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Grandia 2's story starts out well, but...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: October 12, 2001
Author: Amazon User

....unfortunately goes on to become tedious, boring, and most of all- too damn preachy. The dialogue in the later parts of the game almost made me fall asleep. The characters repeat themselves so many times. Ugh...
Well, okay, it's not that bad.
Grandia 2 has a [bad] plot, though. It centers around a mercenary named Ryudo, and a girl named Elena. They are off on an epic adventure to stop the evil god Valmar from waking up and wrecking havoc on the entire world. Grandia 2 is chock full of religious overtones, and the characters themselves question their own faith as the storyline progresses. Not that it's a bad thing, it's just that in your 30th hour of gaming, the whole "good vs. evil" thing gets really old. This game shouldn't be noted for it's plot. It's too trite, too old, and it's been done to death. Also Grandia is very linear- there are no sidequests at all.
However this game has some good points, namely- the gameplay (the stuff you do between boring cutscenes ;)). Firstly, you can see your enemies, before they attack, and that gives you a chance to run away. No more random battles. Second, the battle system is deep and strategic. It is real- time mixed with turnbased action. You can even set the AI and the battles will run the course themselves. The graphics in this game are gorgeous and the animations are flawless. It truly shows off the power of the Dreamcast.
So in conclusion, if you're looking for solid Rpg gameplay and don't mind a rehashed plot with cookie- cutter characters- grandia 2 is your thing. If you want something a little more off beat- you're better off looking elsewhere.

The First and Last Great RPG For The Dreamcast

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: December 22, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I never played Grandia for the Playstation, and I never really had heard of it. Sega announced soon thereafter that they would produce the sequel on their Dreamcast. This gave Sega fans a chance to laugh and point their fingers at Playstation owners. Unfortunately, Sega recently sold the rights to PS2 for Grandia II. So, there goes our glee. But Grandia II was the first "real" RPG I ever played.

For a wee bit of background information, RPG stands for role playing game. A "real" RPG refers to Final Fantasy. Zelda isn't a "real" RPG, per se. Anywho, on with the review before I die of boredom. If I do, I'm taking you with me, so bear with me.

Okay, the story starts as 17-year-old Ryudo kills some baddies and retrieves some treasure. He then makes his way to Carbo, a small village. There, he meets with Elena, who's a bit ratty, and her father. Ryudo then must take Elena to a ceremony out of town. That is where I leave you. Graphics are great, 5 outta 5. Sound is great, 5 outta 5. Replay is great, 5 outta 5. Go buy it. I am now leaving.

Great sound, battle system, graphics, but stale plot

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: December 30, 2001
Author: Amazon User

ok, ill start out with the good:
Graphics:these graphics are better that final fantasy's. I saw screenshots from Final fantasy ten and grandia II's are better!

Battle's:battles can sometimes be a bit too easy but they have loads of stategy and fun. When you cast a spell you have to look at the area of effect it will have so that you can take out more monsters. When you cast a spell your in for a load of eye candy! They become CG scenes themselves and make you mouth drop!

Sound:the songs are pretty good, especially Elena's songs. the voice acting is great for a console RPG but can be a bit annoying.

The only big problem i had was with the plot. Its one from the play books and doesnt provide much to what will happen. Ok you have a dead good god, and sleeping evil god. Ofcourse you have to kill the evil god and whats left but the human heart. BORING!

thats the bad part but the rest of the game is so much fun! i liked it more the the FF's. FF's have too many side quest and thats takes away from the what the story is about. This game doenst have any which in my opinion is a plus. you dont have to worry about if you'll be able to get the best weapon or a powerful item that lest you use super strong spells. you just bye them or get them as spoils from bosses. Thats what makes the game fun.

Disappointing

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: January 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Like most Dreamcast owners, I was really excited about this game. However, having played it, here are some quick observations:

1. Graphically beautiful -- however, you can't interact with most of the objects you encounter in buildings -- makes exploration pointless in most cases.

2. Sound good, music bad (the one exception being Elena's singing). For the most part, the music doesn't set the scene, and in some areas is plain annoying.

3. Story -- Except for the dual nature of Elena/Millenia (which is a pretty cool idea), the rest is pretty bland -- if you want a good story, stear clear.

4. The battle system kicks some serious hiney --for that reason alon, get this game.

In need of some fine tuning...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: November 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Grandia is a unique game, more of a collaboration of successful elements from classic RPGs than an altogether new game unto itself. There are elements of multiple Square and Enix role players in here, as well as aspects of several other games I'm sure I've overlooked. Still, despite borrowing so much from its predecessors, Grandia II remains a fresh play.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the storyline. This is about as mediocre of a plot as I've ever run across. Your focal character, Ryudo, is a warrior for hire, trying as hard as humanly possible to come off like a real badass but failing miserably. The number of times he says "damn" becomes almost comical by the time you're a couple hours into the game.

Pretty much every RPG cliche is handled in this one. There are a few moments where I think a little bit of religious commentary is trying to peek through, but they're smothered very quickly by the horrendous writing. Four hours in, and I'd already quit speaking to non-central characters. A lot of time and effort went into giving the regular townsfolk a lot to say, but I quit caring after the first village. None if it's important, or even interesting.

The dialogue is almost painful at some points. Writers try their damndest to borrow from Shakespheare at one point, completely butchering the quote in the process. I kid you not, a character actually utters the infamous phrase "he's got intestinal fortitude." That's right, they jump from Shakespheare to Gorilla freaking Monsoon. Once you make that leap, there's no going back. Believability just flew out the window.

There's voice acting in key moments of the game, which varies from good to downright awful. Ryudo's voice sounds hauntingly similar to Kaneda's in the original English dub of Akira, complete with the occasional squeak and squawk of puberty. Come to think of it, all the game's voice acting sounds like it came straight out of an anime. I'd be surprised to find out otherwise. Still, for the most part the voices match the characters and I found myself enjoying the actor's struggle to make poorly written lines work in a dramatic context. Unfortunately, whoever was in charge of the final mixing didn't share my enjoyment, as he put the background noise and music WAY up. There are points where I can't understand the spoken dialogue thanks to the overpowering musical score or sounds of the villages. Thank god for subtitles...

Speaking of anime, the game's spells and graphics offer something unique in this realm. There are portions of Grandia II where live-rendered game graphics interact with pre-rendered, animated material.. and, god help me, it actually seems to work. This is something that could've been really, REALLY over the top if done too often, but the team surprisingly used the effects sparingly, maximizing their effect. It's an interesting interaction, and I can't say it's without it's quirks, but I've got to give them credit for trying.

Truth be told, I really enjoy the battle system we see here. There are shades of Star Ocean: the Second Story, mixed with touches of Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger and Dragon Warrior. There's no such thing as a random encounter in this world, monsters appear on the maps just the same as your playable character does. If you're running low on life, you can try to avoid confrontations, or if you're looking for experience you can hunt down every last monster in the area. If you steer into the backside of a monster, you'll be granted "initiative", or first strike. If a monster catches you from behind, they've "surprised" you, and gain first strike themselves. It's easy to understand, and works flawlessly.

The system works, despite being somewhat shallow. Rather than the Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior method (all your guys line up on one side, all their guys line up on the other), they go instead for a strange mix of Chrono Trigger and Star Ocean's styles, everyone interacts with everyone else. It's still turn-based at heart, but there are new factors you have to compensate for.. it's possible to catch a monster in-transit from his position to the spot he's chosen to attack, disrupting his turn. Even if your sword is in mid-swing, inches from an adversary's head, if they get the spell off, they get the spell off. Time effectively freezes when a spell or special attack is used, which can be both very useful or really annoying. It's a fun system that almost completely makes up for the sharp lack of a story.

Graphically, this is CERTAINLY a Dreamcast game. Everything moves almost too smoothly, characteristic of the system in my eyes, but it's better than anything you'd have seen on Playstation at the time. It's like if Square had released Final Fantasy VII on the PS2. Textures look much better, polygons are much, much smoother, but what it all boils down to is somewhat blocky figures with no nose or mouth. Moments in the game are downright beautiful; the reflections on the floor in the cathedral, the mist coating the floors of a later dungeon, but they could've pushed things it a little further.

If music is a factor, you'll want to skip this entirely. The score is downright awful, almost a mockery of itself. Songs mismatch horribly with their surroundings, attracting attention to themselves rather than blending into the background and setting a tone for the scene. When you're drawn into a battle, I half-expect giant, computer-rendered footballs to fly across the screen. The guitar and horn-driven rock sounds like it leapt directly from Monday Night Football into the score of Grandia II. While playing, we've actually started coming up with our own, sports-related lyrics. It's that bad.

What it all boils down to is a really, really fun battle system, nice graphics that can't possibly compete with the stuff we're seeing on the shelves today, a nasty musical score, and a forgettable story.

Whoa.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 10
Date: June 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

What can i say? Well one thing i could say that is if amazon had a review rating in the negatives this would still be considered very very very low. For one it was very prodictable...and i mean very! And the story line my god, it was horrible! ...

PRAISE FOR GRANDIA 2

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: September 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Grandia 2 put me up on gaming HEAVEN for weeks! I loved it. You'll NeVeR eVeR gUeSs WhO tHe FiNaL bOsS iS!

wow

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: August 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

WOW!!!! Thats pretty much all I had to say about this game.

I just could not believe the graphics, Sound, And anything else that goes into a game. The only thing that dragged this game down was the never ending cussing from the main character. Besides that, It was GREAT!!!

This is the best RPG I've ever played!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I usually don't play RPGs--at least not to completion, anyway. I am hooked on Grandia 2, however. The combination of an excellent battle system and no random battles makes this an RPG that anyone should be able to play, and play well. The character design is top notch, and the textures are almost photorealistic. I haven't played "Skies of Arcadia" yet, but I can't imagine any RPG being more fun to play than this one.

Awsome RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

If you like Great 3-D graphics, spectacular magic powers, crazy looking monsters, then this strategic game is for you. I just got the game and i can't get enough of it. It is the best Rpg game i have played in a long time. I recommend this game for all ages to play

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