Support NeoGAF

[Shouta]

Finished my second run through of this game last night (which was long overdue). The game still amazes me at how well it`s paced and how well the battle system is constructed. While the battle system doesn`t hold a finger to some of the improvements found in Grandia Xtreme, it still is a solid and playable game. I do wish they had kept the skill -> stat bonus upgrades and a bit more unique spell lists for the later game but I can see why they did Grandia Xtreme like they did.

The story still plays out really well to boot. My only complaint is that I would`ve liked it to go on longer and focus a bit more on the world around the characters instead of just Justin and Feena`s adventure. I still get the fuzzies when I see the Spirit Gate scene. There`s a whole ton of other scenes in the game that are great tooooooo. The soundtrack just holds out so well too. Soooo beautiful although I wish the main theme wasn`t repeated so much..

On the note of Audio, the voice-acting really does suffer from a case of shoddy directing instead of terrible voice-actors. There were a few scenes throughout the game that each of the voice-actors did a fairly good job (Liete`s VA did the best job overall btw) but the rest of the game was totally uneven.

Whoever said Grandia got a bad translation needs to replay the game and pay closer attention. While there are a few spots of uneven work (better wording or better grammar in some cases) the game was marvelously translated even if the fake Italian speech pattern given to the Mogay was kind of jarring ;p.

I think I found joke (you use to see it around here often) that got snuck into the game. Later on after the defeat of Baal at J Base, The Garlyle Forces and Justin regroup at an encampement. In one of the tents is a parrot that will repeat something you tell him to. One of the lines is "Justin is Awesome!". I happened to pick that one and guess what gets spit out, "Justin is awesome! Awesome is Justin!" It wasn`t exactly like that but it was pretty much there. Found it quite amusing.

Oh yes, you`d be surprised but in Zil Padon there`s an inn called the Alqada Hotel (!). I have a pick of it saved to my laptop (since I played the game on my laptop, don`t have access to a PS) amongst some other fine shots ;p. I`ll post them whenever I get to Tokyo and have a stable internet connection. Can`t really post 1280x800 sized pics (the size I had epsxe run in) on this crappy connection.

 

[totoro'd]

Loved Grandia. Who needs the cliched, angsty, brooding hero ? (which is one of my biggest gripes with Grandia 2)

My favorite battle system in an rpg ever as well. I do with they'd cut down the amount of spells, the majority of them I didn't even need or want to use most of the time.

Sue's voice acting in the U.S. version wasn't really that bad, IMO. It was really girly and cutesy, but I thought it fit the character very well.

 

[belgurdo]

The only character I didn't outright hate was Liete because she was about a shade from being naked and had this "clueless Belldandy" thing going on

 

[jarrod]

Grandia is the best thing to ever come out of GameArts. I want a cellshaded PSP remake.

 

[Comfort_Eagle]

Loved Grandia just for the fact that the characters were different. I know most people thought they were annoying, though. I always found the generic square final fantasy character to be far more annoying. Except for the monkey boy in FFIX. I liked him for some odd reason. And then the battle system was just fabulous and actually fun.

Now i want to go and replay it.

 

[carpal]

Grandia is the best thing to ever come out of GameArts. I want a cellshaded PSP remake.

Amen to that.

 

[Brandon F]

Been seriously considering giving Grandia Xtreme a second chance lately given how cheap it is these days. Arc the Lad PS2 has also been calling my name everytime I walk into a local shop, but I have yet to respond.

Anyway...

Grandia 1. I've chilled out over the years, it really is a very cool game with plenty of positives that grossly outweigh its few flaws. Any complaints I would argue stem mostly from personal bias, but I can't motivate myself to care anymore. Ever since I finished DW7 earlier this year, I've been meaning to replay this one again myself with a 'fresh' perspective.

I never really loved too much of the music, however...Iwadare's work with Grandia 2 was wonderful.

 

[Mejilan]

The Grandia series is probably the best and most overlooked thing to happen to RPGs in years.

 

[Shouta]

Man, I don`t what happened when they did Grandia 2. A boot to the head was needed. At least it`s not like what happened with the Lufia Series after Lufia 2. Two stinkers (or was it 3?) all on hand-held systems.

I should cap a wav of the Rah-Rah Cheer for you Be-Ah. It still gives me some nightmares ;p. She wasn`t that bad but man that and the fighter cheer...

 

[jett]

Who needs the cliched, angsty, brooding hero ?

I'd rather have that than a cliché, moronic, happy-go-lucky hero.

 

[Mejilan]

There were two additional Lufia games after Lufia 2. A GBC game, The Legend Returns, and a GBA one, Ruins of Lore.

Ruins of Lore was NOT done by the same team that did the first two. The Legend Returns might not have either, but I don't remember anymore.

 

[totoro'd]

I should cap a wav of the Rah-Rah Cheer for you Be-Ah. It still gives me some nightmares ;p. She wasn`t that bad but man that and the fighter cheer...

lol I thought Sue and Puffy were a riot when they did that

 

[Shouta]

I'd rather have that than a cliché, moronic, happy-go-lucky hero.

Not like that was hard to notice about you.

There were two additional Lufia games after Lufia 2. A GBC game, The Legend Returns, and a GBA one, Ruins of Lore.

Ruins of Lore was NOT done by the same team that did the first two. The Legend Returns might not have either, but I don't remember anymore.

Oh I`m pretty sure they both weren`t by the team/s that did Lufia 1 and 2. I just couldn`t remember how many games after 2 they came up with. I really should know, Lufia 1-2 is my favorite set of RPGs like ever.

Be-Ah, you sir are crazy in the head.

 

[AniHawk]

I'd rather have that than a cliché, moronic, happy-go-lucky hero.

I'd rather have a happy-go-lucky likeable guy like Vyse rather than that moron Justin.

The voice acting took away so much of that game for me. The fact that I couldn't mute it without hearing what was going on made things worse. I would have really enjoyed the game if it wasn't for the horrible voice acting (though some of it was almost tolerable).

 

[Mejilan]

The funny thing about bad VA in my book?

It doesn't bug me. Thank g-d.

 

[gblues]

I think at least some of the pacing issues are simply hardware related. Or at least, poor code design. You'd have scenes like this:

JUSTIN: blah blah blah
[pause - hear PSX groaning]
FEENA: yak yak yak
JUSTIN: blah blah
[pause - another groan from the PSX]
JUSTIN: more blathering
[pause - PSX sounds like it's formatting a floppy]
FEENA: "Justin you PERVERT!" *smack* (best line in the game!)
etc.

From the noise that the PSX is making, I think the game was designed to stream the VA off the CD and it just... kills the...
...
pacing.

Nathan

 

[BobbyRobby]

I tried to sell a friend of mine on Grandia I, but from the moment he heard, "JUUUUUUUUSSSSTIIIIIIINNNNN!!!", he wouldn't have any part of it.

Totally incredible game Grandia is. I think its time I gave it a replay as well.

 

[Mejilan]

You guys playing it on PSOnes or PS2s?

 

[AniHawk]

You guys playing it on PSOnes or PS2s?

PS2. Does it matter?

 

[Mejilan]

Game kept on freezing on my PS2 when I tried playing it a year ago. People here on GAF told me it had incompatability issues with the system's backwards compatability.

Tried to play two different copies of the game and experienced the same problems over and over again.

 

[AniHawk]

Game kept on freezing on my PS2 when I tried playing it a year ago. People here on GAF told me it had incompatability issues with the system's backwards compatability.

Tried to play two different copies of the game and experienced the same problems over and over again.

That's odd. Worked fine on my PS2, and I even played it on the PSOne a bit. The only game I've ever had trouble with freezing is GTA:VC, which has frozen a total of 9 times now.

 

[Mejilan]

I think I got about 15 hours in before it started happening so often, that I couldn't get from one save point to another in a particular dungeon.

At some point, usually in a battle, the music was starf to skip back to a couple of seconds before, get to where it was and skip back again, and again, and again.

From there, the game itself would actually fatally lock, either in the middle of the fight, or just after it if I was able to finish it quickly.

I bought two copies of the game and had the same problem.

 

[cvkpaladin]

Justin was a dork. I liked Grandia but his voice actor was getting on my nerves. Anyways, Game-Arts needs to start pumping out some new games. Lunar 3 would be nice...

 

[Shouta]

Vyse sucked ass, he was like a weaksauce version of Justin!

 

[SolidSnakex]

Justin was a dork. I liked Grandia but his voice actor was getting on my nerves. Anyways, Game-Arts needs to start pumping out some new games. Lunar 3 would be nice...

All the voice actors in the game have the ability to get on your nerves because of how bad they're. After playing hrough it again recently, the only one that actually seems to work is sue. Other than that, they're just really bad. It's very obvious during the opening talk sequences.

I'd like any new RPG from GA to tell you the truth. They really haven't done anything in awhile. They have the Pure Dragon game, but it doesn't seem to really be going anywhere. Lunar 3 or Grandia 3 would be nice. Just as long as the Grandia is more open like the original.

 

[AniHawk]

Vyse sucked ass, he was like a weaksauce version of Justin!

Vyse would have kicked Justin's ass anytime, anywhere.

 

[Shouta]

All the voice actors in the game have the ability to get on your nerves because of how bad they're. After playing hrough it again recently, the only one that actually seems to work is sue. Other than that, they're just really bad. It's very obvious during the opening talk sequences.

Heck no, it`s definitely the voice direction as opposed to actor ability. You haven`t watched enough dubbed material if you think Grandia`s VAs terrible. I can cite about 6 titles anime titles, AT LEAST that have worse dubbing.

Vyse would have kicked Justin's ass anytime, anywhere.

Gadwin (I am Gadwin, Knight of Dight. Funny stuff XD) > Vyse and Justin > Gadwin therefore Justin > Vyse

 

[SolidSnakex]

Well all I know is that I don't like the voice acting in the game. Grandia 2's voice acting sounded alot better and just more fluid in comparison even though the game itself isn't up to par with the original. The voice acting just never sounded right in the original.

 

[AniHawk]

Heck no, it`s definitely the voice direction as opposed to actor ability. You haven`t watched enough dubbed material if you think Grandia`s VAs terrible. I can cite about 6 titles anime titles, AT LEAST that have worse dubbing.



Gadwin (I am Gadwin, Knight of Dight. Funny stuff XD) > Vyse and Justin > Gadwin therefore Justin > Vyse

While Grandia doesn't have the worst VA, it is still pretty damn bad. Justin sounds like an adult trying to sound like a kid instead of a teenager or a kid. Same with all the other kids in the game. At least in Grandia II Roan sounded his age. It was mismatched voices + poor direction + awkward spacing which made Grandia's VA sound so bad to me.

 

[Shouta]

Like I pointed out, voice direction was the main problem with the performances. It plagued Valkyrie Profile as well but not to the same degree.

 

[nubbe]

Game kept on freezing on my PS2 when I tried playing it a year ago. People here on GAF told me it had incompatability issues with the system's backwards compatability.

Tried to play two different copies of the game and experienced the same problems over and over again.

Same issue for me... It started to freeze after the great wall... could not bother to go any longer since I had to repeat stuff over and over... I really liked to game too

 

[Shouta]

You should play it on emu like epsxe if you don`t have a PS anymore. works just fine aside from the audio glitching (at least on my comp).

Oh and I finished the game in 33 hours ;p.

 

[ferricide]

Oh I`m pretty sure they both weren`t by the team/s that did Lufia 1 and 2. I just couldn`t remember how many games after 2 they came up with. I really should know, Lufia 1-2 is my favorite set of RPGs like ever.

they did the GBC one. the battle system and music are great; the story is mediocre; the dungeons blow.

 

[kiryogi]

Originally Posted by Shouta:
Oh I`m pretty sure they both weren`t by the team/s that did Lufia 1 and 2. I just couldn`t remember how many games after 2 they came up with. I really should know, Lufia 1-2 is my favorite set of RPGs like ever.

they did the GBC one. the battle system and music are great; the story is mediocre; the dungeons blow.

the GBC definitely had Neverland in the intro and credits...oh hey didn't see ferricide's post. There was only so much they could do with the GBC.

 

[jarrod]

Hudson also developed a GBC Grandia spinoff (Parallel Trippers). Anyone ever played it?

 

[madara]

Grandia's sense of wonder and excitement exploring fresh new world from point of view of youth is very pleasing. I would like to see a remake of this someday. So at least those that cant get pass VA can enjoy this beauty.

 

[Gantz]

The PSone port of Grandia was gawd awful. It needs a high res remake.

 

[Shouta]

Man, what the hell were they thinking when they made The Legend Returns woof. Although the Milka artwork they had was hot.

 

[bionic77]

I loved the first cd of Grandia and totally hated the second. It has been awhile since I played the game, but from what I remember I hated the change of characters in the game after that big ass wall. Up until that point I totally loved the game though, never played anything quite like it before, too bad they added a she-male and rat faced nose picker to the cast, I never could get behind their story and felt the game fell apart at that point. Battle system was awesome though, I loved the music too, just didn't like the story in the 2nd cd.

 

[Crazymoogle]

As I recall, Lufia was supposed to have 32bit sequel until they had to recan and replan...they had some promotional track left over from the project.

Anyhow, anybody looking for bad RPG voice acting from the Grandia generation clearly needs only to play Star Ocean 2. Damn, they talk every battle, and it's very disturbing.

 

[Mejilan]

I think my Grandia became unplayable about at the Great Wall too. Perhaps the dungeon right after that. I never owned a PSOne, so no luck there.

The music and combat system in Lufia - Legend Returns for the GBC were downright awesome. Dungeons were so fucking bad, though.

 

[Shouta]

Oh yeah, Star Ocean 2 was frigging terrible. I did like some of the tones they had picked for the characters though despite the all around shittttttttty voice-acting.

Yeah, they had a PS Lufia planned called Lufia: Ruins Chasers. I have the artwork and the story premise saved on to disc somewhere. REALLY cool designs.

 

[Brandon F]

Someone needs to capture some of the battle expressions used in SO2, they are all priceless in how absurd they sound.

 

[Soul4ger]

I loved the first cd of Grandia and totally hated the second. It has been awhile since I played the game, but from what I remember I hated the change of characters in the game after that big ass wall. Up until that point I totally loved the game though, never played anything quite like it before, too bad they added a she-male and rat faced nose picker to the cast, I never could get behind their story and felt the game fell apart at that point. Battle system was awesome though, I loved the music too, just didn't like the story in the 2nd cd.

Rapp > You

 

[Crazymoogle]

Oh yeah, Star Ocean 2 was frigging terrible. I did like some of the tones they had picked for the characters though despite the all around shittttttttty voice-acting.

Yeah, they had a PS Lufia planned called Lufia: Ruins Chasers. I have the artwork and the story premise saved on to disc somewhere. REALLY cool designs.

That's it. I still have that music track remix kicking around somewhere, it's probably more tuned to the Lufia series than any of the portable games. Go figure though, my sister played through the GBC one in short order and was begging for more.

I've finally given up on SO2 in part due to the voices. The game has a rather brilliant menu system, but sadly no voice controls seem to be in the mix. It's like 90's shareware voice synthesis bad.

 

[Spiritreaver]

For some reason I had the idea most people hated Grandia. What was that topic...? Oh yeah Lunar SSS and how it was "better" than Grandia, shamed me how fewer people didn't support Grandia.

Anywho, I must say Grandia's one of my favorite RPGs and this topic makes me want to replay it. :S Oh with the skills, the battle system, the fun loving characters. Heh they all had something hilarious about each of them which really helped you get into them. Meh, who cares about the VA it's n ot that huge of a deal, at least I didn't think so.

I'd love a Grandia remake as well.

 

[BobbyRobby]

Claude: "Well that was around, fifty points!"

Classic lines such as this make SO2's battle hilarious.

 

[Shouta]

Rapp indeed ownz.

Oh and whoever thinks Lunar SSS is better than Grandia needs to have their head checked.

I might end up seeing if I can get some of the voice samples from SO2 saved especially the absurd Dias` where he goes "10 seconds..." in the most monotone voice I`ve ever heard.

The sad part is I enjoy the bad acting in SO2 more than I do the Japanese voice acting.

 

[Brandon F]

Damn you Shouta! ToS is arriving in a few days and here I am playing stupid Grandia again. About to finish the Sult Ruins early on, but man I must have been on crack all those years ago arguing with you and DragonA...I'm too busy having a blast to even recall all the mud I used to sling.

What's next? Breath of Fire 2 IS actually better than BoF4? (Not bloody likely...)

Still holds up surprisingly well also. I was actually impressed that it makes use of the Right stick for camera pan. Not many PSX games really did that.

 

[Shouta]

Man, I don `t even remember what you were mud-slinging mud at me and Dragona about. . ANd yes, BoF2 > BoF4!

The game moves insanely fast the 2nd time around. Took me like 60 hours the first time but I just breezed through the 2nd time.

On that note, I gonna start on Growlanser tonight. I`ve heard that it`s the most expansive of the 4 games in terms or story or something. Gotta see how it pans out especially with Generations coming out soon (I might pick up 2 and 3 for translation comparison purposes while I`m here in Japan though).