourite is the first one.

The combat changes from game to game, and it's at its best at the third chapter. Also, the story does a pretty good job of closing up, so you don't have to worry about never finding out what happened. Overall I really like it and can recommend it.

And I don't see on your list neither Shadow Hearts or Shadow Hearts: Covenant. I can't recommend those games enough, you like the genre get them ASAP.