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Grandia 2 (PS2)
A mercenary (“geohound”) named Ryudo is hired to accompany Elena, a songstress of Granas, in sealing the remains of the evil god Valmar. Unfortunately, the sealing does not go according to plan, and they both end up on a quest to find the other pieces of Valmar before he revives are destroys the world.
The battle system seems like a precursor to Child of Light--your characters and enemies both move along a timeline, and you can use either "combo" attacks for extra damage, or "cancel" attacks to either knock them further back on the timeline or interrupt anything they're charging up. Some of your magic and special attacks also can have a cancel or delay effect, and characters also move around the battlefield, which affects the timing of their strikes and the range of many spells.
This feels, in a lot of ways, like a PS1 game more than a PS2 game--the setup and controls aren't actually that different from the original Grandia, and neither are the graphics. That said, I very much appreciate that it starts faster and spends much less time having inane conversations with the protagonist's mother. The plot starts stronger and moves more smoothly. I think my biggest issue in the feeling like a PS1 game is specifically the "pain-in-the-ass rotating-screen 3d because we can" outgrowth of 16-bit rpgs, despite being on the PS2. I had to right-hand-rule every single dungeon, because I couldn’t find my way around otherwise. (Also like PS1 games, it lacked any sort of minimap.)
The dialogue and characterization is far better than a KEMCO game, and the plot is well within the tropes of a jrpg but at least is trying to do something a little different here and there. (I'd like to note that I figured out that Millennia was Elena midway through her first appearance, well before it was revealed, because it was an obvious twist. I also knew the church was going to end up being evil and we’d eventually have to kill at least one god. Conventions of the genre.)
The changing around of the party members was nice in some ways and really annoying in others. The mana eggs (which have all of your spells attached and are equipped as accessories) are unequipped when someone joins your party, but not re-equipped when a character returns, which forces you to have characters without magic until you can access the menu in a few points. There are rare stat-improving items, and guessing which characters to give them to (if you aren’t cheating) is a real trick, because Ryudo is the only character who never leaves.
I wasn't sure what to make of Mareg's heroic sacrifice on Valmar's Moon besides just “we need to clear up space in the party so the character who left earlier can rejoin.” Millenia's death made sense; Mareg's death shortly thereafter just lessened the emotional impact of both. I suppose it eventually does a good job of advancing Tio’s plotline, but mostly it felt like they did it for system reasons rather than story ones.
There was also the “what really happened” question, which was left a bit nebulous. Best I could tell, Granas was an alien who came to this planet and bestowed awesome technology in exchange for worship, but people began to depend on him and society stagnated. A rebellion created Valmar with super-biotech and their inner magic powers, and used Valmar to kill Granas. The majority of people were still loyal to Granas, so a church sprang up that called Valmar a demon and claimed he was the alien invader, and led the people to worship Granas despite knowing he was dead. Then, centuries later, the current pope learned the truth, decided to become a god, and sent people to unlock the seals on the Valmar pieces so that the Day of Darkness would come. (The seals were never really intended to seal Valmar, just hold the pieces and “install” them in humans who wanted to use their power.) How much of this story involves magic versus supertech is unclear, but that doesn’t really matter.
And eventually, the power of friendship (i.e., the inner power that humans have that Valmar was originally created with) wins the day and humanity throws off the shackles of lights vs. dark and false religion. Because, again, it’s a jrpg.
Overall: There's plenty here. The systems are complex but understandable, the plot is decent and the dialogue is nicely done. The PS1-era graphic system drove me nuts. On the whole, I don't think it's much that I couldn't get from a KEMCO game--and the latter is portable and costs a buck. I apparently should have played this ten years ago rather than letting it sit on my shelf. Despite some decent concepts, it hasn't aged well.
The battle system seems like a precursor to Child of Light--your characters and enemies both move along a timeline, and you can use either "combo" attacks for extra damage, or "cancel" attacks to either knock them further back on the timeline or interrupt anything they're charging up. Some of your magic and special attacks also can have a cancel or delay effect, and characters also move around the battlefield, which affects the timing of their strikes and the range of many spells.
This feels, in a lot of ways, like a PS1 game more than a PS2 game--the setup and controls aren't actually that different from the original Grandia, and neither are the graphics. That said, I very much appreciate that it starts faster and spends much less time having inane conversations with the protagonist's mother. The plot starts stronger and moves more smoothly. I think my biggest issue in the feeling like a PS1 game is specifically the "pain-in-the-ass rotating-screen 3d because we can" outgrowth of 16-bit rpgs, despite being on the PS2. I had to right-hand-rule every single dungeon, because I couldn’t find my way around otherwise. (Also like PS1 games, it lacked any sort of minimap.)
The dialogue and characterization is far better than a KEMCO game, and the plot is well within the tropes of a jrpg but at least is trying to do something a little different here and there. (I'd like to note that I figured out that Millennia was Elena midway through her first appearance, well before it was revealed, because it was an obvious twist. I also knew the church was going to end up being evil and we’d eventually have to kill at least one god. Conventions of the genre.)
The changing around of the party members was nice in some ways and really annoying in others. The mana eggs (which have all of your spells attached and are equipped as accessories) are unequipped when someone joins your party, but not re-equipped when a character returns, which forces you to have characters without magic until you can access the menu in a few points. There are rare stat-improving items, and guessing which characters to give them to (if you aren’t cheating) is a real trick, because Ryudo is the only character who never leaves.
I wasn't sure what to make of Mareg's heroic sacrifice on Valmar's Moon besides just “we need to clear up space in the party so the character who left earlier can rejoin.” Millenia's death made sense; Mareg's death shortly thereafter just lessened the emotional impact of both. I suppose it eventually does a good job of advancing Tio’s plotline, but mostly it felt like they did it for system reasons rather than story ones.
There was also the “what really happened” question, which was left a bit nebulous. Best I could tell, Granas was an alien who came to this planet and bestowed awesome technology in exchange for worship, but people began to depend on him and society stagnated. A rebellion created Valmar with super-biotech and their inner magic powers, and used Valmar to kill Granas. The majority of people were still loyal to Granas, so a church sprang up that called Valmar a demon and claimed he was the alien invader, and led the people to worship Granas despite knowing he was dead. Then, centuries later, the current pope learned the truth, decided to become a god, and sent people to unlock the seals on the Valmar pieces so that the Day of Darkness would come. (The seals were never really intended to seal Valmar, just hold the pieces and “install” them in humans who wanted to use their power.) How much of this story involves magic versus supertech is unclear, but that doesn’t really matter.
And eventually, the power of friendship (i.e., the inner power that humans have that Valmar was originally created with) wins the day and humanity throws off the shackles of lights vs. dark and false religion. Because, again, it’s a jrpg.
Overall: There's plenty here. The systems are complex but understandable, the plot is decent and the dialogue is nicely done. The PS1-era graphic system drove me nuts. On the whole, I don't think it's much that I couldn't get from a KEMCO game--and the latter is portable and costs a buck. I apparently should have played this ten years ago rather than letting it sit on my shelf. Despite some decent concepts, it hasn't aged well.