lol I know what you mean about grinding! II is truly the only bad game for grinding (and the beginning of the first; once you add Odin, the entire game becomes less-grindy), as you have to spend a good hour+ grinding, before every dungeon. II's ending is also... something lol. I mean, the way its handled is well-done, but the premise of the ending? Eh... a bit ridiculous and over the top, IMO.
For grinding, Vay was like that too (for the Sega CD), but that game had a ton-more charm and variation than PSII.
III is the easiest game of the series by far and very little grinding needs to be done (this may be why many don't like it), but its graphics/art-style is absolutely excellent (a significant bump up from II and IV's is similarly a nice bump up from III), the soundtrack is superb and the story is completely different, but the way they intertwine things is fantastic (the continuity between generations is so well-thought-out) and you will go through the entirety of the game, trying to figure out how it connects to the rest of the series... until the end and, until IV.
For this reason, it is good to play them in order, as IV has a ton of call-backs and similar things that III does, whereas III and II do not give much homage to previous games (though in the case of III, there is a reason for it and you'll find out
lol). If there is one thing that I can say that III is definitely lacking, is that the battles don't last long at all. I mean, if you're grinding for 5 hours a day, you want quick battles, but III's battles literally can be over in 10 seconds lol. The macros return though, so the battle system isn't too different from prior titles (and the enemies look just as ridiculous as they do in II lol).
I just had a bathroom break at work and watched 5 minutes of my PSIII playthrough on YT and the battles are over, SO fast, it's ridiculous. For me, that's a good thing :). But yeah, there's a lot of good to be had in PSIII and it won't take you nearly as long as II. It also introduces my favourite character(s) (that's a hint/spoiler of sorts, but you will need to play both games in order to get it
) of the entire series and I love the amalgamation of Myau and Nei that they did (which, like the above, is a hint/spoiler, but you'll need to play to find out
). Everything is intertwined and called-back so well, it's brilliant.
Having talked about IV so much, I must elaborate on some things; it truly is an outstanding title and they way everything is culminated, amalgamated and connected... literally, nothing Ninty has EVER done, is as involved as these 4 games (and that's not a dig at Ninty; it's a testament to just how brilliant Reiko Kodama is) and that makes it truly-special. It is the only game of the quadrilogy that is heavy on sidequests (though not egregiously) and the depth and size is just something else... for a 16-bit RPG, it is phenomenal. Again, I only deem Lunar: Eternal Blue to be on its level (though Lunar is slightly better
), from that generation.
EDIT* Forgot to add this wonderful pic to the post; it is of the major players of the series, from TVTropes:
**FURTHER EDIT** I'll also show the PS part of my Sega tattoo, but won't now as it contains spoilers for both III and IV
As for the subject of this thread, I got back to Burning Rangers (FINALLY) last night and the game is just so wonderful; wonderfully-presented, wonderfully-crafted and despite some graininess here and there, it looks fantastic for a Saturn game. I forgot all about the anime portions of the game and they are phenomenal, even with the dubbing.
If I get enough time tonight, I'm hoping to beat it!