Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra (PlayStation 2, 2006)

After playing Episode II, which had the slowest battle system in the series, I was hoping for improvement in this final chapter of the story, and was amazed after only 30 minutes. Right off the bat, you can select "Data" from the menu, which takes you to cutscene and character model viewers (progressing as you play through the game) a feature that should have been in the second game.
As you progress through the story, you go through the traditional epic cutscenes, and also some NEW voiced textbox cutscenes (which can be automatically skipped by pressing SELECT). The battle system has been revamped (no loading time) and is more traditional this time, with your standard attack, your techs, ether skills, and special attacks (using the boost meter), and a whole lot faster and enjoyable than ever (also easier). The game is still very linear, but the story is so absorbing that you won't care, and there are still lots of side-quests and the HaKox action/puzzle mini-game to sidetrack you. The characters have gone through a redesign again, they are slightly less mature models, and the outfits on some characters are stunning! You still get your ES battles too, which was probably the only fun part of Episode II, and the music and voice acting are both well-done.

To summarize:
Graphics --- A (very detailed and large environments, great redesign of the main characters, auto camera is again flawless, and constant 30fps)
Sound --- A (soundtrack fits that of an epic movie, amazing number of voice acted characters)
Controls --- B (controls are very simple, though there's not much to interact with)
Gameplay --- A (great battle system, super HaKox mini-game, some good side-quests)
Learning Curve --- B+ (relatively simple turn-based battle system, nowhere near the complexity of XSII, could be good for newcomers to the series but not recommended for story purposes)
Value --- A+ (even if you don't wish to replay the game, you can still replay the entire story through the event viewer, tremendous database comes back from XSI, and you can build your own levels in HaKox)

Overall, this game is a masterpiece of storytelling and RPG goodness, buy it now, you won't regret it. Also, try to get through Episode II if you haven't already, to get the full story.