I must say that I do recommend this to almost anyone.
I haven't been disappointed by this game since. Everything was wonderful about it and everything just clicked into place to make a highly enjoyable RPG.
The story? Utterly amazing. The game encompasses an entire continent, as well as numerous islands tied together through a corrupt church trying to rid the land of the "devil". The characters are bright and humorous, and they grow on you as the game progresses. Althought the game is quite linear and theres not much back-tracking allowed, it still rocks.
The grahics look clean and the animation is smooth for the PS2. I've seen a couple of skips but thats nothing comparred to the sheer excellence of the rest of it. Every environment is colorful and makes you want to explore every corner of it, and there is plenty to do with that.
The sound is crisp and doesnt sound like crap at all like some other games that I've played. The battle theme is memorable to say the least, and all the music simply fits where it should.
Its a nice step up from the previous game; most notably the mana eggs.
All said and done, this game is one of the precious gems in my collection. I would recommend this to anyone that likes RPGs like this.