=== Grandia 2 (Dreamcast) Walkthrough/FAQ v1.5 === By Olly Dean, nekofever@hotmail.com First Version started 6th August 2000 This document (c) Oliver Dean 2000 All copyrights belong to their respective owners THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE USED ANYWHERE ON THE INTERNET AS LONG AS IT IS UNEDITED AND THE USER HAS WRITTEN (OR EMAILED) PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR (ryo@shenmuefansite.com) WHICH SPECIFICALLY GIVES PERMISSION FOR THE DOCUMENTS USE. IF YOU ARE FOUND IN TO BE IN VIOLATION OF THESE GUIDELINES LEGAL ACTION WILL BE TAKEN. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1. (i) CONTENTS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1. (i) CONTENTS (ii) INTRODUCTION (iii) REVIEW (iv) FAQ (v) PLOT (vi) CHARACTERS 2. (i) CONTROLS (ii) WALKTHROUGH (a) The First Continent (b) The Second Continent (iii) BATTLE SYSTEM (iv) OPTIONS/MENU (v) SAVING (vi) INNS 3. (i) CONTACT INFORMATION (ii) OTHER FAQS BY ME (iii) CREDITS/THANKS (iv) REVISION HISTORY =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= (ii) INTRODUCTION =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The original Grandia was originally released in Japan on the Sega Saturn by GameArts, and sadly never made it to the West in English on that format, despite it's great success in Japan and the fact that many liked it better than Final Fantasy VII which was released at about the same time. It did eventually reach the US and Europe on the PlayStation via SCEA (Sony Computer Entertainment America) and SCEE (Sony Computer Entertainment Europe) and never quite received the critical acclaim and chart success that it deserved, and the PS version was plagued by slowdown during battles which took a lot away from the highly enjoyable battles. The sequel, Grandia 2, was announced on Saturn's successor, Dreamcast, shortly after the machine was revealed in mid-1998. After numerous delays and rumours that development had moved to PlayStation2, Grandia 2 was finally released in Japan on August 3rd 2000. Both Grandia games are traditional RPGs (role-playing games), although Grandia 2 utilises the Dreamcast's graphical prowess to give detailed environments and anime-style characters. The battle system is quite unique in that it is in the Final Fantasy-style turn-based format but both characters attack or defend at the same time, making Grandia 2 a very unique and unusual RPG. =-=-=-=-=-=-= (iii) REVIEW =-=-=-=-=-=-= Graphics - Outstandingly colouful and detailed backgrounds and environments to explore, great animation, and stunning spell and battle effects. Quite detailed character models. Some of the most beautiful RPG eye-candy you'll see for a while. None of the slowdown of the original (on PlayStation, not Saturn). 8/10 Sounds - Nice music, although not up to the standard of Shenmue, and above-average sound effects. 7/10 Gameplay - Just as brilliant and fun as the original. Doesn't get as dull as other RPGs, and will no doubt be even better in English. 10/10 Lifespan - Not the longest RPG in the world but will still last about 50 hours if you play it as you are supposed to - taking in the sights and atmosphere and only getting help if you are desperately stuck. You may even want to play through it a few more times. 9/10 Overall - Definitely the best traditional RPG on Dreamcast, and likely to stay so until the likes of Phantasy Star Online and Skies of Arcadia come out, and also one of my favourite RPGs ever. 10/10 =-=-=-=-= (iv) FAQ =-=-=-=-= Q. How much is Grandia 2? A. You can find it on import from www.tronixweb.com for $63 or $75 for the special edition. That is a very good price in my opinion because the cheapest I've seen it where I live (in the UK) is £75 ($109!!). Q. When is it out outside of Japan? A. It's out in the US in December 2000 and Europe (or the UK at least) in Spring 2001. Q. What's 'special' about the special edition? A. The special edition isn't as good as the Grandia special edition for Saturn. It comes in a red slip-case, and contains a hardback art and information booklet called Melodia, and a special audio CD with some remixed musical tracks. Q. I've completed the game. What Dreamcast RPGs do you recommend now? A. Wait a while for Sega's stunning-looking RPGs Phantasy Star Online and Skies of Arcadia, or buy Sega's semi-RPG Shenmue. Q. Is it a Dreamcast exclusive? A. It is at the moment but there is a rumour that it is going to come out on PS2 before the end of the year. =-=-=-=-= (v) PLOT =-=-=-=-= I have a very basic understanding of Japanese (I'm taking lessons in September, though) so I can't give you a very in-depth story of Grandia 2, but I'll give you the basics: In the mythical land of Surisen on the continent of Granacliff there was an ongoing war between the good and evil Gods, Granas and Valmar respectively, 10,000 years before Grandia 2 starts which had opened a large earthquake-style crack on the ground. Good won the war but it now looks like evil is on the way back up. The young priestess, Elena, becomes possessed by evil and a beautiful but evil sorceress called Millenia is trying to turn Ryudo, the main character, to the side of evil. If I find a better explanation from a Japanese-speaker or on the internet I'll update this. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= (vi) CHARACTERS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= *All of these names are direct translations or interpretations from the official website (http://www.gamearts.co.jp/products/grandia2). If they are wrong it's not my fault it's my katakana chart* Ryudo - The main character. I'm not sure what his name is exactly. Ryudo is the literal translation but every preview I see lists his name as Rudo. He is a robber and monster hunter of sorts who goes around the world looting treasure chests. Sukai (Sky) - Ryudo's little bird/eagle friend who follows him everywhere. Millenia - The sorceress that appears from a stone statue. She is beautiful but very dangerous and evil. She is a messenger of evil. Check out her second spell when you get her - it does a great Manga-style cut-scene. Elena - The priestess of the Granas church that becomes possessed by evil. Has a surprising relationship with Millenia that you will discover early in the game. Mareshigu - A hairy monster who looks like a cross between a lion and a Goron from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Kyaro - The little dog/rabbit/mouse thing that looks like a reject from Pokemon. I haven't seen him do anything except follow you around, squeak, and make an annoying giggle sound. -------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2. (i) CONTROLS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= I'll only list the essential controls here: Analogue Stick - Move D-Pad - Move START - Pause Menu L/R Triggers - Rotate Camera A Button - Select/Action B Button - Cancel/Run if D-Pad is used =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= (ii) WALKTHROUGH =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= *Don't worry about spoilers in the walkthrough, as I've tried to keep them to a minimum. Any potential spoilers will be marked like this: *SPOILER*......Ryudo's real name is Fred and he lives in Bedrock.* OooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooO (a) The First Continent OooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooO After the intro sequences, explore the area you are in. You can find a few healing items. Look out for a special amulet accessory which will give you more magic. There are a few low-level enemies (spiders) to fight if you want, but they are easily avoidable if you want. From the starting point, pick up all the items in the area, climb the ladder near the save point, open the chest, climb down the ladder to the left of the first one, and walk around to the town. When you have saved the game, collected all the items, and fought your first few fights, you can enter the town. CABO TOWN: __________________________ | ________________________ | || || || || || CHURCH || ||________________________|| |_________ _________| | __ __ | | |H2| |H3| | | |__| |__| | | ________ | | | | | | __ |FOUNTAIN| __ | | |H1| | | |H4| | | |__| |________| |__| | | | |_______ _______| _______| |_______ | ______ ______ | || | | || H1: House 1 || | | || H2: House 2 || INN | | SHOP || H3: House 3 ||______| |______|| H4: House 4 |_______ _______| | | | ENTRANCE | | | After the cut-scenes explore the town, talking to the people. Visit the buildings. In the shop there is a man in a hat who will give you a few lessons. If you talk to the shopkeeper you can buy accessories, items, and other stuff. When you are done exploring, enter the Church. When the cut-scene is over, go to the Inn and choose the top option. The last option will save your game. A priest will come in and talk to you. Go back to the Church and meet Elena. After the cut-scene she will join your party. Buy some items if you want, then leave the town. DARK FOREST: Go exploring in the forest. Partway through, Elena will start talking and you will get into a fight with some birds. Ryudo will fight them alone, then you must carry on into the forest. You may have to fight a few more birds but there will be nothing too hard before you reach the world map again. When you reach the map, go to the tower. GALUMIA TOWER: After the cut-scenes, inside the tower, you will face a few monsters and can look for items like a regular RPG dungeon. On one of the upper floors you will find some gargoyle-like monsters standing near to a priestess. Walk towards them and they will attack you. When you have beaten them you can try and open the door but it is stuck. Go up to the window and you can climb out with Sky. After the cut-scenes you will return to the town. CABO TOWN: Go back to the Church. After the cut-scene in which the priest asks you to take Elena to Granas Temple (Granas is the good god), you will go outside to investigate an explosion. After the cut-scene (abbreviated to cs from now on), you will fight Millenia, but I don't think it's possible to win the battle (I haven't and it didn't matter). After Ryudo and Sky talk, you will be given a gold statue by the priest. When all the cs's have run their course, Ryudo and Elena will be on their journey to the Temple. Now head for the mountains. AINOOL MOUNTAINS: Just another little exploration section. Collect items and leave at the end onto the world map. There are a few different enemies: spiders, birds, and snakes. When you find boulders on catapault-like structures go to the end with no boulder on it and press A. On the map, go to the nearest town, Agil. AGIL TOWN: _______________________________ | CAVE | | | | RUINED | | COURTYARD | | | | | | | |______________ _______________| | _____ | | ____ | | | | | | | INN | | | |SHOP| |_____| | | |____| | |__________ ________| | ENTRANCE | | | | | In the town, you can find the guy in the hat who gave you some lessons before in the weaponry shop. From now on I'll call him Mr. T(utorial). In the Inn you can talk to the innkeeper. Save with the bottom option, heal with the second, and select the top one to continue with the game. After the cs's and Elena gets drunk on some food (?), Millenia appears. Ryudo and Millenia go downstairs and head off together. DURAM CAVE: Go to the ruined courtyard above the town and into the Duram Cave in the top-left. Save and heal at the spot, and continue on until you meet Kyaro (NOOOOOOOO!!). You will have to get something to get him to come near to you. If you continue on you will eventually find some simple puzzles. You will have to use the boulder in the next room to smash through a weak wall. When you find a switch, throw it and you can cross the water. On the other side, drop a wedge-shaped rock down onto the lower level, go back to the switch, and throw it again. Go into the newly-opened section of cave, and you can get onto the next level. Inside, battle the monsters to get a load of stuff, and Roan (the kid from the Inn at Agil) will join your party. Carry on, but when you get to a small lake push the big rock onto the button, stand on the button next to it, and flick the newly-available switch behind you. Go up to the next level and get ready to fight the boss. ***** BOSS FIGHT: DURAMATAURUS Focus on him rather than the 2 fish monsters helping him as you will then take him out quicker and can use group spells on the 2 fishmen, and then use strong spells like Millenia's 'Manga-spell' (as I like to call it) and special attacks on him to wear him down. Heal when you need it, and you should beat him fairly easily. He has about 4000HP so he isn't that tough. ***** When he's beaten, leave the cave, saving on the way. Outside, a strange twist will happen. *SPOILER*...........Millenia turns into Elena! It turns out that Elena is cursed to live as Elena by day and Millenia by night! AGIL TOWN: After the cs's in the Inn leave and head into the now fully opened ruined courtyard and into the opening at the top. Before you do this you would be well-advised to return to Cabo Town and buy a lot of potions (they are the ones that restore 400HP). I bought 10 (240G)! BEEK PLAINS: Smash the rocks and save/heal. After continuing on a bit, the party will decide to camp out. During the night you will have to fight a sasquatch-man. He is Mareshigu (see characters section). You have to fight him. ***** BOSS FIGHT: MARESHIGU Treat him in the same way that you treated Duramataurus. Use strong spells and special attacks on him to work his energy down. Be ready to heal after his special attacks, as I have lost 350HP from a single attack. ***** When you beat him, carry on exploring the plains and picking up treasure. There are no terribly difficult enemies. When you reach the map, head to the next town. RILIG TOWN: When you enter this huge town, the gates are locked. Take this opportunity to buy more potions to replace the ones you lost against Mareshigu (I had 15 potions going into the fight and I came out with none, so I bought 50 more!). Go into the Inn and heal and save. Select the top option, and after the dinner cs, the gates should be open. Inside the town, after the cs's, find the house with a big pig-man who is eating. He tells you that the Cross-Canyon Airport is closed today, but when it is open you can use it for *only* 10,000G! When you finish talking to him, find the path going up the hill to a church. Inside, talk to the priest, and when he leaves, follow him up to the second floor. After the cs's, go back outside and meet Mareshigu. Don't worry about having to fight him again as he will join your party. Now go to the entrance to the next dungeon. It is a grey hatch in between the pig-man's house and House 2. RILIG RUINS: So that you can find your way around these sprawling caves you can light the wall torches as you go along so that you know where you've been. Fight, find items, and explore until you find the way up to the next level. When you've gone up a few levels you'll find a long, tiled corridor with a lot of zombie enemies along it. At the end of it you will find a big platform with red, green, and blue crystal balls on top of pillars. Step on the button and activate the small buttons around the area's back-corridors in the following order: Red, Blue, Green The only one that really has a puzzle for it is blue (?) where you should push the box into the row of three, go up the steps (watch out for the zombie in the box!), run across the row you completed, and activate the ball. When those have been activated, activate the yellow ball and the huge doors will open. Outside, you will find yourself on a plateau inside the canyon. At the end there is a save/heal point (Thank God!), and just around the corner you will have to fight the boss. After the boss crashes through a wall pick up all the items in the room before following him to the fight. ***** BOSS FIGHT: VALMAR'S TONGUE This is the hardest boss yet, but if you've got strong magic attacks and have plenty of healing items you should be able to do it. As with Duramataurus, focus on the main section of him (there are 4 in total). Continually hit him with strong magic and specials and you will get him eventually. When the main part's gone, focus on the other parts and you should do it. ***** RILIG TOWN: After the boss is defeated and you have watched the cs's, do any shopping that you need to, then go to the Cross-Canyon Airport and hitch a ride on the airship. OooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooO b. The Second Continent OooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooO -- to be continued -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= (iii) BATTLE SYSTEM =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This guide is only the very basics of the fighting system in Grandia 2. Any more complex tactics will be covered in the main walkthrough when they are needed in the main game. You can have up to 4 people in your group, and it's a good idea to carefully select your team before a big fight (like a boss) or if you are going up against a lot of enemies of a certain type, as some enemies are weak against certain types of attacks or spells (much like the 'type' system in Pokemon). HOW DOES IT ACTUALLY WORK? On the main battle screen, all of it is pretty self-explanatory except for the funny bar on the bottom-right that looks sort of like this: _______________oooo____________________ |WAIT___________________COM__________ACT| |________________________|//////////////| 0 0 0 The character heads above the bar are enemies and the one above is your friends. The bar is called the IP Gauge. The heads move along the bar at certain speeds (determined by your characters SPEED/AGILITY ratings). When they reach the point marked as COM on the bar the battle freezes and you can select your attack. If your characters are set to attack automatically (see below) they will just attack without a pause. When the head reaches the ACT point the attack or whatever action was chosen will take place. The bars next to your character portraits are: HP - Hit/Health Points MP - Magic Points SP - Skill Points The attacks - Critical and Combo - have advantages and disadvantages. A Combo does more damage and scores multiple hits but a Critical attack does less damage but will knock an enemy back a fair distance on the IP gauge. This can be used strategically if you can manage to hit an enemy with a Critical hit when they are casting a spell it will stop the spell right away. It is also worth noting that if an enemy dies in mid-combo the combo will automatically continue onto the next available enemy. Your character will have to run up to the enemy unless they have a long-range weapon or are using a certain magic attack so that will take time. That means that you may or may not be able to stop a spell depending on how far away from the enemy you are. i.e. if you are right next to an enemy casting a spell and you choose a Critical attack you will almost definitely stop them, but if you are far away you probably won't - the attack will still hit but it will be too late to stop the spell from damaging someone on your party. AGILITY will affect your characters speed on the IP gauge, and whether or not you surprised and enemy from behind or if they surprise you will affect your placement. i.e. if they surprise you they will be able to attack you first. When you reach the COM section and have to select an attack, it is chosen via a circular menu like the options (below). The first menu has the following options: COMBO: The sword CRITICAL: The sword with explosion behind SKILL/MAGIC: The hook and sword ITEM: The money bag The second has these: MOVE: The figure with the arrow GUARD: The shield CHANGE TACTICS: The chess piece SURRENDER: The white flag SKILL/MAGIC will let you use special attacks and spells that you have learned. On the menu, pressing L/R will switch between Skills and various magic menus. ITEM will let you use an item (obviously). L/R toggles between: HEALTH -> ATTACK -> OFFENSIVE ITEM -> ACCESSORY -> USE WEAPON All of those are pretty self-explanatory except for the last options. OFFENSIVE ITEM and ACCESSORY will make your character use their turn to re-equip themselves. USE WEAPON will make your character use their weapon to do a special move. Only weapons that are highlighted on the weapons menu have a special that you can use in battles. MOVE will let you change your character's position in the fighting area. You select the place to move to and your character will go there. GUARD will make your character go into defensive mode. CHANGE TACTICS will let you set your character on either manual or one of the styles of automatic fighting (see (iv) OPTIONS/MENU for more info). SURRENDER in place of a move your character will make all of their allies retreat to safety with him/her. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= (iv) OPTIONS/MENU =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= If you press Start on a normal gameplay screen you will come to a circular menu. Pressing Start will bring up ITEMS, EQUIPMENT, STATUS, and SKILLS AND MAGIC. EQUIPMENT: Sword and Shield Icon ITEMS: Money Bag Icon STATUS: Sheet of Paper Icon SKILLS AND MAGIC: The Hook and Sword Above this there are your party's characters and their HP (Hit/Health Points), MP (Magic Points), and SP (Special Points?). : THE EQUIPMENT MENU Your characters stats are next to their portrait: ATTACK DEFENCE AGILITY SPEED The big box to the right shows your characters equipment. The top 2 are offensive and defensive, but I don't know the rest. The top section of the big box's options are SWITCH/CLEAR. The box below your character's portrait shows any bad effects that your character has from battle such as Poison and Paralysis. I don't know what they all mean, though. Pressing L/R switches you between characters in your party. : THE ITEM MENU The L/R buttons switch you between different types of item: HEALTH -> ATTACK -> ATTACK EQUIPMENT -> DEFENCE EQUIPMENT -> ACCESSORIES -> OTHERS OTHERS contains stat-raising items (like a Rare Candy in Pokemon) and stuff that you can't get rid of (like the little toys in Shenmue). : THE STATUS MENU Pressing Left and Right switches between Equipped Items and Equipped Skills in the biggest box on the right. The bottom-left menu shows: CURRENT EXP EXP NEEDED FOR LEVEL UP The box below the character portrait shows the following stats: AGILITY ATTACK POWER MAGIC ATTACK POWER DEFENCE POWER MAGIC RESISTANCE SPEED The bottom-right menu shows the bad effects like on the EQUIPMENT MENU. The box above that shows more stats: SPEED ATTACK AGILITY DEFENCE : THE SKILLS AND MAGIC MENU Press L/R to switch between characters but you can only use each characters skills or magic that are highlighted. ~~~~~~~~~ From the first circular menu you can press UP twice to get to the other circular menu. It has the following options: EQUIP SKILLS: Fist with Explosion Behind it LEARNING: Writing Tablet CONFIGURE: Dreamcast FORMATION: Chess Piece : THE EQUIP SKILLS MENU To equip skills you have to collect special books (Skill Books?) that you can get from defeating bosses. When you've got them you can buy the relevant skills and raise their levels up, and they can then be equipped like a normal item. Skills don't give any new attacks but they can raise stats which will give new abilities. : THE LEARNING MENU At the top of the screen the three options that you switch between with L/R are SPECIAL TECHNIQUES, MAGIC, and SKILLS. The box with all the numbers in it is your points to buy new stuff. They are, from top to bottom, SKILL POINTS, MAGIC POINTS, and GOLD. SP buy special techniques, MP buy magic, and gold buys skills. By moving between the techniques, magic, and skills you can highlight the items that you want and select them to acquire them for the character that is selected (change characters with L/R). : THE CONFIGURE MENU This is basically an options menu. The options switch: 1. The B button between RUN and WALK 2. The direction of L button camera rotation between LEFT and RIGHT 3. The sound between STEREO and MONO 4. The screen alignment between DEFAULT and MANUAL : THE FORMATION MENU Here you can change your party's battle settings. They are already set on manual control but you can change any of them to automatic. You can set them all to the same with the top option. When you set them to a certain setting the top option is manual fighting and the bottom gives a different type of automatic fighting. I don't know what they mean though as I always use manual fighting. =-=-=-=-=-= (v) SAVING =-=-=-=-=-= You can save the game at various save points in the game. They look like little cones. When you use one you will get two options - the top one is Heal (heals all of your party) and the bottom is save. You can also save at any Inn by selecting the bottom option. A Grandia 2 save takes up 9 pages of your VMU. To load select the default option on the title screen. =-=-=-=-=-= (vi) INNS =-=-=-=-=-= In an Inn you can choose the following options by talking to the Innkeeper. They act like a save point: "PHRASE" (not a literal translation) HEAL QUIT SAVE All of them are self-explanatory except for "PHRASE" which will cause your character to say a phrase to the people in the Inn that will move your game along a bit. Sometimes it starts a strange dinner-time cut-scene. -------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3. (i) CONTACT INFORMATION =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Email me at ryo@shenmuefansite.com I'll be happy to elaborate on something in the guide or take contributions (full credit will be given), and I'll try and reply as soon as I get the email. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= (ii) OTHER FAQS BY ME =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This is everything I've written: Dreamcast: Shenmue Chapter 1: Yokosuka Walkthrough/FAQ Grandia 2 FAQ/Walkthrough Jet Set Radio Challenges FAQ All my guides can be found on GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= (iii) CREDITS/THANKS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Thanks to GameArts for making the game. Thanks to Sega for bringing out the Dreamcast - DOWN WITH PS2!!! A big thank you to CJayC at GameFAQs.com for his continuing hard work - WELL DONE MATE! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= (iv) REVISION HISTORY =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= v1.5 - 8/16/00 - Finished the walkthrough of the first continent. v1.3 - 8/13/00 - Continued the walkthrough and made a few little additions. v1.2 - 8/10/00 - Started on the walkthrough itself, corrected some mistakes, and added some ASCII maps. v1.0 - 8/9/00 - Totally re-wrote the Battle System section. This is *definitely* the last update before I start on the Walkthrough itself. v0.9 - 8/9/00 - Did in game menu translations and added some little bits to the existing sections. v0.7 - 8/8/00 - Made a few corrections, added options translation section and saving sections, and improved character section. I'm just about to start on the actual walkthrough now. v0.5 - 8/7/00 - Added Battle System Section v0.2 - 8/7/00 - Corrected some typos and grammar mistakes and added the section on the characters. Also updated the plot a bit. v0.1 - 8/6/00 - Typed all the background information for the FAQ sections. Started the walkthrough. In the same vein as the game that it's based on, none of the guide will go online until it's ready (or at least some of it). -------------------- "Never argue with an idiot - he'll just drag you down to his level and beat you with experience"