Grandia II Review

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Story - 6.5/10

Soundtrack -

Graphics -

Gameplay -

Controls -

Overall -

 

Story

The story of this game is actually kind of generic by today's standards. Essentially it's based almost entirely around a religion and the pilgrimage of Elena, a member of that religion. During which you discover the truth of the world and all of that fun stuff. I won't spoil any of the details for you so don't worry.

The story itself was interesting and it had some laugh out loud moments with the cast. Millenia for example is a very well done character. I love how if the monsters during a battle annoy her enough she gets pissed off and the AI takes over and uses her special moves. The game had some really unique moments/things like these that makes it worth playing.

Soundtrack

One of the best parts about the game was the Soundtrack. The battle theme <3

If you've read a lot of my reviews you'll realize that any game that I like, the Soundtrack section usually always receives high praise and this game is no different. For years to come I will youtube this game's OST and listen to it while working.

Graphics

The graphics were the second best thing about this game for me. I played it on the Ps2 and not the Dreamcast or the remastered Steam version. The Ps2 version I played had some white blockiness and screen tearing but the reason I loved the graphics so much is because they reminded me so much of Final Fantasy 7.

The blocky characters and the overall feel of the graphics. It really felt like the spirital successor to Final Fantasy 7 graphically. That I noticed almost immediately and it drew me in.

Gameplay

This is where the game shines. The combat is turn based combat like we see in many RPGs but it's built very noticeably on strategy. Each character gets Special Moves that have a Cancel effect on them. What this does is allows you to interrupt monsters and you can honestly chain cancel most bosses without even letting them get off a single attack if you play tactically enough

Aside from that the combat plays out more realistically than most other RPGs. Character's run around the battlefield and their distance from the enemy matters when taking attacks into consideration and so on. I only stopped to grind once this whole game and by the time I reached the end boss he wasn't even a challenge for me.

Controls

The controls of this game are fantastic. Inside combat and outside combat control wise is nearly flawless. I did however encounter one issue that I mention below.

I have one single complaint about the controls in this game and that's when it came to setting up the AI during battle/outside of battle to attack on its own - I had many issues. I was able to have them attack on their own for about two dungeons then I hit Triangle during battle and I changed something and that was it for the rest of the game. I couldn't ever get them to be anything but Manually controlled.

Overall

If you're an RPG fan and looking for a really fun game to pass the time and haven't tried Grandia II yet I would recommend it. The story may be unoriginal but it definitely isn't unentertaining. There's a few unexpected twists and the character's of the game are very well made. Roan, Millenia, Skye and Ryudo are all very well fleshed out character's that I developed quite an affinity for.