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Grandia II - what's the consensus?

Grandia >>> Grandia 2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Grandia 3.

The first one was the best. The second one was still good, but less than its predecessor. Finally, the third one was a huge disappointment for everyone.

Oh come on......youve got to be yanking someone's chain here. G3 was a good game!
 
Grandia 3 lacked something. It tried to go back to the type of fun narrative Grandia had, but ended up being goofy and cheesy in a non-charming way. Battle system was great, I wish the story matched its quality.

Music was still Iwadare goodness.
 
Oh come on......youve got to be yanking someone's chain here. G3 was a good game!

It's a minority opinion on GAF.

Always feels like it's only me, Aeana, and Bebpo who bring up anything positive about 3. We mainly like it for being the best incarnation of the battle system.
 
not as good as 1, but still pretty damn amazing. top tier battle system, top tier soundtrack. sadly, it's way too easy. a flaw that many games share.

play on DC if you can.
 
it was some hot shit back in the day. though i don't see a need to go back to it with a plethora of jrpgs to choose from, or you liked grandia 1 so much that you want more
 
funny, i'm on disc 2 now of part 1 (wish we got the Saturn release...) and i'm really digging it, but the way you grind your magic leveling is kind ugh...that's what i get for not paying attention to it earlier i guess

Best on Dreamcast. Fun game with a horrible story.

aw man see i was hyped to play that one next but if the story's butt i'm kinda less excited
 
Fucking awesome game. The series has the best battle system in JRPGs, easy.

Absolutely loved the game.

Grandia 3 might have a technically improved battle system but the characters and story of that game makes it insufferable.
 
Grandia 2 is in my top 5 ever ... the story is great imho and some characters are amazing. Never played Grandia 1 :S This thread reminded me I should.
 
One of my favorite games, played through it (several times) when it came out on the DC.

Never played the first one, got bored of the third one halfway through.
 
Liked it better than the first gameplay/story-wise, but it's still just a cut or two above average overall.

I have no idea what anybody sees in Grandia's story, it's quite forgettable.
 
Liked it better than the first gameplay/story-wise, but it's still just a cut or two above average overall.

I have no idea what anybody sees in Grandia's story, it's quite forgettable.
I also like G2's story, setting, and characters more than G1's, although that seems to be an unpopular opinion.
 
my favorite in the series. grandia i and iii are a lot of fun thanks to the battle system, but grandia i has the worst english voice acting i've ever heard in a game and grandia iii's soundtrack is one of the worst i've ever heard.
 
Probably the Grandia game I like the least. Yes I enjoyed III more than II.

Note I'm not saying II is a bad game, its an average game.
 
Eh... nice JRPG with a wonderful battle system.

Short and too much easy.

Worst than the first one. :(

Man, I'd really like a new Grandia.
 
I remember hating the characters, story, and long dungeons, but loving the colorful graphics and the fun, fast battle system.
 
I recently bought the PC version of Grandia II on eBay for very cheap. Does it suffer in any way similar to the PS2 release?
 
The Grandia series has one of the most exciting and fun battle system in my opinion. Each one has its own strengths and faults, but to me Grandia 2 is the most balanced one.

The story while cliché, is fun and has some nice twists. Graphically it was amazing for its time and I love the parts where it switch to anime cutscenes. And the battle system is just pure fun.
 
Great game. Story's a bit eh, but the characters are fun, it looks nice and chunky even today, and the battle system is God tier. Definitely play it.

Grandia 1 is probably the better game as a whole, but the Grandia team really knew what they were doing with battles. Grandia 3 was worse than 1 and 2 on all fronts except the battle system, which was even better. I played through most of 3 just because it was so fun.

Grandia has the best combat of any RPG series. Laying it down there.
 
Didn't like it much aside from some lame dialogue (I sometimes like lame dialogue). I think I was in the "It isn't FF so it sucks" camp at the time, unfortunately.

Want to play the first one though!

Edit: Battle system was good, too.
 
Never played 1 and 3, but I thoroughly enjoyed Grandia 2. One of the RPGs I had most fun with.

You should certainly play 1.

To be honest, I always felt 1, 2 and especially 3 were mediocre games (hold your horses on 1, I'll explain). 2 in particular? It was fine but it was just such a non-event.

Sure it was better than 1 in some ways, but the critical thing was Grandia 1 had heart. Not just a little bit of heart either, a whole big truck load of it and that makes all the difference. That turned it from what could have been a terrible game into something great. There was never much point having a good battle system if the rest was a mess, and with Grandia it sort of was, but it still worked anyway.

Mind you, this is talking about the golden age of JRPGs, so it is all relative. If Grandia 2 was released today it would probably be considered amazing.
 
Fantastic game overall. My main and probably only complaint is a lack of optional areas, especially at the end (and no, I am not counting a recycled area).
 
Grandia 2 was a great game with a fun, fast-paced and tactical battle system, a decent story and some cool characters (loved Millenia and Mareg).

However, for me the first game is still one of my favourite RPGs of all-time. A lovable cast, a story with a truly grand sense of adventure (with the right music to match its scale), and a solid battle system (though later games would improve on it massively).

On a side note, the third game's story was very clichéd and uninspired, and most of the characters were forgettable (perhaps a sign of the times when it came out?), but I got through the game purely on its battle system, definitely the best iteration of it in the series.

Man, I yearn for another game in the series, or even one that takes the third game's battle system to the next level.
 
Wish there was a playable version released aside from the DC release. I'd play it again.

I liked the story, but then again it was my first JRPG aside from Pokemon
 
Played the dreamcast version a couple of years ago. Really enjoyed it up to a point and then - as I tend to do with many rpgs - stopped playing when the appeal of the battles started to wane, the dungeon design got worse and the story shifted to 'silly' territory. Hate it when jrpgs have to get all 'epic' towards the end - more often then not to the detriment of the story. I still managed to get far - about 27 hours or so, thanks in large to the decent cast, good music, good battle system and decent writing.
 
While not as good as the first - and I don't think it holds up as well today as the first does either - Grandia II is a lot of fun and it has the same excellent style of combat.

The main problem isn't the overarching story, which is fine enough, but rather the characters which aren't as interesting or memorable as those of Grandia I, which in turn makes you less interested in the outcome. However, the world building is still great and I would certainly place it relatively high on my list of favorite JRPG's (somewhere in the mid 10's).
 
It's probably my favorite out of the Grandia titles. The story isn't great, but there was a kind of charm to a lot of the characters. The battle system was pretty good (although not as developed as Grandia III and X-Treme), and the music was pretty good too. It just sucks that outside of the DC version, no real good port of the game exists.

I like it a little bit more than Grandia I because of the gameplay improvements, the fact that I didn't like the characters nearly as much, and that horrendous voice acting. Grandia III was just all bad with the exception of the battle system.
 
Loved the battle system, better then almost all other RPGs I've played. Wasn't too keen on the plot and I hated the endgame. Had a great soundtrack though, and great combat and good music is all I usually need so I loved it.
 
The PS2 version was badly ported by Ubisoft but is still worth a play. I didn't think the story was bad so much as typical of the time, but stories have never been that great in any Grandia game
 
The battle system was excellent and the characters were likeable enough, but the plot could use some work. One would think that after finding out that yet another authority figure is in league with Valmar for the umpteenth time that our heroes would start catching on.
 
Not as charming as Grandia I. But that is hard to beat.

There is the mater of that crazy girl that totally makes the game worth it for me. Something about a double personnality. Awesome character.
 
All I can remember that I played it on PC and completed it. So not perhaps the most memorable game, but gameplay may be enjoyable enough for you to finish it.
 
Best battle system ever, imo.

Eggs.

Put teleport boots on the blonde kid, have him run ability interference, and wreck shop with the other three.
 
Was a little let down to see FMV spells when i expect to see fully polygonal magic like Final Fantasy stuff. But is a great game with less charm than his predecesor. Good characters, great battle system, cute graphics.
 
I went into it immediately after Grandia 1 and just couldn't stick with it. Might be good on it's own, but coming after G1 it wasn't too great for me. Never played 3 though.
 
The only JRPG I've liked enough to actually complete. I loved it. The characters especially helped me to keep playing, I don't think there was a single one I disliked.
 
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