Ever since I played the preview for Grandia II, I've been salivating to play this game. It's really not very often lately, even as an RPG enthusiast (both PC and console, which are for the most part, VERY different worlds), that I get immediately wrapped up in the way a game feels, presents itself structurally, and the way its battle system plays. Grandia II welcomed me into a bright, airy world with a charming and quite sarcastic lead, Ryudo - not to mention an entire colorful cast of characters. Before long, I was getting the hang of the impressive and fast moving battle system and the equally well-paced storyline. Grandia II joins the ranks of games that have managed to break up the somewhat bland monotony that has dominated recent console RPGs.

Originally released on the ill-fated Dreamcast, Grandia II was widely praised upon it's release. Now, some time later, PS2 players are getting a chance to play this game, compliments of publisher UbiSoft. The game opens with Ryudo, a Geohound (roughly the equivalent of a mercenary) and his eagle-like companion, Skye. These satirical two have just completed one job, and while Ryudo is looking for a break from his thankless Geohound work, it seems they won't have a break for long. Their services are requested by a local priest as a bodyguard for Elena, a Songstress of Granas, the god of Good. What seems to be a simple job of escorting the young, and highly sheltered,  Songstress to a ceremony takes a much darker turn. Chaos erupts in the sacred chamber, and Ryudo breaks into the chamber only to find Elena's friends slain, and the Songstress herself possessed by the "Wings of Valmar." Understandably, Elena is appalled to learn she was possessed by Valmar; their equivalent of the Devil. What's worse (for Elena at least), is that her body is soon to be randomly possessed by a fiery, sultry redhead named Millenia - the "incarnation" of Valmar's wings. From here, the struggle begins - a race against Valmar, the power of Darkness, and his quest to possess and consume the bodies of his hosts and then the entire world.

Now, on to the battle system. The first thing you'll notice is that battles are not completely random. Instead, when you are on an area map, clusters of monsters will be represented by a symbol of them roaming about on the map. You can try to run around these groups, however, if they turn red and pursue you, you have to make a quick decision. If the monsters catch up to you while you are in retreat, they will have initiative, and this can have some pretty serious consequences for your party, especially if they are big hitters or they cast harmful status effects. Instead, it's better to either turn and confront them for an even initiative, or run straight for them before they see you and give your party the first shot.

Speaking of initiative,  battles are a wonderfully blended combination of real time and turn based strategy. An initiative meter, located at the lower right hand side of the screen, makes a "ruler" like measurement of how close each player (including the enemies) is to choosing a move, and then executing it. This is especially helpful since you can gauge how and when you want to plan your choices of type of offensive and/or defensive moves. When your meter does reach the "decision" mark, you will have a number of options available to you, including a combo attack, critical attack, special moves/magic attack, item access, defending, evading and other options like escaping and activating AI for that character. Combo attacks are powerful standard attacks. Critical attacks do less damage but are essential in canceling any power-ups your enemies are charging. Special attacks do a great deal more damage, but they use "Special Points,"  or the equivalent of mana. Magic, as you'd expect uses mana, and I'll get a little more into the varieties and functions of magic next. 

After each battle, you will not only collect gold coins for equipment/item purchases, but also "Special Coins" and "Magic Coins." In a unique twist, these coins are used to "purchase" advanced spells/abilities, or to improve the spells/abilities you already have. Sometime you can see what you can buy, and other times, it's a surprise until you put the points into them. In addition, in order to have access to all these spells and abilities you will either need to collect different kinds of books for skills, and mana eggs for magic. Once you have these, you can open and put points in each set. What's nice is that you don't have to commit the skills/spells to any one characters. Mana eggs can be moved from character to character, and abilities can also be transferred. 

Another great thing about Grandia II is the enigmatic and fun cast. From the very beginning, you're entertained by Ryudo and his less than always genteel manners, the wonderful split between the naive Elena and the siren-like Millenia, and the rest of the friends and foes you'll encounter. The anime work done for these characters is top-notch, and it really adds to the feel of the game. While some of the plot can seem to follow familiar fantasy lines, it's often spiced up by Ryudo's tendency to like to stir up angst and Millenia's vixenly presence. The strong cast really contributes to your interest in the plot, and you probably won't find yourself just pressing buttons to get to the next battle. Some of the scripting seems predictable, but please, is there anything that hasn't been written before? Besides, if you don't pay attention, you will miss some fun comments, innuendo, and other entertaining interactions.

The only flaws in Grandia that I can cite are attributed to the visual, and a little bit of the audio, aspects of the game. In gameplay, characters and items seem a bit on the blocky side, and sometimes the backgrounds/environments seem graphically stressed. The score itself is either love it or hate it, although I have to say that a couple of the sections caught my attention. There is a fairly frequent change in music, and each is crafted to match the mood or environment of the town/area. It tends to sound a bit too happily busy and midi like from time to time, for my taste, but that's really just personal taste. Voice acting is used sparingly, and it doesn't particularly stand out.

Lastly, and important to establish how I rated Grandia II: Let me speak for the gamers who (A) don't have the money or (*gasp*) inclination to buy EVERY game system in existence, or (B) don't generally get nitpicky about comparisons and are just looking for a fun and playable game. Console specific fanboys really annoy me, and I suppose if you're really that devoted to a console, then you're just going to be waiting to pick apart any port that's done of your favorite games. Admittedly, yeah sure, Grandia II looked better on Dreamcast - I will testify to that. Fine, you've won that point, but now let's get to THE point. Like it or not, the Playstation systems have a larger following and, just like the Beta had better technical qualities than VHS, quantity rules quality. Yes, it's sometimes unfortunate that this happens, but it has happened, and no matter how many times you cry foul, it's just the way capitalism works. In the meantime, I'm not about to go into long discourses on ranking the game lower because I thought some other version was better. I believe it's better to review the game independently, as if a person has never heard of a previous version and leave it at that. I thoroughly enjoyed Grandia II, graphical rough edges and all, and I think PS2 owners are much the better for having the chance to play this game.

That being said, I feel that PS2 RPGers would do well to check out Grandia II. 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. It moves quickly enough to welcome newcomers to the genre, and it still offers enough depth for veteran gamers. Graphical rough edges are really the only area which may disappoint some gamers, and what could have been a bland storyline is more than saved by Ryudo's "cavalier" attitude.  All in all, Grandia II tops my list of the best RPGs released for the PS2 system so far. 

Graphics: 7
Lo, the sticking point for DC devotees. Inarguably, the game did look better on the original DC port, and the PS2 translation suffers from the occasional rough edge and/or graphical flaws. The actual anime work done of the characters is magnificent though, with characters like Ryudo, Melfice, Tio, and Millenia standing out for their memorable looks.

Sound: 7.5
The game score is varied and is individually crafted for each area. It might be a bit too spritely for some, but I think it's appropriate to the bright airy feel of the game. Voice overs are used sparingly. 

Concept: 8
I think it's absolutely wonderful that the Playstation 2 console owners now have the chance to play an RPG worthy enough to be added to their collections. So far, it's been an extremely dry market for good titles, and Game Arts has a long record of success stories in building solid RPGs. Yes, some quality issues surfaced in the port from DC to PS2, but what I feel above all is that the gaming world is better for giving a larger audience access to this wonderful series. 

Overall: 8.25
Irregardless of how you may or may not feel about comparing the PS2 version of Grandia II to the original DC version, Grandia II is more than a worthy addition to your PS2 RPG collection. Battles, in traditional Game Arts fashion, rarely feel repetitive, and there are always a number of interesting options and course of action to follow. The storyline is along the lines of your typical fantasy adventure, but Ryudo and Skye often add a bit of sarcasm/satire to spice up the dialogue. UbiSoft did PS2 RPGers a great favor by giving them the chance to play a great game that might have otherwise fallen into ill-fated obscurity.

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We'd also like to take a moment to tell you about UbiSoft's Great RPG Giveaway! Buy 2 of the 3 named RPG titles (Grandia II is one of them!), and get the third one free! Check it out now! http://www.rpggiveaway.com/

Also, we'll be posting an UbiSoft strategy guide for Grandia II and items list! Check GZ's Grandia II PS2 Extras for these two great items!