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Cowabunga!! Turtle power!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 08, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the few RPGs for the slowly dying Dreamcast. You play a sword slashing mercenary, who gets a new assignment from the local church: to protect the choir's most valued songstress. Soon, things go out of hand and it becomes a fight against the devil himself, Valmar.

The story isn't very good, but I got drawn to it halfway through. This game has a religion of it's own about good and evil Gods. You are required to read some books in the game's library and I didn't find that made-up religion very interesting - until the game nearly ended.

The the part that drags you through the game is the great character development. The game features some amazing characters and you really get to learn about most of their motivations. Everything about the characters has been timed right. You can also have dinner together occasionally and just chat with each other - which is a nice concept. But the problem is also that you don't get any more than 4 characters. Some leave and return, but others die - and newbies will their place. So no character switching.

Two notable good points are the incredible fighting system and the skill system.

The fighting system is part real-time and part turn-based. The fight is just in real time, but it pauses when it's your turn to make a move. Everybody has their own individual move timer, so be prepared for some deep strategic planning.

You have the combo's, the magic, the special moves... And the skill system. It works like this: You get experience points from fighting and you can use those to "buy" whatever skill, magic spell, special move you choose.

This is a pretty good game and worth the buy when you own a Dreamcast and like RPGs. But it takes very long as well. It took me well over 50 hours to complete it totally. That isn't very long, but what made it long is that the story kept dragging on. When you think it's finally over - it's not.

The dungeons are another downside... There are loads of goons to fight and those dungeons can turn into a drag at times because of that. And there's isn't much versatility in those. You basically just have to move from point A to B. And occasionally find special bonusses when you slightly evade your path.

The voice of the hero also turned out to be from the same guy who did Leonardo's voice for the Ninja Turtles cartoon series. Pizza time!!

Simply Amazing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: November 17, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I was skeptical about buying this because of goofy cartoon type characters, but appearances are really decieving. The graphics are awesome and after playing this game I have come to appreciate the true talent of Japanese cartoon animators and artists. The sound and the level of interaction between the characters and the environment are the two most distinguishing elements of the game. Then there is the complexity of role playing and the challenge of problem solving and searching for clues. As a bonus, you get a fairly decent music CD by the dude who composed the music for the game. This CD is not just a bunch of music clips from the game thrown onto a disc, as I initially thought. These songs are fully composed with an awesome techno beat and minimal vocals (the first and last songs are mostly vocal, the other 10 songs could easily be added to your club dance mix collection!). The CD of songs lasts almost 50 minutes, and I have to say personally, I would have spent just 19.99 on the CD alone, so essentially buying Grandia II is like getting a 2 for 1 deal. And what a deal it is!

An absolutely beautiful game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: December 14, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The more I play it the more I love it- Grandia II. Up until last night I had been playing Skies Of Arcadia. Which is great. A really awesome, awesome game. However, I can not stand random battles. Grandia on the other hand has onscreen enemies. Something that should be standard with all rpgs. Playing Grandia never gets old and the battle system is absolutely the best and plays with the addictive quality of the best puzzle game. Perhaps if I didn't have GII with me I would have continued with SOA. However, why drive when you can fly. And Grandia II absolutely soars. Beautiful to look at, well written and moving (if somewhat cliche) storyline and voice acting equal to and beyond the gaming norm. So, I've decided to get a GameShark in regards to SOA. If only to cut down the random battles and make the game go a bit faster. Love the game, but I can only devote myself to one. And me and Grandia II are now going steady- so SOA is now officially on the back burner.

GRANDIA 2

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: December 19, 2000
Author: Amazon User

After playing the first Grandia, for a total of 60+ hours, on the Playstation, I hoped and prayed that there would be a sequel. Lo and behold, it's here. This has got to be one of the most beautiful looking game out there. For the first timers, this game is linear enough to figure out where and what to do. For those who've played the first one, prepare to get caught into a very interesting storyline. Imagine being able to build your characters the way you want them to be... a magic user, a fighter, or a mix of the two. The only thing wrong with this game is... it ends. Now if you will excuse me, another 60+ hours of my life is calling...

AMAZING RPG!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 25
Date: August 09, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is like no other rpg for the dreamcast! This game is LONG, unlike evolution.... Excelent graphics and an excelent story to follow. This is a must have for anyone who has a dreamcast!

A New Favorite

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: November 08, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I'm sure you've heard it before... "It's really fun, but the storyline bites!" Well, I'm here to try and change your mind. First, let me address the graphics. Oh, the graphics... Solid, beautiful graphics. I bought my Dreamcast solely for this title, having seen the graphic style, and I wasn't dissapointed. I spend every minute possible just admiring the amount of detail put into this lovely game. The graphics are the best to be seen on a console, purely because the awesome style. Seconldy, let's talk about the sound aspect. Not much to say here, other than I love it. A mixture of guitar rifts, and your basic RPG score, nothing but amazing. The voice acting is splendid, also. Thirdly, gameplay, one of the best aspects of this oh-so-perfect game. The battle syetm, it's utterly incredible! I actually find myself running into monsters just so I can battle. It's pure genius. The presentation is nice also, it's easy to navigate, and is quite the eye-candy. Control should also be addressed. I have no gripes whatsoever with the control, it's tight, and easy to learn. Lastly, the subject of most controversy concerning this game, the storyline. People who say it is predictle, while they may be somewhat right, are ignorant. You may have an idea of what the next twist might be, but I often found myself completely wrong. No doubt, if you're an RPG fan, you should own this game. Buy it, even if you have to buy a Dreamcast, it'll be well worth it.

Battling for greatness: Grandia 2

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: January 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

To set the record straight, I only gave this game a 4 out of 5 stars because this game is not perfect. I'm sure by now you must have heard about the thrilling battle system, and I have to say that the battles are by far my favorite part of the game. They are all in 3D, and give you a fleeting sense of control. One can't attack every single monster with a combo attack, not if they're too far away. Special moves require charge ups before the move, and can cancel the attacks of other monsters as well as dealing more damage. While the battles are unique, they stick to the RPG basics with SP (for special moves), MP (Magic Points for magic), and HP (Hit-points; life). There are so many specials that you don't know what to do with yourself. Some attack all the enemies and are very powerful, and very expensive (SP wise), and are fun to watch. The attacking items/magic moves are also unique. Some actually have a radius around the targeted enemy, and affect the other enemies in the radius as well. There's even a "battle line" zone attack, that attacks all enemies colinear with you and the target (with a margin for error, of course). Magic offers a new combination; it comes in Mana Eggs. Each egg has a somewhat different set of spells, for healers, attackers, defenders, whatever the character may be. These eggs are equippable, and you can customize the spells to get/upgrade with special coins. You can equip any character with any egg, and upgrade the egg with coins accordingly. This is the same system for special moves. One can even acquire "Skill Books" which can upgrade the character. Such upgrades as 10-50% more life, more Strength, higher defense, and other skills can be given to and/or taken away from your characters, offering even more customization. All in all, the battles are fast, fun, intriguing, and 100% enjoyable. Definately the best part of the game. However, a serious downside is the...talking. I hated it. The characters are either dull and pointless, or they THROW their personality at you, instead of letting you figure them out. The game kind of edges you on too, not allowing too much room for exploration. While the levels are 3D and fairly big, I have encountered far too few mini-games, another good RPG trademark (thanks to Squaresoft). And so, a meager 4 out of 5 stars. Does that mean it has a B-, an 80%? No, the game is extremely fun, but it's not perfect.

A great sequel!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: November 15, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is one of the reasons I bought my Dreamcast. I played the first for PSX and it quickly rose up my list of favorite RPG's. When I found out the sequel was going to be on the Dreamcast, I had very little hesitation to buy my system. I played the Japanese version and I've been waiting anxiously for this title to be released in the US, because I know I won't be disappointed.

Good Beginner Role Playing Game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: March 12, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game functions real well as a starter RPG. More experienced RPG gamers might be a little bored with its shortcomings. The are four reasons for this: The story line, the linear game play, the semi-real time battle sequence, and the lack of any real challenge.

Story: The story fails almost completely in both presentation and substance. The main character is Ryudo. He is a mercenary with a troubled past sent out on a job to protect the pure good girl of the land. (Now where have we seen that before?) Of course you see where this is going...Ryudo uncovers his past and finds strength from within to stop fighting for money and start fighting for justice. Now, the story itself isn't bad per se, but the thing is, we have heard it all before. If you take two or three classic RPGs (any will do) and piece together the story lines you get this one. So, if you are new to RPGs then it will be new to you so you won't be bothered by it. However, RPGs are special because unlike other video games they rely heavily on the story. RPG fans won't find much to cheer about with this bland tale. Also the character's lines harp on the same points over and over again. For example, towards the end the game the word "heart" appears so much in the dialogue that you would think you are reading Cardiology Weekly. The story awkwardly stumbles along never quite gaining its footing. Presentation is also off key. Annoying voice-overs have Ryudo sounding more like a surfer dude than a sword-wielding hero. The in game movies are also sub-par for Dreamcast's capabilities.

Linear Game Play: This game is extremely linear. This meaning that you always know exactly where to go and what you have to do. Besides one or two "Special Areas" when you advance in the story you don't even have the option of going anywhere but forward. For people who object to RPGs by saying things like, "You spend hours fighting pointless battles searching for your next task" this is the game for you. Also, for a beginner RPG player this type of set-up puts frustration at a minimum. However, if you are into totally non-linear RPG's like Wizardry, for example, this game will be Boring with a capital B.

Battle Sequence: The battle sequence is the best part of this game. It is a semi-real time/turn based mode of battle. This makes fighting flow more evenly. Despite the times where my characters would attack an enemy out of view, I liked it immensely. It is an original action oriented way to structure the battle sequence. By strategizing your turns and types of moves you can limit certain enemy attacks. Also, you have the ability to make quick decisions to guard from an oncoming attack or evade before the enemy makes it to your side of the screen.

Challenge: The game is real easy. Probably too easy. There are many spells, special moves, and skills to learn. While all these enhance the game and add variety, after about 1/4 way through it is pretty hard to be hit much, forget about being killed. Moreover, at a save point you can automatically recover your entire HP/MP etc. Any enemy near a save point is toast because you can throw everything you have at them and after the battle fully recover. (at no cost to you). Also, since you can see your enemies (no random fight generator) before battle you can almost always sneak up behind them and get the first attack. After very little practice learning the ins and outs of the battle sequence you can usually kill off most non-boss enemies without them getting a hit off. Again, good for the beginner and sort of pointless monotony for the experienced gamer.

By far the worst part of the game was the story. If you can ignore that you have about 20-30 hours of fun, if not challenging, game play. I would recommend it to beginner RPGers and experienced RPGers that just can't get enough games under their belts.

Great battle system too bad the rest of the game is dull

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: February 07, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I find it difficult to really pin down what made Grandia II a so-so game. Perhaps if I had played it before Skies of Arcadia I would not have found the story and characters so tepid. It is predictable and at times tiresome. The battle system is really a lot of fun though and it has the exact right amount of encounters. The music of the game is also very impressive. While the game was fun it just lacked any real empathy. In Skies, I felt an attachment to the characters and wanted them to overcome. In Grandia II, I was just waiting for the next fight, as the plot was silly. I would recommend this game if you like console RPGs but only as an after thought.

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