Grandia II

"Grandia II is an RPG filled with rich gameplay, cool characters and hours and hours of pure fun"

I never really heard of the Grandia series until my Animation teacher introduced me to it. I was really shocked and amazed, this game is pure greatness. Since I've never played the Dreamcast version of this game, I have enjoyed it fully. Kudos to Game Arts for making this amazing game and kudos to Ubisoft for publishing and localizing this RPG.

GAMEPLAY: The character movement is basic and simple, just tap the d-pad or use the right analog stick for movement. Menus are very easy to get used to, you'll understand how to use them in a snap, you just press START to activate the menu. The battle system is AWESOME! There is a bar in the lower right hand corner in the screen when you do battle. When the meter reaches the end, it's the enemy(s) or the party member(s) turn to attack. There are two ways to attack. Combo is a powerful combination attack. Critical is weaker than Combo but cancels the enemy, which makes the enemy lose a turn. You can preform moves and magic using SP. There also other commands in battle: Items:Allows you to equip equipment on a character or use an item. Defend: the character strikes a defensive stance for a couple of turns and the character slowly recovers SP. Evade:Allows you to dodge or avoid enemy attack, choose an evade point somewhere in the battle screen by confirming it with the X button. You can't evade offensive magic spells though since they can reach you no matter what. You can also run from battle with the Escape command, but doing so, you won't receive any EXP.points, gold or any spoils. There is also AI, which you can set one or more characters to use a one of the 8 strategies, similar to the battle planning options in the Dragon Quest games. Here is a run-down of the AI strategies:
Manual: Give you the option of entering any commands you want, this is the default strategy.
Go Wild: Makes character(s) use powerful phys.attacks and magic only.
Play Fair: Makes character(s) use only normal attacks and healing spells.
Safety First: Uses healing spells frequently to prevent any
K.O.s.
Power-Up: Makes character(s) use spells that raises attack strength.
Meanie: Makes the fight for enemies tough by making it hard for enemies to attack the heroes and heroines.
Withdraw: Makes character(s) use basically only Evade and Defend.
Each Own: Every party member makes actions based on their personalities.
RATING: 10

GRAPHICS: The character models are okay but not too good looking. The 3-D environments are poorly done and but the attack and magic spells are gorgeous though. The Dreamcast version is said to have better graphics than the PS2 port, so if you want better graphics get the DC version. But remember fellow gamers, never judge a book by the cover, but this case, never judge a game by it's looks.
RATING: 6

SOUND/AUDIO: The voice overs and the music may sound corny and cheesy but they'll grow on you, but I can't guarantee that for sure though. The character's voices were poor but well delivered. The battle music really suits the game, I really liked it. The music itself is very varied ranging from classical to rock.
RATING: 9

REPLAY VALUE: There is a lot of skill books, Mana eggs and items to find after completing it, but there are many other things to do I don't know about yet. The game is fun replaying 3 or more times though. But after a while you might get the urge to pick up and start playing once again.
RATING: 8

RENT OR PURCHASE?: If you are an RPG-fanatic, buy it since it is one of the best RPG experiences you'll ever have. If played the DC version, RENT it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/02/02, Updated 03/02/02