Vandal Hearts II

"The King of Tactics!"

Vandal Hearts 2 is the best strategy RPG game for the PlayStation. Now that's quite a task, passing evan Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, among others. What makes VH2 so great? Could it be the epic story? The terrific battle system? The awesome soundtrack? The unforgettable characters? Take your pick, you won't go wrong with any of them.

Graphics: 8/10.
The games weakest spot are the graphics. But too me, they are the best SRPG graphics yet. There are many different armors. weapons, magic, and they all look different. Truly great graphics here.

Music/sound: 10/10.
This game has awesome music. Each of the battle themes are very well done. And there are many of 'em. Well over 10, at least. Unlike some games in the same genre, the music doesn't repeat after 45 seconds and get annoying, and that's good too. The sound effects are nothing great or anything, but they are good enough.

Story/Characters: 10/10.
Maybe the best spot in VH2, the storyline is very well done. The basic story is another war torn continent, but has a lot more things going on. Like a religous group killing people, crazed kings, people thought dead alive, etc. The story is just great. I would evan expect too see some cheep compnay make a rip off game following the same story. The characters are great, as well. Be it one of the many, many enemies, or one of your recruits, each charcater stands out. They all have there disticny personalities, and each one is great. But, a few of them seemed just there to fill out battle slots.

Gameplay: 10/10.
Huh? He just moved when I did?! How am I supposed to win this?! Yep, your characters and the enemies move at the same time in this one, making it very different than tactics games of the past. The game may be hard at first, but once you get used to it, you can blow right through it. The weapons are very unique too. Each weapon has a skill you can learn with it. Once you learn that skill, you can move the skill to a different weapon of the same type. Say, for example, you just learned Double Slash from a sword, but you buy a more powerful sword. Just simply go to Transfer, and put Double Slash on your new sword. A very good feature of the game.

Overall: 10/10.
This game is excellent. Everything about the game is good. It is a hard game to top, period. Only a select few I like more than it. I would recomend this game to anyone who likes Tactical games, and is up for a challange.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/06/02, Updated 10/06/02