Grandia> Skies

[Tsubaki]

My take:

I'm big on gameplay.

My beef with Grandia II was that it really did not live up in any way to its predecessor. Maybe it's just a testament to how great Grandia was, but you couldn't be a little disappointed with G2.

Arcadia I thought was mostly wonderful. People don't like the battle system, but I thought they led to really incredible, fun boss battles. I don't know if people power-level or what, but I played the game as is and found all boss battles challenging and strategic. The only aspect I did not like as much is the ship battles, which were really drawn out and should have been more like PDS. The story was very cliche if you are used to Japanese-style stuff. It's like your average anime. But nevertheless, I found the dialog and characters to be believable and the story to flow very nicely for the world they had created. The added facial impressions are very nice.

Grandia II however had superior battles (based on the best RPG fighting system ever, of course), and I enjoyed the plot and characters too. GameArts is more about characterizations, and I think they fleshed the characters out well. Arcadia did too. Where Grandia II falls apart is in the actual details of the plot. I don't think the overall plot is bad, but the way it was written was sometimes sloppy and non-sequitor from one point to the next.

Visually, Arcadia wins out. Some of the bosses were really a sight to see. Grandia II looked sorta like a hi-res Grandia, though not as exciting. Aurally, I enjoyed both soundtracks.

But when it comes down to it, Grandia II is just plain fun. Yes there are loopholes in story, and it doesn't live up to the high standards of Grandia... but it was fun to actually play. Arcadia would have been an incredible all-in-one package if it were not for the frequent overworld random battles that sucked all the fun out of it. That one thing alone ruined what could have been.

I think the difference in opinion for the two games depends on why you play games, particularly RPGs. I find very little value in stories personally... as xS says, most RPGs have cruddy stories anyway. I emphasize gameplay over all no matter what genre, and I firmly believe G2 wins out. But if you want an overall package, I can see why you'd like Arcadia. It should have been the perfect RPG. But as is, I can not really overlook the battle frequency. I also believe the actual plot and situations are very typical Japanese, so if you think it's brilliant, it's probably because you haven't seen much anime. *shrug*

[Frogacuda]

Originally posted by Yoshi
No one makes better RPGs than GameArts - not Sega, not Konami, not Enix, and sure as hell not Square.

tri-Ace

And yeah, it never ceases to amaze me how people can bash Grandia IIs story and praise Skies' story in the same breath.

[gamevet]

I liked Grandia II just a bit more. I found the battle system to be more enjoyable and the characters were pretty cool also.

The only thing that ruined Skies of Arcadia for me, was the random battles, especially while on the ship. It made it a bitch to explore the map, when every 3 minutes you were fighting worthless adversaries. I can say however, that everything else about the game, I liked better than in Grandia II. The dungeons were beautiful, with cool lighting effects a nice texturing. Grandia II's dungeons just did'nt have as much variety and while nice to look at, just did'nt have the wow factor, like Skies of Arcadia.


My pick would have to go with Grandia II, only because of the often too many random battles of SOA.

[islandersfan4ever]

Grandia II is one of my favorite RPG's. I can't judge which is better because I've just recently started playing Skies for DC. The battle system in Grandia II was the best part of the game, IMO.

[sggg]

Skies and Grandia series are my favourite RPGs of all time. They're great,.... but for me Skies is not just the best RPG ever - but the best videogame ever.

One game can't really be proven to be better than the other though. It's just a matter of preference. They're both good choices.

[Drewbacca]

I haven't played either of them because it looked kind of like a light play. Now I am curious and may pick both of them up for the Cube (Grandia Xtreme? What the hell is this?)

[sggg]

Originally posted by Andrew
I haven't played either of them because it looked kind of like a light play. Now I am curious and may pick both of them up for the Cube (Grandia Xtreme? What the hell is this?)

Unless I missed a memo, Grandia 2 is only out on Dreamcast and PS2 (not GCN)... and of the two versions the PS2 port is supposed to be pretty badly butchered. I only have the DC rev so I can't personally attest to this.

Grandia Xtreme is basically Grandia 3, but it's basically a dungeon/battle game and not that similar to the first two Grandias, which are traditional RPGs. I have not played "Xtreme" yet myself, but I will get it eventually since I am such a big fan of the first two.

[Korian]

Grandia 2 was alot shorter though easier than Skies, and I would have to complain about the Final Boss design in Grandia 2, both great games, but I'd give the edge to Skies.

[Rich]

Hmm, aren't they cutting down the frequency of random battles in the GC version of SoA? If they do, will that sway any of you from Grandia to SoA?

[bocmaxima]

Originally posted by Rich
If only FFX had an airship earlier on, I would agree with you that FFX was one of the best RPGS ever.

I hated that "Heres an airship to do all the sidequests" factor of FFX