doctrainAUM
Since: Aug, 2010
08/15/2012 00:00:00
We all know that jrpgs are only addictive to people who like plots.
An odd thing to say, since there are many players (like me) who play jrpgs for the battles rather than the story.
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Better story, boring game
We all know that console jrpgs are only addictive to people who like plots. Battles are a time-sink, as is anything on the map that doesn't push the plot forward, i.e. dungeons and caves. The story is all that matters. In fact, plot complexity is sometimes misconstrued for quality. (see Xenogears).
So, from that point of view, Grandia I and II are quintessential jrpgs, and damn good ones, too. Grandia II is darker than the last one, but never so much that it becomes pretentious. The other reviewers are 100% right: this game is stupidly easy. The first game at least encouraged you to use your entire spellbook. This time, using magic doesn't pay out with exp — you get that automatically. Just keeping spamming "Snooze" and you'll won't even take damage most of the time. The plot isn't as tight as the first game. The "religion is evil" JRPG tract is in full swing, too. and there's a Sephiroth clone tossed in for good measure — he does some stuff, and disappears right after that.
OK, so the premise won't win any awards. Happily, Grandia II does a good job at world-building and fleshing out its characters. Ryudo is the broadsword-swinging cousin of Dr. House — hell bent on doing his job and kicking sand in the faces of anyone who dares to thank him. His interplay with Elena, the good samaritan nun, is pretty hysterical since the pair have a Calvin/Susie Derkins dynamic going on. The only weak link in Roan; he's not a bad character, just flat and uninteresting. Mareg is Koan-spewing lion man who surprised me by becoming my favorite character. Tio comes into the story too late to matter, but she and Mareg develop a cute "Teach me how to be human" relationship (though why Mareg would know anything about that is beyond me). And who can forget Mirimu and the creepy subplot with the girl and the flying eyeballs and the Spanish Inquisition etc etc — yep, definitely worth a playthrough for that all by itself.
And so it goes, with the only interesting bits being the Adventure Towns, and slogging through endless, repetitive battles in-between. YES, the famous Grandia "no battle is the same" enemy encounters are, in fact, pretty much interchangeable.