Vandal Hearts II

"Potentially brilliant, but in reality it just doesn't quite make the top-grade"

Introduction
Well it's RPG time again, and what better way to detach yourself from reality for a bit than with the follow up the not-that-well-known Vandal Hearts? Well there are quite a few actually, but anyways - to the game. It's basically a story being told via your Playstation with you equipping the controllable characters and controlling all the battles, actual RPG interaction only appears once every blue moon in the form of set choices that effect the ending of the game. The battles are fought pretty much the same way as in Vandal Hearts 1 and the Shining Force series, in that you move your units over a landscape with each unit's particular traits being the main factors of combat (a bit like 3-D chess). However, whereas in the 1st Vandal Hearts game you took turns in moving your units, in this sequel the computer pre-determines what it's going to do and executes it at the same time as your own unit is carrying out it's instructions.

Graphics
We all know that games are about substance and not presentation, but some of the graphics in VH2 aren't too clever at all. The plus points include your characters changing appearance depending on what weapons and armour you equip them with, one or two really neat and impressive special attacks, and some varied and interesting battle grounds. But the overall state of the graphics just isn't that hot, not really poor or shoddy, just dated and unimpressive.

Sound
There are some good tunes in there, two in particular are very heroic and uplifting and those of you out there who love RPG-style music should thrive on them. In fact it's easy to underestimate just how good those tunes really are. As for the sound effects they aren't really anything special but they do the job nicely, and the crunching sound of smacking someone is pretty satisfying to hear.

Storyline
Well seeing as RPG element of the game is basically a linear, barely interactive story it best be good...........fortunately it is pretty funky. Without giving any spoilers away it's pretty suprising considering the unoriginal basis of the game and, although it can be a tad confusing, it's told from a fairly realistic and practical point of view which is grand as pie. In fact one of my favourite aspects of the whole game was the fact that the storyline isn't as black and white as the usual good vs evil RPG, it's more mature and truer to life than a lot of RPGs.

Combat System
Now, has this got better or worse? I'm still undecided. At first I thought that it was an absolutely stupid idea to include this dual-combat mode, but once I got into the swing of things I found myself enjoying it. However, it then comes to the point once you've played it for a bit where you suss out pretty much everything that the CPU is going to do and the battle becomes easier the longer it goes on. I guess that overall I'd sooner have the original combat system, but it's still fairly good.

Stuff you should know though
My main criticism of Vandal Hearts 2 is the sheer feeling of repetitiveness brought on by the ever-unchanging sequence of events. It's: see the story a bit, kit up and fight a battle, see the story some more, kit up again and fight a battle. Even new weapons, techniques and armour arrive on cue, in fact with the lack of freedom you have regards exploration it really has to be one of the most linear RPGs ever. It also soon becomes clear that the new techniques you do earn are (most of the time) simply upgrades of previous ones and nothing to write home about at all, (in fact all it really means is that the old techs become outdated). Add to this the fact that the new dual-combat mode soon makes everything feel very mechanical and, again, repetitive, plus the fact that (SPOILER) the final boss is so easy it's untrue and things don't look so good. However, for all it's annoying flaws and badness VH2's strength lies within it's freedom to customise the character units, the addictive battles, and ever-twisting story-line. It's a massive game (30-40 hours of gameplay, mainly all battles) and the flaws only really become apparent in the game's final chapter. There's enough secrets on the battlefields to find as well as an added bonus, so all in all I'd say yes it's good, but not that good.

Replayability
Plenty of secrets, an advanced mode and several different endings will probably mean that you return to it for at least one more go, but aside from that there's not much else to see 2nd time round. Although you do have the ability to go back and fight previous battles, so some of you may thrive on that feature of the game.

Buy or Rent?
This really depends on lifestyle. If you spend all your time in front of your PSX then you should have no problem renting it and finishing it, but more casual gamers who have other obligations will probably need a bit longer than the average week to appreciate it. Personally I'd say the best bet for anyone would be to try and buy it for around £10 (shouldn't be that hard on the market stalls, I got it for £18 a while ago). But my main recommendation would be to buy something else with it as it's repetitiveness will leave you feeling like you need a break more often than not.

Graphics: 5/10
Sound: 8/10
Storyline: 8/10
Combat System: 7/10
Replayability: 6/10

Overall Score: 7/10

Summary: If it was that bad I wouldn't have finished it and, for the main part, I did enjoy it, but come the final chapter and I just wanted it to end as it began to feel like a chore. It al built up rather nicely and then disappointment reared it's ugly head. Buy it alongside another, more action orientated game and you won't go far wrong. It's not all a bed of roses but it's alright and there's fun to be had.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/13/01, Updated 02/13/01