Grandia II
Score: 95% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Ubisoft Entertainment Developer: Game Arts Media: CD/1 Players: 1 Genre: RPG
Graphics & Sound: Following hot on the heels of Skies of Arcadia, Grandia II brings another lushly-realized RPG world to the Dreamcast. Environments have tons of unnecessary detail, without cluttering up the screen so much that you don’t know what you need to do or what to “use.” Like the aforementioned title, Grandia II sports a freely-rotating camera, with it locking in place usually only inside the various buildings in the game. Those buildings are the one knock on G2 -- they repeat themselves a little too often for their own good. But that’s minor. The character models are excellently detailed, even if they have no mouths. It actually works better for them -- facial structure in videogames often comes off looking a bit silly. Despite that, the enemies and good guys alike are well-articulated, with gorgeous textures and lots of frilly “bits.” The spells don’t disappoint, either, using a unique overlay effect that runs video on top of the game screen. The result is usually gorgeous, if a bit excessive. But it’s excessive in a good way. =) The game uses in-engine graphics for its cut-scenes as well, and when you have an engine as robust as G2’s, I’d use it too. The sound is similarly lush... yes, even the voice-acting. An order of magnitude better than the cheeseball stuff in the first Grandia, Grandia II’s voice-acting is professionally done and only rarely overwrought. My personal favorite is Skye, with his cultured British accent, although he doesn’t talk quite enough for my own tastes. The voice-acting bits are few and far between, but when they pop up, you’ll find yourself listening avidly instead of cringing. It’s a pleasant change of pace. The music is also solid, and Grandia II has some of the more memorable tunes of the past few RPGs I’ve played. I have the battle theme running inside of my head right now -- although that changes, notably when your characters are surprised. It’s not the best music you’ll ever hear, but it’s certainly better than most of the generic video game tripe out there. The sound effects are many and varied, with crackling fires and footsteps. Nothing’s really fantastic here, and it’s not quite immersive, but it’s a good effort nonetheless.
Gameplay: Where the original Grandia shined was in the story and the gameplay, and while Grandia II’s story may be a bit weak, it nails solid gameplay better than perhaps any recent RPG. With a deep combat engine, the best translation this side of Working Designs, and a cast of cool characters, you’ll be enjoying Grandia II even if its story isn’t the most original you’ve ever seen. (How often do truly original storylines come along in RPGs, anyway?) You’re Ryudo, a young Geohunter out to make a fortune. Geohunters aren’t exactly respected in the world of Grandia II, but they’re the muscle-for-hire, and with the recent outbreaks of monsters, they’re a necessary evil. Ryudo has a sidekick named Skye -- and yes, he’s a talking bird. A damn cool talking bird, though, so you don’t have to fear a Chu Chu-esque mascot, thank the gods. At least, not for the first few hours of the game. Soon after the game starts, you’ll find yourself escorting a lovely Songstress, Elena, to a tower where she and her sisters will be doing a magical ritual to help the town. Of course, something goes horribly wrong, and the game sends you on a dark path to find out just what happened, and how to stop it and save the world. It’s rather cliché, but that doesn’t keep it from being enjoyable. One of the major strengths of Grandia II is its translation. With a whole lot of humor, some truly intelligent debates, and plenty of goofiness to go around, G2 absolutely shines when it comes to conversations. People say different things when you talk to them two or three times, and you’ll find yourself running around the towns and interrogating people mercilessly to find out everything they have to say. And almost every state change -- new characters, loss of characters, cleaning a dungeon out -- triggers even more speech from the folk. It’s fantastic, funny, and hella entertaining. Even more entertaining is the battle system. It’s a step above the original Grandia, and it’s got enough complexity to keep you going for the entire game. The I.P. gauge is back, and boss battles are often determined by how well you can manage to keep the boss from attacking your team. Proper use of Critical hits, Combos and the occasional Spell or two make the difference between victory and defeat, making G2’s battles anything but a button-masher. This is a Very Good Thing. And when you complete a battle, you not only get the requisite experience points and gold, you get Special Coins and Magic Coins. The Special Coins can be spent both on learning new skills for your characters and learning new Skills in various Skill Books that you find throughout the game. And the Magic Coins are used to upgrade the spells in the Magic Eggs you find in the game. This management is excellent, as the spells stay with the egg and the books keep their skills, so you can switch spells around easily. There’s a lot more to it, but I’ll stop here. Needless to say, Grandia II has enough “stuff” to keep you busy for a long time, especially if you like to get absolutely everything.
Difficulty: Grandia II isn’t a particularly difficult game -- if you can strategize. You’ll find yourself getting mauled in boss and mini-boss battles if you don’t take all the various factors in combat into consideration. It takes time for non-ranged characters to get to enemies, and they may have already executed their moves before you cancel them. Proper timing and execution is key, and it definitely takes some practice to get it all right. It’s certainly not insurmountable, though, and perseverance will have you faring excellently throughout the whole game.
Game Mechanics: The controls are simple and intuitive, although I would have preferred the menu button to be on something other than Start. That’s a decidedly minor gripe, though. The core mechanics are simple enough to grasp, but complex enough to have you min/maxing until the end of the game. Of course, players who don’t feel like being bothered with such complexities can just enjoy the game straight through, although they’ll find it a tad more difficult. The camera only rarely gives you issues with seeing items, and usually it’s because it’s supposed to, not because of a flaw with the camera itself. The menus are clear and easy to navigate, although it’s highly suggested to play around with them a bit beforehand so you know where everything is. The circular configuration is very cool. And there are tutorials in the game that teach you everything you need to know about the combat engine. Very nice. Despite the fair-to-middling plot, Grandia II is a wonderful RPG. Along with Skies of Arcadia, Grandia II gives us Dreamcast junkies the first truly solid old-school RPGs for the system. And although both have their flaws, they both stand the Fun Factor Test. If you’re at all a fan of the genre, you owe it to yourself to pick up Grandia II. And those looking to break into RPGs, or get their kids into them, should take a look at it as well. It’s not as light-hearted as the original one, but it’s an excellent title, and one that will provide many hours of sword-swinging enjoyment. Here’s to hoping a few more old-school RPGs pop up on the Dreamy before everything becomes “newfangled.”
-Sunfall to-Ennien, GameVortex Communications AKA Phil Bordelon
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