"White Apocalypse!"

Well here it is, my definitive guide to the DC's best RPG. The game they said had no hope of being a success, has just stunned audiences around the country. I would also like to clarify that this game is not two discs long, the second is just a kind of bonus that comes with it. I also want to put that this is a review with some helpful beginners hints and has an explanation to the complicated battle system. Lets see if it beats my new all time fave RPG, CT.

The Twisty Road ahead
Well just like all of the ''New'' RPG's , Grandia 2 has most of the typical elements of a Role-playing Story-line. You have your typical love story, touching moments and even the slight bit of humour thrown in here and there. The strongest points of the plot are the on-going twists that keep you hooked. The story towards the end of the game just seems to fit together so well, and its almost like a drug you can't give up.

You are Ryudo, a cold, selfish (at first it seems) Geohound who would do anything for the sake of gold. He's practically a thief, who at first you have no sympathy for; later in the game though the story is totally turned on its head. The second Character you meet is the eloquently beautiful, yet mostly irritating, Elena. She is the Songtress of Granas (The good God in the game) and is extremely important in stopping the Day of darkness falling upon the world. Ryudo is hired to accompany her at first to a secret ceremony at a special church. Yet as you reach the church the first twist in the game falls upon you and this is when the true adventure of Grandia 2 begins. I won't tell you anymore characters as these I have just mentioned are the first you will come across, but I can tell you this, about the rest of your party. You will find many cool, great and humorous characters ahead in which if like me, you will find them well fitting and a great part of the game.

Can get a little repetitive but keep playing and you'll soon get in the mood of things, 8/10 for the plot.

The Gameplay
Are, the greatest part of the game. The battle system is quite complicated at first, but when you have gotten to grips with it, its an absolute gem to play. At first you'll find yourself wondering ''WTF?!'' if not already used to RPG's such as this, but along the way and further into the game you'll get really into it and be purposely getting yourself into battles just to use the cool Special Moves. The Battle mode consists of 4 main attacks, 2 defensive and the items feature.

You have your basic-not too powerful-combo where Ryudo hits the enemy twice for an average damage hit. Critical is a unique feature, where if you strike an enemy between the COM and Attack bar, you will ''cancel'' out his/hers/its attack totally, leaving the enemy left to scale up the bar again. Correct execution of this can be critical in battle (No pun intended) and will be a great way to beat bosses easily once you have mastered it.

Special Moves
Now they were the average run-of-the-mill moves which could easily bore you to death if they were the only choices in the battle system. But no, Grandia 2 offers much more. The next two attacks you'll notice are ''Move/Magic''. As Ryudo you'll already have noticed his first special attack, Tensulken Slash, which also has cancel feature just like critical, thus very powerful in the beginning and effective when in trouble. You can power-up this move to level 5 (max) or learn new, greater and more interesting techniques using special coins, dropped by enemies at the end of every battle. Each move takes a certain number of these coins, and you have to save up to get the special move you want, if I've confused you in anyway than please consult a doctor.
You'll wet yourself the first time you see white apocalypse! 10/10

The Mana Eggs
Now, onto the Magic elements of Grandia. Well this is a little more complicated. You basically have to have a Mana-Egg equipped to use magic in this game, in which you level it up using ''Magic'' Coins, in each level you gain, new moves start to become available until around about 60, where all your moves should be available. The Magic Elements consist of: Water/Blizzard/Wind/Fire/Forest/Earth/Explosion the latter having one of the strongest moves in the game, BA-BOOM. Each Mana-Egg has different elements, some better than others and you choose which character you want to have what Egg it equipped. *On a side note I'd like to say Elena has the most magic points and is the strongest in this field, so you might want to give her the best egg at the time she's available.
I will name all 8 of the Eggs for you: Holy, the first you start off with when with Elena, Chaos, Gravity, Star, Fairy, Mist, Soul and last of all the ultimate Dragon Egg..

Magical Fun, or Magical Bum? The former of course! 9/10

Graphics
Well not really much to say, the textures and back-grounds are fantastic, the characters look like drops of Heaven and Millenia looks hot! They could have improved on the camera angle a little though.
8/10

Audio
The voice acting is marvellous, and in battle you'll love the little touches of humour in every characters special move.
The in-battle music is the only thing good about audio features as far as music is concerned, I won't even bother giving this a score, as if your dumb enough to go buy a game worth £40/400francs/$50 just for the singing etc. than you might as well just buy an album for quarter the price.

It doesn't matter peepz! But just for you, 7/10

Buy or Rent?
Buy or I will come round your home and hold you hostage until you come to your senses. Renting is a waist of time In my opinion, so choose as you wish but Renting is a last resort.

The game has changed my life as far as RPG's go, it has the best graphics I've ever seen in one, best battle system, lovely characters and great plot leaves this little gem on my Number one games list for the DC. It still doesn't come as great as the one and only CT though!
Heaven in a box and a French box at that, 8/10