Summoner was in my first set of PS2 games! That was a good birthday... little did I know that the PS2 would go on to perhaps have the best selection of games ever. Summoner was not something that tickled my fancy so much, given that I preferred JRPGs at that age, so I never got very far. I was too busy playing Onimusha, anyway.
To repeat my recommendation to the OP: play The Witcher 3. DO IT.
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Is that no period to all JRPGs? If not, I'd recommend Suikoden II or Grandia II. They're the strongest for characters and story I've played. They both do well on both, but SII has the better story, GII the better characters.
I don't blame you for recommending Suikoden 2, those games are unique among JRPGs and probably have a lot of cross-appeal. The narrative, characters and the conflict are beyond the schlock of most RPGs while retaining the sense of humour and character that the Japanese do so well. The games concept was based off a classical Chinese novel but the setting also had a strong Western fantasy influence.
I certainly wouldn't recommend Grandia 2, though. It's pretty much all anime tropes and laughable dialogue ("cold, unfeeling Geohound") and also, and this is totally subjective, but the first Grandia is wayyy better