I busted out my ps3 just so I can replay this bad boy.
Sucks I have to set up a memory card everytime I turn on the system though .
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The ERA RPG Club Plays: Grandia
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I busted out my ps3 just so I can replay this bad boy.
Sucks I have to set up a memory card everytime I turn on the system though .
Grandia is good, but never finished it. Loved Grandia 2 to death.
But beware, Grandia 3 i really bad. Combat system still rocks, but story is nearly non existant and bad, and dungeons are long and boring.
Played Grandia 1 just a couple of years ago, heaving beaten 2 and 3 when they came out. Those had an amazing battle system, but this first one... I don't think you have to use much strategy or cancelling until the very end of the game. It was a rare instance of knowing "how" to play a game but not actually needing to.
Grandia 1 is also way, way too long. The later dungeons are total slogs. The floating palace thing... damn.
Grandia 1 is also way, way too long. The later dungeons are total slogs. The floating palace thing... damn.
Currently going through on Vita. Game is still as entertaining as when I got it on PS1 when it originally launched.
I remember choosing this one for my birthday over FF8. Still got 8 for Xmas though.
Characters are still fun and the animated cut scenes are really cool with the exposition. Combat is as great as ever. Sprite work still looks good.
Definitely one of the best of the era. As good as FF7, Chrono Cross and DQ7.
I remember choosing this one for my birthday over FF8. Still got 8 for Xmas though.
Characters are still fun and the animated cut scenes are really cool with the exposition. Combat is as great as ever. Sprite work still looks good.
Definitely one of the best of the era. As good as FF7, Chrono Cross and DQ7.
One thing that this is reinforcing for me is that while the Grandia sequels really lacked what made the original special. That's not to say they're bad exactly, but they feel pretty generic in comparison.
This reminds me that it's been almost three years since Grandia® II Anniversary Edition release. I've heard that there's going to be follow up with touched upon re-releases (i.e. Grandia 1 or Lunar games) on Steam. But a lot of time passed since then. Did they (GungHo?) give up?
Love the music. I have this as a PS1 Classic as Grandia 3 was the only Grandia game I ever played previously on ps2. I will say that I am still hurt when I logger onto the PS store on ps4 to see Grandia 3 featured to find that it was an error and was meant to be PS2 Classics on ps3. I still bought it lol.
Made it to disc 2.
Woo wooooo
Has the buzz for these user picked games always been this diminutive? I feel everyone was on board for the first week, and now this thread is a ghost town. Ha
Did this happen with the other games picked too?
Woo wooooo
Has the buzz for these user picked games always been this diminutive? I feel everyone was on board for the first week, and now this thread is a ghost town. Ha
Did this happen with the other games picked too?
Yep.
I'm starting to think this whole RPG club thing is a failed experiment.
Even though I can't always play along, I love following along with these threads. I'd like to see them continue, when in the current form.
OP
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I've been embroiled in actually getting my setup up and running! Once the OSSC finally came, I set it up but then needed new component cables for the PSP Go...and then I ended up ordering a dock for it too (the prices on those are absurd by the way, it ended up costing a smidge more than the Go even did)...and then I connected my Saturn to it through SCART and rearranged my whole gaming area...but thankfully I've finished all that up and also properly configured the OSSC and it looks fantastic. Very highly recommended.
Actually, I'd like to post this video that was mentioned a few weeks ago on the RPG discord - it's from My Life in Gaming and it discusses in depth how to get the best picture quality for PS1 games:
This is a fantastic video from a fantastic channel, and I really recommend giving it a watch. Especially with these vibrant, sprite-heavy games like Grandia, putting a little work into improving the picture quality does wonders, I finally got a chance to play more of it today and I'm constantly amazed at how sharp and beautiful it looks.
I hope you all are still enjoying the game, obviously E3 took everything by storm but hopefully you all are still chugging at it. Part of the purpose of this thread in general is to keep the game fresh in everyone's mind and help motivate people to keep playing it, since RPGs in general can be so hard to make meaningful progress in unless you really hunker down with them and give them time. Hell I'm still playing multiple RPGs from last year that I bought at launch, even ones from earlier in the year.
I think what I'll do is post in the following format, which will kind of keep a record of my progress through the game. Anyone can feel free to follow this format too, and I'll actively encourage doing so in the OP for the next game:
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Current Progress: Just busted up Feena's "wedding," 7 hours playtime. By the way, I think I am moving very slowly through this game. I have no clue where this "wall" people keep talking about is...
Thoughts on the recent content: The wedding crash was a nice sequence. I actually really struggled on Merrill Road beforehand for some reason though. The issue was that I just couldn't keep Sue alive, and unfortunately I already burned my resurrection potion so now I'm pretty sure I'm limited to recovering at save points. Thank god for free save point recovery by the way, very convenient. A lot of people have said the game is easy. I guess overall it's easy, but I think it's only because it's so forgiving with how much cash it gives you to buy good equipment and stock up on consumables. In terms of the combat itself, I think the encounters are much more difficult than the trash mobs you fight in a lot of other RPGs. It's just that the game gives you a lot of resources for making sure you stay HP topped up with the best equipment for the job.
Overall thoughts: I still love the combat, especially in the boss fights. I think the game is well-balanced in the sense that I haven't been outright wiping, but I feel like I can still get curb-stomped if I just mash and don't pay any kind of attention to strategy. Once you're down to one active party member, the battles can get dire pretty quickly because everything gangs up and staggers you in the same way that you can stagger them. I kind of hope the battle system opens up to its full capacity sooner rather than later, because I really want to see how all these mechanics come together at a high level as opposed to the current "still learning the ropes" deal.
Questions: There is equipment that, for instance, increases your defense, but decreases your "act" stat. Now I'm assuming this "act" stat is how fast they progress across the "act" part of the turn bar and execute their commands. But what I'm wondering is: should I prioritize one of these stats over the other? Is it worth getting some extra defense and taking a -10 hit to act?
Actually, I'd like to post this video that was mentioned a few weeks ago on the RPG discord - it's from My Life in Gaming and it discusses in depth how to get the best picture quality for PS1 games:
This is a fantastic video from a fantastic channel, and I really recommend giving it a watch. Especially with these vibrant, sprite-heavy games like Grandia, putting a little work into improving the picture quality does wonders, I finally got a chance to play more of it today and I'm constantly amazed at how sharp and beautiful it looks.
I hope you all are still enjoying the game, obviously E3 took everything by storm but hopefully you all are still chugging at it. Part of the purpose of this thread in general is to keep the game fresh in everyone's mind and help motivate people to keep playing it, since RPGs in general can be so hard to make meaningful progress in unless you really hunker down with them and give them time. Hell I'm still playing multiple RPGs from last year that I bought at launch, even ones from earlier in the year.
I think what I'll do is post in the following format, which will kind of keep a record of my progress through the game. Anyone can feel free to follow this format too, and I'll actively encourage doing so in the OP for the next game:
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Current Progress: Just busted up Feena's "wedding," 7 hours playtime. By the way, I think I am moving very slowly through this game. I have no clue where this "wall" people keep talking about is...
Thoughts on the recent content: The wedding crash was a nice sequence. I actually really struggled on Merrill Road beforehand for some reason though. The issue was that I just couldn't keep Sue alive, and unfortunately I already burned my resurrection potion so now I'm pretty sure I'm limited to recovering at save points. Thank god for free save point recovery by the way, very convenient. A lot of people have said the game is easy. I guess overall it's easy, but I think it's only because it's so forgiving with how much cash it gives you to buy good equipment and stock up on consumables. In terms of the combat itself, I think the encounters are much more difficult than the trash mobs you fight in a lot of other RPGs. It's just that the game gives you a lot of resources for making sure you stay HP topped up with the best equipment for the job.
Overall thoughts: I still love the combat, especially in the boss fights. I think the game is well-balanced in the sense that I haven't been outright wiping, but I feel like I can still get curb-stomped if I just mash and don't pay any kind of attention to strategy. Once you're down to one active party member, the battles can get dire pretty quickly because everything gangs up and staggers you in the same way that you can stagger them. I kind of hope the battle system opens up to its full capacity sooner rather than later, because I really want to see how all these mechanics come together at a high level as opposed to the current "still learning the ropes" deal.
Questions: There is equipment that, for instance, increases your defense, but decreases your "act" stat. Now I'm assuming this "act" stat is how fast they progress across the "act" part of the turn bar and execute their commands. But what I'm wondering is: should I prioritize one of these stats over the other? Is it worth getting some extra defense and taking a -10 hit to act?
I'd put a pretty high priority on act. The whole delaying/canceling/reacting part of the battle system means that there's major advantages to getting more frequent turns.
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This is what I figured. With the way the combat works, I'm assuming speed is the highest priority, after all if you have enough act speed you can probably cancel a lot of those attacks you would've got hit with in the first place.
Exactly. Of course there's a limit but it's usually more optimal in Grandia to try and avoid taking damage in the first place than to lessen the amount taken per hit.
I'm up to the volcano now. A couple thoughts - I forgot how mana eggs tended to be clustered together - like right after the giant wall, you get 4 one right after another. Justin & Feena have all magic, Sue has everything but wind.
A couple of tips - get Sue water magic ASAP and then go fire -> earth. She can get 3 weapon + element skills (Water, Fire, and Fire + Earth) very early on compared to everyone else and those are FANTASTIC for building up XP. If you abuse those skills to gain LVs, she becomes a BEAST. She actually deals more weapon damage with her long-range bow than Justin in my game right now thanks to her high bow & earth skill levels.
Environmental traps (like poison floors) that are near restore points or dungeon entrances (go back to the town inn) are great for getting those water skill levels up. XP for each heal use decreases as the skill levels up so you'll want to keep using more advanced heal spells since the more advanced the heal spell, the more XP it gives.
There's enough mana eggs to give everyone every element so if you're thorough with your exploration, you don't need to worry about that. Also, when characters leave permanently, you get special books placed in your item storage that will give skill levels to another character. The amount given is 1/3rd the amount the character learned (so for example, a character who leaves with LV9 Water magic will get you an item that gives +3 Water LVs).
The story is great & I love how Justin & Feena go from friends to something more. And I love how camping makes things feel like an epic journey.
A couple of tips - get Sue water magic ASAP and then go fire -> earth. She can get 3 weapon + element skills (Water, Fire, and Fire + Earth) very early on compared to everyone else and those are FANTASTIC for building up XP. If you abuse those skills to gain LVs, she becomes a BEAST. She actually deals more weapon damage with her long-range bow than Justin in my game right now thanks to her high bow & earth skill levels.
Environmental traps (like poison floors) that are near restore points or dungeon entrances (go back to the town inn) are great for getting those water skill levels up. XP for each heal use decreases as the skill levels up so you'll want to keep using more advanced heal spells since the more advanced the heal spell, the more XP it gives.
There's enough mana eggs to give everyone every element so if you're thorough with your exploration, you don't need to worry about that. Also, when characters leave permanently, you get special books placed in your item storage that will give skill levels to another character. The amount given is 1/3rd the amount the character learned (so for example, a character who leaves with LV9 Water magic will get you an item that gives +3 Water LVs).
The story is great & I love how Justin & Feena go from friends to something more. And I love how camping makes things feel like an epic journey.
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One of the nuances of the system is that's not initially obvious is how cancelling the enemy only puts them back partially on the IP gauge, and they'll get their next turn faster than you will after having just attacked them. The other nice thing about defending and evading is that done successfully they mitigate damage while keeping a better turn advantage against the enemy. Defending is really powerful in Grandia, you start moving again on the IP gauge immediately, you only take 25% damage, and you regain some SP for every hit you take, while the enemy goes down to the very end of the IP gauge for having finished a turn completely. Evading is a lot harder because you need to predict how far and how fast the enemy is going to move and attack, and you straight up can't evade special abilities, but evasion only puts you back partway on the IP gauge, so if you can pull it off, you can avoid damage while getting your next turn way faster than normal.
If you want to get really advanced, evading to a spot close by can be used as a way to delay your turn, which can be useful for getting yourself in the right window to cancel the enemy or to wait and see what the enemy is planning (you can only see what the enemy is going to do when they reach the second half of the "wait" portion of the IP gauge).
So I've rescued Rem, and on my way to his village Luc. The game is always so cheerful and happy, especially Justin and Sue. So corny at times. It also feels a little like a cartoon series I used to watch as a kid, Mysterious Cities of Gold, especially when in the ruins discovering the secrets of the Angelou. So far I'm liking the feel of the game. It hasn't bee too hard. The Squid King has been the hardest fight for me so far, but otherwise its some of the roads like Merrill road which have been difficult, only because I need to be careful not to run out of anitdote and heal. Now with Justin being able to heal its become better. Also as FiveSide mentioned, not getting gang up on is important, so fast enemies are always the first to go, using Fire Magic to clear these out if needed. Having both Sue and Feena quite adept at fire has been handy so far.
I gave Sue Fire and Earth pretty early on, and gave Justin Water. But one thing I'm always forgetting to do is right before the Save and Recover points, using the Cure spell on everyone who needs it. I always remember after I've recovered and saved.
Oh this is great to know. A couple of times now I've wanted to delay someone because its not quite the right time to do their move. I didn't think to use the evade like this.
Also, all these early 3D FMVs in Grandia are a HUGE step-back from the classic anime FMVs in Lunar:EB which is a real shame since most everything else is either on par (music, characters) or drastically better (combat, graphics).
I'll admit I haven't been playing it as much as I had hoped to. I've been busy with some other games but I do hope we keep this going. Like someone else posted, even if I'm not playing as actively as I want, I'm still following the thread and enjoying seeing others enjoy the game.
I'll give that My Life in Gaming a look because it's one thing I'm very interested in. I love my PS1 games and as of right now I play on the Vita because they look the best there (with my current setup), but I prefer a bigger screen.
I'll give that My Life in Gaming a look because it's one thing I'm very interested in. I love my PS1 games and as of right now I play on the Vita because they look the best there (with my current setup), but I prefer a bigger screen.
Yes! One of my favorite things from the game was the quiet moments when the characters would just be talking while they rest before going off to a new dungeon or close to a boss battle. You truly felt like you were on a grand adventure.
I beat the game last year but it was absolutely wonderful. It actually took me over 2 years to beat it (I would play 10 hours, put it down for 6 months, spend an hour figuring out what the hell I was supposed to do next before playing another 10 hour chunk) I loved the characters, the locales, the music, and of course the GOAT battle system. (My ONLY complaint was leveling spells up by having to use them, I'm not a big magic user if I can help it in JRPG's)
It was just a pleasure from start to finish and if your an old school JRPG fan you gotta give it a shot because it's up there with the classics.
When I first played through Grandia (disclaimer: I was like 10 years old) the romance between Justin and Feena actually really weirded me out. The way Justin and Feena meet each other (him being the wannabe adventurer and she being an experienced expert) I thought Justin was but a kid and Feena a way older adult. Like 12 years for Justin and mid to late twenties for Feena. I was pretty surprised when I found out Feena's only supposed to be merely a year older than Justin!
Just nuked the game today and yup really bloody enjoyed it. It's actually quite linear I never really felt much need to go back to old places and not sure if there were any side quests at all :/ was there any super hidden bosses or dungeons?
That said it's kinda like FFX in that the journey is all sweet and endearing that you get hooked on how the pretty cheesy story is going to work out. Some of that end game dialogue is straight up ham but I loved it.
Did get addicted to the magic system and ended up with only raff and feena missing a spells (lvl99 fuck me...) and really loved the sweet outro and kingdom hearts level nonsense lines about hope and destiny and happines and loce and gate and doing it for everyone :p
Guess I'll be booting up Grandia 2 in the near future.
That said it's kinda like FFX in that the journey is all sweet and endearing that you get hooked on how the pretty cheesy story is going to work out. Some of that end game dialogue is straight up ham but I loved it.
Did get addicted to the magic system and ended up with only raff and feena missing a spells (lvl99 fuck me...) and really loved the sweet outro and kingdom hearts level nonsense lines about hope and destiny and happines and loce and gate and doing it for everyone :p
Guess I'll be booting up Grandia 2 in the near future.
I believe there are 3 bonus dungeons, all of which are on disc 2. There's also a Saturn-only expansion pack of sorts that was never released in English called Grandia Digital Museum which has a few extra dungeons.
I just beat Madragon and heading back to Gumbo. I gotta say the game is still going strong eventhough it is really linear and kind of one dimensional. Roght now it feels like a saturday morning cartoon (or a serialized anime) where it's mostly stand alone episodes but with a loose overarcing story that gets most of the exposition and ultimate resolve in the final two episodes. With that mindset, it's really enjoyable. I do feel that I'd have gotten more out of this if I had played it back in the day.
But I do like the cheesiness and humor. Many jrpg's lean heavily towards smelly old gorgonzola but with a frown on their face, they try really hard to make it dramatic but end up in melodrama. Grandia does it tongue in cheek and that's what makes it so endearing. Honestly, after struggling for a long time to find a "new" jrpg that appeals to me, I never imagined it would be like this. Good game. :)
But I do like the cheesiness and humor. Many jrpg's lean heavily towards smelly old gorgonzola but with a frown on their face, they try really hard to make it dramatic but end up in melodrama. Grandia does it tongue in cheek and that's what makes it so endearing. Honestly, after struggling for a long time to find a "new" jrpg that appeals to me, I never imagined it would be like this. Good game. :)
Just beat the Ghost Ship. Pretty small dungeon overall, camera was a mess. That was the first boss where I had to use healing items, didn't really know if there was an ideal strategy to it so I just killed off one limb at a time and then went for the main body, pretty cookie cutter strat.
Should be on the New Continent soon, looking forward to some new locales.
Should be on the New Continent soon, looking forward to some new locales.
I fell asleep and added 5 more hours to my playtime.
I'm too old to be laying on my comfortable couch late at night, playing games. I need to sit straight up or I will succumb to the dreary mistress.
I just got Rapp. So,my younger self loved him. It will be interesting to see how I enjoy his character these days.
I'm too old to be laying on my comfortable couch late at night, playing games. I need to sit straight up or I will succumb to the dreary mistress.
I just got Rapp. So,my younger self loved him. It will be interesting to see how I enjoy his character these days.
Alright! My wife gave birth to our second child a couple of weeks ago, so I wasn't able to join this thread early on, but I've finally found the opportunity to put a couple of hours into Grandia, and I'm enjoying it immensely. I'm currently in the Sult Ruins.
I played Grandia to completion back when it was first released, and have always considered it one of the high-water marks of PSX-era JRPGs. However, in a lot of ways, it hasn't aged well, particularly while playing it on original hardware (or PSP, where I first attempted to replay it) due to slowdown, so I've never made it more than a few hours into a replay. This time, I'm playing it via Retroarch, using GPU overclock for a consistent 30fps, and it's like a new experience.
Some thoughts:
(#1-4 use Retroarch with CRT-geom shader, 5-7 use Retroarch with CRT-Royale-fakebloom shader.)
I played Grandia to completion back when it was first released, and have always considered it one of the high-water marks of PSX-era JRPGs. However, in a lot of ways, it hasn't aged well, particularly while playing it on original hardware (or PSP, where I first attempted to replay it) due to slowdown, so I've never made it more than a few hours into a replay. This time, I'm playing it via Retroarch, using GPU overclock for a consistent 30fps, and it's like a new experience.
Some thoughts:
- I *love* the sense of optimism and adventure. One of my favourite games of all time is Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, which shares these attributes, but Grandia takes it to another level. There's no overarching horror encroaching on the world at the get-go. In fact, it's a time of peace. Justin wants to follow in his father's footsteps and become an adventurer—to explore the world, discover knew things, dig up knowledge. In this day and age where we have grizzled Geralt from The Witcher, Lara Croft dousing people with gasoline and lighting them on fire, and beautiful but excessively violent games like Ghosts of Tsushima, it's so refreshing to return to a time when game settings were fun and joyous.
- I've seen people refer to Grandia as a Saturday Morning Cartoon, which I think is a great analogy. In a lot of ways, its tone and approach to its characters—its latent optimism—reminds me of Avatar: The Last Airbender, which I admire.
- Playing at a locked 30fps via Retroarch (Beetle/Mednafen) with GPU overclock turned on is a dream. The original game was a bit too ambitious for the original PSX hardware (I haven't playing the Saturn version) and slowdown was rampant. It's silky smooth now (with the option of doubling the framerate and speed of the game, if you'd like) and helps shake a bit of rust off the 20 year old experience.
- 32-bit polygonal graphics are probably my least favourite style of graphics, and they... aren't great here. Textures are muddy, geometry is blocky and inconsistent (seams between polygons are visible everywhere), and the layout of towns/dungeons, even with the rotating camera, is a reminder of the learning curve associated with designing 3D environments in the '90s.
- Still, the world has a lot of charm, and the reliance on bright, varied, and saturated colours makes it a joy to explore.
- My memory of playing the game as a teen was that I really loved Leen and Lilly. They were both interesting in different ways and stepped outside some of the typical tropes for women in JRPGs (particularly Lilly with her pirate past and tendency to tell Justin to bugger off because she was busy running her own business.) I was pleased (and, honestly) a bit surprised that both of them have stood the test of time, and remain my favourite characters early on.
- Speaking of which, I think the thing I'm most impressed with, especially considering the game's age, is the diverse and strong cast of women.
- Dialogue, especially with random NPCs is great. I saw someone else point out that having the party members, specifically Justin, respond and interact directly with NPCs, often illustrating something about their relationship, or revealing something else about the setting/history/other characters, gives it a liveliness that many other JRPGs (especially those were NPCs seem to just shout the same generic comment into a vast void of nothingness) lack. Parm feels *alive* because Justin and Sue have an actual place within its social hierarchy. Some NPCs look down on Justin, others joke with him, some reminisce about his dad, some provide context for the world, and Justin's an integral part of these conversations—they're two way streets, and that makes all the difference.
- Good golly. The voice acting is as flat and unimpressive as I remember.
- On the other hand, the localization is much better than I was expecting. Lots of great humour. Characters all have their own personalities. Exposition is handled well. Just all around a pleasure to read, and right there with the translation for the PSX Lunar games as some of the best of the era. I give Working Designs a lot of credit for Lunar, but it's clear that Game Arts created a foundation of good writing that Working Designs was able to pull from.
- I'm still too early to comment on the battle system, since most enemies require little more than mashing the attack command, but I will say, I've always considered the Grandia-style battle system to be the best in the 'biz, and I can't wait to get deeper into the game to truly experience everything it has to offer.
(#1-4 use Retroarch with CRT-geom shader, 5-7 use Retroarch with CRT-Royale-fakebloom shader.)
Justin's bedroom:
Love this exchange:
Battle:
Sult Ruins:
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First of, congrats on the kid! Get ready for the busy years. :p
You make a great point on the dialogue. Usually it's more of a chore talking to npc's when all they do is give a monologue and you're left wondering what your characters response would be. It would be okay if the hero was a voiceless vehicle for you to project yourself on to, but in this case Justin has a personality. Even if it is just "Imma adventurer!". So yes, having an actual dialogue instead of a monologue makes a big difference.
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GDQ has been taking up most of my free time, but I'm still making progress in this and I think the next milestone is coming up soon, I'll post another write-up when I hit it. I'm glad to see people are still enjoying it and progressing. We still have plenty of time.
aidan Nice write-up, but more specifically:
Absolutely, and I'm really glad they keep using the main theme as a recurring motif in big moments rather than just a song that plays on the overworld or something. It's an amazing composition.
aidan Nice write-up, but more specifically:
Congratulations!
Absolutely, and I'm really glad they keep using the main theme as a recurring motif in big moments rather than just a song that plays on the overworld or something. It's an amazing composition.
That's something I've noticed before that Iwadare does a lot with his main themes.
Thanks! It was actually someone earlier in this thread that first put the idea out there, and I've been thinking about it a lot as I've played. I'm also playing Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger at the same time, which are two of my favourites, and, as much as I adore them, the way NPCs just talk *at* you, rather than with you, is stark and dry in comparison. It really is something special, and adds to that "Saturday Morning Cartoon" feeling. I saw an interview with the game's director Takeshi Miyaji in which he said that they were going for "a theatrical vibe with the scenes and events." Like musical theatre. I think the way NPC dialogue is structured really helps strengthen the execution of that idea.
Thanks!
And, a few more thoughts that I forgot to include last time:
- The soundtrack is just as lively and wonderful as I admire. We discuss the game's strong sense of adventure, and I think the score has as much to do with that as anything else. There's a sense of momentum and possibility in all of the tracks that really motivates you to keep pushing forward. Typical brilliance from Iwadare.
- Sticking with the game's sense of adventure, I think one of the reasons it's so effective in its execution—above and beyond what I discussed above, re: its theatrical ambitions—is that Justin's journey, at least in the early stages, is entirely self-propelled. He's not caught up in a larger even that pulls him along like a leaf caught in the swells of a raging river. He's proactive, and chases his dreams. He pursues the secrets of the Spirit Stone, explores the Sult Ruins even after he's turned away, and, when invited by Liete, sets off on a journey to Alent, but, more importantly, the answer to the questions he's pursuing.
- I also like that his dad is a source of inspiration, but not a shadow of regret or anxiety, as missing/dead parents often are in these sorts of games.
- The frantic camera in battles is really disorienting now. I get that they were trying to go with something dramatic and cinematic, but, in hindsight, I think the battle system would have benefitted from a static camera. It just feels like it's haphazardly zooming in and flying around a lot of the time.
- As has been mentioned several times in this thread, the eating scenes are wonderful! I terrific way to give the characters more opportunity to breathe, provide a natural platform for exposition/world building, and humour, while not awkwardly forcing it upon players who aren't interested.
- The voice acting is growing on me...
- Some of the sprite work in the game is excellent. I really loved this sprite of floating Liete:
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I've been meaning to touch on the sprite work! It's consistently really good, I love how much trouble they've gone through by doing unique animations in different situations.
Plowed through a ton of content and finished one of the bonus dungeons.
I'm close to reaching Alent. Got the final temp party member before getting my last permanent one.
Juss is mvp right now. He's tearing through random encounters like wet paper bags. He is close to finishing out all of his weapon skills. Just a few more mace levels and he'll be complete.
Feena is inching closer to completing her lv 3 magic. She still has two ??? Skills and if I remember correctly, one is a lv 99 element requirement.
Rapp just got all 4 elements so he is lagging behind a bit.
I'm close to reaching Alent. Got the final temp party member before getting my last permanent one.
Juss is mvp right now. He's tearing through random encounters like wet paper bags. He is close to finishing out all of his weapon skills. Just a few more mace levels and he'll be complete.
Feena is inching closer to completing her lv 3 magic. She still has two ??? Skills and if I remember correctly, one is a lv 99 element requirement.
Rapp just got all 4 elements so he is lagging behind a bit.
Finally sat down to play more of it yesterday, now that I've cleared out my backlog a bit. Got to the ghost ship. Seems like it's going to be a slow week, so I should at least be able to get pretty far along before we move onto the next game. Some thoughts!
- Combat feels like it's starting to open up more. I'm still experimenting with how to delay turns effectively, but it's extremely satisfying to get off a counter or cancel, even if it feels like pure luck at times.
- The story's really doing it for me emotionally. Everything, from the characterization to the use of music, makes it feel impactful and genuine. Justin eating dinner with his mom before going out on his journey really got to me due to how real (and relatable) their interaction was.
- Related note: huge appreciation for letting the mom 1. Be Alive and 2. also have a badass backstory. I know this has been done in other properties, but considering the recent gaming trend of "cool mom (figure)" already dead, it feels super refreshing.
- Loooove the use of the OST. In battles, I especially appreciate the different themes used depending on battle conditions (ambushed vs normal) and post-battle theme changing depending on battle performance. This is done nicely in the story as well! While Justin was sneaking out of his house and first entering the port, the sound was very empty and melancholy, but then transitioned into a more excitable, upbeat track as you began to speak to people before boarding the ship. It captures the mixed feelings of leaving home very well.
- That Goddamn Floor Scrubbing Minigame! Music was rad though.
Finished Disk 1 the other night & got Rapp. The mermaid scenario was fun. The forest you meet Rapp in not so much. Some of the dungeon design is great, but it's generally dragged down by the poor camera - makes me appreciate how much camera movement has improved since the 90s.
And I take it all back - water magic for Sue is a trap! Go fire, then earth with her, and just get her mace skill up high enough to learn the fire+earth skill, and then focus entirely on her bow skill & magic. The problem with water magic with Sue is that, yes, she gets a good mace+water skill and once you get it, you can pump her water magic up high, but water & maces don't do much for her stats (all defensive) and you don't need the high-level heal spells that early in the game so just give water magic to Justin/Feena. Fire magic on the other hand boosts Sue's act speed (which she desperately needs) & Earth + Bow both boost her strength which combined with her bow range overcoming her weak running speed turn her into an attacking powerhouse. She has a fire weapon skill that generates weapon + fire XP fast, plus a weapon + fire + earth buff skill that can be spammed and generates a moderate amount of XP with each use so you can get her bow/fire/earth LVs up really high - towards the end of disk 1, she was dealing more damage than Justin.
And I take it all back - water magic for Sue is a trap! Go fire, then earth with her, and just get her mace skill up high enough to learn the fire+earth skill, and then focus entirely on her bow skill & magic. The problem with water magic with Sue is that, yes, she gets a good mace+water skill and once you get it, you can pump her water magic up high, but water & maces don't do much for her stats (all defensive) and you don't need the high-level heal spells that early in the game so just give water magic to Justin/Feena. Fire magic on the other hand boosts Sue's act speed (which she desperately needs) & Earth + Bow both boost her strength which combined with her bow range overcoming her weak running speed turn her into an attacking powerhouse. She has a fire weapon skill that generates weapon + fire XP fast, plus a weapon + fire + earth buff skill that can be spammed and generates a moderate amount of XP with each use so you can get her bow/fire/earth LVs up really high - towards the end of disk 1, she was dealing more damage than Justin.
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I just didn't give Sue any mana eggs. Ha.
Anyways, got my final party member. They need some work to catch up on nagic levels.
Might grind a little.
Justin is just about fully developed. He just has a couple lv 3 spells left to learn.
Anyways, got my final party member. They need some work to catch up on nagic levels.
Might grind a little.
Justin is just about fully developed. He just has a couple lv 3 spells left to learn.
Guys I really have problems navigating areas. 3d is really early stage I guess and I have no idea where I've been or where I'm going. Any tips (just got to the first boss I think)
How do you enable the GPU overclock feature as described in your post? I'm looking to start up Grandia again soon, and I'd love to play it with the best experience possible. I've got Retroarch installed, and I'm using PSX Beetle core (do you use the HW version?). I've seen the list of core options, but I'm not sure which ones I should enable. If you could help, that'd be greatly appreciated.
This thread has hit me so hard. So much nostalgia! I love it.
It is pretty easy getting lost. Ha
Here's what I do. Use the compass up too as a marker of sorts. It will normally point you in the direction you need to be going in dungeons.
I use that along with searching for enemies, because since they do not respawn in areas means you haven't been in that part of the dungeon yet.
Sometimes the dungeons are like mazes and you'll get lost anyways though.
Here's what I do. Use the compass up too as a marker of sorts. It will normally point you in the direction you need to be going in dungeons.
I use that along with searching for enemies, because since they do not respawn in areas means you haven't been in that part of the dungeon yet.
Sometimes the dungeons are like mazes and you'll get lost anyways though.
To anyone else reading this, don't do this. Sue's rather bad without any mana eggs and there are 18 mana eggs in the game and you only need 14 mana eggs to max everybody out (4 for Justin & Sue, two characters that start out with 1 mana egg already unlocked, and then everybody else either starts out with all the magic they can use or can't use magic). Even if you want to save mana eggs to max out everybody else faster, you should still give Sue a couple eggs.