Grandia Xtreme

"If it wasn't for the battle system, this game would be garbage. But it is GREAT with it!"

:Welcome to DarkCrono's Grandia Xtreme Review:
Honestly, the horrible voice overs, poorly designed dungeons, cliche story really detract from the game. But as much as they detract the innovative battle system adds double what those flaws detract. It is the best battle system EVER. I could go on and on, btu I'll leave that up to the gameplay section.
:Enjoy:

:Story:
Grandia Xtreme's story is well, blah. An event we know nothing about, called the elemental disorder, is nearing its ability to plague the world of Grandia. You, Evann a mercenary, must help the federation group stop it by find thing the elemental slabs. It soon forms into a plot to stop your arch rival from reviving the ultimate being, which will destroy the entire world! Cliche isn't it? Very. And the dialogue doesn't help. The dialogue is very plain, and what emotion there is feels fake and stale. But, The one thing in the story aspect I did like was the feud between Evann and Kroitz, his arch nemesis. It seems playful at first, turns bad and then gets downright ugly. This was done well and I give my thumbs up to the good people down at Enix and Gamearts on that one. However, this one aspect isn't close enough to restore the quality of the story.
:Story-2/10:

:Graphics:
Being on PS2, we expect top notch graphics and Grandia delivers. The graphics are faithful to Grandia II in the design and layout, but are more complex in the smoothness fell of the characters moving animation. The FMVs are spectacular, and are a very nice thing to look at. The intro FMV is very exciting, but it has nothing to do with the story and feels out of place. There are probably six FMVs the entire game, so when one comes about, take time to cherish it...you won't see another one for awhile.
:Graphics-10/10:

:Music & Sound:
The music in the game is GREAT! I really enjoyed all the tracks. I have even considered purchasing the soundtrack, but I never have. Some of the tunes, like the caution and the battle theme fit almost perfectly into the games mood. The battle music is also great in its respect for getting you into the mood for battle. The regular sound effects like the clang of the sword, the patter of running feet and such are nice, but voice acting is another story. Honestly, voice acting is some of the worst I have EVER heard. Dean Cain (Superman, Ripley's Believe it or Not) plays Evann, and it is incredibly obvious it is his first voice acting gig. The rest of the main characters have pretty gruesome voiceovers as well. One voice was good however. That would be the voice of the badguy Kroitz, played by Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker, Star Wars). He does a good job, even for his first through voice acting. I only wish Dean would have not done this job.
:Music & Sound-7/10:

:Controls:
The controls are laid out well, but I have never understood why some games have O as the confirm button and X as the cancel. I am so used to the vice versa because that is what is most commonly used. But ah well, what can you do.
:Controls-10/10:

:Gameplay:
Holy crap. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome, awesome awesome!!! Seriously, this games battle system is AMAZING. It has this thing called an IP bar, in which your characters travel around. It works like a atb for some of the time. Your characters portrait goes around the circle and when it reaches the red part, you choose how to attack. After this, Grandia shines. You choose your attack, and then your character enters the short section of the red. Here, your character moves slowly or quickly depending on how powerful the attack is. For example a regular attack will take no time, while a magic attack will take longer. Anyway, while your character is in this red zone, if they are attacked, there is a chance the will be 'CANCELED!' and will return to the blue zone and have to wait for their next turn. It sounds simple but truly it is a very strategic thing. It takes skill to choose the right attack to cancel and enemy, and sometimes canceling a powerful foe attack will mean winning or losing a boss battle. Asides from the battle system, the dungeon crawling is fun, except for the multiple level random layout dungeons. The are the worst, most boring rpg dungeons I have ever played. Really, they stink. Its a good thing for the battle system, because otherwise those dungeons would be the death of this Grandia game.
:Gameplay-13/10:

:Overall:
Grandia Xtreme's battle system rocks!!! Everything else is mediocre however.
:Overall-9/10:

:DC's Final Word:
I would buy this just for the battle system!!! You think I've emphasized the quality of the battle system enough?
:Goodbye:

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/01/03, Updated 06/14/03