STORYLINE/PRESENTATION: 92%

The plot to this game isn't very original, your basic warfare with a handful of good guys who wish to make an impact and bring peace to the world. But what made this game stand out for me is the unfolding of the plot. Konami did a good job weaving a very detailed and involving story. Personally I enjoy a good read, therefore I found this game very appealing. But for those of you who like to hack the enemies and move on, this might not be the game for you, because after each battle there are always scenes that reveal the plot and develops the story further, and there is no way to skip them.

There are 2 annoying things in this game. First of all, you will notice the extremely long loading time (it's about 10 seconds). Now imaging having to wait for it to load for every battle (which is about 50+ according to Konami) and for every story scene (another 50+,) then you'll get a picture of how long you'll be staring at a "NOW LOADING" screen. The other annoying thing happens when you're reading the conversation the characters are having. Very often the sentence will break in the middle and then pick up after 2-3 seconds when the character finishes doing some kind of action. Talk about discontinuity! More often than not I would forget what the conversation was about.

GRAPHICS: 84%

Vandal Hearts II definitely improved on the graphics. There are better spell effects and backgrounds look a lot nicer than before. Unfortunately, when compared with the RPG/Strategy games out in the market, it's just not as visual of eye candy as FFVIII. There is also an absence of FMV sequences, an important element present in many current and most upcoming RPG games. The cool thing is that you can actually see the weapon and armor change, but remember that the strength of this game lies in the plot and the strategy, not in the visual department.

GAMEPLAY: 86%

I write this section with mixed feelings. There are a few changes made to the battle and weapon/armor system from the first game. The first change you'll notice is, when you move a character, the enemy will move a character at the same time, a little twist to the turn-based style. Yes, you'll most likely miss more often, but the AI follows a similar pattern (a little hint,); weakest characters get attacked first, the preference is to attack from the back, side and lastly the front, and more often than not, when magic users can attack, they will go first, then archers and lastly the fighters. So most of the time you should have an idea who's going to get attacked, from where and know whether to move to safety or heal yourself or kill the attacker first. The problem is determining who gets to act first, so you see this game lives up to the strategy department.

The second difference you'll notice is the whole weapon/magic system. In VHII there is no designation of character classes such as warriors or mages, it all depends on what the characters wear and use as weapons. Therefore, stats such as HP and MP are not gained through leveling up but depend on your equipment (this change makes character levels somewhat useless and pointless, twisting a very import part of what an RPG is.) Furthermore, magic and skills are not class-specific, rather they are weapon-specific (similar to materia in FFVII,) and transferring techniques can only be done between the same weapon category. There is definitely a lot of strategy involved in deciding what kind of equipment to use, but it can be a little too limiting, especially since each weapon only comes equiped with a certain number of magic/skills.

Lastly is the EP or the morale meter, which is like MP in the sense that certain skills can only be performed when you have a certain EP points available. But, unlike MP you fill you EP meter by killing enemies. Personally I didn't use skills requiring EP very much, therefore although it is a nice addition to the game, I'm sure it can do without it also.

SOUND/MUSIC: 82%

Not much to say on music. The tracks fit the theme of the game but are not too memorable though, and with so many battles they can tend to get a little dull. But, since there is so much strategy going on, you probably won't even care. Sound effects are fairly realistic, especially the weapons, such as shooting an arrow or slashing a sword.

Konami supposedly has addressed the problem of the game being too linear, but since I've only played the game through once, I can't really vouch for that. However I did noticed a few places where the outcome of the game might be altered by the answer you choose.

OVERALL: 86%

A very solid game, Konami should be praised for improving this game in many areas. Strategy games are a scarce commodity in the gaming world, and this one is definitely worth the effort to get your hands on. If you liked the first one, you'll enjoy this one even more.