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REVIEW: Grandia II

Grandia II was released in November 2000 on Dreamcast and ran neck-in-neck with Skies of Arcadia for the title, not just of Dreamcast RPG of the Year, but RPG of the Year on any console platform. Not bad, considering Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy IX and Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete were all released that same year.

Now UbiSoft kindly brings this GameArts classic to PS2, which is quickly following in the footsteps of the original PlayStation as the “console of choice” for RPG gamers. While it’s hard for any RPG, especially one published 15 month ago, to receive unqualified raves in the shadow cast by Square’s Final Fantasy X, but Grandia II holds up pretty well despite being pretty much a straight port with a few extra cinemas thrown in.

Of course, this will come as no surprise to GameArts fans; for a long time, they’ve known what most people are just beginning to realize: there are good RPGs out there not published by Square or Enix. In the hearts of dedicated RPG lovers, the Lunar series and Grandia series offer as rich a gaming heritage as Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior.

Let’s dig in to this outing…

Unlike some Disney-fied RPG heroes, Grandia II’s Ryudo has rough edges. No, I’m not talking jaggies, I’m talking verbiage.

The first time Ryudo let’s drop a “Let’s get the hell out of here,” you know this is a game that will earn its T rating from the ESRB. It’s refreshing to encounter a hero who talks like most people would in a given situation, although it does make the game a little salty for the younger gamer.

The reason for Ryudo’s ‘tude? He’s a “geohound,” which is basically Grandia II’s version of a mercenary. Ryudo has few friends and spends his time doing things for money … no, you dirty-minded gamer, not THAT … things like acting as a bodyguard, recovering lost property and the like.

Geohounds are looked down upon because all they care about is money, something Ryudo doesn’t actually mind much as long as he still gets paid. Ryudo is also down on women; no, he’s not gay … his life just doesn’t offer room for them. He sees females as trouble because they would expect him to settle down and change his life and profession for them, something Ryudo doesn’t want.

Of course, into each misogynist’s life, a little female companionship must fall and into this case, it comes in two forms; the embarrassingly innocent priestess Elana whom Ryudo is hired to protect, and Millennia, the uber-bitch who knows how to kick Ryudo’s butt, but may not be as much of an antagonist as she first seems.

In traditional GameArts style, Ryudo has an animal companion, Skye, who happens to be a large eagle. Well, that’s not as fun as a baby dragon, as in the Lunar series, but Skye comes equipped with a fair share of insults and comic relief.

On your journey, you’ll meet a large cast of interesting characters (don’t you always?) as the tale unfolds and while the plot starts out fairly boilerplate (the usual dreck about the end of the world and the resurrection of a Satanic evil dude), the style of characterization carries the day and makes it engaging.

On Dreamcast fifteen months ago, Grandia II was an eye-popper but now it’s just a pretty standard PS2 title from a graphic perspective; UbiSoft didn’t even bother to touch things up and give the characters noses! Ah, well, it’s an amime-style game … whatever!

The textures and level of detail feel a bit dated but is still pretty enough that once the story engages you, you’ll stop caring. Besides, who cares about “dated-looking” graphics when playing ChronoTrigger on PSone? Exactly … no one! So give GameArts the same break.

At the time it came out on Dreamcast, the amount of voice acting in Grandia II was pretty impressive, but that was for a game that existed on a GD-ROM. On PS2, with all the extra space a DVD provides, it seems a little quiet and text-heavy.

Still, aside from FFX, Grandia II has more voice acting than just about any other PS2 RPG, and the cast includes Cam Clarke (videogame MGS2: Sons of Liberty and the movie Disney’s Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea) and Jodi Benson (movies Disney’s The Little Mermaid and Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea).

It was an oversight by UbiSoft not to get Jodi Benson to lay down a song they could release as a single on a Grandia II soundtrack; when you have the voice of Ariel, use her! Still, Benson does solid work as bad girl Millennia, and seems to enjoy a role so different from the innocent Ariel role that made her famous.

Add in a soundtrack that is still one of the most memorable scores in recent RPG history and you have a pretty solid offering on an audio level.

Unfortunately, following the generous length of Square’s epic FFX (which can easily eat up 80 hours), Grandia II seems a bit on the short side, clocking in at an average of about 30 hours.
At least it’s fun while it lasts. The battle system is rocking but leaves something to be desired … specifically, that it’s not more like the original Grandia’s battle system.

Grandia featured a startlingly deep battle system in which even your armor and weapons gained experience levels, making a level 10 short sword more desirable in many cases than a brand new, level 1 long sword, for example.

While Grandia II retains the depth of its battle system when it comes to character development, the advancement system for weapons and armor is sadly missing in action. Hopefully, GameArts will swing back in the right direction with Grandia Xtreme, or at least with the inevitable Grandia III.

Nonetheless, the battle system still rocks the house if you’re a fan of fast-paced turn-based systems. It’s a lot like the Active Time Battle system from most PSone-era Final Fantasy titles, but with GameArts’ own special style brought into the mix. If you could switch party members in and out, as in Final Fantasy X, it would be almost perfect.

There are no random battles in Grandia II; you can see your enemies and even avoid them in some cases if you’re in a rush, but the battle system is fun enough that you won’t often want to avoid combat; best of all, being able to see your enemies allows you the chance to try to ambush them, which gains you an initiative advantage in battle, allowing you to almost certainly be the first to strike.

It’s a bit disappointing that some of the menu systems weren’t given a facelift to make them more PS2-esque but they are by no means unappealing; it’s just that they feel like they were designed for the Dreamcast controller, not the DualShock2, which, of course, they were. That’s why a slight modification would have been welcome, but it’s not a big deal.

When all is said and done, no one’s gonna drop Final Fantasy X to play Grandia II; but that’s not a knock since FFX is such a bar-setting title. The good news is, Grandia II is arguably the next RPG you’ll want to play, once you finish FFX.

If you missed it on Dreamcast and enjoyed the PSone outing of the first Grandia, despite Sony’s workmanlike localization, the good news is that UbiSoft pulled off a witty English script with good doses of solid voice-acting; it’s worth your time and money and a must for any PS2 RPG-fan’s library.

Of course, if FFX has spoiled you for any RPG that’s not at least that good, Grandia II may not quite measure up; but if you pass Grandia II up, don’t ever let me catch you playing Chrono Trigger or any of your PSone titles ever again, you hypocrites! It may not be as cutting edge as it was 15 months ago, but Grandia II still kicks major boo-tay!

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Posted by Craig "American Idle" Hansen on Aug 3rd, 2003 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.

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