Grandia II HD
Another game I had back in the day. This time on Dreamcast. I had played up until you get a character named Mareg probably 3 or 4 times but never went past that. Younger me had a horrible gaming attention span a lot of the time.
This game had much of the same charm as it’s predecessor. While it did sport a fresh upgrade to the graphics from 2.5D to 3D, it also did a great job of keeping the overall feel, story telling, and atmosphere
You start the game as Ryudo, a young adult with the profession known as a “geohound.” The game didn’t really go into what that meant exactly, but I gathered it was a mix between a mercenary and a handyman. I wish we would have learned more about geohounds, as it was mentioned in the beginning they were looked down on…. and then that was it. No mention of them ever again.
The story starts in a post-apocalyptic world, but very far after that. The world has recovered and technology has progressed to steam engines. There are hints in the world about there being a lost advanced civilization though.
The battle system is exactly like Grandia I and for that I was actually happy. It’s a very polished and fun battle system that requires timing and strategy. One thing to note here, is that spells have long animations, but they’re almost little FMV sequences which was pretty cool, and I could imagine at the time was mind blowing.
A huge quality of life improvement came in the magic and skill progression system. This time around you are awarded “magic coins” and “skill coins” after every battle that you can spend towards upgrading your magic, weapon skills, and passive skills. It makes grinding much more worthwhile and gives you more choice in how you will develop your characters.
Much like Grandia I, there are permanent and temporary party members. Offering a wide cast of characters that all bring something to the table. Even the voice acting had the same corny charm as before.
The world is full of unique locations and tons of fun NPCs. Each NPC has about 3 or 4 things to say which help with the world building. There were quite a few diverse locations. The dungeons were more streamlined this time around also, so there was less wandering aimlessly.
The biggest drawback to Grandia II is the conclusion. The story becomes quite the jumbled mess at the end as it tries to tie everything together. I think some additional time bringing the pieces together would have made this game a necessity to play for any JRPG fan. However, as it is, it can be passed over.
All in all, I think I preferred Grandia I over Grandia II but it still deserves a lot of praise and was a true classic on the Dreamcast.
