With the commercial success of the original Grandia, the folks at Game Arts (responsible for the artistic masterpieces of the LUNAR series) decided to create a sequel to the RPG gem, and ended up making something not-so-interesting with the help of UbiSoft. Grandia II has its moments, but as far as I can remember, it didn't really have many memorable moments other than the boss fights.
The whole story is, again, about lost civilizations at the core. It can be pretty intimidating to put together the jumbled FMVs prior to a coherent assemblage later on in the game that further illustrate what happened to the lost cities. When you do figure it out, though, it'll be too late. The locales aren't nearly as enchanting and the side missions can be droll. What can be the clincher for anyone who plays this game is the main story--the fight against the foul god of darkness, Valmar. You'll be pitted against the broken pieces of Valmar (the mouth, eye, hand, heart, etc.) in almost each boss fight. It's the boss fights that make your gaming experience something to work for. They will make your life absolute hell if you let them.
The characters didn't endear themselves to me as much as in the original, except for a choice few. Pretty much everyone BUT the main character Ryudo had something to offer, save lightning spells. I probably wouldn't have continued to play the game had it not been for Elena, Millenia (AKA the wings of Valmar), Mareg, Tio and my little buddy Roan. The villains are even something to watch: Ryudo's brother Melfice shows up as the horn of Valmar and is the baddest RPG boss to fight ever. He will fight you as long as you're alive--and will not stop until you are dead. Reciprocating such intent proves harder than it seems, for Melfice is a beast!
I must say that the idea of the Granasaber, a sword-shaped spacecraft, is interesting technology and makes for good missions--the point of the sword-ship leading to the destination, to the destruction of Valmar. Continuing on the subject of interesting technology, there's a craft in the game called the 50/50. It's an amphibious aircraft that flies on a moment's notice, particularly when confronted with the chasms that stretch across the lands in the game. That scene was pretty cool. For all that is and was cool, Grandia II still doesn't compare to its predecessor.
RATING: 3/10
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