LogFAQs > #900443627

Mac Arrowny posted...

Crow the worst character in any Trails game.

Haunter12O posted...

Unfortunately, Radiant Dawn released a few years later on a different console, so if you didn't have a Wii, sucks to be you.

Aren't people much more likely to own Wiis than GCs...?

I played both of these on an emulator anyway though.

Yeah not me. I owned a GC but didn't get a Wii till late 2010.

21. Grandia II
Original Release: 2000 (DC) 2015 (Steam)
Year Played: Briefly in 2002 or 2003, then fully in 2015
Developer: Game Arts
Platform: Steam

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Grandia II is awesome. It boasts one of the strongest, most robust battle systems in any JRPG and also an incredible, unforgettable soundtrack, among other things. It was, in many ways, better than the first game, but still lacked that certain something that made the original Grandia great. I think it was the sense of adventure. Grandia had it in spades: going into a new continent and finding new civilizations and locales felt truly amazing and one-of-a-kind to me, and Grandia II unfortunately didn't really have much of that. Still, it's an overall improvement.

I love the battle system, and the mana eggs and learning new skills always felt fluid and well-made. It's not every day you see an amazing leveling mechanic in RPGs like the Sphere Grid for example, but GII's skill leveling is up there. I mean, at least it was back when I first played it in the early 2000's at a friend's house. I wish I played it more back then, but I didn't own a DC so I never got to finish it. Thank God for Steam. So yeah, battles are awesome and boss fights are well made. Often, you'll fight a boss that has multiple body parts and it's up to you to figure out the right way to tackle it while managing your combos/criticals and resources. Not enough games do stuff like this.

The game also has an interesting storyline. It's similar to Dragon Quest in that it likes to divide certain arcs/vignettes that are all connected in some ways at the end. You'll reach a new town or region of the world map and you'll have to solve their problems. At the end of the day you typically fight a body part of the evil dark lord Valimar as you move on. After the halfway point, the plot starts to pick up and revelations come in from the left and right as you move forward. Oh yeah, the game's very linear. You can't ever return to other regions of the world map and you get locked in the final dungeon once you reach it. Better be prepared for that.

I also wish Ryudo's potential as a great RPG character was fully realized. This didn't happen. He starts off as a stoic, "I don't care about you I just care about the money" type of hero, but with a sense of humor. I liked this and wish it continued, but then he learns about love and becomes kind of a beta emo around the halfway mark. Don't get me wrong, I liked the way his arc concluded but it felt like a character assassination in some ways. He certainly didn't seem like the same character near the end of the game than he did in the beginning, but I don't know if this development necessarily allowed me to like him more. I also found Elena to be shallow and boring and Millenia was clearly the better choice and character. Wish you could use her more. The other characters also sometimes feel a bit one-note, especially the last two that join your team. This, and the labyrinthine dungeon designs are what bring this game down a few notches.

Oh, and this is composer Noriyuki Iwadare's magnum opus. He did the Lunar series as well and I think Grandia 2's soundtrack is my favorite of his. YouTube it!