racketboy.com

Happy 2015, everyone! To start off the new year, we're spending time with Grandia
http://www.racketboy.com/together-retro ... ub-grandia

I'm definitely going to get on board with this. I just moved the Saturn downstairs into the lounge a few days back and I've been meaning to play Grandia again.

I got this game for Christmas the year it came stateside (PS1) and never beat it. My love for the Lunar games influenced my decision to pick up the game... now I find myself in the middle of Eternal Blue and have to decided if I want to pause that play to start another Game Art's RPG... Decisions. Decisions.

Ugh I still need to beat out lunar first(haven't rehooked up the ps1 since it somehow got unhooked and might be using the moment to just rearrange how the desk is hooked up). But grandia I did start and I don't remember why I never finished it since I did make it past some wall in the game that was a pain but seemed like it opened up a whole new world once I got to the end of it and was still quirky and funny. *sigh* Guess I might as well charge up the vita and try to beat both before the end of the month(if only Game arts would get these games of theirs published as a re-release in a physical compilation on the vita...I'd buy it in a heartbeat). Between the voice acting in Lunar and this I think I might need to see what games they made that can be easily played in the US(legally)....

So I started a bit early to get a head start and rightfully so, since real life is taking up a very big portion of my time. So, let's get this party started right.

I have been sitting on a copy of Grandia for over 12 years, trying once to start it up and getting frustrated like I do with most RPGs now a days. I put the game down at the very beginning during the scavenger hunt, because I felt that the map and camera angle were confusing and things did not stand out to get your bearings straight. I also, did not like that specific events needed triggering to move the story forward, as I felt that was obtuse.

Now, I found myself feeling exactly the same at the start, but had to power through it to honestly give it a chance. People have been lauding the game for a long time as being a great game with a great combat system and story. I am honestly glad that I did push through as I am enamored with the charm, attention to detail and truly entertaining combat system.

I love how the NPCs change their dialog as events progress. This is a double-edged sword as I constantly feel the need to talk to every single person in an area whenever a new event happens. Sometimes it pays off with a little gift from someone, but 99% of the time it is just color. Still, the completionist inside of me feels compelled to talk to everyone over and over again. It isn't so bad, as these NPCs have genuine character, be it the inventor making the steam-powered flute, or the self-conscious girl with too many freckles, or the old man posing as a little girl pen pal to a sickly girl in the New World. These people genuinely have character, regardless of whether it is important to the story itself and makes you want to explore and interact with them.

The other thing I love is the combat system and all of the microcosms within that. I am astounded that no games really mimic how this combat system is, as there is a lot of depth involved. Countering, timing combos, evading and using magic are all incredibly intuitive and feel right. Adding to that fact is the sheer joy of using skills and magic to improve their potency and how each weapon and magic has their own levels and experience that unlock new abilities. It is insanely fun.

Pro-Tip, look at your skills in the menu for each character and see what levels of what weapons and magic you need to have to unlock new abilities. This will help you out a LOT in the long run, as some of those abilities are incredibly helpful.

I will talk more about the actual events and my impressions a bit later, but wanted to chime in and just enthuse about how much fun this game really is.

Funny thing is that scavenger hunt when I played the psn port of it as exactly where I got stuck for awhile(and exactly the only time I remember ever cheating by looking at a guide because I couldn't figure out for the life of me where to look for what I was missing and it pissed me off). But man you are so right about attention to detail...plus just wait until you get to some of the cutscenes after that hunt because some of them are rich(and by rich I mean hilarious, and some awkward for Justin which makes them even more hilarious). If game arts is still making tons of rpg's like these I need to buy them up and fast....

Hmm... might motivate me to finally hit up the DL copy I bought awhile back. I was a fan of 2 and beat that one, but have always heard better things about this and visually it's certainly more pleasing to look at as well.

Looking forward to starting this when I'm backhome on sunday. January looks to be an RPG heavy month

I see the site content this month was written by Graham. He sounds like a handsome chap.

Put in about an hour today.

Instantly remembered why I don't play many 3D games. Hate rotating the camera constantly to see everything. The map system helps tremendously though.

The battle and leveling systems in this game are so boss. I'm sure I'll end up grinding excessively just because I enjoy fighting so much.

Hope to finish this by the end of the month. Even if I don't I'll keep on playing until completion.

BoneSnapDeez wrote:Put in about an hour today.

Instantly remembered why I don't play many 3D games. Hate rotating the camera constantly to see everything. The map system helps tremendously though.

You bring up one of the negative points in the game and that is the, "Where the hell am I?" factor. Some dungeons can be very open or also have lots of twists and turns. It sucks that when you exit combat, the camera is not in the original position it was in before combat began, therefor you lose your sense of direction. I mean it is a minor gripe, but it still irks me just a tiny bit.