I'd bought Cradle of Rome 2 without even trying it first, because I'd adored Cradle of Rome. From the first moment the electric guitar suddenly butted in with its dissonant notes "ner-ner-ner- NER NER NER NER!" I knew I'd never be able to play this game without hating the music. A match three game NEEDS amazing background music to make it enjoyable!
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Flowers Story: Fairy Quest, which uses poor english but has amazing gameplay and graphics... but to have such clumsy writing right there in the first panel of the introduction cutscene makes one wonder just how much effort was put into making the game. The graphics were certainly lovingly crafted, but the gameplay drags. In following cutscenes, the same poor writing continues and distracts from the attempt to tell the story. Not a game I would recommend.
I do agree that this game could have had more time spent on it, it could have been developed into a wildly amazing game. Yet... it has captured that elusive quality of Strangely Addictive, when the power went out for the afternoon I just kept wanting to get back to this game and keep going!
The replayability is huge! The entire game was well balanced, well thought out, and had a lot of love put into it. The music, the graphics, the gameplay, they were all wonderful. Especially in this era where so many games are all graphics, with poor quality game balance and storytelling.