Grandia

"A wonderful, uplifting game."

Developed by Game Arts, Grandia was origanilly made for and released to the Sega Saturn. As we all know, Sega Saturn died, and Grandia was rereleased on the Playstation. Grandi was also released on the Game Boy in Japan, but never made it to the US, or anywhere alse in fact.

First off, let me give a breef overview of the game without spoiling much.

Story

Justin(Hero of the story), is a young boy who has dreamed of going on a grand adventure. Justins dad was an adventurer, and brought back many artifacts. One of these artifacts was a green emerald like stone(Spirit Stone), in which he gave to Justin.

One day, Justin and his friend Sue (like a younger sister to Justin), go on their first real adventure. The go to the Sult Ruins, where they meet up with the Garlyle Forces (At this point, their plans are not revealed, they are just snooping around the ruins). When Justin finally makes it to the depts of the ruins, he encounters a halogram of a mystical young woman (Liete). Justin is then removed from the ruins, and returns back to his home town, where he makes the decision to leave home and find Liete. I like to compare Grandia to a dark comedy, very humorul, and dark at the same time.

As the game and story progresses, you learn that General Baal is collecting peices of the spirit stones, to transform himslf into a god.

Battle System

Ok, now to the part of the game where it really shines, its battle system.

You eneciate battles with monsters if you walk into one(if from behind you get first strikes), the monster sees you and attacks (if from behand you are ambushed). The monsters roam the the dungeaons, and other maps freely.

Once the battle has started, then you will notice an IP Gauge (active time bar) on the lower right hand corner of your screen.

Let me try to put a picture in of what I mean

-------E-----O----l---l

E= Enemy icon. If there are multiple enemy, then there will me that many Enemy icons.

O=Party Icon. Up to for player Icons, since only 4 fit in a party.

At the the start of a battle the Enemy and Parties icons are positioned in a spot on the IP Gauge. All of the icons move up the Gauge at there own speeds, and yes, they can over pass others.

Once the waiting period is over, ( the first yellow bar is called the COM Point), then you can choose the attack of that person, or the monster automatically continues down the bar. Time is frozen as yo choose you attacks. Once you have choosen the attack, that players icon contiues down the bar untill it reaches the Act point, in which a move, skill, or magic is unleashed. Once the move is over, the character icon automatically place at the bgining of the IP Gauge.

Attacks, moves and spell, usually put the foes(including yourself) into a shock where the players icon stops for a split second, or the icon is pushed back, making it longer to attack.

Magic and Skills

Each party member, when recieved, comes with a few combat skill, and magic skills. To gain more skills and magic, you simply use a certian spell or skill a lot, and the nest level of magic will open up.

Lets say, that I used Justins V-Slash a few times, a new skill will open up(W-Break). Or if I use his Burn enouph times, Burnflame will be available. And if I use water and earth, they can form a leaf spell. Even magic and weapon skills collide, you can get some powerful skills by using a certian type of weapon, and gaining the needed level of magic.

Each Character learns the same basic magic, but split off into and specailize into their own.

Each skill or spell has 5 stars next to it. When you first use or get skill and magic, it will take a long time to charge and use it between the Com point and the ACT point on the IP gauge. As you use a skill or magic, the stars slowly fill, and as they fill, the fast the Act time becomes faster. Once you fill up all 5 stars, then it is mastered, and that skill or spell can be used almost instantly after the COM point.

Graphics and Controlling

It is ported from The Sega Saturn, so the graphics can be a bit choppy. It has a charm to it however, it is colorful, enteractive, and the controling is rather simple. Outdated to present specs, but a good game none the less

My Rating 8/10

Reason: An uplifting game that starts off mild but gets dark as game progresses. This game is very funny. The graphics are not to great, but the environment is pretty interactable.

There are currently two more Grandia games, Grandia II, and Grandia Xtreme. Neither of which have any connection beside the name. Grandia II was released on the Dreamcast and the Playstation 2. Grandia Xtreme was released on the PS2 only.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/28/04