Carbon Ocelot's Xenosaga: Episode I Walkthrough

Card Game

Starting
To start playing the card game, as soon as you are summoned to the bridge of the Elsa, head to the galley first. You can get a card passport with a starter pack (worth 400 G) from the bartending robot. Once you have that, head to the E.V.S. plate (save point) right before you get to the Bridge. Go to the menu, page right once and select Card Passport from the menu options. This will take you into the U.M.N. section that allows you to play the card game.

Staring Out
There are a few things you should know when playing the card game.

1. The card game takes a fair amount of time and patience to learn.
2. You MUST use the tutorial to learn how the system works; unless you have played a LOT of CCGs (collecable card games) it won't make any sense at all.
3. You don't actually lose your cards if you screw up. This is totally unrealistic, but VERY cool. I guess the game mechanics are setup so that, if you are willing to spend the time and money to get your card packs leveled-up, you deserve a break.
4. As an extension of the above rule, don't bother with the Exibition rounds, unless you don't have a lot of time - but refer to the first rule. If you get knocked out of a turnament in the 5th round, you'll STILL get the consolation prize of the 4 packs you won in the previous rounds. If you WIN the tournament, though, you can get cool stuff. I got a Tuned Circuit the first time I played, and 2x Promotional Card: Swimsuit MOMO (I know, it's weird) the next two, followed by Swimsuit Shion (not as cool as it sounds) and then another Swimsuit MOMO. The tune circuit is worth 1500 G; the Swimsuit MOMO cards are odd. ;)
5. If you play a Gnosis card, you MUST kill of a human that DOES NOT have a "E" symbol on it. I've had to kill off my Level 10 Shion twice because I forgot this rule, so DON'T forget it.
6. If you exit a tournament using the start button, you will forfit all of your earnings up to that point. This does not apply when using the "X" button during the pause between rounds (when you see the tournament lineup on the screen).
7. Most upper-level cards require you to have at least one human on the board, so don't forget to stock up with a lot of them.
8. Many of the best event cards require two Mech type units; KOS-MOS counts as one.
9. When Shion is one the BATTLEFIELD, you can play both KOS-MOS and VX series cards without cost. Note that standby DOES NOT count - she must be in play.
10. Swimsuit Shion doesn't count as "Shion" for any of the cards that require her. This applies to the cards above as well as the Lv 10 Shion card. This does not, however, mean that you can place it on the board if there is another Shion in play, however.