Grandia II

THE BAD:
game difficulty, limited strategy

SUMMARY:
I started on the original Grandia for PlayStation a couple of years back, when I started collecting role-playing games for the console. I don't remember too much about the original. It was linear and the characters were rather cutesy -- the girl in the party, Sue, did some kind of cheerleading thing to boost attack power. Anyhow, Grandia decided to put its sequel to the Dreamcast... and like any RPG-hungry guy, I picked it up.

The game begins with Ryudo, a Geohound -- or more precisely, someone who wanders the land filling odd jobs for clients. Ryudo's rough exterior has been tempered by his membership in the lower class. Basically, no one really finds much use or like for him beyond getting a job done -- and with good reason. The voiceovers can attest to this; the boy's got quite a mouth on him. He encounters Elena, a Songstress of Granas, who needs protection during a ceremony at Garmia Tower. When that fails, all hell breaks loose -- literally -- and before you know, Ryudo and Elena are in the midst of a cosmic war. Good versus evil. You've heard it before...

The story's intriguing. There is enough depth and character development to keep your eyes open, and there's enough complexity in the game's mythology to keep you entertained. Good and evil has been recast as the search for truth and humanity in an age of dying gods and false biblical accounts. You'll feel most proud of Elena as she realizes the truth behind her religious affiliation. (Agnostics of the world, unite! Ha ha.) And you might get into the exploration aspect of the game as your team travels from continent to continent in search of the truth. There's enough escapism for everyone.

The Dreamcast has significantly boosted the graphics of the Grandia franchise. Backgrounds are incredibly vibrant and colorful and the environments really stand out. The artists have paid some attention to detail; if you run around in people's houses, you can knock stuff over or upset dishes or even chase a squeak-baa out from under a table. I would venture to say that you get the most eye candy during the battle sequences. Spells are incredibly strong in visual detail. Whether your forte is ice crystals, flaming phoenices, earthquakes, or the forest, the graphics are superb. Players will also appreciate the many minutes of CG sequences. Though they probably don't have as much pizzazz as the ones featured in Phantasy Star Online, overall, the visual presentation is incredibly stunning.

The battle system hasn't changed much from the original. Grandia II features an IP meter. Allies and monsters are all represented with icons on the meter. Your speed determines how quickly your character reaches the COM (or command) point, while your move and act scores determine how quickly and accurately you attack your opponents at the ACT point. Spells and special moves require charge time. Your characters also receive two types of attacks: Combo (a two-hit attack for damage) and Critical (a powered-up single attack that can cancel a monster's attack or spell, if it's in the red zone -- between COM and ACT). The menu also features defend and evade techniques to minimize damage.

Essentially, you've got the makings for some real strategy. You can plot your moves battle by battle to keep your party healthy, but in the long run, you want to develop your party members' skills. After each battle, you earn Special Coins and Magic Coins which can boost up players' moves and spells respectively. You can max your abilities one at a time or disperse your coins evenly, to pick up more spells and more moves. You can also learn and develop Skills, which include stat modifiers, recovery techniques, battle moves, and special skills like counterattacking and winning more treasure after battle. Grandia II provides enough customization to make your characters and your party development interesting, but not overwhelming -- like the Job System for Final Fantasy Tactics, for example.

At the same time, you probably won't need to strategize too much for most battles, bosses included. Each area has several different kinds of monsters, but you probably won't find yourself overwhelmed too often. There are no random battles. In fact, if you approach the visible monster target from behind, you can ambush them -- and most of the time, you can get away unscathed. As long as you have enough money to keep your weapons and armor upgraded, very few enemies will overpower your troops. Boss battles are also rather predictable. The end boss usually comes in several parts; you can focus your attacks or, if your spells and moves are sufficiently leveled up, you can go all out with your most damaging moves. Truth told, you can easily play through the entire game without having all your allies killed.

I have mixed feelings on the dialogue. While the writers preserved the speed of natural conversation in most scenes, unfortunately, NPCs talk a little too much than necessary. You can do yourself a favor and ignore most of the people you encounter in towns and on the field; they don't really give you much helpful information. And Ryudo and the gang make it pretty obvious who you should look for in each city. While I applaud the voice acting, the voices started grating the nerves a bit. Cut scenes seem to take forever when the characters are talking among themselves, and more often than not, you tire of Elena's formal, naive tone or Ryudo's smugness. Roan sounds like he's got a permanent head cold, and Tio's lifelessness (though she's an automaton) grows a bit stale. Oh, and if Mareg emphasized the word "SMELL" one more time, why I'd...!

But you might get a kick out of the acting during battles. It's funny to hear Milennia yell "Deep, fried goodness!" for a thunder-elemental attack or "Mmmm, fresh hamburger!" for her Avenging Claw move. (In fact, she was my favorite character.)

Gamers who appreciate treasure hunting will enjoy Grandia's dungeons, for the most part. You have to manuever the camera around using the L and R trigger buttons, but that's only because you want to make sure you explore every nook and cranny before moving onto the next area in a stage. If you're a fan of dungeon puzzles, Grandia makes them incredibly elementary. The most you'll ever have to do is throw a switch or cut through something in the way. And if you love collecting recovery and attack items, Grandia gives you more than plenty!

Grandia II overall is a linear tale with little need for leveling up or dungeon exploration. Journeying from place to place will take you up to 40 hours, maybe longer if you stay in dungeons to earn more levels, Coins, spells, etc. Granted, I have seen better work in epics such as Final Fantasy. But considering what the Dreamcast has to offer for RPGers, if the cute dungeon-hacking of Evolution doesn't suit you or Phantasy Star Online in offline mode has grown stale, you'll find Grandia II worthwhile.