I must say that I nearly disagree to every point you made here.
FYI, according to my save data, my brother & I have played this game for over 250 hours and finished 5 times.

Yes, there is nothing special about the graphics, but in my opinion it is suitable for this game. If it is done with graphics like WRPG (like Mass Effect), I would definitely not going to play that long because it won't match the story settings and the voice acting. On the other way around I won't play Mass Effect if it is in this art style, since WRPG is all about reality.

About the control, the really hard to reach buttons 1 & 2 are seldom pressed in my experience, due to one of the weakness of this game, lack of fully usable characters. Button 2 is used to set between auto, semiauto and manual mode. Especially when we played the game in "Unknown" difficulty and 10x experience, the old characters (which have fixed lv) are completely useless. Monsters are not controllable. With my bro using Emil and I using Marta, there is no need to switch characters. Button 1 is just for pause. I am quite used to pressing the +/- buttons so I have no problem pressing - button for changing target and + for calling the menu and switching characters.

I don't think there is more than 1/10 of the story is being told up to chapter 2, I am not going to spoil the game here but I can say that since 7/8 of the old characters are not yet available in chapter 2, you should expect far more story to come. You may think Emil is loser, I find him so cute and with the contrast of Marta's behavior. Just by watching the skits is already enjoyable. I think I am infected with the so called Kugimiya Disease because of Marta... (This is a common term in Japan describing people addicted to Rie Kugimiya's voice acting)
Emil's background story won't reveal until the later part of the game, which is the main plot. Chapter 2 is just to play around with Colette. The first half of the game is not intense, the story is just hilarious (something like a giant frog which loves candy). The later part is more serious and more intense as more story is told, while the skits will keep it funny, so it is quite balanced.
I think the ending is not well presented since it is all expressed in dialogue only, but for the true/good ending (which is much easier to see than the normal ending) the extra scene is so sweet that I don't want to leave Emil and Marta.

I'll give it 8/10 (including -1 for not having a real last boss, but +1 for Namco's decision for a mothership title coming to Wii, this is the first Tales of series game I played and I love it).

P.S. This game does not support Classic Controller.

Come on Pk9394, ToS2 looks much better than ToS, and I've read only positive previews for it.
Maybe you need to finish the game before giving it that harsh score.

TGS will probably bring alot of Jrpgs announcements for the Wii. You cannot ignore the console with 70% marketshare in Japan. I expect some big announcements too. I think TGS will be bigger than E3 was for the wii.

Nice list Trestres.

ToS2 is quite good actually, I love the skits in game as they are kind of funny and the storyline is not bad. As for controls wise only wiimote can be use but you use waggle just for skill shortcuts instead of pressing B+left on ur nunchuck to activate skills. The new monster system is also great as I have been training a few to evlove and trying to catch them all so there is plenty to do even if you have finish the game. For me I rate it 9/10 since I am still playing it even after finishing 4 times with the True ending. I just hope they have a good voice for marta, I love her voice actor since its the same VA from Shana.

MLB Power Pros Success mode?

Ok ok... it's only got RPG elements... but only 5 more days or so till i get it.

Chocobo's Dungeon is pretty much my favorite (only) Rpg, It is surprisingly awesome.

I hope people take note of this game, it is the best dungeon crawler i have ever played.

This is the most comprehensive list so far.

I think the DS is where it at for jrpg's.