Grandia: A cool little adventure game.

So recently I completed the Game Arts PS1 classic Grandia. I didn't really know much about the game before starting it. I know that it was for the PS1 and I bought it for my friend Bryan for his 14th(?) birthday. It was on the PlayStation network for only $5.99. I thought heck why not! I'm playing through 2 RPGs I've beaten before (FF7,8) so why not try something new that has some popularity? For a game that boasts having "Over 80 hours of game play" I figured I would at least get my money's worth out of it!

So as soon as started the game the graphics and overall way it played was very reminiscent of Xeno Gears. The towns and backgrounds were designed decently well, but the characters themselves had this weird sprite feel to it that wasn't quite super Nintendo and not quite up to what the PS1 could do. Also the way you way you rotate the camera around with shoulder buttons in towns and dungeons. It has its own charm, doesn't take anything away from the game, and is still playable considering I still play a game like Final Fantasy Tactics. It's weird to pinpoint what era this game is supposed to take place in. It has a semi-modern feel to it with the way the towns are designed and the presence of airships and tanks. However, you spend most of the game in forests, villages, and rural type towns. Anyways I don't want to sit here and review the game per say, but rather talk about my experience as I played through the game and the impression it left on me. 

So as I start to go through the beginning stages of the game I'm loving for one big reason: the game isn't taking itself too seriously. It isn't trying to be the super over the top epic. It's just about a boy who wants to go on adventures and one day decides to live out his dream. I can also relate to the characters and story more this way. There are a lot of scenes where your having dialogue with the town bully, your younger friend who looks up to you, and your mom who hassles you about being late for dinner. None of this is done with cliche dialogue, but done tastefully and with voice acting so you can really feel the emotion behind the dialogue.

 

It feels like a coming of age story in a way. This kid Justin is a reckless energetic boy who experiences everything from leaving home, love, loss, growing up, standing up for what you believe, amongst many other areas you grow as a person in your life. I loved every second of this story and was sad when it was finished, for more reasons than one.


This is exactly the type of game that I miss and that isn't made these days. Sure the graphics are nothing to call home about, but the voice acting is good and gets you into the story more, the animated cut scenes are cool and add to the overall experience, but more than anything it's an engaging and relate-able story. It's easy to follow, you want to keep going to see what happens next, and is an overall satisfying experience. It brought me back to that golden age of RPGs and is basically the inspiration for this blog. Let's keep it real though; it ain't no Final Fantasy, but it is an awesome game overall and is well worth checking out. 

Games these days aren't made like this for one reason or another. There seems to be a bigger emphasis on innovation; whether it's the battle system, the graphics, or the level up system. I think developers sometimes forget that RPGs are story driven. Way back in the day, RPGs were text based and relied heavily on the story. Now a days the rely too much on graphics while the story takes a back seat. I think the PS1 RPG days were the perfect transition period when stories were still the focal point and the graphics complemented the story well with out over-shadowing it.


I may or may not do a video retrospective/ review on this game so you can get a better feel for what I'm talking about. I'll just wrap this up by saying that it was fun to play an old style RPG that I've never played before and still find it entertaining. Sometimes games like these don't age well and going back to play them can be difficult (especially when the graphics aren't up to par). However, there was nothing that I would really change about this game. For $5.99 on the PSN it's TOTALLY worth the price and your time. Go check it out if you haven't already. 

Right now I'm in the middle of Lunar Silver Star Story Harmony (The PSP Remake) and only being a few hours in I'm falling in love with it. The music, characters, graphics, just everything! It's made by the same company that made Grandia, Game Arts, so I'm expecting a similar experience! Thanks for reading this, if anyone's actually reading it haha, and keep playing! Later gamers.