Xenosaga Episode 2 continues one of the best stories ever, and ends up improving upon the first in every way possible.
To say that Xenosaga Episode 2 was all about the "playing" of the game would be seriously incorrect, however, since you are watching cut-scenes for the majority of the game. I'd say that 80-85 percent of disc 1 was cut-scenes, possibly more. Disc 2 eases up on the cut scenes a bit, yet still consists of over half cut-scenes. However, Xenosaga Episode 2 has such a magnificent story that you'll with the game was 100% cut-scenes. If you'd read my review on Xenosaga Episode 1, you'd see that I didn't like that story much at the time (for some reason). However, Xenosaga Episode 2 continues from the first story, both answering some of the previously unanswered questions, as well as providing a ton of new questions to be answered in the final episode. While before I dubbed the first one as having "no story what-so-ever", I now take that back: Xenosaga tells one of the most interesting, most brilliant, and most compelling stories ever told, and I personally can't wait to get my hands on the final one (although it will be sad to see such an excellent series come to a close). Overall, Xenosaga Episode 2 has both excellent gameplay and a story that will blow you away.
Graphics: Xenosaga Episode 2 has taken a major graphical change from the first one. The characters in this one appear a lot more... "realistic", I guess. A look at some screenshots from the two games will bring these changes to your attention immediately. Are these changes for the better? Who knows, I played Episode 2 over half a year after I played the original, so it's hard to describe which style I enjoyed more. However, one thing's for certain: Xenosaga Episode 2 has amazing graphics! Everything from the cut-scenes to the actual gameplay itself look truly breathtaking. It's all pure eye candy, and you'll enjoy watching every second of it.
Sound: The audio of Xenosaga Episode 2 is amazing. The music always matches the mood perfectly, and there are certain tracks from that game that I thought were better than nearly anything else I've ever heard. Furthermore, the voice acting in the game is superb. They really couldn't have done much better with it, every character's voice is perfect. There's never a moment where you're feeling disappointed with what you're hearing. The audio in Xenosaga Episode 2 is pretty much perfect.
Value: Xenosaga Episode 2 isn't as long as most other RPGs, but it's still got quite a bit of gameplay to it. For me, this 2-disc adventure took approximately 25 hours to complete. However, you could probably add a couple of hours to that from times when I died and had to restart from my last save (and trust me, you will die!). There are a ton of side-quests that you can delve into, and the game allows you to continue playing after you've beaten it. I was awe-struck by the sheer amount of extras that I read about at gamefaqs, and it seems that you could easily double or triple your playtime after the game's over. I didn't delve into many of these extras though, because the main thing about Xenosaga is it's story, and after the game was over I didn't really continue. However, if you're a completionist, you'll find an extraordinary amount of hours worth of gameplay packed into Xenosaga Episode 2. If your main interest is the story, however, you'll likely get about 25-30 hours of gameplay out of Xenosaga Episode 2.
Tilt: Overall, Xenosaga Episode 2 is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. It's got one of the best stories ever, superb yet challenging gameplay, amazing voice acting, terrific music, visual eye candy, and a seemingly endless amount of side-quests to partake in. If you're looking for an excellent RPG, make sure to check out Xenosaga Episode 2. This is one series that you don't want to miss out on, no matter who you are.