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Mediocre RPG

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This RPG does not have a very interesting story to it. However, I like the game system. The gauge of initiative is pretty neat. The game is geared towards young babies. The battles are not very difficult and neither are the dungeons. The leveling of the characters are very fast.

Grandia 2

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Great game...period. I beleive that this is the best game of the whole Grandia series. Command prompt style battle makes it easy to plan your attack. It does become very challenging, but it's soooo much fun.

Come on buddy, give the poor game a break

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I don't know what kind of personal vendetta the above reviewer has against Grandia 2. Whether the game beat him up, or peed in his shoes is beyond my knowledge, I have to step up and defend this aweseom Dreamcast game.
As one of few stellar and eagerly awaited RPG's for the system, and for it's time. Grandia 2 shines. Whether it is the deeply constructed battle system, or the better than ever voice acting, Grandia 2 was a game that I couldn't stop playing.

The story, while it was not up there with the giants like Chrono Trigger, Panzer Dragoon Saga, or Phantasy Star, it had it's moments to be remembered. Despite being typical RPG character cliches, (The female healer, the angsty young buck that'll save the world once he confronts his feelings, the huge axe wielding silent guy) they do an above average job of fulfilling these requirements.

Get this game, especially since its cheap now.

Like an RPG buffet...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

...mostly pretty good, more than you could possibly eat, and just a bit overcooked.
Probably the most noteworthy observation of Grandia II is that it fits on one disc! It's an incredibly expansive game, with voice-overs, some cinematic FMVs, and a stunning level of graphic detail that makes every doorknob, crate, or street lamp pop off the screen. Not an RPG enthusiast myself, I was hooked after a few hours and couldn't turn it off. I killed almost three days, playing for around 15 hours straight at one point (lucky I didn't burn up my Dreamcast), and finished in about 35 game hours, enjoying nearly every second.
Exploration is the main gameplay mechanic: each world is large and complete with an immeasurable number of NPCs, all of which will lend a wealth of conversation. The amount of text in this game alone could fill a short novel, and most of it is coherent and well-organized, no small feat for a Japanese-English translation. I regret rushing through the game so quickly, it's best played in short intervals over a few weeks, so that the intricacies of each new world can be explored and appreciated.
The combat system is a mixed blessing: the extreme complexity gives a player something to sink his teeth into as the game progresses, but requires a lot of manual study and hits pretty hard initially with its steep curve. Attack animations and just the sheer variety of maneuvers are pleasantly overwhelming, but be prepared to wait through some pretty long boss battles. Leveling-up against common enemies and sub-bosses is a breeze: it nearly becomes a tiresome annoyance after half the game. But boss battles are often unnecessarily difficult due to the radical variation of individual attacking appendages from one boss to another. Creatures with six or seven attack points will be awarded with almost twice as many turns as the player's party, while many super-bosses are relatively easy with only one or two offensive points. Otherwise, a great battle system.
Interaction with characters really builds a strong empathy for the NPCs, and that's the strongest hook an RPG can offer. The story is fairly typical Japanese RPG: a bizarre and often nonsensical tale of apocalyptic destruction, undercut by a budding love story, camaraderie, and good spot of well-aimed humor. The rant on religion (which apparently ends up as some sort of endorsement of atheism?) is excessively preachy and rather illogical, eventually deteriorating into an intellectual train wreck endorsing, as best I understand it, the truth and falsehood of both everyone's beliefs and no one's. I wouldn't spend time criticizing it if I hadn't been forced to A-button through every inane bit of text that all added up to a whole lot of nothing. Fortunately, the bonds between characters are the main focus of conversation, and the friendships you build are the true foundation of the game's theme.
This is one of the really great adventure games of this era. I can't imagine a gamer whom I couldn't recommend this to; well, maybe someone without a lot of time on their hands.

Diamond in the rough

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: March 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I must say, when I found this game buried in the used rack, I wasn't expecting all that much (having no previous experience with the original). But being a fan of RPG's (and searching for cheap Dreamcast games to add to my collection), I thought "why not"? And thank god I did.
After 5 minutes, I got the sense that this game was something unique. After 15, I was beginning to like it. And after 30, I was completely and utterly hooked. I recently finished the game, and I think it is a testament to how great the game is when I say that I nearly shed a tear at the game's close.
My only issue with the game was it's rather predictable and often-times cheesy plot. I found myself repeatedly guessing (correctly)not only what was about to happen, but what was to happen several plot points down the line. But this was dwarfed by all the things I adored about the game.
First and foremost, the writing. More specifically, the dialogue writing. This game sports some of the best writing I have ever seen period. Not just in a game. The dialogue worked fantastically with the plot and characters to greatly enhance the experience. On a similar note, the voice acting was first-rate. The interspersing of voice-acting and text-based dialogue was quite well-done and did much to draw me into the game. But I think the thing I liked most of all about the writing was that it had a great sense of humor. From Ryudo's constant sarcasm, to Millenia's innuendoes (see her Heel Crush attack for my favorite line), and everything in between, the writers are the unsung heroes of this title. I mean come on! How can you not love a character that yells out "Deep-fried goodness!" when casting a lightning spell? Hell, that still cracks me up.
The battle system was another element that rapidly drew me into the experience. The hybrid turn-based/real-time system is at the same time like and not like several other RPG battle systems I've seen. The 3-D battlefield that forces the characters to run around to hit their opponents is intriguing, especially the often-useful technique of Cancelling an opponents attack. If you choose the right attacks at the right time (and if you're lucky), it's possible to defeat some of the bosses without them getting a single attack off. Also, the special attacks and magic spells looked gorgeous. The graphic artists on this game should be commended as well. From anime-style cut-scenes to the battle animations to the characters and environments themselves, this game is a joy to look at.
I know I sort of covered this already with the voice acting, but this game not only looks great, it sounds great too. The music is downright incredible for a video game (especially for one that's 3+ years old). They give you an Audio CD with the game with all the music on it, which is really cool so you can revisit all the excellent tunes anytime you want (it's still in my car's CD player in fact).
Finally, the game is very accessible to gamers of all skill levels although it is on the slightly easy side for more-skilled ones. This is not a hindrance, I have found, as I can say, without any reservations whatsoever, that Grandia II is my favorite game of all time and will remain so for a very long time to come.

The best is only to be started over

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: October 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

HEY, this is the greatest RP freaking G I have every played for dreamcast so far. I really like the battle style(a bit hard to grasp at first), not only that but the music and the characters are wonderfully emotional. The game has a big dead lead line heart beat of belief inself. This was a great game for me because of my veiws on the storyline(can't tell why or it,ll ruin it for ya!). But lets forget about the charaters for a sec and go into graphics. The graphics are the thing that makes me still think that the dreamcast is better than PS2. It really has beutifully animated cenes and spells not to mention the real time graphics. This game was one I couldn't put down it was so good i felt like I was in the game. I'll shut up now but THIS GAME IS A MUST HAVE AND WILL BE REMEBERED FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. THIS GAME IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AWSOME!!

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!

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! ...

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.

Grandia II=bad graphics=great gameplay

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: November 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

bad graphics, awesome gameplay.
with the all new, Wait... Action..., Battling System.
Amount of swares: 40% out of maximum 100%= Average swaring(not anywhere too near excessive)
An automatic favorite!
Educational!
The new thing next to Final Fantasy!
Also= Great Gameplay Music selection!
P.S. Comes with Music CD from game.

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