The game Grandia almost didn't get into my hands. It was a decision of either buying this game or Final Fantasy Chronicles, featuring Final Fantasy IV and Chrono Trigger. I figured that the FF Chronicles would be there for a while, so I picked up Grandia. Little did I know that two things would happen to me as a result of buying this game:
1) I would never again have the opportunity to buy a copy of Final Fantasy Chronicles,
2) I would end up participating in the most enjoyable and engaging RPG in this hemisphere.
Grandia plays all the right cards. Music, voice acting, the map system, backdrops, visual design, the battle system (complete with options), the magic system and the storyline of the game all fall in line as what can only be described as a labor of love from Game Arts and Sony Computer Entertainment.
The game's character lineup is a revolving door; a character leaves and another replaces them. Even with that provision, there are two core characters: Justin, our young hero and an adventurous girl named Feena. The two mains are surrounded by friends like Sue, Rapp, Miluda, Guido, Liete and Gadwin the knight of Dight. Even this game's villains aren't all the way evil on a grand scale, thus leaving room for unintentional comedy.
In terms of character development in the game, there are sequences after a long day of battling where the party makes camp and talks around the fire. You'll learn more about each character as the dialogue progresses and have a laugh. It's these scenes alone that will endear you to all the characters as they enter and leave your party. You'll even end up wanting one of the specific characters when they're gone for certain battles. While all of this is well and good, the place where Grandia really shines is the design element.
The game's character lineup is a revolving door; a character leaves and another replaces them. Even with that provision, there are two core characters: Justin, our young hero and an adventurous girl named Feena. The two mains are surrounded by friends like Sue, Rapp, Miluda, Guido, Liete and Gadwin the knight of Dight. Even this game's villains aren't all the way evil on a grand scale, thus leaving room for unintentional comedy.
In terms of character development in the game, there are sequences after a long day of battling where the party makes camp and talks around the fire. You'll learn more about each character as the dialogue progresses and have a laugh. It's these scenes alone that will endear you to all the characters as they enter and leave your party. You'll even end up wanting one of the specific characters when they're gone for certain battles. While all of this is well and good, the place where Grandia really shines is the design element.
As a graphic designer and an avid fan of Japanese animation, I found that a lot of anime (cut-scenes and quest ideas alike) were placed in this game to make it flow. Sometimes there were things I had never seen before in either video games or anime that would prepare me for the images I would see in Grandia. Other times, a familiar face(namely the "mystical girl of the lost civilization" role) or item screams of an influence from anime, a lovely little treat for an anime lover. The ancient design schemed and dreamed up by the game artists also work for the idea of lost cities. Giant mechanical guardians, lost magics and the Great Wall at The Edge of the World (!!) all make for grand adventure.
This game needs some awards because of its innovation at the time. This game was made at the beginning of the 3-D revolution and the game designers decided to make the maps in 3-D, but they kept the animated characters as two-dimensional characters, making for an interesting visual juxtaposition. Plus it was fun to watch.
This game was kinda long for the discs it used to complete the game. It was a 2 disc Playstation RPG game, when the standard for PlayStation RPGs was 3 discs(set by Final Fantasy VII)to illustrate to the gamer what they were getting themselves into. Clocking in at 80 hours of game play, the game is a marvelous achievement on all levels.
I am compelled to call this the happy version of Final Fantasy VII. It wasn't the first big RPG--one might call it a sales failure--but to experience this gem of an RPG will make you agree that this game is AMAZING.
RATING: 10/10
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