Grandia II (PS2, PC)

Imagine a PS2 game, set in a world of fantasy, ruled over by a sometimes oppressive religion, the people kept in constant fear of events taking place a millennium ago. One day, an outsider comes, and meets with one of this faith’s devout. Though he seems a poor match at first, gradually, a love forms between the two. Together, they set out on a journey, with several like minded individuals, including a halberd wielding beastman. Together, they discover that their temple is based on years of deception, and the world is finally thrust into a new age of enlightenment after facing almost certain destruction. 

Okay, so I’m definitely not saying that Grandia II is a rip off of Final Fantasy X (particularly since it was released first). But there is a similar set of themes. So, basically, if you liked FFX, chances are you should give this a try.

The first Grandia has achieved a level of infamy right up there with Resident Evil. Personally, I think this is unfair, there’s only one truly atrocious performance, and he doesn’t get credited. But that’s enough on that. Grandia II has a superb voice cast, with names you’ll probably be able to recognise from virtually any anime or video game.

The gameplay is essentially turn based, although rather than stand in neat lines, the characters run around the battlefield constantly, so many spells have an area of effect that is crucial to the flow of battle. It’s way too complicated to explain here. So I won’t. Also, no random encounters. I don’t mind random encounters, but some people take umbrage, so make of that what you will.

Now, the juicy bit; the story. You play as Ryudo, a “geohound”, which is a kind of mercenary thingummy. It’s never really explained what a geohound is, and at first it seems like it’s a race rather than a job title. I guess the idea is that there people who will do any job, for the right price. As a result, most people hate and fear them. The plot starts when you are hired to escort a Songstress of Granas (the major religion in the world) to a nearby tower to perform an ancient ritual. Yeah, I think that will go as well as a particularly clumsy octopus performing open heart surgery on a conscious and irate wolverine. The songstress (Elena), ends up getting possessed by the “Wings” of Valmar (Satan), which take the form of a succubus who calls herself “Millenia”. So, obviously, you take her to the Not-Vatican to get Not-Exorcised by the Not-Spanish Inquisition (Weren’t expecting THAT now, were you?).

...And that’s about all I can really say. It's actually quite frustrating, since the best parts of the story are all earth shattering spoilers. Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's Dad. Young Anakin goes over to the dark side. Leia is Luke’s Sister. Soylent Green Is People. The Princess is in another castle. Jean Grey isn’t as dead as we were led to believe. Summoners don’t NEED luggage. All your base may not be in your possesion. Once you know these things, your view of the entire story is changed. I have quite a lot to say about this story, and may one day revisit it. But for now, I leave you with this; Grandia isn’t as bad as people say. Grandia II has possibly the deepest plot of any game I have ever played. Hell, I could write an ESSAY on the themes and symbolism on this thing. Plus, it has probably the best battle system of any turn based RPG. It couldn’t have sold very well, since subsequent Grandias never saw a PAL release, but it is definitely worth a shot.

Also, there’s robots. Did I not mention the robots?