Grandia II

"Between this and Skies of Arcadia, that's all you need."

Introduction- During this review, I will be telling you everything you need to know about Grandia 2. This game is one of the more original Rpg's around. I'll be telling you about the Graphics, Storyline, Gameplay, Music and Fun Factor. I feel that this is one of the best Rpg's period, and hopefully after you read this you'll feel the same. So prepare yourself for an extensive review that will hopefully tell you what you need to know.

Graphics- The graphics in this title are different from other games. The characters look like a more polished version of part 1. That's not to good considering this is a 128 bit system. However I do like how the towns look. I'm a big fan of color and this game doesn't disappoint. the towns, dungeons, magic spells and special moves all look nice. When doing a magic spell in this game, they have nice little cinematic type sequences. Some of the spells like the fire ones actually look very realistic. Also in this game, the characters don't have any mouths, so they might look silly to you. Although the characters themselves aren't well designed, their clothes look like they were well put together. The outfits they wear really resemble what type of character they are. Overall I'd say that the graphics aren't great, but they are pretty good. 7/10

Storyline- This is one of the top stories out of any game period. You start off the game as a young Geohound named Ryudo. Ryudo has a best friend and his name is Skye. Before I forget to mention, Skye is a hawk that can talk. A Geohound is someone that will basically do anything for money. They are considered to be dirty underhanded people who are less than dirt. You'll see during the game how people disrespect him just because of what his profession is. Ryudo is someone who doesn't like to let people get close to him, he's very reserved. The basis of the game is, Ryudo meets up with a very religious girl. He is payed by a priest to protect this girl during a very important religious ceremony. Of course something goes terribly wrong, because if nothing went wrong we'd have no story. From that point on, you'll encounter a couple of friends and some very interesting enemies. This story has a lot to do with killing, religion, and love. Those are the main ingredients that make this story as good as it is. I feel that the game is anchored by a very strong storyline that will make you really think. Storyline has to get a 10/10 from me.

Gameplay- Everyone I've ever spoken to about this game has absolutely loved the gameplay in this game. The battle system is very unique and fun to operate. Here's how the battle system goes. You have 2 regular attack choices, combo and critical. I know you're probably thinking, "I can do criticals whenever I want". The critical is something different in this game. When you fight in this game, there's a bar at the bottom of the screen. This bar shows all of the characters faces and two other things. It shows when you can input you command with a certain command and when that command will be done. Here's where the critical comes into play. If you pick critical and you can attack the enemy right when they're about to do the attack, you'll be able to knock their face back to the input section. They'll have to input their command in over again. Criticals aren't as strong as combos, but they can be very helpful.

Combos are exactly what they sound like. When you pick combo, you'll attack your opponent with a stronger attack than a critical. Also if you get the right items, you'll be able to hit with 2, 3 or even four hits. When you do combos, you can hit one person with your entire party to link the combo. If you're good enough, you might be able to do 30, 40 or even 50 hit combos.

They also have counters. To perform a counter you'll have to attack the person right before they attack you, if done properly this can deal severe damage.

The best part of the gameplay is the Mana Eggs. Mana Eggs are things that have different types of powers in them. If you can find one that suits your favorite character, you could make him/her unstoppable. The power-ups don't come free though. When you kill bad guys, you'll get magic coins and special coins. You can use these coins to power-up your magic and special moves respectively. This is a very innovative feature that adds an extra dimension of fun and strategy to the game. You could just about anyone a dominant magic user or physical attacker. I love how the characters aren't restricted to being one type of player. Gameplay is amazing and is a 10/10 in my book.

<Music- The music in this game is good. They are confident enough in their product to add a music cd to the game, if you can find it new. The battle songs are not annoying, that's very important to me. We all know how horrible it is to listen to bad music. I don't like a couple of the dungeon songs, but it's made up for with the variety of songs they've got. Music is strong in this game, people should enjoy it enough, and if you really like it you can pop in the music cd and jam on. I'd say 8/10

Fun Factor- Overall, this is a very fun game to play between the battle system and the excellent storyline. The thing that gets me very angry at the game is the length. The game on average is about 38-40 hours with no sidequests at all. I forgot to mention that this game doesn't use random battles like most rpg's. You can see every enemy you're going to encounter, and if you want you can avoid them completely. Other than the length, this is one game you can truly enjoy. 9/10

Closing thoughts- I personally think that this is one game that will get you hooked from the moment you play. It has some big plot twists that will leave you in utter shock. So when you play it be prepared to be amazed. i hope that this review has been informative enough to get you through Grandia 2 a happy person. So go on and pop this game in and have some fun. Peace out.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/15/04