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Skies of Arcadia vs. Grandia 2 -- which is better?

racketboy - Jun 9, 2003

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		racketboy		Jun 9, 2003
			I've played a few hours worth of both Skies of Arcadia and Grandia 2 so far. I like them both a lot. Skies of Arcadia has a better storyline IMO and better graphics. It also seems easier to play (at least for me). Grandia 2 has a very unique battle system though that is pretty neat. Now I wanna hear what you RPG experts think about these games. No spoilers though -- I haven't finished these games! Let the battle begin!

		Dyne		Jun 9, 2003
			well i was in the last dungeon in grandia 2 and very close to the end of soa so i guess i can offer some insight. for some reason the story of grandia 2 never grabbed me. i usually ended up pressing the button as fast as i could to skip through it. but i LOVED the spells. also playing this game thru VGA is a thing of beauty. soa killed me with its slooooooooow loading battles but i loved the story. flying around the world map was an absolute chore at first until later on in the game. finding the hidden treasure was a cool idea as well. also i found it way to easy to just use the lambda burst spell to beat a lot of the normal battles. the game is also beautiful through vga. i loved them both but it was the story of soa that i liked better.

		racketboy		Jun 9, 2003
			oh yeah I forgot to complain about the battle loading of SoA. Also they are more random as opposed to Grandia 2 -- where you can see your enemies on the "map"

		Shitface		Jun 9, 2003
			I thought garandia 2 was a great game. The battle system was great and i enjoyed the story. I can't say much for SoA because i only played about 5 minutes worth at my friends house. It was cool though.

		racketboy		Jun 9, 2003
			whoa since when can we have big avatars?

		E Nice		Jun 9, 2003
			Grandia 2's story felt so cliched, plus I didn't really like the way it handled the 'church' so to speak. The end for it had some twists but nothing that made you go wow. That doesn't mean I hated the story. It was enjoyable to progress through and I did like it's battle system.

		crystalmethod		Jun 9, 2003
			Well, I think the ending in Grandia 2 was excellent, much better then that of SofA. It even makes me think at times about what we put our faith into. Battle system was prolly better an dless raditional then SofA. But there is a certain je ne sais quois in SofA that makes is so damn good. Its much more epic, the story is great and you really feel as though you are part of something great when you complete it.

		mal		Jun 9, 2003
			Let's drop the CDR talk.

Tagrineth

Jun 9, 2003

	
	
		
		
			Originally posted by mal@Jun 9, 2003 @ 09:56 PM



 Let's drop the CDR talk.

Hehehe

; Sorry

Anyway, I love Grandia's IP system, and the ability system in G2 was so good, Namco ripped it and used it in Xenosaga

. And Tales of Symphonia's battle system looks like Grandia without the IP bar.

Haven't played SoA yet though. I thought about getting SoA:L for GameCube but... I dunno. I'd get it used if anything, but I haven't seen it for a good price yet.

E Nice

Jun 9, 2003

	
	
		
		
			Originally posted by crystalmethod@Jun 9, 2003 @ 03:42 AM



 Well, I think the ending in Grandia 2 was excellent, much better then that of SofA. It even makes me think at times about what we put our faith into.

Except it did so by presenting it in horrible way. It was like a spoof than something truly serious. I suppose it had to be, to stay in the cliched style.

		Shakey Jake33		Jun 11, 2003
			Personally speaking, I loved Grandia II. The battle system was fantastic, and I just loved the characters... But the original Grandia was superior. On the other hand, SoA tried something new and turned out great. At the end of the day, you'd be a fool to not buy both.

		Butane Bob		Jun 13, 2003
			I thought skies of arcadia was much better than grandia 2. Grandia's story (as mentioned by e nice) was very cliche'd, it also took itself way too seriously and dragged on and on. Almost like gamearts were trying to outdo some of square's efforts cough xenogears The original had a much better story. It was also very linear, go to town, go through dungeon, fight boss go to next town.etc. If i was a few years younger though i would have liked it a lot more but im not, and RPG's have progressed alot farther than this in recent years. The battle system on the other hand is fantastic and alot of rpg's should do more original systems like that. Skies of arcadia was much more fun and down to earth, it had lovable characters and a simple story that didnt try to be something that it wasn't. Random battles got a bit annoying but overall i enjoyed it much better. Im going to pick it up for Gamecube soon too. Just my thoughts...

racketboy

Jun 13, 2003

	
	
		
		
			Originally posted by Butane Bob@Jun 13, 2003 @ 04:25 PM



 Im going to pick it up for Gamecube soon too.

me too -- it fixes a lot of its flaws

		Jaded God		Jun 16, 2003
			Skies of Arcadia gets my vote.

		Arakon		Jun 16, 2003
			fixes what flaws? there's graphics glitches and the textures look much worse in some areas (underwater, dark rift). the gameplay additions (moonfish/doc story elements etc) are worth it, tho. I beat it on DC the first time, on GC the second time, and unfortunately noticed one huge flaw.. the game is too easy. after knowing where to get what and how to level up, I killed the final shape of the final boss in 2 rounds.. he was hit 3x. twice by the main guy, once by Aika. instant death. he didn't even hit me. story and gameplay are awesome and make the game one of the absolute top RPGs out there.

racketboy

Jun 16, 2003

	
	
		
		
			Originally posted by Arakon@Jun 16, 2003 @ 01:57 PM



 fixes what flaws?



there's graphics glitches and the textures look much worse in some areas (underwater, dark rift). the gameplay additions (moonfish/doc story elements etc) are worth it, tho. I beat it on DC the first time, on GC the second time, and unfortunately noticed one huge flaw.. the game is too easy. after knowing where to get what and how to level up, I killed the final shape of the final boss in 2 rounds.. he was hit 3x. twice by the main guy, once by Aika. instant death. he didn't even hit me.



story and gameplay are awesome and make the game one of the absolute top RPGs out there.

it supposedly makes fewer random battles and the load time for battle is faster

that's what I've heard

		Butane Bob		Jun 19, 2003
			GC loading times are very fast, probably the fastest out of the current generation. What else is changed in the gc version though? i heard there is an extra character.. can someone who owns and has played both tell me the extras? Cheers.

racketboy

Jun 19, 2003

	
	
		
		
			Originally posted by Butane Bob@Jun 19, 2003 @ 03:21 PM



 GC loading times are very fast, probably the fastest out of the current generation. 



What else is changed in the gc version though? i heard there is an extra character.. can someone who owns and has played both tell me the extras?



Cheers.

oh yeah there are extra scenes with some new enemies, I think

		Myname		Jun 21, 2003
			I've not played Grandia 2, but I really hope they come out with a SoA sequel. My only complaints would be the loading times and the fact that you can beat all the forms of the final boss by pressing the same button until it's over. I didn't go out of my way to level up, so I can't see that being why.. I think my favourite part of SoA is how you get to build your little base. So often in RPGs you get halfway through and have a massive supply of cash and you can just get anything you want after that. I liked that you had to pay out 100,000 for your island halfway through, taking you back to scratch.. Made it a little more interesting for me.

		Rorscach		Jun 29, 2003
			Both are a thing of Beauty. Not Da Vinci beauty mind you, so I'm using the term loosely. Grandia 2 has something going for it which most RPG's neglect nowadays: Charm. It was charming. From beginning to end. Point A to B. The characters have relationships with one another; an addition sorely lacking in FFX (think Auron & Tidus, people). It has a serious story? Please, it's mostly lighthearted. I agree, i'ts not without it's flaws, especially in the way the church is presented (as previously mentioned). But it is still an RPG. From what we have seen of RPG's, the stories have never been brilliant. Xenogears was my personal fave, but there are huge presentation issues, not to mention Takahashi's addition of naivete. Planescape? Presentation and characterisation; again. Whilst it has a great existential quest, it sorely lacked visual impact and failed upon that niggling little point: character relationships. A tie in? See beginning of paragraph. But realy, Grandia 2's just great fun. FUN. Man, those were the days. When games were FUN... Skies, whilst generally more polished, had a simpler battle system and a slightly weaker soundtrack; though both of these are wonderful in their own right. I still love those boss battles where the main theme cycles through arbitrarily...good times. But the story and charachters are, well...bigger. It's grander in every sense. Kind of ironic, if you notice the incredibly bad pun. But regardless of what this schmuck feels, they're both brilliant games. Personally, my RPG whore is still Xenogears, but these two rank amongst my all time faves.

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