Overall score on plumage's 100-point system (TM): 68, rounded up to 70 or just 7.
-the breakdown-
Graphics (25/30, judged by system)- i was not really blown away by the overall quality of the graphics- some levels are very pretty and the towns are mostly nicely designed, with great natural textures. other levels were drab. what impressed me more over time was the number of levels and variety of their appearances. cutscenes are cgi and hand-art and real-time and i preferred the real-time. though the other two were well-done they interrupt the flow of the game imo. many characters/monsters and excellent spell effects, many using a mix of real-time and cgi to either great effect ("howl" spell) or not-so-great (any that take like 12-15 seconds to watch EVERY time you cast the damned spell).
Sound- FX/Voice (6/10) improved over Grandia 1 significantly, the voice acting is much better all around (even though i think i noticed more than 1 actor was the same as grandia 1). unfortunately it's still voice acting and that means it's still overall bad. add to that the fact that the voices are mixed REALLY LOUD and it detracts. foley sounds are good.
Sound- Music (8/10) less variety than grandia 1 and more focus on guitar rock, which i really don't like in my video game music. the orchestral pieces were very nice, the choral works pretty, and the rest of the video game music quite good. comes with a second disc of game music which is a definite bonus.
Gameplay- Length (8/10) 31 hours for me. i sought out and fought almost every battle in the game, a few hundred easily. i however did not repeat levels to level up nor did i do the one "optional area" in the game. so this could probably hit 35 hours easily. my formula is 1 point per 4 hours rounded up with 40 or more hours to me being perfect. the game like grandia 1 has many faux-endings which can start to frustrate. from the point where i thought the last battle was about to occur there was still like 3 hours left to play. i was kinda worn out of the "ok, this is it feeling" by then.
Gameplay- Difficulty/Complexity (7/10) the game becomes quite easy by about midway- the possibility of dying becomes almost nil. that's usually bad but the battle system is excellent (read grandia 1 reviews for more). considering i played this game RIGHT AFTER playing part 1, i was still not getting bored of fighting til the last few hours. if you have never played part 1 (which is not necessary) or it's been some time, you should enjoy the system the whole way through. they cut a bit of the complexity out of the ability/spell upgrade system, which is a good thing.
Gameplay- Story (3/5) much improved dialogue, however Ryudo (main character) is a little punk-a$$ who needs a knuckle-sandwich and for me it was a chore to care about this protagonist who needed a serious spanking as a child. thankfully his character does develop over the course of the game. plot is not as childish as part 1. however it is very anti-religion which kinda bugged, moreso because it was very naive philosophising they used against it. whatever, bashing religion is popular these days and i'm sure many liked it for that, despite the unsophisticated reasoning.
Gameplay- Innovation (10/15)- points for streamlining the upgrade system and adding the skill books, however since it retains so much of the original game system, i'd have to subtract a few points, neting a same score as part 1. note, keeping so much of the original system is a GOOD THING.
Gameplay- Replay value (1/5) I can't see ever wanting to play this again.
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