Video Games Reloaded - Growlanser: Heritage of War (PS2)

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Growlanser: Heritage of War (PS2)
By: Adam Waddilove

The PS2 gets another average RPG...

On an island continent shrouded in darkness and bounded on every shore by an impassable veil, war rages among desperate inhabitants fighting for survival. A mysterious famine has ravaged the land, leaving its denizens to struggle over what little fertile land remains. There is no safe haven; land that war has left untouched is still threatened by the Screapers, fierce and powerful monsters steadily encroaching on the cities of men.

Growlanser: Heritage of War Features:

Over 70 Hours of Gameplay! A sweeping story arc spanning 5 lengthy chapters, with additional chapters to unlock.

A Fantasy World Comes To Life! Story unfolds through gorgeous hand-drawn animation and character portraits by artist Satoshi Urushihara.

Strategic Party-based Combat! The action is faster and more exciting than ever as you use an advanced troop command system to give orders to your allies. Smart tactics are the key to victory!

Manage the Ability Trees of Your Characters! Change the abilities of your characters based on the needs of the situation. As your character levels, so too do your Ability Plates!

Discover A Magical Fairy Companion! The more time you spend training your fairy partner, the richer your interactions will be with her, and the more she can assist you on your quest. You can even enter her in the great Fairy Contest her performance as she competes with other fairies in a tournament of skills depends on how well you have prepared her!

Cultivate Intimate Relationships With Your Allies! With the Friendship and Personality Rating System, your personality can either limit or enhance your interactions with others; the outcome of your encounters depends entirely on your behavior! Mold a protagonist as ill-tempered or good-natured as you desire. And if you're brave enough, reveal your true feelings to a companion; if they come to feel the same way about you, you'll be rewarded with a bonus hand-drawn character-specific ending animation that puts the icing on the cake!

I can’t say that I’m familiar with the Growlanser series, but Heritage of War definitely seems to be the weakest game of the bunch. The story is forgettable and disappointing, the combat is a mess and the game has incredibly weak graphics. The first cutscene opens up with an impressive anime-style cutscene but the game looks absolutely nothing like it, it doesn’t even have an anime-feel to it apart from pop-up boxes with dialogue from the characters.

You could spend anywhere between 70-100 hours playing Growlanser, but there are so many problems with the game that it’s hard to find a compelling reason for you to do so. The game is nothing short of a mess, the combat is unimaginative and frustrating while the story is so poor that you won’t really give a damn about the characters.

Voice-acting is also fairly annoying and repetitive; one-liners during combat repeat too often and become stale quickly. Growlanser has very poor visuals, even for a PS2 title. Character models are disappointing to look at, the surroundings are also horrible and the level design is dreadful.

In most RPGs, the music can be very memorable. Especially if you look at Final Fantasy or any other of Square-Enix’s titles, unfortunately the same cannot be said for Growlanser. The soundtrack is forgettable and once again, a huge letdown.

The Verdict

I don’t see there’s much point in continuing this review as it will turn into more of a massacre than a simple execution. Growlanser is a below average RPG that does nothing to impress and does everything to disappoint. Avoid.