Grandia 2 Nostalgiac review.

protoAuthor · #1 (**permalink**) 10-19-2009, 02:35 AM

So, I recently decided that I want to review one of my favorite games of all time, definitely my favorite RPG of all time. Grandia 2. I got this game for free with my Dreamcast, which was also free, from a friend. I don't want to get into the information right now, but it was originally made for the dreamcast, and ported to the PC and PS2 as well. I also have the PS2 version, but, since my Dreamcast is still in working order, I haven't played that one at all. But what makes this game better for me than, say, Final Fantasy 7? Well, first off, it has voice acting, with an amazing cast, most of them veterans of Metal Gear Solid, Cam Clarke (Liquid Snake), playing the hero Ryudo, Paul Eiding (Colonel Campbell) playing Skye, his bird friend, and a lot more. Second great thing about it? The writing, at least for most of the game. A lot of the dialogue, especially Ryudo's dialogue, is simply great. It gets a little weak as the story gets in to the third act, with romantic shit and saving the world, but from the beginning, shit is SO cash. Ryudo's a bit of a dick, but he's still a likable character, something hard to achieve. Ryudo's a mercenary, so he's treated poorly wherever he goes, people looking down on him and shit. Now, I'm not entirely sure whether he belongs to a race of mercenaries, as the game sort of implies the Geohounds being, or if it's like cowboy bebop's Cowboys, but he's stereotyped by everyone, and so that's tempered him to be really cynical and mean, but we still get behind him because we like him. At the beginning of the game, he is hired to escort a church choirgirl, Elena (Played by the voice actress of Naomi Hunter, Jennifer Hale), to a tower, to perform a cleansing ceremony. Ryudo likes Elena's singing, but he is a devout atheist, so a wacky love/hate relationship gets started. And so, after about 5 minutes of tutorial later, Ryudo gets Elena to the Tower of Garmia, aka spooky evil tower. Ryudo gets stereotyped a bit more by Elena's friends, he is told to wait outside while the ceremony happens. After Ryudo remarks about how spooky the tower is for a religious place to skye, he hears a scream, and busts in to the tower and slays some monster bodies. He finds all of Elena's friends dead or mortally wounded, and busts into the ceremony room only to find that Elena is being possessed by VALMAR, Grandia 2-ese for EL DIABLO. So he grabs her from the ball of possession, and brings her back to the village. Now, I haven't played the game for a while, so details between are a bit sketchy, but after a few minutes of dialogue, the village is attacked by a hot demon chick in fancy (But slightly skimpy) clothing. Her name is Millenia. She is voiced by Jodi Benson, the voice of HOLY SHIT THAT'S ARIEL FROM THE LITTLE MERMAID. Yep. Playing a hot demon chick. Red-haired, as most of her characters are.
So, while fighting Millenia, she eventually uses a paralyzing spell on Ryudo. She then talks for a while, and tells Ryudo that she thinks he's pretty attractive, and she wants him, then flies off. Hot. More details in a bit. I might go through the whole plot.

TO BE CONTINUED.

darkmasta · #2 (**permalink**) 10-19-2009, 04:51 AM

O: nice review, and hello there xD

rideru · #3 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 03:53 AM

good review. i've been eyeing that game for a while (the pc version), but i'm a bit reluctant to play something that old on my 24" screen... i can just picture the pixels

protoAuthor · #4 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 05:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rideru

good review. i've been eyeing that game for a while (the pc version), but i'm a bit reluctant to play something that old on my 24" screen... i can just picture the pixels

I've heard the PC version sucks.

rideru · #5 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 04:12 PM

most pc ports of j rpgs suck, that's just the way it goes.

Hanamura Yousuke · #6 (**permalink**) 10-25-2009, 05:06 AM

I've heard alot of good things about Grandia, but I just cannot find a copy anywhere.

Also, Put up spoiler warnings. Jerk. ¬_¬

Hanamura Yousuke · #7 (**permalink**) 10-25-2009, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rideru

most pc ports of j rpgs suck, that's just the way it goes.

The Last Remnant is the exception to this rule.

rideru · #8 (**permalink**) 10-25-2009, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hanamura Yousuke

The Last Remnant is the exception to this rule.

the ONLY exception. but it still has a problem with the mc's geometry at times, and it's a bit poorly optimized cuz highest settings makes the game lag on ati cards, which forced me to set my shadows to medium.

Hanamura Yousuke · #9 (**permalink**) 10-26-2009, 02:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rideru

the ONLY exception. but it still has a problem with the mc's geometry at times, and it's a bit poorly optimized cuz highest settings makes the game lag on ati cards, which forced me to set my shadows to medium.

Actually, I had tons of lag and rendering issues with it when I tried it on 360. It took forever to get textures to properly load during a battle.

protoAuthor · #10 (**permalink**) 10-31-2009, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hanamura Yousuke

I've heard alot of good things about Grandia, but I just cannot find a copy anywhere.

Also, Put up spoiler warnings. Jerk. ¬_¬

This is within the first fifteen minutes of the game. No.