Jade Cocoon 2

"It doesn't get any better than this..."

It's a good game... seriously! It's another monster-breeding game, so if you're not into these, think twice before buying or renting it. It's also an RPG with a semi-okay story and vioce-overed dialogue. (Cheesy dialogue at times, though) If monster-breeding games were limousines(yeah, right...) then this would be the roles royce.

Gameplay 10/10 Better than the first, it'll keep you on your toes, at least until you get bored of the game. This is what most of the game is comprised of. If I could give it 12, that's what it would have been. Its battle system is a strange, new, risky system that could make or break your experience. The merging and evolving and stuff is also different from the first, so even if you played Jade Cocoon, you're still starting from square 1.

Story 7.5/10 Sort of weird and cheesy. It follows closely after the first one, making some sense of things. It tends to rationalize too much at times, though, and isn't exactly perfect. Most of the dialogue is cheesy and forced, but there are some redeeming qualities. One is Nico, your fairy-for-a-buddy. There a a few breif interludes where she goes solo and says some ''cute'' stuff, and most of her dialogue manages to be funny. Meow.

Graphics 8/10 These range from monster greaphics: Adorably annoying to just plain weird, to the anime-ish graphics of the character portraits, to the beautiful backgrounds of the forests. The only ones that are REALLY good are the anime portraits, though, but those are perfect beyond perfection. They're the icing on the cake. The monster graphics are questionable, though...

Sound 7/10 Nothing special here. Generic, forgettable tunes that set the mood just a bit. I usually play with the volume down and with loud music on. The voice-overs don't even need once overs, since the only real good voice is that of Nico, whereas the rest of the voices are those generic american voice-overs.

Replayability 9/10 This is where it shines, just like all the other monster-raising games, its replayability is the core and center, because of the open-ended nature of the sub-genre of monster raising. Competition will also keep this game alive longer, but mostly, if you are bored after a while, this game won't hold it with you.

Overall(not an average) 9/10 The game is not very hard, it's fun, and will keep till the next best thing comes along. For RPG freaks(like me XD) it will be something fun to do while simultaneously playing the insidiously deep FFX. It's a solid game which will be something you either like or do not like, there is no in-between for this game. There is nothing very bad about the game, but it lacks luster compared to some other games that come out around the same time.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/29/01, Updated 12/29/01