Here's the thing about the past, you can't escape it.
You can learn from it, move on from it, grow from it, dwell on it or even downplay it. But running from it is impossible, it will chase you until you can't run anymore. For its first two thirds, Grandia II's narrative explores this better than any game has before.
Sure, other games deal with the past of their heroes and villains, but not quite like this one. Initially released for the Dreamcast in 2000 before being ported (poorly) to the PlayStation 2, Grandia II tackles a theme that is difficult to discuss, something most people hate talking about. It's entire story is framed around the past of not just its main protagonist, but everyone involved. Your party members, your enemies and society as a whole. It's a great, compelling 20 hours of storytelling...until it goes off the rails.
In its final 10 hours, Grandia II goes from a pinpoint narrative about the inevitability of the past catching up to its characters to something of a schizophrenic mess. In the final third of the game, it jumps from the initial plot to a typical "save the world, get the girl" RPG to a story with no focus to a thinly veiled advertisement from the American Secular Humanist Society (I don't know if said group actually exists, but you get the idea). That's not to say its bad, its just disorganized.
I will get back into the story in a bit, but I also wanted to discuss the characters. Much of the narrative around the game seems to be that the characters are all generic, early 00's JRPG tropes and for the most part, I agree. They are all relatively well written and have interesting personalities but, with a few exceptions, they aren't anything revolutionary. I found myself attached to them, but also like I had played as these people in another game at another time. The brutish beast man, the pious healer, the child king, they're all here, just with different names. The main character, Ryudo, is a Geohound, a mercenary out to make a quick buck without another care in the world. Stop me if you've heard that one before. That said, Ryudo has one thing that makes him completely different and unique from other RPG heroes of the time.
What is that, you ask? Well, Ryudo is a straight up, unfiltered, stone cold, 100 percent asshole. This isn't "the outwardly cold merc with a heart of gold" that games like Final Fantasy VII presented. Our main character here really is only out for himself. It's not just his outward attitude, his core beliefs are in himself and himself only. He will take any job as long as there's gold and food in it for him. It's that attitude that sets the plot in motion, with Ryudo taking a job with one of his absolute least favorite organizations, the Church of Granas. That job is to protect Elena, a Songstress in the church, as she performs a ritual to help cleanse the world of darkness. Ryudo has no need for the church and its beliefs, even though most of the world's population are followers of Granas. He has even less use for Elena, who he takes an immediate dislike to, but a job is a job.
As you might expect, the ritual Elena is taking part in goes horribly wrong. Ryudo manages to save her, but not before she's possessed by the wings of Valmar, a piece of the God of Darkness and a polar opposite of God of Light Granas. What's worse, she now shares a body with Millenia, a polar opposite herself. Elena wears modest robes while Millenia is provocatively dressed. Elena is a master of healing magic, while Millenia casts spells that bring about untold destruction. Elena is shy, quiet and reserved, Millenia is...not. His job, and thus payday, now much bigger, Ryudo agrees to take Elena to the primary cathedral of Granas to have Millenia exorcised. Since this is a JRPG from the 90's/early 00's, this sets in motion a quest to save the world from an untold darkness.
This does lead to an interesting, dynamic between the three. Ryudo is expectedly cruel to the naive and innocent Elena. He does start to open up a bit when she tries to prod him about his past experiences and life as a Geohound, but he quickly shuts her off again and again. She continues despite his sarcastic barbs, (my personal favorite, after an offhand comment, Elena sighs and says "great, and now you mock me," to which Ryudo retorts "where have you been princess? I've been mocking you for the last 30 minutes) which leads you to learn more about both characters. Meanwhile, Ryudo also fends off constant attempts at flirting from Millenia, who can appear in Elena's place at any moment. The dynamic between the three is what carries the story, as other party members appear to simply be along for the ride. Beast man Mareg follows the group as he and Ryudo learn they have a common enemy and that's pretty much his only reason for being there. Roan, a young child who joins the group, has an interesting twist surrounding him and is far less annoying than most RPG kids, but he does little to drive the main plot. Automata (robot person) Tio has a typical, hackneyed, "android learns to love" story going on.
That being said, all of these characters are interesting versions of these tropes. The biggest reason for this: every one of them grows throughout the story. Roan is forced into a position of great leadership, where he helps his people come to grips with their pasts. Mareg does eventually get his revenge, but he continues with the party anyway and serves as a teacher and companion to Tio. Elena learns about the dangers of blind faith and becomes more worldly while maintaining her good heart and even Millenia starts to dial back her over the top, obnoxious personality. But its the transformation of Ryudo from a complete self centered jerk into a true hero that is the most compelling. You really see him grow throughout the game and his role in the ending was a bit shocking to me, which is saying something from a game that didn't have too many unpredictable plot twists.
All in all, your mileage is going to vary with the plot. Media that criticizes religion often leans to hard into it or doesn't go far enough. I will say Grandia II leans a bit too hard into it, particularly at the end, but it isn't the worst offender. You could kind of see the plot twists with the final villains coming, it was apparent early on that not everything was what it seemed with the Church of Granas. The game did give you a bit of a "final boss switcharoo," as you spend the bulk of the game pursuing Ryudo and Mareg's target while also trying to destroy the remaining pieces of Valmar. I think that is where the plot started to turn a bit south. Still, the first 20 hours were excellent and the last 10 were at least interesting. Like the characters, it was a lot of tropey stuff but it was done well.
Aren't I forgetting something though? Oh yeah, actual gameplay. That's not happening now, part 2 is next week. We will also discuss where Grandia II fits in the pantheon of golden era RPGs, why it has been somewhat lost to time and how its destiny was closely linked to one of its Dreamcast contemporaries.
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