Grandia II

The Good
The Dreamcast had two killer app rpg’s. Whilst Grandia II was the more anticipated, Skies of Arcadia stole it’s lofty crown. This does not mean that Grandia II was not a very enjoyable game. The sequel to the oft considered best 32-bit rpg, Grandia II had a large task ahead of it, it had to be as good as it’s prequel. Thankfully it is, and in some ways is better.

In Grandia II you play Ryudo, the 17 year old and already cynical Geohound. He has a new job to escort the wonderfully naïve songstress Elena to a ceremony to seal away the evil god Valmar, whom a millennium ago nearly destroyed the world. (Seriously does the estate of H.P. Lovecraft get paid for this?) Yes I know that it has been done, but to me clichéd plots are just a part of console rpgs like random encounters. Where Grandia II excels is the way the story unfolds, and the cast of interesting characters. There is besides the two already mentioned Millenia, the leather clad, sexy woman who happens to have the hots for Ryudo. Roan, the runaway Prince. Mareg the beast man with a heart of gold. And the only character I did not find interesting, Tio, the automaton that may have more in common with humans than she suspects. Anyhow the story is well paced, and no parts feel like the “filler” you often get in these type of games.

Graphically, this is simply one of the best looking DC games, and one of the best in general. There are PS2 games that do not look this good, including oddly enough Grandia II! The villages and mazes are all very colorful. And each village has a unique design. I hate when rpgs have all there towns look alike, Grandia II does not fail here. The characters are super deformed but still look decent, and there is tons of detail in there clothing. The magic and special attacks all look spectacular, some use FMV for optimum eye candy.

The soundtrack is excellent. As are the sound effects particularly the voice work. It is refreshing to find a Japanese that has good English voice overs. If only the entire game was in voice. The music is all good, and tends to fit the situations. And the American version of the game included a soundtrack sampler, sweet!

The gameplay is unique. From the awesome battle system, to traveling the world map. On the world map, you travel the individual areas instead of just running across and empty space. This helps make the world more convincing. The battle system is intact from the original game, and if any thing flows better. You take turns using a bar that shows when your group gets to attack as well as the enemies. So unlike most console rpg’s you can employ strategy to cancel or destroy enemies before they can even take their turn. This is very useful during boss fights. Gone is the awkward Spell/Move level up system from the original. In Grandia II your party acquires Special/Magic coins that are spent to learn new abilities. Furthermore you can equip Skill/Magic books that can boost your weaker stats.

The Bad
Grandia II is a tad on the short side. About 25-30 hours. Whilst the original was about 60-70.

The Bottom Line
If you have a Dreamcast play this game. Do not play the PC or PS2 version. You have been warned. This game along with others: Skies of Arcadia, Shenmue, and Sonic Adventure, showcase how great the DC was, and makes me wonder how it failed.

The Good
I must say, the combat system is rather nice, And the towns are amazingly detailed and original. The mix of drawn animation and game animation in the special attacks looks awesome.

The Bad
For one thing, the voice acting. It's like they lined up the most wretched, annoying people on earth up and recruited them all in an act of pity. Why they dub games at all that have subtitles already built in I've never understood. Ryudo's voice was hauntingly familiar, and, upon further research, I discovered that it was done by the same guy who destroyed the ninja turtles movie as Leonardo, and the Akira dub as Kaneda. I loathe that man. Also, the little emotion boxes next to the subtitles got under my skin. You can already understand what the characters are thinking by their (grating) speech, and, since there are only four or five different character faces each, the designers ended up having to approximate most of the time. "She's exasperated. What's the closest picture we have to that?" "Fear, sir, that or berserk rage" "Ehh, let's go with the berserk rage, then. I always liked that one." You get the idea.

The Bottom Line
Great to play, but turn the sound down. And, while it makes a handy frisbee, I'd suggest you don't pay any extra for the accompanying music CD.

The Good
Grandia II has a better than average storyline, which really helps tie the game together and help one play through when the repetitive Final Fantasy style gameplay gets monotonous. I was very pleased with the ending, and was even a bit startled by a subtle underlying emotivist/taoist philosophy. But don't let me scare you away (or get your hopes up) - this isn't educational software. In general, Grandia II plays much like the Final Fantasy series -- for those who don't know, the style consists of much running about, collecting items, and fighting monsters in a turn-based fashion. Victories earn you experience points, which in turn raise your level and increase your stats. Occasional cinematic cut-scenes present the storyline, which really draws one in as the game advances.

Grandia II also sports some unique character advancement options: You can increase your magical ability by spending 'Magical Coins', or MC's (earned from battles) on your 'mana egg', the object which allows you to cast spells. You can also increase the ability of your special moves by using 'Special Coins (SC's). Finally, you can alter your character in a number of beneficial ways by equiping special skills found in 'Skill Books'.

The Bad
1)The graphical quality of the cinematic scenes was a bit disappointing.

2)Since your (Ryudo's) travelling companions are added/lost during cutscenes, you don't have any control over your party composition. (In other words, you can't choose who to bring with you and who to ditch.)

3)Battles were a bit too easy, in my opinion. Even in the final battle, none of my characters lost more than half their hit points.

The Bottom Line
Grandia II is worth the time to play through, even if just for the storyline. This is a must for fans of final fantasy.