You absoutely definitely should play 2 before playing 3. You'll miss TONS of plot if you skip it. I've heard mixed reviews too, mostly about the battle system, but I personally liked the battle system FAR more in 2 than I did in 1.

Also, where did you hear that 3 would be the last? That seems terribly silly since 5 was the first one to be released (under the name Xenogears). It would be absurd for them NOT to do 4.

alright, so... the xenosaga 3 website itself ( xenosaga3.namco.com/ ) calls this the "conclusion to the Xenosaga trilogy." Again, I point out that the FIFTH chapter already exists, so it would be terribly silly to end it on chapter 3, especially since (from what I hear) characters from chapter 5 are starting to be introduced in chapter 3. Maybe (and I'm just being overly optimistic here) this will be the last game titled Xenosaga and will also be the last game to feature the core characters from the first two games, Shion and crew. Then they could do chapter four with a different title and bridge the gap between Xenosaga and Xenogears. It's feasible. I don't know if they'll do it, but I hope they do. Gears was PS1, Saga was all PS2... maybe the next chapter will be PS3 and they could call it uhh... Xenofanservice :p

I dunno. I understand that SquareEnix owns the rights to Xenogears, so it might be difficult for Namco to put out a chapter four that actually manages to brige the gap, but I'm sure they COULD work together in harmony. Stranger things have happened.

I just hope that chapter 3 DOES continue toward chapter 5 instead of trying to be a complete departure. It would be sad if they abandoned their roots like that. Of course since they are starting to introduce characters that were in chapter 5, so hopefully I don't have anything to worry about... we'll see I suppose. I have high hopes!