Grandia II

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Grandia II
Grandia II Dreamcast box art
Developer(s) Game Arts
Publisher(s) JPN Sega
NA EUR Ubisoft
Release date(s) Dreamcast Playstation 2 Windows
Genre(s) Role-playing game
Mode(s) Single player
Rating(s) ESRB: Teen
Platform(s) Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows
Media 1 × GD-ROM (DC)
1 × DVD-ROM (PS2)
2 × CD-ROM (Win)

Grandia II (グランディアII Gurandia Tsū?) is a video game in the Grandia series made by Game Arts. The game was originally released for the Sega Dreamcast in 2000, and later ported to both the Sony PlayStation 2 and the PC in 2002. The game itself is a Japanese style anime-RPG incorporating high-quality (for that time) 3D graphics, voice-overs and music. It was to have been the premier RPG for the Dreamcast. While most believe this title was subsequently taken by Skies of Arcadia, some still believe that it holds this position. In addition to the story and battle system, the game is also notable for its musical score, written by the acclaimed Noriyuki Iwadare.

Contents

[edit] Storyline

The story focuses on Ryudo the Geohound (a kind of mercenary) and his talking bird, Skye. Together they accept a mission from the town of Carbo's church as bodyguards for Elena, a Songstress of Granas, who is on her way to Garmia Tower. The job turns into something much more after an incident at the tower, and Ryudo and Elena find themselves traveling all over the world, meeting some new friends and some new enemies.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story is preceded by a war between two gods 10,000 years before the current events, called the Battle of Good and Evil. In this war, Valmar, the Devil of Darkness, battled Granas, the God of Light; their followers fought as well. This war devastated the planet; it is said that Granas's sword created the Granacliffs, a series of giant cliffs across the face of the planet, as it fell from the sky. In legend, Granas defeated Valmar, but did not destroy him. Parts of Valmar's body, his essence, are stored all over the world in seals maintained by the church of Granas while Granas sleeps, regaining strength. Unfortunately, unknown to the general population of the world, Granas was actually killed by Valmar during the Battle of Good and Evil. Only a few individuals, mostly members of the church of Granas, are aware that Granas is actually dead and that Valmar was the winner of that war. It was decided long ago to conceal the truth of Granas's death to prevent the world from sinking into chaos and barbarism, as the population would know themselves to be effectively doomed. For an unknown reason, the church did not hide the fact that the moon of Valmar would appear in the sky to signal the dark god's revival. However, Granas left a powerful reminder of his legacy behind in the form of the Granasaber.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Ryudo

Ryudo (リュード Ryūdo?) is the main protagonist of the game. Initially rude toward people, with a very sarcastic and cynical attitude, he later comes to terms with the causes of his bitter behavior, which stem from traumatic events in his past. His character develops substantially throughout the game, as he learns through experiences with his friends and teammates about the concept of caring for others.

Ryudo is typically accompanied by his talking bird, Skye, and even though they spend most of the time mocking each other, they can't live without each other. At the beginning of the game, Ryudo has just completed a mission as a Geohound, and is preparing for some time off. However, he instead discovers a new task for him, requested by the church of Granas. He must accompany and protect a young Songstress of Granas named Elena on her way to Garmia tower for a ceremony to strengthen a magical seal. At the tower, however, complications arise, and Ryudo is reluctantly bought into a long quest and a frenetic series of events, during which he discovers himself, how to love, and how to be a true hero.

His moves include Tenseiken Slash, Purple Lightning, and Flying Tenseiken. Following Melfice's death, he can learn Sky Dragon Slash. Ryudo attacks using a sword.

[edit] Elena

Elena (エレナ Erena?) is a young songstress of Granas. She is mild-mannered, polite, and devoted to her faith, but she can also be quite spirited at times. As a result of this, she often clashes with Ryudo, her bodyguard, especially due to his insistence that he wants nothing to do with god or women. She has lived a sheltered life, and cannot understand how people can be hateful, spiteful, or cynical as he is. She can be said to fall under the requisite Mary Sue archetype seen so often in RPG's.

Along with Ryudo, she develops as a character throughout the game, losing her naĩve ideals and gaining more worldly views. Conversely, she also maintains her fervent belief in Granas, and will put her service to the church before anything, including her friends. Elena is a foil of the character Millennia, with whom she shares a body due to a curse early in the game. As the game progresses the two compete for Ryudo's affections; however, Elena's devout servitude to the church makes it difficult for her to commit to another cause, sparking several difficult situations.

Her moves include Impact Bomb, Nightmare Ball, Droplets of Life, and White Apocalypse. All moves are available from the beginning of the game. Elena uses a staff.

[edit] Millennia

  • Name: Millennia
  • Age: Unknown, appears to be in her late teens. Presumed 17.
  • Occupation: Wings of Valmar
  • Japanese seiyū: Mai Hoshikawa (credited as Miwa Yanagihara)
  • English voice actress: Jodi Benson

Millennia (ミレーニア Mirēnia?) is somewhat of a mystery. Initially, it is unknown where she is from, although it is evident that she is part of Valmar's body which has escaped and apparently taken human form following the failure of the ceremony at Garmia tower. Without provocation, she attacks the village where Ryudo and Elena are resting in anticipation of another trip. Her personality is brash, immature, self-confident to the point of arrogance, and seductive; yet, at the same time someone who manages to look past all that might realize she also has the innocence and caring attitude of a little girl - not quite what one would expect from a piece of the god of darkness. She appears from time to time, and absorbs pieces of Valmar following certain boss battles. By doing so, she gains a special move from each, adding to her repertoire. It is never explained why Millennia differs so radically from the other parts of Valmar, which are completely evil and rather single-mindedly destructive.

Her initial moves include Arrow Shot, Heel Crush, and Fallen Wings. She can learn Starving Tongue after battling the Tongue of Valmar, Spellbinding Eye after battling the Eye of Valmar, and Grudging Claws after battling the Claws of Valmar. She can also attack from a distance with her crossbow.

[edit] Roan

  • Name: Roan
  • Age: 13
  • Occupation: Prince of Cyrum
  • Japanese seiyū: Tomoko Ishimura (credited as Kyoko Tsuruno)
  • English voice actress: B.J. Ward

Roan (ロアン Roan?) is a kid that Ryudo, Elena and Millennia encounter along the way to the Granas cathedral. Having lost a precious memento from his departed mother to a horde of monsters who invaded a town he was visiting, he asks Ryudo for help, who in his own crude fashion informs Roan he is already busy. Shortly after, Roan leaves to search for his medal on his own and once word gets out he's missing, Millennia volunteers herself and Ryudo to find Roan. They do, and from that point on, Roan travels with the party. Roan shows an understanding far beyond his years, yet he still approaches a lot of common things with boyish curiosity and surprisingly good manners. He leaves the party toward the middle of the game to make room for Tio and take over as the King of Cyrum. When he rejoins your party toward the end of the game, he has improved moves. At the end of the game, you play as Roan to finish up the rest of Grandia II.

His moves include Golden Hammer, Dragon Rise, Snowball Fight, and Vitality March. When he rejoins the party, Dragon Rise has been replaced with True Dragon Rise and Snowball Fight with Ice Prison. He attacks using a dagger.

[edit] Mareg

  • Name: Mareg
  • Age: Late 30s. Exact age unknown.
  • Occupation: Warrior
  • Japanese seiyū: Daisuke Gouri
  • English voice actor: Peter Lurie

Mareg (マレッグ Mareggu?) is a beast-man warrior. When Ryudo, Elena and Roan encountered him along the way to the Granas Cathedral, he initially mistakes Ryudo for someone else who attacked his village and in blind rage attacks the party. Later on, the party meets up with Mareg again and after some formal introductions, Mareg joins. He explains the reason for the attack was vengeance on the demon-man Melfice who attacked his village of Nanan, and that the smell of Ryudo was nearly identical to the smell of Melfice. This, it is learned, is because Ryudo and Melfice are brothers. Physically impressive, wielding a huge halberd and possessing great height, he's also the philosopher of the party, reminding everyone of possible dangers, risks and counteractions. His tribe also has an extremely keen sense of smell, allowing Mareg to smell some things miles away. He is usually calm, passive and open-minded, though his lust for vengeance brings out the worst of him at times.

His moves include Beast-Fang Cut, Beast-King Smash, Beast-King Blast, and Lion's Roar. He uses a poleaxe.

[edit] Tio

  • Name: Tio
  • Age: At least 10,000 years old.
  • Occupation: Automata
  • Japanese seiyū: Junko Iwao
  • English voice actress: Kim Mai Guest

Tio is an automata, a forgotten remnant from the war between Granas and Valmar 10,000 years ago. Dormant under a castle for 10,000 years and infused with a part of Valmar for safe-keeping, she is encountered by Ryudo and his party during an expedition into the hidden automata factory. Initially hostile due to orders to attack intruders, her fight with the party as a part of Valmar knocks her systems offline for a short time, causing Mareg brings her to the above world. After lingering around and being told to "be free" several times, Mareg develops sympathy for Tio, who lacks any sort of feeling or emotion. Tio's personality initially simply does not exist: She is an automata and personalities are not encoded into war machines. Over the course of the game, however, she develops a motherly personality from being with the party. Her ability to truly express her emotions fully blossoms after Mareg's departure from the party. Additionally, she obtains the skill Whisper to the Stars after this happens.

Her moves are Lotus Flower, Fast-Dance Whirl, Tornado, and Whisper to Stars (which she can learn after Mareg dies). She attacks with chakram.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Battle system

Grandia II sports a unique battle system known as the Ultimate Action Battle System which is more tactical than what is usual on CRPGs, especially those developed by Japanese companies. Apart from the usual real-time yet turn-based battle system as is known from the Final Fantasy series, the game also supports limited movement during the battle. Characters can run around, strike their opponent and then retreat somewhere else. With some good (or bad) timing, either the player or the computer can "cancel" a move, causing a character's or monster's wait time to strike to be lengthened or, if acting out a move, canceling it entirely. The battle system is generally considered one of the games' strongest points.

[edit] Combo

A combo attack allows a character to land two hits on an enemy. They are quick to use, and the hits can be increased with certain accessories up to four hits per combo. A combo attack can also "counter" if it hits an enemy in an attack pose, dealing additional damage. Additionally, if the combo kills the intended target before reaching the final blow, the character attempts to attack the closest enemy to complete the combo.

[edit] Critical

A critical attack is a single stored hit that cancels an enemy's attack. They are slower to use, and are primarily used to prevent an enemy from using an especially powerful move. Critical attacks usually deal less damage than a full Combo. Each character's first move also carries a "cancel" effect. Critical attacks can "counter."

[edit] Moves

Each character can use moves, which consume SP, and has a set of moves unique to him or her. The battle pauses when a move is executed. Moves may also deal IP damage, delaying an enemy's actions. Moves must be learned with Skill Coins, and have a maximum level of 5. Move damage is increased and execution time is decreased as the move's level is increased. All beginning techniques (Tenseiken Slash and Golden Hammer, for example), once maxed, are almost immediately executed upon entering the command. This is of significant value for canceling effectively.

[edit] Magic

Characters can use magic from equipped Mana Eggs. Using magic consumes MP and pauses the battle. More powerful magic takes longer to cast. Similar to moves, magic can be learned with Magic Coins, and have a maximum level of 5. Spell efficiency is increased and casting time is decreased as the level increases. Magic spells can cast instantly if a character has skills equipped giving a +100% bonus to the element of that particular spell.

[edit] Skills

Skills are learned from Skill Books, then equipped onto characters. Skills can either boost stats or add additional effects, such as increased item drops or adding a cancel effect to certain spells. Skills are learned with either Skill Coins or Magic Coins, depending on the type of skill.

[edit] English voice cast

[edit] Japanese voice cast

[edit] Crew

  • Producer: Takeshi Miyaji
  • Director: Katsunori Saito
  • Sequence director: Hidenobu Takahashi
  • Programming supervisor: Kazuyuki Ohata
  • Original scenario writers: Kei Shigema, Yuichi Hasegawa
  • Scenario director: Hiroaki Okabe
  • Game scenario writers: Yuzo Sunaga, Hidenobu Takahashi
  • Character designer: Yuji Kanoe
  • Game designer: Osamu Harada
  • Graphic director: Akihisa Sako
  • Music composer: Noriyuki Iwadare

[edit] Trivia

  • Many of the members of the English voice cast had worked together previously on Metal Gear Solid: Cam Clarke as Liquid Snake, Jennifer Hale as Naomi Hunter, Peter Lurie as Vulcan Raven, Kim Mai Guest as Mei Ling, and Paul Eiding as Colonel Roy Campbell.
  • Two other members of the English voice cast would go on to provide their voices for future Metal Gear Solid games: John Cygan as Solidus Snake in Sons of Liberty, and Richard Doyle as The Fury in Snake Eater.
  • Hidenobu Takahashi would later go on to be the chief director for Grandia III.
  • A 40-page manga of the game was made by Kanoe Yuushi and originally published in the September 2000 issue of the comic monthly Famitsuu Bros. It has never been published in tankobon style and is difficult to find even in Japan.

[edit] Glitches

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The Dreamcast version has had reports of some copies, even unused ones having trouble booting, requiring the player to open and close the Dreamcast lid, select "Play" at the main menu, until the game boots. When it does boot, however, it runs totally fine. These problems are alternatively cleared if ran using a boot disc.

The PC and PlayStation 2 ports both suffered from inhibiting glitches that led to generally poor reception and preference for the original Dreamcast version. Some bugs can be fixed in the PC version, although they require work-arounds such as removing around 600 redundant frames in a video file that plays during Millennia's Fallen Wings attack which causes system freezes.

On the PlayStation 2, the game suffers from transparency issues; some parts of the game animate slowly and some textures flicker.

On both the PC and PlayStation 2 versions, it is possible for the first fight with Millena to be practically impossible to beat due to a glitch. This is known as the Millennia Zap! bug. A file which starts the game directly after the first encounter with Millenia can be downloaded from Wikimedia Commons, GRANDIA2 05. Renaming this file with a .sav extension and placing it in the PC home directory will start allow you to get around the glitch. More information about the Millenia Zap! glitch is available in section E.5 of psycho_k41's Grandia II PC Walkthrough.[1]

The game also has severable compatibility problems with Windows XP, resulting in crashes when certain moves are used on or by certain bosses.

[edit] External links


v • d • e
Grandia video games series

Grandia • Grandia II • Grandia III
Grandia: Digital Museum • Grandia: Parallel Trippers • Grandia Xtreme • Grandia Online
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