Pretty good sequel that recycles Neo.
Both characters have to evenly balanced level up because if you don't level them up equally, when the time comes during a geo defense (mandatory battles story or field spent) you will have to use the character whom you left at the fortress. And i would assume that most players would be using Toma (melee) rather than Cyrill (Ranged/elemntalist) because come on, who doesnt like beating up in a melee bloodfest? (note, there is no blood.)
Frankly speaking, one really wouldn't care about the story because the story is so convoluted and cliche' like most rpgs (save the world etc from dark bad guy), you can skip the story if you want by pressing START. Although i would like to mention that the voiceover for this game is far superior that Neo's, but the story itself is a little better though.
Sidequest wise there is an optional castle once you beat the game where you have to save after seeing the credits (its the castle from the endgame of Neo for veterans), and a 50 floor training grounds where you can try to grind for items etc.
Honestly, this game is much much easier in my opinion that Neo because in that game if you just focused on one area (magic or melee), when the time comes and you face an opponent who is immune or has high resistances you will be forced to grind very heavily to beat them. (i actually stopped at the top of the first tower of the final dungeon, damn arc dragons).
But in this game since you have two characters who have different battle capabilities, and if you level them up equally up until chapter 14 (once you reach 15 you can stick with whomever you prefer) the game is a breeze.
Final note is just level up both characters equally and use the occasional faq (cough gamefaqs) for tips. This is a great action RPG a la' diablo to pass the time until D3 comes out. Pick up for cheap since i got mine for 14.99 USD as of 5/5/09.