A look back at: Grandia II

Grandia II: I ended up giving a less-than-stellar review when I reviewed this game because I ended up focusing on the gameplay like I usually do. Indeed, Grandia II takes after its predecessor with not a whole lot of differences in gameplay. Granted, Grandia at least has an interesting take on an active time battle system, which is why I hold it above other RPG battle systems. This one actually does get rid of the annoyance of leveling up weapons and magic, and provides mana eggs that actually make you use different kinds of magic, with a magic points system that when you level it up, gives you stronger spells to "purchase" so to speak. Now, given that I tend to do at least some grinding, this aspect makes Grandia II easy. Now I could've played a certain hack to make it harder, but eh, this time, my looking back at this game will focus on its story and characters.

Now, this story I didn't hold in high regard either, mostly because I had seen this in Breath of Fire 2 and Lunar 2, both of which I had played prior to Grandia II. But wait a minute, the corrupt church plot still is strong. It really does show the horrificness when you realize what Elena ends up realizing about her own faith, not to mention the conflicting personality inside her that is the more devilish Millenia. There was also the deal with Melfice, who at first seems to be a shoehorned henchman, only to reveal more about his past along with Ryudo's, and it's certainly heart-wrenching once you finally confront Melfice. That, along with the number of character sacrifices that end up occurring throughout.

See, Ryudo is the perfect kind of hero, a complete jerk who only does his work as a Geohound and naturally wants no part in being a hero. You can say he's kind of an anti-hero given his attitude, but he's not the kind of person to commit a crime. The split personalities of Elena and Millenia are very good contrasts. Skye is a nice talking animal sidekick that manages to not be annoying, but just as crass as Ryudo is. Mareg is known to have a nice heart, and his trait of smell is what leads him to Melfice. Roan seems like a weak character, until he takes up the wing of being the new king of his nation. Tio is the doll who tries to understand things. Selene is the zealous priestess archetype who the player will naturally hate. Zera at least appears benevolent until his obvious reveal. The items of Valmar, which of course are the centerpieces when you consider characters like Millenia, Aria, and Melfice, are very well implemented for what they do, and are yet another strength that Grandia II has. Yes indeed, while the gameplay of Grandia II wasn't all that different from its predecessor, and actually a lot easier, it's the good story and exceptional characters that make this a really strong game.

Just don't play the PS2 version like I ended up doing. The PS2 version just so happens to be bugged for its unwinnable boss fights.