One of those RPG series I missed out on, but they are so cheap now I was thinking about going and getting Xenosaga episodes 1-3. How does it compare to Xenogears both storywise and in gameplay?

They really don't compare in story. In gameplay, it varies since all three games have differences in the battle systems. Personally, I thought they were pretty good, definitely worth a playthrough if you can find them, but not nearly as good as Xenogears (but hell, what is?).

QFT!

All I know is that my friend that loves RPGs said it was a pretty good series, though Episode II lacked "something" he couldn't quite describe himself. I tried playing Xenosaga before, but since I couldn't find Episode I anywhere, I thought I would start with Episode II. It was the worse thing I've ever done (it's like if MGS4 was your first Metal Gear game)!

Now that I know where to get a copy of Episode I, I guess I should try again.

1 and 3 are really good but 2 is a disappointing compared to the first one but I think it was a very underrated rpg series on the PS2 and the games have very long cutscenes especially the first one

I don't know much about Xenogears, but I loved Xenosaga. 2 not so much, and 3 was good too. The cutscenes are LONG though.

MAn go buy them right now,,,,,,,
Xenosaga series is a fantastic RPG, with huge production values,, and its cutscenses are the closest thing to a Metal gear solid cutscenes,, with a lot of Holy shit moments., and a lot of political and religous references!
Xenosaga 1: is a classic
Xenosaga 2: gameplay is huge step back, but the story and cutscenes are fantastic
Xenosaga 3: i heard that its great, but im still to play it (too much work)

that franchise was reallyyyy good i played xenosaga 2 and 3 and the fighting scenes in xenosaga 3 were AMAZING i really hope they would make a nextgen xenosaga imagine how it would be but the way it ended they should stop in the third.

They are fantastic, I never finished Xenogears (only got to half of Disc 1), but the Xenosaga games are amazing (1 and 3 are some of the best PRgs you can find on the PS2, 2 is good, but not as good as the others). And if you're looking for a good complex story (and if you don't mind very long but enthralling cutscenes), Xenosaga should be your choice.

Also, all three have some of the most addictive boss battles ever, they take a lot of time to finish, it makes you feel really good when you beat them

Here's my impressions...

XS1: By and large an unremarkable game, but at least it was pretty easy to get into the gameplay. Just not particularly interesting even when you did.

XS2: One of those "doing what makes sense screws you over" games. Ie. I hated it since I never learned the counter-intuitive way you were supposed to play it.

XS3: Better than the previous two, but still not anything amazing. Pretty much a "vanilla" sort of RPG experience.

Well I've started episode 1, and so far I like it. Good combat system, I like the art style and music. Kind of dreading going through episode 2 now, but I guess it will be worth it to get to three. I bought all three episodes, so I've got plenty of RPG goodness to last me a while.