Grandia II

"Just what exactly is a "Grandia"?"

Grandia II is a very cool role-playing game. The first Grandia was a fun game so the second in the saga had some big shoes to fill. Grandia II greatly improved on some of the things that made the first one not a masterpiece. I was a little upset when I learned that the game would be released for the Dreamcast. Luckily, PS2 owners can now play this game.

Embracing Light and Dark.
Long ago, the god of light, Granas, ruled the world. This was a peaceful time, until the god of darkness named Valmar plagued the world with death. The two gods fought endlessly in an epic war. Granas emerged victorious, but the world was heavily damaged. To this day, people worship Granas as a savior. A Songstress of Granas named Elena is no exception. Elena lives happily in her village, until a Geohound (which is the term used for mercenary in Grandia II) named Ryudo was hired to take her to sacred grounds. Ryudo is cynical towards this job because he hates religion and myths, but he will do anything for money. Together, Ryudo and Elena will embark on a long quest to see the truth of the world they live in.

The story is good, but it gets really drawn out at times. It tends to be a little on the cliche side because you have your reluctant hero with a mysterious past, the innocent heroine, and other characters that you've probably encountered at some point. On the other hand, not all of the characters are like this. Some are very well developed with cool motives. The way the story is told is done very well. Game Arts games have wonderful translations with characters that you can get to know. The dinner skits make a triumphant return, allowing each character to individually express how they feel about the goings-on in the story. But, as I said, it gets terribly annoying when the story is drawn out, and even worse when you can predict what is going to happen next. The end will surprise you, but there may not be any major surprises along the way to the end.

Point and Click. Part II.
The world map is simply a large painting. You point to which location you wish to go to and hit the X button. Obviously, the game is very linear. You can backtrack to old places, but there is no need because you don't have any side quests or mini-games. All of the towns have a shop and an inn like most RPGs. The great part about the towns is the vast number of NPCs. Each one says many things each time you converse with them. Also, they say different things regarding any past events that may have occurred in the story. This makes talking to the NPCs quite interesting. There are a lot of them, so be ready to read if you feel like speaking to every last one. Another good thing about the game play is the customization. There are tons of weapons, armor, accessories, and items to buy to power up your team. Money is a huge problem though, and you'll most likely never end up with enough money for all of you characters because monsters leave very few gold.

Frenzy Fighting Fun!
The battles are a lot of fun, but there a few problems with them. You encounter enemies on the field by running into them. There are no random encounters in this game, and this is great because the dungeons are large. If you touch a monster when it's not looking, your team has the initiative. If you touch a monster when it turns red, no one has initiative, and if you get touched by a red monster then the monster team has initiative. Battles are fought using one of the coolest engines I've ever seen. Each character on the field (ally and monster) has an icon at the bottom of the screen on a gauge called the IP (initiative point) gauge. When an icon for one of your characters reaches the COM area, you can enter a command for that person. You can choose a Combo attack, a Critical hit that knocks the enemy back, use the characters unique set of Moves or Magic, use Items, Defend, Escape, Evade, or set the AI. Once a command is entered, the character will do the action when their icon reaches the ACT area. Moves and Magic take some time to charge to the ACT area. There is a bit of strategy involved in the battles. Magic is used by equipping Mana Eggs on the characters. Each egg has a distinctive property. New magic and skills are learned by using Magic Coins and Special Coins, respectively. Also, these coins can be used to power up previously learned moves and magic. The last use of the coins is for learning skills from Skill Books. These books contain bonus stats for your characters such as more HP, less MP consumption, or higher vitality. The best part of the battles is after you enter some commands, the battle field becomes chaotic. It's really cool to see all of the action play out! If you win a battle with no damage, the character who delivered the final blow will say something different than usual. The battle system is great!

There are a few flaws, as I said. One thing is that the boss battles can be quite unfair at times. The boss monsters have way too much HP, and they can cast their skills at an alarmingly quick rate. Challenge is not lacking, but their are times when you'll get annoyed by them. Bosses always come with at least two other helpers and each one is powerful. Also, sometimes your characters will run in an amazingly bizarre route in order to reach the target. Should they take too long in reaching the enemy, then they won't act. But these short-comings don't make too big of an impact when compared to the great system as a whole. The battles are lots of fun, and unlike the first Grandia leveling up is NOT a problem.

Welcome to Lag City. Population: Grandia II.
The character models are 3D anime characters. They are highly detailed and colorful. The backgrounds are large, beautifully constructed, and imaginative. The terrible thing is that the characters slow down their actions, and become choppy too much. Hell, even the dialogue is spoken at a slower rate. It takes five minutes to reach one destination when it should take only two. I don't know if this was the case in the DC version, but the PS2 power is definitely not used to it's potential here. Luckily, the graphics do not slow down in battle. This allows you to see the dazzling spells and moves without any lag. If the graphic problem was fixed, then they would be much more enjoyable. The music is nothing great. There are a couple of good tunes here or there, but nothing that has yet to stick in my head. I really don't pay much attention to the music. There is voice acting in this game. They are very well done. The emotions portrayed by the character portraits are really brought to life with the dialogue. The other sounds, such as a slash of Ryudo's sword, or a slice of Tio's ring sounds great. There are no complaints in this category.

Redeeming Features.
If you want to get the best equipment, max out the moves, Skill Books, and Mana eggs, it's going to be a tough game because there is so much. If you want to just play the game, then you will have a bit of an easier time. The bosses are challenging, but with enough practice they can be overcome. This is a great game to buy and own. One rental isn't nearly enough time to finish it. And the price is very nice so you don't have to worry about spending too much cash. Buy this game. Grandia II has been a real joy to play. It does suffer from some flaws, but they're bearable. The battle system is tons of fun, and is reason enough to play the game all the way through.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/07/04, Updated 12/15/09

Game Release: Grandia II (US, 01/28/02)