Grandia II

Grandia II might be the best RPG on the Dreamcast, and that is already dangerous territory because Skies of Arcadia is sitting right there with a sword in its hand daring me to say it. Fine. I’ll say it anyway. Grandia II might be one of the best RPGs ever made. There. Now somebody can start sharpening the knives.

This is the kind of RPG that makes the Dreamcast look like it had another five years left in it. The towns are bright. The dungeons are colorful. The world has that clean, sharp Dreamcast look where everything feels just a little too good for a system people keep pretending is already dead. Game Arts knew when to show off with FMV and when to just let the game engine do the work, which is why the whole thing fits on one disc without feeling like it had its legs chopped off to get there.

The only thing that still bugs me visually is the no-mouth thing. The characters have faces, emotions, big anime hair, dramatic poses and all the usual RPG body language, but then their mouths apparently wandered off and got lost. I do not know why. Maybe they spent all the polygon budget on the battle effects. If so, fair enough, because the battle effects are worth it.

The music is ridiculous. Not just good. Ridiculous. Most RPGs are lucky if they get one tune that sticks in your skull after you turn the system off. Grandia II keeps throwing them at you. The battle theme, Fight Version 1, is the kind of track that makes random sword swinging feel like a championship event. The only battle theme I can put next to it without feeling dirty is Phantasy Star IV’s Meet Them Head On, and if you know me at all, you know that is not a comparison I hand out like candy.

But the reason Grandia II earns the big score is the battle system. That is where the game stops being a pretty RPG with good music and starts being genius.

The IP gauge runs the whole fight. Your characters and the enemies crawl along it toward COM, where you choose a command, then toward ACT, where the command actually happens. That tiny stretch between choosing and acting is where the fun lives. It turns every fight into a timing game. You are not just selecting Attack and watching numbers pop out. You are watching who is about to move, who can be interrupted, who needs healing, who can risk a slow special move and who needs to hit right now before some monster caves your head in.

Normal attacks come in two flavors. Combo does more damage. Critical does less damage, but it can cancel an enemy action if you hit during the right window. That one idea changes everything. A weaker hit can be the smartest move in the whole fight because it stops the enemy from landing something nasty. Some magic and special moves can do the same thing, which means the battle system keeps asking you to think instead of sleepwalk.

Leveling and growth are just as smart. After battle, you get experience, gold, special coins and magic coins. Experience levels your characters because, yes, that is how RPGs work and nobody needs a diagram for that. Special coins power up special attacks. Magic coins power up magic. It gives you control over how your party grows without drowning you in menus until your brain leaks out.

Magic runs through mana eggs, and that is another great choice. Each mana egg carries its own spell set, and you can move them between characters. That means magic is not chained to one person forever just because some designer decided the girl heals and the guy with the sword yells. You can build around what you need and what you like. Customization without homework. Beautiful.

Exploration is where Grandia II pulls back. The overworld is not a big roaming field. You pick locations from a map and move between them. Some people are going to hate that, and I get it. I usually like a good overworld myself. But the dungeons still encourage poking around, and the lack of random battles makes movement feel clean. Enemies are visible, which is a blessing if you want to push through the story and a curse if you are trying to grind because you cannot just run in circles like a lunatic waiting for invisible goblins to attack your ankles.

Grandia II is not just another Dreamcast RPG filling space on a shelf. It is fast, smart, gorgeous, loud in all the right ways and built around one of the best battle systems I have ever played. Is it better than Skies of Arcadia? No. Do I like it better? Yes. That makes no sense, but neither does half of what makes RPGs great.

Perfect 3D RPG? Close enough for me.