"Grandi is bad, but is it really extreme?"

After playing the first two Grandia installments, I was eagerly anticipating the release of Grandia Xtreme. After hearing news that it’s nothing more then a “dungeon crawler” and reading bad previews, I decided that the only true way to judge is to experience it for myself. I mean, I have loved dungeon crawlers in the past, and I knew Enix wouldn’t let me down.

Gameplay - 8
Although Grandia X is steeped in dungeon crawling action, one thing remains constant throughout the whole Grandia series (aside from the music) and that is the awesome battles. Grandia Xtreme takes no shortcuts here, if you’ve ever played Grandia 2 you’ll know what to expect. Brilliant environments, beautiful polished off characters and an awesome battle system.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Grandia battle system, this isn’t or usual turn-based battle system. Well, sure it is turn-based, but there’s simply much more to it then that. In the lower right hand corner of the screen, there’s an IP (initiative point) gauge which shows when the enemy/ally can attack. On this gauge, there are two areas to keep in mind. There is the “com” (command) and the “act” (action). When a character hits the “com” point on the gauge, he/she/it is ready to have a command (such as attack, magic, evade) inputted. When that character reaches “act”, the command is preformed. Simple acts like attack and evade or preformed almost immediately whereas commands like magic and special moves take awhile to charge up leaving that character open for attack and possibly cancellation. One really nice thing about Grandia Xtreme that’s left out of previous installments is the xtreme gauge and the ready position. The xtreme gauge shows if there is an enemy nearby. If there is an enemy nearby, that’s were the stand ready function comes in. By pressing X, Evann (you’re main character) will draw his blade and prepare to attack. This will give you a slight head start in the battle and possibly even ambush the enemy.

One surprising thing about Grandia Xtreme is that there is absolutely no loading time between the dungeon screen and battles.

Throughout the course of the game, you will gather party members. There are eight party members in all and you get them all relatively close to the beginning of the game. You can only have a maximum of four party members in your active party. Some party members, when grouped with others will perform certain powerful moves with the help of that other. Different Party members have different strengths and weaknesses. You’ll have to experiment to find a combination you like.

Graphics - 10
This game is simply gorgeous. Every little thing in this game is just a work of art, from the 3D environment to the battle landscaping to the character and enemy design. This is truly reminiscent of Grandia 2. In fact, this may be too reminiscent of Grandia 2. It seems like they recycled the enemy designs. Although the enemies in Grandia 2 were beautifully crafted and extremely well colored, it would’ve been nice to see a fresh batch of baddies.

Although I have no major complaints, I do have several minor gripes. The main character doesn’t seem to be too animated when walking around. It appears as though he has no knees. Another gripe I have is the camera. Grandia Xtreme has a camera that you can move a full 360 degrees. The only problem is that the camera moves to slowly. Sure, you can aim the camera to your back just with a push of the L2 button, but it makes it rather difficult if you want to keep an eye elsewhere.

This game also has a first person feature. Simply press the R2 button and you can look through Evann’s eyes. You won’t be able to move while in first person mode and you can only use this feature in dungeons. But the feature can come in handy when looking for something above you or simply admiring this games beauty.

Sound - 9
Here’s another department that is reminiscent of Grandia 2 and Grandia. It seems as though they have decided to use mostly the same music. This is another one of those instances where they decided to stick with something that works. I would’ve liked them to change the formula a little here too by introducing some different styles of music.

Replay - 7
Well, this is a dungeon crawler, one of the most hated forms of an RPG, so I don’t imagine a lot of you will be playing this over and over again. Then again, some of you out there do genuinely love dungeon crawlers. But this games does seem quite lengthy and I hear rumors of secret bosses and bonus 100 level dungeons (oh joy) so you’ll have to decide if this ones for you.

Closing Comments
If you are new to the Grandia series, do not start with this game. If you can track down Grandia for the Saturn or Playstation (Saturn version is better but extremely rare) or Grandia 2 for the Dreamcast or the Playstation 2 (Dreamcast is better). Grandia X is a good game, but sorry to say, if this will be your first taste of Grandia you may be turned away form the rest of the series. The only thing that Grandia X has to do with the rest of the series is the name Grandia and the visuals.

Overall – 7

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/24/02, Updated 11/24/02