Grandia IIa is a role-playing video game developed by Game Arts originally for the Dreamcast console as part of their Grandia series. Initially released in Japan in August 2000 by Game Arts, the game was later made available in English for North America the following December, and in Europe in February 2001, with both releases published by Ubi Soft. The game was later ported to the Sony PlayStation 2, where it was released worldwide throughout 2002, and later for Microsoft Windows exclusively in North America and Europe later that year. An enhanced port, based upon the Dreamcast version and entitled Grandia II Anniversary Edition was released on August 24, 2015 on Steam and GOG.com. A high-definition remaster of the game will be released in North America and Europe on August 16, 2019, together with one of the original, for Nintendo Switch; an associated update for the Windows PC Anniversary Edition will follow later in 2019. GungHo Online Entertainment clarified that a Japanese release of the remasters will follow in the future.
The game was developed by many of the same staff members who worked on the original Grandia, including music composer Noriyuki Iwadare but was designed around the idea of creating a more "mature" product than the previous title, as well as the first in the series to feature fully three-dimensional graphics.
The game is set in a fantasy world thousands of years after a battle between Granas, the god of light, and Valmar, the god of darkness, nearly destroyed the planet until Valmar was split into pieces and scattered across the land. In the aftermath of the battle, the Church of Granas has led humanity to prosperity by spreading the word of good, but when a young mercenary named Ryudo is charged to protect a songstress from the church named Elena, their journey reveals that the church's history, as well as the history of the world, is not all it seems.
While the original Dreamcast version of the game received a largely positive response from critics in Japan and the West, its later ports to the PlayStation 2 and PC were typically seen as inferior due to a combination of technical shortcomings and other high-profile games released during the transition.
Gameplay
Grandia II sports a unique battle system. Apart from running its turn-based battle system in real time, similarly to the Final Fantasy series, the game supports limited movement during battle. Characters can run around or strike opponents and then retreat. Dependent on the timing, a playable character or enemy can "cancel" an opponent's move. The battle system uses Initiative Points, Magic Points, Hit Points and Special Points. A combo attack allows a character to land two hits on an enemy. 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 will attack the closest enemy to complete the combo. Characters can use magic from equipped Mana Eggs. Using magic consumes MP. More powerful magic takes longer to cast. Special moves and spells can be learned with Skills Coins and Magic Coins, and have a maximum level of 5. Spell efficiency is increased and casting time 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. Special move sets 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.
Plot
Ryudo is a mercenary, known as a Geohound, and is hired by the Church of Granas to escort Elena, a Songstress of Granas, to Garmia Tower for a ceremony. Upon arrival, he is asked to wait while they perform the ritual. However, he hears a scream and rushes up to the top floor. Seeing everyone dead and Elena with a pair of wings, he rescues her and both return to Carbo village. Back in the village, Ryudo is asked by the priest to escort Elena to St. Heim Papal State to seek Pope Zera to help cleanse Elena of the Wings of Valmar, one of several pieces of Valmar, that now possess her. Before he can turn the job down, the village is attacked by a mysterious, winged woman, who engages and defeats Ryudo in battle. She introduces herself as Millennia and disappears. The next morning, Ryudo accepts the job and departs for St. Heim with Elena. In the town of Agear, Millennia appears again, this time more friendly, and teams up with Ryudo. She accidentally reveals herself as the Wings of Valmar and that she possesses Elena, sharing her body as a separate being. The group, eventually joined by Roan and the beast man Mareg, encounters more pieces of Valmar, which Millenia absorbs after defeating them.
When the group arrives at St. Heim Papal State, Elena meets with Pope Zera, who wishes to speak with Ryudo. The Pope requests that he find the legendary Granasaber, a weapon wielded by Granas which was used to defeat Valmar. Ryudo reluctantly agrees, and the group travels to Roan's hometown of Cyrum. Upon arrival, the group rests at the inn as Roan departs. The next morning, it is revealed that Roan is the prince, and that the people of Cyrum once assisted Valmar against Granas in the ancient war. The party enters the castle and finds the Gate of Darkness open and discover an ancient factory underneath the castle. They encounter the Claws of Valmar, and later, Melfice back in the castle. Melfice is Ryudo's brother and the man Mareg seeks, who flees after defeating the group in battle, telling Ryudo to face him at home. Roan is crowned king and chooses to stay in Cyrum, to encourage its people that the past does not predict their future. Tio, the being possessed by the Claws and an Automata, joins the group after being rescued.
