Grandia II (2000) (VG)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Takashi Takebe

Writers:

Yuichi Hasegawa (original story)
Akira Kashiwagi (scenario assistant: story)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery

Plot:

Granas was the god of light. Valmar was the god of darkness. Eons ago, an epic battle between the two...

Plot Keywords:

Video Game | Sequel

Cast

Cam Clarke	...	Ryudo / Father Carius / Risotto (voice: English version)
Jennifer Hale	...	Elena / Paella (voice: English version)
Jodi Benson	...	Millenia / Reena (voice: English version)
Peter Lurie	...	Mareg / Gatta / Brother 2 (voice: English version)
B.J. Ward	...	Roan / Elmo (voice: English version)
Kim Mai Guest	...	Tio / Selene / Client's Daughter (voice: English version)
Paul Eiding	...	Skye / Oro / Carpaccio / Brother 3 (voice: English version)
John Cygan	...	Melfice / Cilent / Brother 1 (voice: English version)
Richard Doyle	...	Zera / Gonzola / Village Chief (voice: English version)

Country:

Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

South Korea:All | USA:T

Company:

Game Arts Co.

Movie Connections:

Follows Grandia (1997) (VG)

Almost the perfect 1-disk RPG.... almost.

Hey there folks. Lemme first start off by saying that I am a die-hard gamer. I've played most every RPG out there, from the open computer stylings of all of the Might and Magic Series and the Console-style comp game of Septerra Core, to pretty much every console RPG since Phantasy Star I for the Sega Master System.

With that out of the way, let me just say that Grandia II is almost, but not quite, the perfect console style RPG. (Console style refers to a linear story-line, rather than a wide open wandering game, like, say, a Might and Magic computer game. Most console RPGs are like this, hence the term "console RPG" to refer to it.)

The plot is extremely engaging, with characters you really care about. The voice acting is great, headed by one of the best old-school American voice actors (people who voice acted before anime hit the shelves) Cam Clarke, as Ryudo. A very rare voice actor capable of pretty much any voice situation. The rest of the cast is just as good, with a mega standout in accomplished voice actress Jodi Benson (Ariel in Little Mermaid) who's voice and haughty tone make you totally fall in love with the character she portrays. The voice is scattered, but all the important story points are voiced, leaving you with immersive characters you care about, something the renowned Final Fantasy series (up till 10) lacked.

As I said before, the plot is very engaging. From the very beginning, the characters get imposed into a main plot thread circumvented throughout with "villain of the week" episodes in each section of world you cross through. It would get annoying, but with how disjointed these episodes sound, they all (almost) weave well with the main plot thread. These threads and the main plot weave together to form an extremely exciting last 8 hours of the game in which the climax seems to happen about 10 times, main characters perish in tragedy saving the rest of the party (in true Final Fantasy style), and it builds to an exciting and engaging finale which leaves the player very satisfied.

Now we come to the defining characteristic of Grandia II. Now, I'm not sure about Grandia I cause I actually haven't played that one, but Grandia II has the *most* innovative battle system in existence. At first glance, the battles look like utter chaos. Well, they are, but it's *organized* chaos. Where you are, what position you're in (ready, waiting, action, etc), what you're planning to do, what you're doing, *all* matter to the battle. You can be attacking an enemy, and get backstabbed by another enemy, which not only startles you and delays your attack, but can flat out cancel your attack and your status meter by knocking you down. It's like the lunar positional system, but in faux-3D and in real time combat. No other game even comes close to this battle system yet. It leaves other games in the dust, and makes the "random battles" not so boring.

Along that lines, it does use the lunar system of seeing the "random monsters" and gives you the option of avoiding em. However, it even takes it a step further and *where* you encounter your enemy, say, if he attacks the back of your party, surprises you, etc, is how the battle starts. Just amazing stuff.

The only reason this game isn't a perfect 1 disk RPG (multi disk RPGs have a *lot* more CG/Anime scenes) is that the game is *too* linear. A linear story RPG is fine, and can be done extremely well, but even the dungeons (and other misc levels) are totally linear. You walk until you have a path diversion. You choose one, it's either deeper into the dungeon, or ends in a treasure within a few steps. This is really frustrating, as you feel you're just reading a flat script.

That's it. I bought this game well over a year ago and finally just sat down to play it. I went through the last 16 hours (or 20) straight, I just couldn't put it down. I highly recommend this to *any* console RPG fan. (10/10)