Looking through the article and the comments, I think the key statement is in the comment where Richard Eisenbeis says that, when compared to the first game it is "Similar, but without the plot." It seems that Tachikoma can confirm that the plot is nothing to write home about, if I am not mincing her words. Famitsu's review, though perhaps addressed obliquely, seems to also corroborate this point with statements "Things like the world setting are explained carefully and cut-scenes appear often so it is a bit of waste that things tend to progress slowly. It would also be good if the tempo of conversations was a bit faster" from the third Famitsu reviewer, and "The story is carefully made, but there is a strong feeling of just watching a movie" from the fourth Famitsu reviewer.
Taken collectively, I think we can be fairly confident that the story is overbearing and not well-written enough to be engaging. This is consistent with Monolith as a developer, in that they are very uneven in their storytelling quality. (Again, a disclaimer: I haven't played too much of the first Xenoblade, but I have played the Xenosagas sans the unbearably awful Xenosaga II and I have played Xenogears numerous times.)
I think this is the most relevant tidbit of information to take from this review. If you like offline MMOs and if you liked the first game's combat, you'll probably like them in XCX.