Grandia II
I vividly remember fans questioning the timing of Skies of Arcadia’s release as it was considered a risky move to release around the same time as Grandia II, a JRPG powerhouse franchise at that time.
Skies of Arcadia did just fine and so did Grandia II which ended up being worthy follow up to the hit original game.
Grandia II is remembered fondly for lots of things, but its combat is what stands out the most. At the time, and even still now, it’s very quick moving and fun to play compared to other turn-based JRPGs.
It’s dynamic as the party moves around the battlefield, but there’s an element of almost SRPG-like gameplay as players an enemies can plan out and counter each other’s moves as everyone knows what order everyone will be attacking in.
While the Dreamcast edition stills looks great, Grandia II benefits from being included in the recently released HD edition if you want to see how well everything can look with a modern touch, without anything about the story and gameplay being sacrificed.
