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Grandia 2:
Platform: Dreamcast Publisher: UBISoft Developer: GameArts Projected Release Date: Summer 2000 (Japan)
Although the Saturn never saw a good deal of success in North America, the Japanese market was filled with titles that never saw the light of day here. Radiant Silver Gun, Sakura Wars, Capcom's legions of 2D fighters, the list just goes on and on. Also on that list was Grandia. Saturn owners on this side of the pond begged and pleaded with Sega of America to bring the game here, but to no avail. Thankfully the game was finally localized and brought over to the Playstation in 1999. Now the quest crafting wizards over at GameArts are coding away, preparing Grandia 2 for none other than the Dreamcast. With this we can expect some amazing graphics, and all the other technical glories the system can provide, adding a little flare to what will in all likelyhood be another well made story. By the way, UBISoft must also have high expectations for the game as they have just recently snatched up the localization rights for North America.
With the use of a more powerful system, GameArts is taking the fully 3D approach to the graphics as such the visuals are shaping up to be very impressive. With the games evolution to a 128-bit system and its transition from 2D to 3D, the graphical presentation is quite striking. The settings are looking nicely detailed and the character design is shaping up very well, albeit a tad cutesy.
So far very little details regarding the story line have been released. Thousands of years ago, a great battle was waged between God and the devil, and during their struggle a massive rift opened up between the two continents of the world. Even after the war ended and the devil was banished the rift remained. Among the people of this world, they believe that the rift is a portal straight to hell, and as such avoid it, hence leaving the two continents isolated from one another.
Grandia is by far one of the most entertaining RPGs available on a console, and a sequel would make a lot of peoples day a bright cheery one. With a release set planned for the summer in Japan, hopefully localization won't take too long so that North Americans can sink their teeth into this intriguing game.
Previewed by Kaspian May 11, 2000
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