User Reviews
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 ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh |  5.0
0 comments |
by  SepheroT
from 2d floor of hot, , damn Hell | Dec 4, 2004 |
What? No! It can't be! Grandia is... finished? My God. There's no more. I've beat it. What else is there? for the last two weeks I have spent every waking moment of my life worshipping at the altar of Grandia, and now it's over? NO! Now that I have finished Grandia, I'll just have to find something constructive to do with my life. I know! I'll write this review!
In case you haven't noticed, Grandia has really gotten under my skin. It is not a flawless game but It is an amazing experience nonetheless.
Grandia was conceived as the alternative to Final Fantasy VII. In contrast to Final Fantasy VII's dark futuristic vision, everything in Grandia is cheerful and colorful. So much so that in the beginning of the game, I dismissed it as childish. I mean, you start out on a scavenger hunt with some other kids looking for imaginary armor made from buckets and other useless thingamajigs. But it is so much more than the 3D Earthbound I thought it to be. As the story went on, I got more and more interested in the struggles of the characters. Soon I was investing 3 hours a night playing it, then more, until one frightful day, I devoted NINE STRAIGHT HOURS to this silly thing, breaking only for lunch (and I mean a QUICK lunch). We are talking serious immersion here, so much that it may not be healthy. So before this rant gets out of control, I'll stabilize myself with some clear rational numbers:
Gameplay - 7.5
The battle system has it's good and bad points. It's sort of similar to Square's Active Time Battle, except that when you're no keying in commands, everyone is moving around, making it seem like you're always watching a big fight scene. Very exciting! The only bad thing about it is that in order to get any spell worth having, you must keep casting the pathetic spells to level up your magic. So later in the game, every battle is spent wasting time, casting meaningless spells. I got sick of having to cast Defense Raise twice in every battle to get more earth magic. The magic system is certainly Grandia's biggest flaw. But while I was playing, I was too interested in the story to really care too much.
Story - 10
In the beginning of the game there is a bit too much story, and it takes about 5-10 hours for things to really get going, but it's definitely worth it. The game is about 30 hours longer than your average RPG (it took me 50 hours total), and towards the end, it's just amazing. I cannot stress the immersion factor enough. In fact there were at least 3 moments where I was on the verge of weeping with joy for my characters. I started off thinking the main character was kind of one-dimensional, but he evolves greatly, and the relationships he builds over the course of the game are truly touching.
Graphics - 8
The first city in the game suffers from some truly horrendous graphical glitching. After, that it's basically smooth sailing. The spell effects are fun, but since you must constantly cast magic to gain magic experience they can grow tiresome. In general, the graphics are quite colorful, and the character art is phenomenal. What the game lacks in technical shine, it makes up for in style.
Sound - 7
You should probably ignore this rating as I can't really comment accurately on the sound. The music did the job nicely, the sound effects are virtually irrelevant, and the voice acting... was a mixed bag. I have to admit that it's really cool to have the occasional bit of dialogue voice acted to add impact, and most of the time, the voices worked. Most of the time. The few times that they don't are rather embarrasing.
Replayability - 4
I will never play this game again. Why? Basically, I don't want to have to go through the annoying process of leveling up my magic endlessly when I already know how the story goes. Of course, this may not bother some folks as much as it does me. Still, there's nothing much to see anymore except for two optional side dungeons, but all they get you is some extra items that arentt worth the trouble.
OVERALL - 9 Why do I give Grandia a higher rating than it probably deserves? Because no other game has touched me this deeply and involved me so much in it. The single big flaw in gameplay is more than outweighed by the truly amazing plot. I don't know if this is good or bad, but it did rule my life for two weeks. Yes I know people say that about other games, you know, jokingly saying ''Kiss your social life goodbye!''. But this isn't Tetris. Grandia is a whole other world, and if you don't experience it, you don't know what you are missing. Buy Grandia now. It is the best possible argument for being a videogame junkie.
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| 5 out of 10 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| Welcome he who holds the spirit stone... | 5.0
0 comments |
by  MegaDemon
from , Essex, | Jul 19, 2003 |
THE GOOD:
Great characters, Excellent battle system, one of the best storylines ever and nice, long-length,
It was cheap!!! A slice of heaven for just £5!!!THE BAD:
It had an ending...I wanted it to last forever  SUMMARY:
Justin is a young 14 year old boy, with big hopes and dreams. Full of spirit and love, he wishes to follow in his fathers footsteps, and become an adventurer. At first, he seems nothing more than a clumsy, foolish child, but when Baal of the Garyle army has plans to resurrect Gaia in order to become a 'god', things seem to change...
Grandia is truely a gift from the Gods of gaming, which doesnt focus only on graphics like other, 'so called' worthy games. This is one of the best games I have EVER played, and am honoured to say it is definately on the top 5 on my 'Games to worship' list. This game has two discs, but dont let that fool you...the first time around, this game took me 65+ hours to complete it, and I enjoyed every second. Grandia is like magic to anyone, any age, anywhere!! The characters are some of the best in any game I have seen, full of personality, mystery and look great too! As for the world and the space, I have to say-WHOA! So many villages, mountains, fields and many other types of adventuring grounds! If you are a lover of RPGs (including Final Fantasies) get this game, you wont regret it, its Puffy-licious!! |
| 8 out of 14 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| Grandia |  3.5
0 comments |
by  HalfDemon Inuyasha
from Broken Dreams, , | Jul 9, 2003 |
THE GOOD:
Game Play, Story Line, Battle System, some of the characters....THE BAD:
Graphics, to short, bosses were to easy and the final boss was nothing SUMMARY:
This game is a really good game but it did have a weak points, like the bosses throughout this game are to easy, and the main boss was so simple, I dont even consider him a boss really...:laughs: but there were some good stuff, the battle system was cool, and the story line was well put together, some of the characters were cool, the game play was fair enouhg to play as a game, and to top it all off with a cherry the stages throughout the game were pretty cool...in my opinion some of the best battle grounds in a rpg....I mean I have played alot of rpgs and some werent that great pof battle scences, but this game had a good amount of them... |
| 6 out of 11 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| Grandia | 5.0
0 comments |
by FrostCyclone
from , , | May 19, 2003 |
THE GOOD:
How the battles and magics work, and the storyline is great and the game is fun. I also liked it when the 3 sisters fought  , and when everyone picked on Justin. The ending was kinda funny, cuz the way the kids looked like. I also thought Gaia was a cool boss, but at the end he wasn't all challenging or anything at all, and I was a looow level, like...33-36 maybe.THE BAD:
How characters leave your party when you put so much effort in them, the second time I played this game My Sue was like ultimate, and a great healer. I also got mad when Feena got kidnapped a lot, and Guido joined for a short period of time, and Liete wasn't in the party for too long. SUMMARY:
I really enjoyed playing the game, but it did kinda made me sad on the part when Sue leaves, mainly because she's a good character and the music. I'm still too young, can't blame my emotions ~.~. Feena was cool too, especially Guido :-D. They could've made Gaia do at least 200-300 damage, and a spell that turns down everyone's Hp to 1, and drain all SP and MP for a more challenge. And they also needed a lot of sidequests, and the freedom to go back to previously visited places. x.x. |
| 6 out of 13 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| Grandia is the Best !!!!! | 5.0
0 comments |
by Shane Poyner
from Collingwood, Ontario/Canada | Jan 5, 2003 |
THE GOOD:
Story Line, Battle Setup, Normal and Magic Attacks, and the enrire game itself!!THE BAD:
Graphics could be a little better, sound could also be a little bit better SUMMARY:
This is a really good play its story line is worked out to be really good and the game play is fantastic!!
this is a must get game in qwhich you will really enjoy!!!
when u get this game you will not be dispointed!! |
| 5 out of 11 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| grandia |  4.5
0 comments |
by Timmi!
from NOSY PEOPLE THESE DAYS | Mar 31, 2002 |
THE GOOD:
Excellent story, brilliant system, ooooohTHE BAD:
nuttin SUMMARY:
this game is absoloutely excellent. It has a wicked story, involving gameplay, tons of magic, the best battle system and is the best RPG i've ever played next to final fantasy. The reason why this game was unnoticed was the overpowering final fantasy 7 coming out at the same time. Grandia doesn't deserve this this lack of attention... |
| 12 out of 17 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| The Ultimate Game | 5.0
0 comments |
by  Rapp
from Northampton, Northants!, UK | Mar 18, 2002 |
THE GOOD:
The Innovative Battle Design
The Storyline
The Characters
The Amazingness about it all
THE BAD:
The graphics are dated but functional
SUMMARY:
The game begins in a small town of parm, a boy called Justin is in the middle of his quests for the legendary treasures so his best friend Sue will not be taken as Gantz's (His Rival) bride. Of course this is all childrens play and you soon realise that the legendary armour is nothing more than a cloth...
The game then lets you travel to a set of ruins in the north where the army is looking for a special stone, it is here where the story really begins...
The best part about this game is the fact that you can dodge enemy attacks and move yourselves to a better location to attack, this on it's own is an amazing thing.
The storyline is unrivalled, NOTHING even comes close to this beautiful game, the story of the lost city of Alent, the Icarians, Liete and Baal will touch your heart, it truely is amazing.
Buying this game will only further what i've said above and will amaze you to uncoprehensable levels, such is the beauty of this game.
Plus for people in the UK, it can be picked up for just £9.99. What better way to spend a tenner than 40 hours of amazing fun? |
| 6 out of 12 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| A real must have |  4.9
0 comments |
by  Tricrokra
from Etten-Leur, Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands | Mar 8, 2002 |
THE GOOD:
- Very strong story line... I doubt it will ever be topped
- Good battle interface (alas sometimes a bit chaotic)
- Very nice skill experience system
- Cool characters
- Graphics that speak for themselves
THE BAD:
- Sometimes battles a bit too chaotic
- A bit weak ending
SUMMARY:
I read a review about Grandia which said the game was crap... But when reading that review, I had the funny idea those reviewers did not know anything about RPG, and I had to see the game for myself...
Guess what... The game turned out even better than I ever could hoped for... In all kind of ways...
The story is one of the strongest points... It starts on a classical way... A boy who wants to be an adventurer... But as the story continues mysteries will come up, and what begins with child's play ends up in very serious business.... A story of love but also fo death and destruction... Perfectly balanced out... The game takes exactly enough time for each part of the story... And each part is there for a reason, you'll discoer sooner or later in the game...
The battle system is very original... Combine Lunar 2's "walk around" battle interface with Final Fantasy's "Active Time Battle", put a little more extras in it an voila... An ultra strong battle interface that gives a complete new kind of RPG gameplay... It may take awhile to get used to it.. But when you are you'll discover that it really kicks ass... The first enemies are very easy, so you get the time to get used to the system... Later in the game the enemies will soon get harder... Some bosses may seem impossible, but when you get to know the system better and better you'll discover there's always a way, which is mostly easier than you ever thought of... The game gives a lot to explore at that point, and that's really a good point about this game...
The skill system is also something better not ignored... if you can take good use of it, you'll get a very strong way of improoving your magic...
Strong story... Strong gameplay... Strong battle interface and so on... It all makes the game a real must-have for all the fans of this genre!!
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| 10 out of 15 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| The Ultimate RPG? | 5.0
0 comments |
by  Raikazokou
from , , | Dec 19, 2001 |
THE GOOD:
This has to be one of the best RPG's I have ever played. With a outstanding storyline that won't let you go, cute graphics and loads of exploring to do, you won't turn off your PSX! I must say that you should go and get this game if you truely love RPG's! A definate Final Fantasy beater!THE BAD:
Nothin bad here! SUMMARY:
Very interactive characters! You have to think when you battle as well! Battles are full of stratagy, and are fun. Also, they are not Random! |
| 8 out of 14 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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| Grandia: One of the greatest RPGs ever created | 4.9
0 comments |
by Crush
from Decatur, Texas, USA | Mar 23, 2001 |
THE GOOD:
Basically everything in the game! The battle system is better then any other RPG that I've ever played! music and voice acting is also good. THE BAD:
Nothing really. Graphics aren't anything like FFIX. SUMMARY:
Grandia is an RPG like no other. With 80+ hours of gameplay that addicts you like nothing before. The voices in the game are good, and the battle system is better then Chrono Cross, Any Final Fantasy, and Breath of Fire IV put together! the only battle system that comes close to this is Valiyre Profile's.
Each character is nicely detailed. You'll feel there emotions, it seems like that characters are real! Game Arts did a good job with this one.
The only game I like better is FFVIII and it comes close (I don't have a DC so I haven't played Grandia 2) Buy It! |
| 12 out of 20 people found this review helpful. | Did you find this review helpful? YES NO |
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4.66/5.0
