"An interesting game which has been ported to the computer."

Well, I have to say that I was only about 3/4 through Grandia when I picked up Grandia II. This game seems to be entirely different in the storyline though. As fo a review, I would like to state that everyone's tastes differ and that my opinions will not be taken in the same teaspoon, or compact disc.

Storyline
This game has a storyline that is as deep as some other games and portrays the battles of good and evil in a unique format. With overzealousness bridling in the game and many aspects of life interrogated, it can be be pretty involving for gamers who would be willing to set some time apart for philosophical and religious contemplation on the sad struggle of our daily lives.
Well, the game explodes into a frantic mission of Ryudo the geohound(the game indicates this to be some form of a mercenary) and Skye(a hawk, or a bird) cracking down on some Draconoids (did I spell it correctly) and the introduction of Elena the songstress. You'll notice the marked contrast between the two, which further serves to highlight their individual characteristics.
Though this is my personal opinion, I believed Ryudo is meant to be pictured as a stereotypical cold, aloof and mean mercenary. However, you might notice the folks' intense aversion to a 'geohound', though the game remains vague about the nature of one as such, I am lead to believe that they are seen to be amoralistic and perverse warriors from 'foreign' lands.
On the other side of the coin(there sure are many) Elena, the songstress is highly respected and revered. She remains the satirical epitome of the 'perfect good' and one striving for the good of the world without personal gains.
As befits, Ryudo is pulled to escort 'the princess' (not my words) to Garmia tower, where a sealing ceremony is to be conducted ...
As for the backdrop of the story, I myself find sarcasm in the seemingly simple and stupid legend where the shining hero of vaunted armor slays the great evil beast and all is put to rest. Sounds a lot like some tales in other religions?
Well, the devil, or chaos god, god of destruction, evil, thereof so on, was seemingly disabled but his dark shadow leers flamingly on the moon of the empty, black night sky. So, all is not at peace, with many a towns spotting the flaws of people, the undesirable aspects of life, our tendencies to guard ourselves with false truths, running away from the past and etc...
And of course, what would be an rpg without the standard epic themes of love, hatred, war, peace, solitude, social life, darkness, light, fear, anger, power, lust and so on?

Gameplay
Hmm, I find the battle sequences in the game very ineresting as they resembled real time and provides fertile ground for many an interesting strategies and scenes.
I would think of it as a field where people and baddies are scattered, with 'pre emptive' and 'ambushed' statuses can be rigged. In battle, there would be a time bar showing the progress of your offense/defense and the time remaining before you can enter your next command. And you can attack simultaneously.
Overall, the game is quite simple, with minimal minigames and side qusts, so one could finish it within 20 to 40 hours. It is considerably easy as I do not think it was built with leveling up in mind but just for the pure enjowment and relaxation of the mind with the graphics and the story.

Graphics, Audio
This might make or break a game, while many people say they do not care for the graphics, I believe they play a pivotal role when selecting a game to play, imagine, if you saw Cecil, the dark knight, swinging a puny 2d sword and aa fully 3d animated Ryudo unleashing flying tenseiken slash and you ahd no idea where they came from, you might feel inclined to reach out for the more graphically soothing game

That is a lot of crap...

The Grandia II graphics are very nice and 'cute', which is seldom seen in games. Personally, I think I would prefer this to that of Final Fantasy 9's character graphics.

As for the audio, it is quite nice.

Relay Value

erm...

Unless you have little more games to play, you might not touch this cd for along while

Overall

This is a very decent game and is more than up to final fantasy calibre, I would hope that you buy this though.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/01/02, Updated 09/01/02