Grandia

"A lengthy adventure at a bargain of a price"

Grandia

Originally appeared on the Sega Saturn machine, this was a game that had never been translated into English for the western market for the Saturn. And so paved the way for Grandia to appear translated into the English language for the first time for the sony Playstation. So how does game fare after all these years? This is the review for the UK PAL release of Grandia.

GAMEPLAY

- Story -

In this game, you assume the role of Justin, a young boy hungry to become the best adventurer anyone has ever known and just like his father. So what begins as a tale of young boyhood ambition for recognition and action turns into something big in discovering the realms of the ancient magical secrets and civilisation, Angelou. And so together with his friend sue, they embark on a journey abroad a ship taking them to lands unknown to the feisty kids to search for the biggest and most unknown of secrets. Alas, it is not only Justin and Sue who are searching for the secret of Angelou, the military forces - the Garlyle Forces are also after the same thing... it is the matter of who discovers the secret first...

With exploration being the major theme of the game and of the story, your adventure will never be boring. The emphasis placed on exploring is great and you feel motivated to take upon the task of discovering the secret behind the Angelou civilisation. Overall, impressive and well told!

- Battle system -

The battle system involves everyone (from allies to the enemies) taking turns to perform an action by following a time bar to determine who gets the go in first and to see if you can counter an approaching enemy attack. It is entirely up to you as to how you want to fight the battle. Do you see an enemy close to attacking? Then you can select the critical option to deliver a single powerful blow to cancel out the enemy attack! You can cast magic, attack groups of enemies, dodge blows and other strategic actions made available at your disposal. Only when you play this game will you fully appreciate the flexibility of the battle system!

GRAPHICS

What can I say? The graphics aren't exactly state-of-the-art but considering the age of the game itself, I would say they are pretty impressive. Whatever you do, don't let the graphics, cartoony and colorful they may be, put you off this fantastic game. There are some impressive anime-like facial expressions for the varying character portraits that are a delight to look at and gives defining characteristics to the impressive game dialogue.

MUSIC

The music creates the atmosphere for any game and is able to evoke the atmosphere into the minds of the player. Grandia achieves this with success, the soundtrack is cheery and bouncy when it wants it to be and it can be sad and melancholy when it needs be. I particularly love the way the battle music alters depending on whether you face an enemy or whether you are ambushed by the enemy. The music to the ambushed battle creates a sense of panic and fast pace to encourage you to fight to the best of your ability to beat the enemy despite the disadvantaged start.

REPLAY VALUE / LENGTH

Though there is virtually no replay value for Grandia, the game itself is actually pretty long and this game encourages exploration on your part to dig up cool items and stuff. Dungeons are generally big and there are a few bonus dungeons in Grandia that you may want to explore or not. Grandia took me approximately 60 hours to complete having explored everything to my utmost ability. You can beat the game in about 25 hours if you rush (which I don't recommend!) Take your time and you will find a massive game on your hands.

OVERALL

The game now costs around £10 which needless to say, is a huge bargain! Considering how cheap the game is now, there is no need to rent the game but to buy it immediately. The battle system is great fun and the story is engaging and well narrated - and it is these factors that makes Grandia such a fun game to play. And as the game is also becoming increasingly rare, you've best get a copy now before it becomes like Star Ocean 2 and Suikoden (very rare games.)

PRO FACTORS

- Engaging storyline and battle system.
- A big game that will last you a while.
- Likeable characters and character interactions.

CON FACTORS

- Linear. The places you can go to are restricted to the story events.
- Generally easy difficulty. Veterans will find it a breeze and beginners won't find too much of a challenge either.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/12/02, Updated 11/12/02