I won't summarise much of the plot, since TV Tropes does it for you. However, it's good to mention that you control a Jerk Ass folk with a talking, and worth hearing bird (whose presence is amusingly never explained), and you must escort a princestess and keep her safe. It backfires quite nicely as the priestess gets tainted by the evil god Valmar; however, just a bit later you meet Ms Fanservice, who really wants to get naughty for and with Ryudo... and that's when the plot becomes interesting, so we'll leave the summary there.
This game has some drawing points which make it really nice to play even though many years have passed since its appearance. The first one is, surprisingly, the plot. While my summary was intentionally bland, the game has a very interesting (albeit clichéd) argument, with Millenia and Ryudo as the most developed characters. It's a pity that the English voice acting, even though it has big names in it, shows a performance under their possibilities.
A second pro for this game would be the combat system. It is fun to fight, actually; the dynamic turn system and the possibility to cancel your foes' attacks would allow for strategic options which should be very interesting to explore.
Lastly, I personally liked the world's design and ambiance. It gives a colorful picture which is refreshing, as JRPG games tend to go to the gritty, dark and greyish side, and yet it doesn't feel out of tune with the plot, which becomes certainly gloomy sometimes.
However, this game presents a big problem, seemingly common to all Game Arts games: they are way too easy to beat. The main article for this game covers the Anticlimax Boss, but I'd say that all the bosses are like that, or even easier to defeat. The plethora of tactical options that the combat mechanics give, and the epic that the story manages to render become moot since the game itself is a walk in the park. The healing savepoints, the addictiveness of the combat system... it all makes the game plain boring, more like a Visual Novel and less of a game.
I like this game, it has a sweet spot in my heart and it makes for a perfect introduction to the JPRG genre, but if you're expecting a challenge of any kind, find something else: Grandia II is not for you.
Grandia II: The Easy Way to Heroism
I won't summarise much of the plot, since TV Tropes does it for you. However, it's good to mention that you control a Jerk Ass folk with a talking, and worth hearing bird (whose presence is amusingly never explained), and you must escort a pri
ncestess and keep her safe. It backfires quite nicely as the priestess gets tainted by the evil god Valmar; however, just a bit later you meet Ms Fanservice, who really wants to get naughty for and with Ryudo... and that's when the plot becomes interesting, so we'll leave the summary there.This game has some drawing points which make it really nice to play even though many years have passed since its appearance. The first one is, surprisingly, the plot. While my summary was intentionally bland, the game has a very interesting (albeit clichéd) argument, with Millenia and Ryudo as the most developed characters. It's a pity that the English voice acting, even though it has big names in it, shows a performance under their possibilities.
A second pro for this game would be the combat system. It is fun to fight, actually; the dynamic turn system and the possibility to cancel your foes' attacks would allow for strategic options which should be very interesting to explore.
Lastly, I personally liked the world's design and ambiance. It gives a colorful picture which is refreshing, as JRPG games tend to go to the gritty, dark and greyish side, and yet it doesn't feel out of tune with the plot, which becomes certainly gloomy sometimes.
However, this game presents a big problem, seemingly common to all Game Arts games: they are way too easy to beat. The main article for this game covers the Anticlimax Boss, but I'd say that all the bosses are like that, or even easier to defeat. The plethora of tactical options that the combat mechanics give, and the epic that the story manages to render become moot since the game itself is a walk in the park. The healing savepoints, the addictiveness of the combat system... it all makes the game plain boring, more like a Visual Novel and less of a game.
I like this game, it has a sweet spot in my heart and it makes for a perfect introduction to the JPRG genre, but if you're expecting a challenge of any kind, find something else: Grandia II is not for you.