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Technically excellent game is mired by clueless plot.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: September 30, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Grandia II is a beautiful game - in much the same way Skies of Arcadia is. Where it lags behind Skies is in the depth and breadth department. Skies is simply a much larger game with much more detail. While Grandia's playfield is a 3D environment - the camera view is eternally fixed above head. You are never given the option to sweep in and take a closer look - which is a shame - because you wind up missing many of the artistic details in the game.

The battle system is really fun. Slick menus and interfaces remind me of a fast paced action fighting game. The battle system is flexible enough to even allow for some strategy and planning. Unfortunately the battle system casts light on another of Grandia's shortcomings - lack of compelling monsters. Indeed the monsters are severely lacking in originality in this game - more so than almost any other RPG I've played.

Like most Japanese Role Playing Games the plot is hopelessly clueless and vague. If you've just come from playing AD&D based RPG's on the computer (such as Baldur's Gate) you'll be repulsed by this game linear play and murky story line.

Grandia II is a pretty game with a descent musical score and the combat system is entertaining. Sadly the game is not challenging and often I found myself seeking the next save point because the game routinely bored me....

Oh Man! What a game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This has got to be one of the finest RPG games I have ever played and I played a lot of RPG games. I love secret of mana, chronotrigger, and ff3, and skies of arcadia and suikoden 1 and 2, but this has got to be my new favorite. This game just has it all, gameplay, graphics, CG cut scenes, and especially the music. First the graphics. Everything is realtime and unlike skies of arcadia, the town fields and dungeons are view as a top down type of thing similar to the old zelda and secret of mana. There is no annoying camera angle as you can rotate the view. I did not see any pop up which is great. The graphics are quite detailed. Remember this is done in realtime and not prerender like the stuff you see on Final fantasy on PS. The gameplay is one of the more unique elements I have seen in a RPG. First, you can actually see all of the enemies you will fight and depending on how you approach them, will determine who has initiative. When you attack, the character actually runs toward the enemy and attack, but at the same time, if the another enemy is close to your character, it can attack you first even if you input the command to attack before it is ready to attack. The magic spell effects are quite cool, nothing too long. It is a combination of actual realtime graphics and full motion video. The gameplay is hard to describe, but you must play it to actually get a feel. The story is great. It is unrelated to the original, but the story really captivate you. Way better than final fantasy's stories. If you play it, you will really be drawn on the story. As for character development, by the time you finish the game, you will feel a certain connection to them and wish that the game would contain another sequel in it for you to play. The music is perhaps the best I've heard since the original chronotrigger for snes. The music is perfect for certain situations in the game. The game contains an audio disc that contain music from the game but remix and its pretty good if you like game music. I only have one negative from this game. I wish if would be longer as it was just a great game I did not want to finish it. But really, its quite long. I clocked in about 30 hours and that was just rushing through the game and not caring about secrets or other stuff. I plan to replay it again because its soooo great. As for the ending, well let's say it closes quite well but left room for the sequel, and there just has to be one. The voice acting is okay. I'm not sure how others liked it. It really depends on how picky you are. Anyways, this is a MUST BUY for DC owners!

A very pretty game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I simply love this game. The characters and battle system are superb. This has to be the best battle system I've seen. The non boss battles go at an astounding pace with the music. Watching the cute little characters and monsters run around and beat up on each other is so much fun. The only things lacking are the words "POW!" or "BOFF!" to accompany the splendid moves. When you do a cancel you can even hear a squeak. When your characters get beat up repeatedly, they mutter something funny. Millenia in particular blows up and goes out of control. It's also amusing to hear Elena squeal.

The story, though cliche, is very moving. However, if you're religious, you will be troubled or depressed. It dwells too much on tragedy. You can take the conclusions of the story either as philosophy or poetry.

Many of the dungeons are beautifully designed. However, I wish I had spent more time in mountains and valleys rather than in the guts of a monster.

The vocalized cutscenes merge seamlessly with the game. The video scenes, however, are at a lower resolution than the rest of the game, not befitting a Dreamcast.

The reason why I did not give this a full five stars is because there is no balance. The mega-bosses are clustered near the end of the game, so I was thinking "when will this game ever end?" So when the end did come, it was not as grand as the beginning. However, I shall forever treasure the adventures I had...

Grandia II - A Sequal To Remember

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The first Grandia on Playstation bored me a bit. After playing through the game, the constant slowdown made me drift away from it. Grandia II was in the stores one day, so i bought it with nothing else to do. The graphics and detail are simply outstanding! Breathtaking FMV sequences compell the story quite a bit and the voice acting is top notch. the length of the game is not quite as long as the first Grandia, it took me 39 hours to complete. the spells and special effects are eye candy, 3-D characters and enemies make for a great battle system, and the time guage is brought over from Grandia as well. The Combo system makes for an exciting fight, and because of these features, i found myself stopping everywhere to gain levels! The characters are included with their own personalities, and youll remember them and feel a sense of worry after completing the game. Distant from the first Grandia, Grandia II breaks through in all elements, making this an instant classic to an already amazing game.

A Great Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 16, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I am not by any means a big fan of role playing games, but I recieved grandia 2 for christmas and haven't been able to stop playing since. The storyline is engaging, and the game's bosses present a challenge, but not such a challenge that you become frustrated. The battle system works very well, it's turn based, but in a way thats hard to explain in words. I also received skies of arkadia, which I started playing first, but quickly became bored with. To anyone searching for an rpg on the Dreamcast, for the majority, Grandia 2 is your game.

okay so its not original but it sure is fun!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

OVERALL/STORY:

I know that there are so many great new concepts for storylines in RPG's. But theres usually some time when you want to turn back the clock and play a good ol' fashioned savetheworlder. But there's not that many new ones with great graphics/characters/environments/battle system(final fantasy VII aside) Then comes Grandia 2. Sure, youre saving the world but theres more to the story. The game deals alot with Religion. granas(god) versus valmar(satan). Theres a big legend aspect to it. But I'll admit, it can get repetitive. You go to a village, somethings wrong, you help, move on. But you can't get too mad at this game because it has so many great qualities.

GRAPHICS:

One of the First RPG's to feature full rotatable 3D backgrounds. they look great. Its alot of fun to just run around and rotate the map to see everything. The characters are rendered well. Not too much detail on the faces but their movements are very fluid and their clothing looks really nice. The spells look really cool. Some of them even weave in anime sequences. I find this strange because the FMVs are in CG. I think there shouldve been anime FMVs. That way, there could be more of them. One more cool thing is your characters' anime face shows up on the dialog boxes so you can see their emotions.

GAMEPLAY:

The battle system is great! instead of your characters lining up and facing the enemy, theres a large battle field that everyone moves around in. The interesting thing is, its still turn based. Your characters will move around on their own or you can tell them to move to specific spots. One of the most interesting battle aspects is you see your enemies on the non-battle(quest or whatever you call it) screen. This is a reminicent of Chrono Trigger. You can avoid them or sneak up. Even so battles are frequent so theres a cool AI system. You can set parameters for each character to fight by.

Sound:

This is the best! The first RPG to hire professional voice actors that do well. The full voice is only during the more important parts however. The music isnt annoying and the battle sounds are solid.

I would highly reccomend this game for anyone who wants to go back to the basics in concept but with cool enhancements everywhere else.

The best RPG ever!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Grandia II is a awsome game full of story and character devlopment. The graphic are good, everything from the backgrounds to Ryudo's boot buckles are detailed. At important points of the game, there is some voice acting that comes into play. I was slighty disapointed when it did not continue thoughout the entire game. The best thing about Grandia is the characters and the story. The characters' personallities stay true thoughout the whole game as Ryudo continually mocks Elena and Mareg speaks only in riddles. The conversations are realistic, they argue and yell at each other and at every inn when you spend the night they talk about the day's events over the dinner table. Dungeons are well done. You can see the monsters, and you can avoid some of them if you wish. Up in the coner on your screen a compass show the way. Grandia II is my personal favorite DC game and is a must-have.

Grandia II Vs. Skies of Arcadia

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Trying to decide between Grandia II and Skies of Arcadia? Both are excellent RPGs, and neither has a clear advantage over the other. Skies of Arcadia has more side quests, and the ability to engage in ship-to-ship battles is truly enjoyable, but Grandia has a far superior battle engine. And let's face it, battling is what you'll spend the majority of your time doing in ANY RPG. In short, while Arcadia is more involved and complex, you'll find that Grandia offers a much more enjoyable experience.

Sega's Best RPG?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is by far Sega's best RPG. There are others such as the Evolution series and Skies of Arcadia but this one is the best. Let's start with the battle system. The battles are entertaining and make you want to fight everything that you pass. It's a 3-d turned based system and you can use combos or single critical hits. The battles get even better with the more people you have in your party. The graphics are incredible even in the battles, everywhere. At key parts of the story it has voices and text. The magic system is another winner. You have mana eggs and you can master the mana egg with one person and then switch to another person and it's stilled mastered. This is a great feature and allows each character to have variety of magic. The story line seem interesting, but I have not beaten the game yet and do not know the full excitement of the story, but of what I have seen so far it's going to be good. There are many more features to this game and if I explain anymore this review will be long and winded, so I finish by saying buy this game and enjoy the many features it has to offer.

One of the best RPGS out there

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 16, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Grandia 2 is a game for anyone wo loves rpgs (like me) or if you just seeing what they are like. Im not going to explane the plot or characters of the game but i will give you some importat info.

The bad. Theres not much wrong with this game but its not perfect. The only real problem i can think of is that the game is easy. Well to most hardcore RPGers it is but for beginners its not that bad.

The good. The game is easly 30 hrs plus. Te story is great. One of the best part is just when you think the game is over the story does a 180 and your off on another adventure. The random battles is another great part. Like in most RPG's random battles happen to often and make the game boring. but in Grandia 2 you see the the enemys and you can deceide if you want to face them. The way the battle sceens are set up are in genious. You caneither deceide to attack defend are even move a way.

Well the rest is up to you to find out but i recemend you buy the game if you are into any type of rpg or adventure

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