Grandia

"Epic adventure, epic music... Almost perfectly epic!"

Intro
Yet another game I had my doubts about. It didn't seem to fully appeal to me after a while, for some reason. I really should've picked this up earlier than I did. Anyway, after giving this a good, long play I can honestly say it's one of the best RPG's I've ever played. One main reason is that it has quite a bit of old school RPG feel to it. Got to love that! The game also exhibits a very epic atmosphere with great music and an outstanding storyline.

To Start Things Off...
In Grandia, you play as a young boy named Justin. Justin, like many young men in games, has a dream to be a great adventurer, the greatest, in fact! So, he and his best friend Sue find out a way they can pretty much start their adventuring work when one of Justin's friends, an scientist of sorts, allows him the chance to explore some ancient ruins. While exploring the ruins, Justin and Sue soon learn that Justin has a destiny: To head to a far off land to meet a woman named Liete. On the way, Justin makes many acquaintances as well as uncovers a plot being formulated by an imperial military.

Woohoo! A Battle System of a Different Color!
The gameplay of this game is different from many other RPG's. When traveling on the screen, you see your entire group in a line. As you walk around, enemies will appear on the screen. Depending on how and what angle you touch the enemies, you gain certain advantages and disadvantages. If you hit the enemies head on, then there is no advantage. If you hit the enemies from behind, then you have the advantage. If they hit you from behind (basically, one of your members that isn't in lead), then they will have the advantage. Whoever has the advantage gets turns before all their opponents in battle.

The Battle Screen
The battle screen is quite different. A little strategy can sometimes be useful, especially in battles later in the game. All characters on on the screen and you see a meter at the bottom with everyone's head. The head progressively move to the right of the meter and when they hit a certain point, they gain a turn. The members on your team can attack, use spells, use items; Just about anything you'd see on a typical RPG. One thing I really like about this game is that, even for bosses, the enemies HP is displayed.

You have a choice when one of your characters has a turn. One of those choices is attacking. There are two kinds of attacks: combos and criticals. If you select combo, your character attacks twice. This can be useful, especially if your character can kill an enemy with the first hit because then the second hit goes to another enemy. Criticals are also good, especially strategically. When hit with a critical, it may not be as strong as a combo, but what it does do is cause your enemies head to fall back on the meter, thus slightly delaying their turn.

Spells and Skills
You also gain spells and special attacks throughout the game. In many areas of the game, you will find an item called Mana Eggs. You can trade these eggs at a shop for someone to gain the use of a certain type of magic (fire, wind, water, or earth). As your character uses a certain type of spell that falls under any of these categories (some spells can count as two elements), they gain points toward that element. The higher their points get, the closer they get to gaining another level in that element. The higher the levels of each element, the closer you are to learning new spells.

Arsenal
This can also be done with types of weapons. As you use different types of weapons, you gain points toward them and can learn new attacks.

Graphics
The graphics on this game aren't the best, but that doesn't hinder the game much. They are slightly dated, as this is a port of a Sega Saturn game. I think what hurt the graphics the most where the slightly choppy framerates on the field screen. Outside of that, it did show beautiful colors and great lighting effects.

Sounds
This has got to be the strongest point of the game. It exhibits both excellent voice acting and a superlative soundtrack. This is a good combination to have in almost any RPG.

Final Word
Decent (to say the least) graphics and awesome sounds didn't carry this game all the way, although the sounds were a very strong point. It did have an epic storyline that actually does seem to remind me a bit of the SNES RPG era. You actually get a feel for the characters. Each one develops their attitudes and personalities very well. You also have some well played archetypes and common dramatic conflicts and scenes.

FINAL JUDGMENT
Graphics: Not the best, but hey, who's counting? 7/10
Sounds: Killer sounds. The music is superbly written and the game exhibits great voice acting. 10/10
Control: Lenient enough 10/10
Plot/Storyline: Yet another epic RPG 10/10
Gameplay: Can seem like a chore at times, but just fine others 8/10
All Together: 9/10

Perks
*Great music
*Well done voice acting
*Innovative battle system
*Very strong magic/skill system
*Very well put together plot

Downers
*Somewhat of a shaky port
*Some areas in the game can be tedious

Recommendations
If you like RPG's, you may just like this one. It's pretty well recommended. It's an all around great game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/13/01, Updated 09/28/01