Summary
I've been there before...
The Good
"Grandia II" can be called a sequel to the original game only gameplay-wise, because story-wise, it has nothing to do with it. And frankly, it is good so...
The first
Grandia, a game marked by almost unbearable childishness of its main characters and overall atmosphere, nearly drove me crazy when I was playing it. One thing is sure: "Grandia II" is better than its predecessor. In every way it is a more mature game. The cuteness level was reduced. The heroes' personalities actually resemble grown-up people. The plot has good lyrical and even tragic moments. And there are no "puff-puff" attacks. Thank the gods for small wonders.
Lots of fans disliked Ryudo, the main character of "Grandia II", for being too rude, too "Squall-like". This is, of course, ridiculous. Anyone who played the game enough to discover Ryudo's past and the motives for his behavior will understand he has little to do with spoiled brats like Squall (yes, I don't like Squall. But I do like
Final Fantasy VIII!). I enjoyed controlling Ryudo much more than the silly Justin from the first game. This protagonist is one of the things that makes the game worth playing - at least to a certain extent.
The supporting cast is also quite good, sometimes bordering on deep. Elena, the obligatory innocent girl, owes her existence to an old trusty stereotype, yet her personality is well-developed, and in fact she has more to say than her countless "sisters". You may hate her "goody-goody" approach, but don't forget we have Millenia to counter that. The ogre-like Mareg, with his simple philosophy and his colorful, unusual language, is a solid character to have in any party. But the best is, of course, Millenia - a charming girl. Not only does she bring a certain comical relief to the game, but during the course of the events she develops to a really likable, attractive person. I like such "bad girls", and it's good to see one of them in an Asian RPG. Such a character has an extremely refreshing influence on the game. I won't exaggerate that I was playing this game mainly to see yet another one of her tricks.
No modern Asian RPG - especially when it's fairly traditional, like "Grandia II" - can survive without good dialogues. And here is where "Grandia II" really shines. The dialogues are natural, intelligent, with a lot of colorful expressions and humor. Each character has his (or her) own way of speaking, and it is nice to hear characters talk in
their own styles, instead of uttering generic lines such as "We must destroy evil! Let's go!" For example, Ryudo's ironic speech and his sarcastic remarks are not there just because the designers of the game wanted to show they have a sense of humor, but because it is perfectly natural for a person like Ryudo to talk in such a manner. Same goes for Mareg's wise sayings, and for Millenia's rude suggestions. All this makes the dialogue
credible. That's why, although the game has a tremendous amount of dialogue, it almost never becomes boring - for the most part, it is surprisingly natural and fresh.By the way, the translators did one hell of a job, the English language of the game is fresh and natural, and I never encountered awkward phrases so typical for translations from Japanese.
The plot of "Grandia II" is quite good, with some well-performed twists and turns, and even a couple of "what the hell is going on?!" situations. It is not overly complex - just solid. It also features a lot of old trusty Japanese-RPG concepts such as inner conflicts, conflicts between family members, love triangle, the history of mankind, etc. However, the real power of the game's story lies in its philosophical concept and in its observations of religion and the nature of faith. Of course, we have seen this before - especially in the first
Lunar, and also in
Xenogears. But for an unprepared player, the plot serves its purpose fairly well.
The combat system is a lot like in the first game. Instead of physical magic-upgrading and hunting for mana eggs, "Grandia II" allows you to upgrade magic and techniques not by using them, but by gathering special coins, which you then can distribute to power-up characters. The system works quite well. In addition to this, you can equip characters will skills, which can also be upgraded at your choice. Some skills give a character more HP when equipped, another boosts his (or her) special attacks, etc. Basically, you can make out of your characters what you like - strong fighters, quick characters which are handy when you need to use an item, powerful spellcasters, and so on. Like the first "Grandia", the game features an IP bar, where you see all characters, allies and enemies, moving towards a spot where they are given commands, and then continue moving towards the execution spot. This system allows a lot of various moves - you can cancel the moves of the enemies by using a critical attack; you can counter their attacks with your own ones, provided you have time to reach the enemy and to hit it before it hits you; you can push back enemies by attacking with several characters at once, not letting it hit you, etc. Since all the characters run around the battlefield, the battles become pretty dynamic.
The graphics of "Grandia II" are also very good. The towns are rather impressive. Spell effects during combat also contain a lot of eye candy.
The Bad
Well, for starters, the game is too linear. There are hardly any bonus areas, no optional bosses or something like this. You move around the world map by jumping from spot to spot - much less exciting than exploring the map on your own. You always feel you are being guided by someone, as the game doesn't let you explore anything on your own. Common problem for Asian RPGs, a necessary limitation of a radically story-driven genre? Maybe, but why to take it to the extreme?
However, the game's real problem is a total lack of an original concept. I know that it might seem preposterous to demand original concepts from a genre that is notorious for its clichés and overused plot devices. I know that Asian RPG as a whole offers very little plot originality, often repeating the same story with different variations. But a lot of those games still manage to add a breath of fresh air, even in our days. "Grandia II" has good, well-told story with a lot of important content, but there is nothing we haven't already seen before: inner conflicts, love triangle, problems of religion, etc. Sure, those things always work in Asian RPGs, but I think it is about time to say something new. "Grandia II" might be a modern game, but spiritually, it belongs to the past. The main idea of the game has been used many times before. There is nothing new to learn from it. If it chose to concentrate on the heroes' personal relationships, like for example
Xianjian Qixia Zhuan 3 - a game that was influenced by it in many ways - it would be possible to ignore the depressingly old-fashioned main plot line. But instead, personal relationship serve only as background for the cosmic battle (In "Xianjian Qixia Zhuan 3", it's the other way round!), and nothing can prevent us from feeling how corny the plot is.
The game is too easy. Much too easy. I never died during the entire game - not even once. Except two or three moderately difficult boss battles, all the fights in the game are a joke. Enemies have very little HP, and your characters can use killer moves, while healing with powerful spells and cheap items. You can heal your party completely at any save point (and there are a lot of them) without even wasting an item. Try any
Megaten game if you really need a challenging Asian RPG, but you won't find much challenge in "Grandia II".
Character graphics are below the quality of the backgrounds. There is not enough close-up on the characters' faces, and I feel the super-deformed style (noseless characters) belongs to the past. There are little windows above dialogue frames with the faces of the characters performed in manga style, but they look a bit old-fashioned. There are some very beautiful FMVs in the game, but very few of them actually show the characters, and I had the feeling they didn't appear quite where I wanted to see them - at the most dramatic moments of the game. The game lacks cinematic quality and inner dramaticism of the cut scenes - they are below the level of not only
Final Fantasy games, but also the Chinese game I mentioned above.
And the combat system, nice as it is, doesn't quite deliver the expected excitement. It could have world better if the game had been more challenging, but due to its easiness, you hardly notice and use the gimmicks this system introduces. Also, the dungeons tend to be annoyingly uninteresting for some reason. And enemy design is really weak. Most of the time you'll participate in childish battles against birds or small animals. There was hardly a memorable enemy in the whole game.
The Bottom Line
"Grandia II" is better than its predecessor. It has the right ingredients for an above-average Asian RPG, and for someone who doesn't know Asian RPGs well (which unfortunately defines most of the players in the West), it will probably seem a good, solid game - which it is. The fact it was ported to PC can easily confuse those unfamiliar with Asian RPGs, leading them to the conclusion "Grandia II" is the quintessence of the genre. But in reality, "Grandia II", although good and solid indeed, is in no way comparable to such masterpieces of Asian RPG genre as for example
Suikoden,
Megaten, or
Xuanyuan Jian series. "Grandia II" is a good game, but you can safely skip it if your goal is to discover the best of the genre. There
are more exciting Asian RPGs out there.
