Grandia II

"Good game, minor technical problems"

I'll say it right off the bat: I have never owned a Dreamcast , so I wasn't as biased as some of the other reviewers. The technical problems ARE noticeable, but don't really detract from the game that much. If you don't own a Dreamcast and don't want to buy one just to play this game, read onwards.

Graphics: 7/10

Decent, but a little buggy.

Based on the design and look alone, the walking-around map graphics are quite competent, and everything's really easy to see and it doesn't look that bad. However, frame rates are very erratic. Inside of Inns, the game runs perfectly, and it also runs fine in the dungeons, but the frame rate grinds to almost the bare minimum required for animation in some towns. Some places run better than other places, but the battles usually run fine.

The characters are quite well designed (I don't like the way Roan looks, though), but the monster designs aren't varied enough. There are also some weird problems with character painting. You see, there are a couple of items in Grandia that allow characters to ''warp'' during battle, which gives a great strategic advantage and looks really cool. However, sometimes after the warp, the character won't have his skin painted on, so you're basically looking at a blank pile of polygons running around. It's rare enough to be funny when it does happen, but that still could have been fixed. Also, Pope Zera and the Gravity spell and certain other effects in the game have an odd tendency of bugging out... It's easier to see than describe. Another oddity is the MPEG spell effects, which just don't compare with Ifrit from FFX, for whatever reason. Overall though, the graphics are serviceable.

Sound: 9/10

Well done voice-acting, good soundtrack.

The soundtrack's punchy, and I like the surprise and boss battle themes. The voice acting isn't that badly done, though a certain boss who shall remain nameless is quite, quite annoying, as is Roan. Elena and Millenia are almost annoying, but don't talk enough to really detract from the game. The sound effects are well done, and nothing sound-wise in the game makes me cringe, which is quite rare considering the genre.

Gameplay: 9/10

Short, easy game, but it's quite fun.

The gameplay has two flaws; One, being able to restore your characters to full health at every save point makes the game a lot easier than it should be, and two, the computer AI is not that bright, and seems to select targets almost at random. However, the game's battle system is very innovative and very well done. Characters have their own special move lists, but get spells from equipping ''mana eggs,'' which you find as you proceed through your quest. As you find skill books, you can also power up your character's statistics and add abilities like counter-attack or magic absorb. The best part about that is that you can swap any of the status benefits at any time, so you can experiment and find a configuration that works best. The battles use a semi-real time system, best described as 3D Lunar. You also are able to see enemies on the map, and sneak up on them, just like in Earthbound. The enemies also don't regenerate, which means that you can keep running back to the save points for refills and slowly plunge your way through the game in a cowardly fashion. I suppose it is good for people who like to go through games at as low a level as possible...

Story: 9/10

The story's essentially cookie-cutter in the beginning, but Ryudo, one of the funniest video game characters ever, manages to keep it going until it takes on a life of its own.

I like the story. Although it uses a theme beaten to death by the rest of the genre, the characters bring it to life. Ryudo's one-liners cracked me up in the beginning, and he matured more into a full-fledged hero as the game progressed. Mareg and Millenia defy all stereotypes, and even the weaker characters all somehow seem more fleshed out than in most other RPGs. I particularly like how if you spend the night at an inn, your characters talk and have conversations and develop as people outside of the quest. It's especially cool how many of those sequences are optional, so the player can basically tailor the character depth to his liking. It's very well done.

Overall: 9/10

All RPG fans who haven't played this game before and don't want to buy a Dreamcast, get this game.

It's a poor port, true, but it's definitely playable, and the game is really, really good to boot. If you own a Dreamcast, then don't bother with this version, just get the Dreamcast version. I hear it's coming out for PC as well, and you might want to snag that one if the problems I mentioned in this review scared you off.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/13/02, Updated 06/22/03