Vandal Hearts II

"Good, but better than the original?"

Graphics - 9
Battlefields are done beautifully, nicely colored with great effects (such as water, the worldmap, magic, and backgrounds). One downfall (not such a big deal) is the loading screen. The loading screen is just the word ''loading'' with the title ''Vandal Hearts II'' on a screen with an effect like old movie film that's been run too often (moving scratches all over the place). Just plain annoying!

Sound - 7
Good music and all, but it really doesn't fit with what's going on. For one of the major battles you may have soft music, for one of the less important battles you may have really intense music. Nicely done sound effects (just like the original).

Storyline – 10
May seem a little poor at the start, but it really picks up fast. Involving, suspenseful, yes, all of the above.

Characters - 8
Nicely drawn in-depth characters. At the beginning of the game, you only control 3 to 4, but by the end, well, I hear it's about 7-9 (much like the original).

Concept - 10
This isn't your normal buy weapons, buy armor, fighting. No, have to give Konami credit for this one, this is quality I'd expect from SquareSoft. You buy your weapons and armor, but that ain't it. Weapons and armor not only have an effect on your stats (HP, MP, Move, Dexterity...), they also come fully equipped with magic (like the concept behind Final Fantasy 9). But you can't use magic from the get-go, you have to unlock it by gaining points in battle. And you can even transfer magic from one weapon to another, but only two of the same kind though. Like, you can't transfer magic from a sword to a dagger; it has to be two like kinds (sward to sward, dagger to dagger). And another thing, there is no waiting for the enemy to make their turn. Instead the enemy takes it's turn at the same time you do. This feature may be a little annoying at first, but once you get good at anticipating the computer's moves, you can kill them before they kill you. Just remember this, the computer loves to strike you behind your back and/or form above.

Control - 8
This is one of those rare games that have that unusually configuration were circle is your action button (just how I like it). These controls are almost the exact same as Final Fantasy Tactics.

Replay - 6
This is one of the best strategy RPG's money can buy. It also features a ''random battle'' feature. When you move to a spot you previously did battle at, it prompts you if you want to enter battle there, not random in the truest sense of the word. Also if you like a lot (and I do mean A LOT) of dialog, you'll love this game. For every battle, there is maybe an average of a minute of dialogue. I think they had to throw in the random battles so you wouldn't get totally bored.

Overall - 8
Great game, further proof that the PlayStation still kicks butt.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/26/00, Updated 05/26/00