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This game is almost perfect!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 05, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Grandia 2 is a fun game! I really did enjoy playing it. There are a few flaws that keep it from a perfect score; however, it is still an excellent and enjoyable experience overall. Let's begin the review!

Graphics (8/10): The graphics are somewhat similar to FF7 in that your characters are composed of simpler shapes and only have eyes on their faces (no mouths, folks!) However, the graphical world of Grandia 2 looks a lot smoother than FF7's and is less pixelated. Some people may not enjoy the simple graphical design after having seen more realistic looking games, but it didn't perturb me one bit, the graphics are bright and colorful. If you need further information about what this game actually looks like, just take a gander at some screen shots. Note, there are some graphical glitches from time to time, but they do not affect gameplay in any real way.

Music (7/10): Hmmm... is is just me or is the same song used for every dungeon? Why yes! Well, aside from the lack of variety, the music isn't too bad. It's nothing to run out and buy the soundtrack for, but it's not so annoying as to make your ears bleed. Also, the game features voice acting during some (but not all) dialogue. The voice acting is decent, and there was no one whose voice I really hated.

Characters (10/10): Yes, I know these characters are basically stereotypes; you've got the innocent, naive female character, the tough-acting mercenary, the strong, noble beast-man, etc. Even though I realized I had seen all this before, they didn't feel like stereotypes to me. The fresh interesting dialogue really made me fall in love with these characters. There was never a point in which I said, "gee, these people bore me". Personally, I think Ryudo steals the show. I know some people won't like his pessimism and sarcastic wit, but personally, I found his comments to be really funny.

Story (9/10): You start the game as a cold-hearted mercenary who takes a job escorting a young naive girl to a tower to perform a religious ceremony. Along the way, ancient evil is released and you discover the truth behind the ruling religion, etc. Sound familiar? Just like the characters, the story, too, has been done before. However, I still felt that the story was very interesting and entertaining, even if you may have an idea of what's going to happen next. Grandia 2 does a good job of re-telling this archetypal RPG story, such that it feels fresh and interesting. Plus, for an "already-done" plotline, at least it's more interesting than most.

Battle System (10/10): Grandia 2' battle system is more complex than your average turn-based affair. You actually have to factor in things such as range of spells/attacks and timing of attacks. There is a small bar at the bottom of the screen that tells when you or the enemy will take their turn, if you do certain attacks and hit the enemy while they are in the red section of the bar, it will cancel their attack, forcing them to wait longer to get off a move. This works in reverse, too, of course. This system really adds more depth to the gameplay. Another plus to the battle system is that your characters will move around on the screen during battle, eliminating the "let's all line up and attack" feel of other turn-based games (by the way, I'm not bothered by attacking in lines, but others may enjoy getting away from that). Also, because you move around and spells and attacks have ranges, factoring in how close you are to the enemy and how bunched together the enemies are (which means you can hit them all with one spell) is important. Overall, I found the battle system to be fun and interesting.

Gameplay (7/10): This is a bit of a catch-all category for me. Let's see... I really enjoyed the "meal conversations". This is where the character's are further developed by allowing you to choose people to talk to while having dinner. I feel this aspect really does enhance character development. On another note, the linearity of the game really hampers it. You can't ever backtrack to previous places past the last two places you visited. Even if there is no logical reason you couldn't return to the first town you were in (not like it was destroyed or anything) the game never allows you to. In fact, you don't have free travel even by the time you get to the end of the game. That, and the fact that the world map is a point and click to the next place sort of deal, might turn people off. There's also a disturbing lack of sidequests and mini-games available. I recall there only being one side dungeon and one minigame. Hmmm... The menus and controls are fine, and other than the points I've already mentioned, there's really nothing else that's note-worthy.

Overall (8/10): NOTE this score is not an average, it's my subjective overall score. Personally, I derived great enjoyment out of this game despite its flaws. It would have a perfect score if it weren't for the lack of sidequests and the linearity. Whether you not these limitations will prevent your enjoyment of the game is a matter of your own personal preferences, but I found the overall Grandia 2 experience to be worthwhile.

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