It has been at least 15 years since I last played Grandia 2, but I have very good memories of this game, plus the fact that I remember the names of all the characters shows that it left me something.
I remember Ryudo being a good lead with a story arc based on his inner growth, and I really liked the characters from Millenia, Tio and Mareg.
I recently bought the HD remastered of the two Grandia for Nintendo Switch (the physical version of Limited Run Games) and they are both in my (long) backlog.
If the first Grandia will be as beautiful as the second, it will also have a dedicated illustration.