Grandia II is Game Art's sequel to the cult classic original which was released on the Sega Saturn (Japan only) and later the PSX. Originally, Grandia II was a Dreamcast game, but due to being released on the later days of the criminally under-popular system, it didn't sell quite as high in North America as they would have liked. This lead to a port to the PS2, which is the version I happen to be reviewing.
Story
The story in Grandia II is comprised of many RPG plot clichés and character stereotypes, with some surprises and charm mixed in. You play the spunky 17 year old Geohound Ryudo, whose job it is to escort the songstress Elena (who's basically a singing nun like Whoopi Goldberg) to a temple so that she may participate in a religious ritual. Predictably, things go awry, and it is ultimately up to you to save the world by preventing the resurrection of Valmar, this world's version of the devil.
As mentioned above, the characters in Grandia II are entirely stereotypic of the most popular fantasy Anime/RPG archetypes. Ryudo is the loner with a sharp tongue and a mysterious past who eventually relearns to trust others. Elena is the mousy, vulnerable anime good girl, who must constantly be rescued by the protagonist and at the same time is the tie that binds your party. Mareg is the savage beast-man with a noble spirit and a good heart, Roan is a gimpy mamma's boy, and so on. Despite this, the characters are still likeable, and by the end of the game you will have some emotional interest in their fates.
Some of the Philisophical questions about religion and human nature presented in the game are fairly interesting ones, but the positions that the characters end up taking in the matter are exactly what you'd expect, and the amount of rhetoric later on gets wearisome.
Graphics and Sound
The Graphics in Grandia II are definitely not a strong point of the game. The character models themselves are pretty well done (considering this is dreamcast game that came out 4-5 years ago) and the colors used make for a vivid world. The textures, however, are a bit jagged, and there is some very noticeable slowdown throughout the game when running through large town, or trying to rotate the camera in these areas. On numerous occasions textures disappear from parts of buildings or the faces of characters, and there was a strange repeating occurrence of Ryudo losing his texture shading when in a battle so that he was just a white polygonal model. These are problems often found in PC games at ship, but are not nearly as acceptable in a console title that can't be patched a few days later.
Spell effects are pretty nice, if not long, for some of the higher spells. Most major effects cut to a CGI movie of the spell rather than using in-game graphics, but they still look cool the first few times. The resolution of the CGI videos is a little lower than normal for some reason, but it is not bad enough to be a nuisance.
The sound and music in the game, like other aspects, has some good and some bad qualities. I found myself liking about half the music tracks in the game, but hating the other half. There was also this strange ticking clock sound that was present at times, even though in had nothing to do with a clock, or anything that ticks.
Many important conversations in the game are accompanied by voice. The actual quality of the voices depends on the character; with some like Ryudo and his avian friend Skye being quite good, while others like Elena and Roan being either too high pitch for a adult human (Elena) or just plain annoying (Roan). The Dialogue is pretty cheesy throughout but fans of the series might argue that the cheesy dialogue is part of the charm.
Gameplay
The actual gameplay is probably the best aspect of Grandia II. Battles are actually interesting instead of being the annoying obstacles to plot advancement that they are in many titles. All enemies appear onscreen, meaning the screen will never flash into a random battle, and you can in theory fight no enemies other than the obligate bosses.
Battles are built around a variation of the active time system that is steadfast of the Final Fantasy series. Action is ongoing until one of your characters hits the command point on the battle meter. Depending one what command was selected, it will take some measure of time before your command gets to the action point in the meter where it is executed. This leads to some strategy because commands that you or an enemy have entered can be cancelled with the right type of attack up to the point they're cast. This means that, with the right amount of skill and luck, you can prevent a smaller group of enemies from ever attacking you.
On top of traditional experience and levels, your characters earn skill coins and magic coins after every battle. Skill coins are spent in order to learn/improve unique special attacks for each character and to gain/improve the many support skills that you can obtain through skill books found throughout the game. These support skills include stat boosts like +800HP, or improve your efficiency with a given magic type (though these require magic coins to buy). Spells are associated with Mana eggs and are purchased with magic coins. Mana eggs each come with a set of spells that can be bought, and a character may equip one mana egg at a time to utilize these spells. While particular spells vary from egg to egg, almost all mana eggs offer a nice variety of offensive and support spells as well as a very high level spell from one magic school that is (almost) unique to that egg.
All this leads to a lot of character customization for a party that fits a given gamer's taste. It also makes levelling enjoyable since you're always looking for just a few more magic/skill coins to get that new ability, or work an existing ability up to a faster stronger version of itself.
Closing
Grandia II is not a perfect game. However if I was asked whether or not I recommend it, I'd have to say yes. Ultimately its strengths outlast its weaknesses, and if you're looking for something to keep you busy between the next Final Fantasy, you could do much worse. Plus, I personally picked this game for $10 Canadian, so it's definitely not pricey anymore. For those of you who own a Dreamcast, I've heard that many of the graphical/sound problems I mentioned are not present in that version, so it may be a good idea to hunt down the original DC copy instead.
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