Grandia 2 Review B00005T7ZP
Grandia 2 Feature
- Beautiful real-time 3D graphics and over 20 minutes of high-resolution CG graphics.
- Innovative, highly customizable combat system - part real-time, part turn-based.
- Fully 3D world with hundreds upon hundreds of people to interact with.
- Includes additional CD of Grandia II music as selected by composer Noriyuki Iwadare.
Grandia 2 Overview
Grandia II marks the return of GameArts' classic franchise. Offering a wide array of characters, a deep and involving storyline and a combat system above and beyond all others, Grandia II harnesses the power of the PlayStation 2. You'll interact with hundreds of characters as you work to stop the rebirth of Valmar, the God of Darkness. Watch as the story unfolds through cinematic cut-scenes with voice-over. Grandia II is an RPG of epic proportions that no serious gamer should miss.
Grandia 2 Specifications
See if this story line sounds familiar. You're part of an outcast mercenary class that upstanding folk don't want around until there's trouble. You're sent on a mission alongside an innocent, idealistic woman with whom you don't immediately get along. Forces of darkness, safely contained until recently, have escaped and are threatening a world-ending clash with the forces of light unless you successfully intercede. This is one of the safest templates for console role-playing games, and it pretty much covers the story in Grandia II.
Thankfully, everything else in the game is fresh and provides hours upon hours of fun. The backdrops and character designs are colorful without being flashy, the game has a great pace (for an RPG), and players never have to stand around too long looking for the next thing to do. Even the writing, within its cookie-cutter plot, is smart, well translated, and occasionally funny.
The game's strongest element, however, is its battle system. Taking the best of turn-based and real-time battle engines, Grandia II forces you to choose your moves carefully with respect to timing and position. The battles are very simple in the beginning, but grow increasingly complex as you fight larger numbers of monsters with a growing party of allies. How you meet your encounters--whether you initiate the fight, are ambushed, or meet head on--affects both the timing of the blows and the positions of the contestants. Battles emphasize counterattacks and combination blows, but you'll soon find that movement and defense keep you alive against the tougher enemies. Elemental magic, items, and skill books are just icing on the cake. Even if the battles do grow old, the random fights are fairly easy to avoid, and a versatile AI option lets you use cruise control through the rest.
Grandia II may be just the traditional role-playing game for which Dreamcast owners have been waiting. The question of whether it's too traditional doesn't matter, as it offers a better experience than most that have come before. --Porter B. Hall
Note: This review refers to the Dreamcast version of the game.
Pros:
- Battle system creates interesting, complex fights
- Solid, traditional role-playing game for a system with few others in the genre
- Predictable plot and characters
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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Apr 07, 2011 19:06:03
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