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Grandia II
PlayStation 2
Released On: Jan 28, 2002
71
8.4
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 19 Critic Reviews
71
32% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
63% Mixed
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
5% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 19 Critic Reviews
71
32% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
63% Mixed
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
5% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
It's got excellent battle mechanics, plenty of character building choices, a bright airy feel, some witty interjections from Ryduo and Skye, and has hours and hours of gameplay.
The voice-acting is noteworthy, but there are some just rudimentary audio effects and the music is sometimes dramatic, sometimes just unexciting...Good, basic RPG fare.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 60 User Ratings
8.4
80% Positive
48 Ratings
48 Ratings
12% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
8% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 60 User Ratings
8.4
80% Positive
48 Ratings
48 Ratings
12% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
8% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
A really good sequel that fully delivers for me. It looks like they want a more „Adult“ look for the sequel which is strange as Grandia dealt with a lot of serious motives later on. However I like both games and the cast and ideas of Grandia 2 won me over. Like the Final Fantasy sequels Grandia 2 is set in a different world, with new characters and new lore while having some similarities. Also there are some improvements compared to the first game. Story: A long time ago Granas the god of light and Valmar his evil counterpart clashed. While Granas won he was seriously weakened and Valmar was not destroyed but neutralized. However this has happen very long ago. At the present Ryudo and his eagle partner Skye are working as Geohounds (Soldiers). They are tasked to escort Elena who is a Songstress of the church of Granas to an old tower for a regular cleansing ritual. They do not know that this is the start **** adventure that will challenge them and the world. I wont spoil the story and end it with this set up. I like the story and the characters. There are genuine developments, twists, backstories, reveals and conflicts that always kept my interest high. Even after many years I remember the story and many emotional scenes. The characters are excellent and won me completely over. The main trio of Ryudo, Elena and Millenia are so enjoyable and became my favorites. It ended not there as Zera, Tio, Roan, Tio, Mareg and Melfice are also really good. Together with the story this is a strength of the game. Also the humor is spot on and it was entertaining too. Like Grandia 1 there are many good jokes, quirks and humorous situations. Gameplay: Grandia has a bit of a unique turn based battle system. You can see enemies and depending how you engage or the enemies vice versa can get the initiative (Touch them behind and avoid the opposite). Then the battle starts. It is close to the Final Fantasy active time turn based battles but with a twist. There is an IP bar that shows which party member or enemy will act next. If you reach a marker you can input your command. The twist is that you have to reach the next marker to execute the command. This gives tactical options as special attacks and powerful magics take longer to perform. It is possible to cancel attacks or delay your enemies and vice versa. For this you have a fast and strong normal basic attack. Some special attacks and magic will also do the trick. It total this was a good system that added tactical depth to the battles. Each character has unique abilities he / she can use. The magic system was improved. In Grandia you had to find fairy eggs that unlock one element for 1 character (out of 4). Here fairy eggs have spells on them. You can develop those and switch to different eggs. I like this a lot better. It is more of the improved same. Presentation: I fully admit that the graphics have not aged that well but the art style is still good. Maybe it was not on the highest level back then. However I say it is not ugly. The soundtrack is amazing and still worth listening. Especially Elenas song is remarkable but the rest also delivers. Luckily we got a good cast of voice actors and a better translation. Bugs / negatives: I had no bugs or glitches during my playthrough. I see no mayor negatives but the battle system got a bit repetitive towards the end. Overall I see this as a really great game but must warn you that I am influenced by nostalgia. Worth a try a least for RPG fans.
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PlayStation 2
I loved this game, I couldn't put it down once the story picked up. The characters, battle system and story really held my attention and made this a game I played constantly, I'm looking forward to picking up more in the Grandia series someday.
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PlayStation 2
Grandia II may not look like much from a technical standpoint--disappointingly, the game actually looks a bit worse than the original Dreamcast version--but its visual design is well done.
It has its ups and its downs, and it certainly isn't the equal of its predecessor, but it's a good-looking game and an absolutely great-playing one.
To put it bluntly, this game's graphics are a mess...still a great RPG. [Feb 2002, p.107]
Tie the archaic visual presentation to the nauseating plot and uninteresting character personalities, and the end result is yet another RPG that doesn't live up to the expectations. [Mar 2002, p.79]
Inexplicably horrible graphics completely ruin an otherwise splendid title. [Feb 2002, p.156]
This is one of the best RPG games I've played. Without giving away too much, you go around destroying different parts of an evil god. He needs to absorb all of these pieces to become whole again. Where the game really shines is the battle system. Your characters and enemies are constantly moving around, though the game pauses to give you a chance to give commands to your characters. Depending on how far away a character is from an enemy depends on how long it will take to attack them. You can use "critical" attacks to cancel out an enemy's move if timed carefully.
You should know this is a Dreamcast port, so the graphics are Dreamcast era. This is one of those games that would have been better by not using 3-D real-time graphics. However, the characters are animated well, doing everything from scooting out of bed to going into an angry pose while speaking.
For people that like to read, the characters consistently have outrageous and funny puns to say. An alter ego of one of the characters flirts with the main character, who likes to think of himself as a tough guy, but he eventually softens up. The dialogue reminds me of that written for Disgaea.
It would be unfair of me to rate the game lower because of the technical flaws, but it's way TOO noticeable. The graphics clip in and out constantly, there's MASSIVE slowdowns within towns and a few dungeons. Fog and reflection effects double the slowdown. There's even glitches that affect the menus and text sometimes, but they are not deal breakers. Gold coins that appear after defeating enemies turn black half of the time. To be fair, the game never froze once. I give this game a 10 despite its technical flaws, which I feel shouldn't detract from the game. It's definitely worth trying, but pickup the Dreamcast version if you can.
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PlayStation 2
Played on PlayStation 2.
Gameplay: GREAT.
Story: GREAT.
Graphic: GREAT.
Control/Voice Acting: GREAT.
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PlayStation 2
Cool character design and an interesting, albeit slightly creepy story scenario. The plot picks up quick and leaves you wanting to play for hours on end once it really gets going. Very few people are as they initially appear in Grandia 2, and the holy may not be as holy as they let on...
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PlayStation 2
Very good battle system, interesting plot, charming characters.
The difficulty level maybe is a little low.
I enjoyed this game and recommend it to people who likes RPG games.
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PlayStation 2
I would have given this game a 10 if not for the sloppy PSX port. The game is choppy and load times are excruciating. This is the best battle system in the history of RPG's. The story was great and was in my opinion was ripped off for the storyline of FFX, some of the characters were ripped off as well. This game is hard, but maybe not worth playing on the PSX if your an impatient person.
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PlayStation 2
