A GBA game with more story than I have seen in a strategy game since FFT. Buckle up 'cause this is one hell of a ride.
The game begins right after the first game with the EFA fighting off what appears to be Divine Crusader remnants. If you haven't played the first game though it helps the story really has a life of its own. Soon you find that things aren't as they seem to be and things start getting A LOt more complicated as more cast is introduced (20+ in total) and numerous enemies from time travelers, multiple alien races, different earth military factions and hell they even throw in a couple mad scientists. This isn't your usual patchwork story you find in most strategy games that simply lead from one battle to the next instead you are deeply involved with many characters, their relations, and a plot so thick I could possibly float my house.
Gameplay itself is pretty straightforward for a Turn-Based Strategy game but it has its own twists. Firstly beyond being able to customize the loadouts of your mechs and equip them with various parts you have a skill and attribute system for all of your pilots based off of the PP, pilot points, you gained in battle. As your pilots level up they of course become stronger and learn new skills like "attacker" or "gunfighter" that increases damage done in mechs to special skills like "excel" that can be used in battle at the cost of SP, spirit points, to provide various bonuses from increasing your movement range to doubling your EXP gained.
Graphically the game itself is great. Improved over its predecessor all the mechs battle sequences are fully animated instead of just floating energy swords or bullets flying as was done for some of the simpler weapons in the first game. The super deformed/chibi style of the mechs might perturb some people but it is executed well and works wonders overall. The game looks good and isn't something to sneeze at. Some of the battle animations might seem a bit overdone especially when you get into the uber high damage dealing combo attacks but they don't subtract from the game as you can skip the animations to speed things up and do add a certain bit of charm.
Sound wise each of the pilots and mechs have their own themes as well as each map setting giving the game some variety in score and some of them particularly of the main characters and story really are great as instead of generic music it changes depending on whats happening on screen or within the story changing the mood of much of the dialogue.
The game is not without its flaws however. Since the game is so plot heavy it suffers some pacing issues as you progress between each level with long periods of downtime and dialogue to express the story's movement. Beyond that the game is pretty long with 42 chapters on the good ending and over that time some of the effects such as the explosions can really wear on you.
Bottom Line: A great game with a great story. Friendly to newbies and a definite must play for fans of the series/mech genre.