Mostly the same as the Xbox game, but better in quite a few ways.
The first and best thing that has changed with Shenmue II is the quality of the story. The first game, while spanning 4 GD-ROMs, had a story that felt thrown together. This time, the game is sprawling all over southern China, with interactions and twists around every corner. You feel more compassion for Ryo as he searches Hong Kong, Kowloon, and the mountains of china for the man who killed his father, Lan-Di. Since this is the second game in the series, a direct conflict with Lan-Di is not available. However, one of his henchmen is, and without spoiling anything, playing through the story left me more than satisfied to wait for the third installment.
The graphics of Shenmue II were a landmark at the time. The environments are well detailed and colorful. Hong Kong is rendered very well, and the mountainous environments will relax you like none before them. Real-time weather changes add a touch of realism here and there to help add to the immersion. Usually, the weather will be an indicator of the things that are happening around you (i.e you will rarely encounter problems in sunny weather, or walk around the slums without an overcast day.) Ryo is animated and detailed quite well, as are the majority of the main characters. Facial expressions made it in to the game, but in very limited amounts. The passersby that you talk to need work however. They show no emotion whatsoever. From a distance this is not a problem, but up close you realize that you can become a little disenchanted by the technological limitations of the time. That being said, the graphics of Shenmue II were far advanced for its time, and the Xbox remake just improves on what was already good.
Sound in a game can play as much of a part in immersion as graphics. How believable your character is can directly effect the way you feel about what happens. Ryo, while not horribly voice acted, is now famous for his monotone voice no matter the situation. The other characters are better acted, characters like Joy and Ren work wonderfully and give you a believable performance throughout. Even Do-Niu sounds pretty much like you would expect a man of his...stature...to sound. The highpoints of Shenmue II's sound can be found in the environmental touches. Running water, bustling crowds, shifting leaves, a strong breeze, all of these are represented in the environment very well. The music is a great mix of Chinese culture music. With instruments that really pull you in. The game is spoken entirely in Chinese, with subtitles, this addresses one of the more major gripes of the first game which was, "Why is a town full of Japanese people talking in English?)
Gameplay elements of Shenmue II are simple to understand. Ryo isn't the sharpest controlled character in video game history but without any platforming elements you won't really notice. Back from the first game are the QTE instances in the game. This reflex mini-game occurs in tight situations such as chases or crossing boards 10 stories up, where 2 wrong button presses will send you to your death. The only downside is that if you fail a QTE you can just re-start it. Having to redo each one that you failed would be a much better way of working in this element. The fighting sequences are decent. The game is created by the same people who gave us Virtua Fighter, but it doesn't always show here. You will see a single kick knock over 4 people more than once, not always a bad thing...but not realistic either. Also, the move list, while expansive, just isn't needed. I got through the entire game using maybe 4 of the 20 or so moves available. Alot of them have button presses that are simply too long to justify their use.
The Shenmue series is the predecessor to games like today's Morrowind and Oblivion. The ability to pick up and examine any item started here so there is a certain value to this game. Most of the items have little to no use however, there are fun things you can do like make collections out of the trinkets you buy all over the city, but that is only for when you are bored. As in the first game, once you find the arcade you find access to a few of Sega's old arcade games, they are fun, but nothing you will spend hours playing. Shenmue II is alot better than the first, but the formula is beginning to show its age.