Grandia
Genre: JRPG
Age Rating: Teen
Original System: Sega Saturn
Original Release Date: 1997
Visuals: 7 - Though the 3D graphics are a bit dated by more modern standards, the 2D sprites are very detailed and is always easy to tell what actions the characters are doing. The animated cut-scenes are absolutely beautiful too.
Audio: 6 - Sound effects are outstanding and very fitting. Voice acting is good and emotional (only played with Japanese voice acting, so the English voice acting is not considered in score). Music can range from mostly forgettable to genre inspiring!
Story: 9 - The plot and characters of Grandia is full of life and wonder. The adventure the player embarks on will bring smiles to your face and tears down your cheeks for happy and sad reasons.
Gameplay: 6 - Gameplay consists of standard JRPG tropes of exploring towns and dungeons fighting enemies, opening chests for loot, leveling up and talking to NPCs.
Items appear frenquently and even represent what they are on the field before picking them up. It is always very exciting to find a new item on the ground and then figure out a way to get to them.
NPCs are where this game really stand out. In Grandia very nearly every NPC has Multiple things to say and they change at what seems to be any small change in the plot. They also directly talk to certain characters in the party and even better, a good amount of the time a party member repsonds or reacts to what the NPCs say. I highly recommend taking the time to talk to NPCs as often as possible.
Combat is basically turn based but with bars that need to fill before a character or enemy can act. In battle characters and enemies move about the screen, sometimes seemingly random, and stop when it is your turn to act. Actions can range from regular attacks, magic attacks, special attacks, critical attacks, defending, evading, using items and running away.
There is a lot of complexity to combat, enemies have their own weaknesses and strengths and there is a good amount of strategies and options the player can take advantage of in combat.
A frustrating flaw to combat that would appear every so often is that if a character is too for away or can't reach an enemy after an action is selected, the character would give up after a while and waste that turn.
Another battle quirk that frustrated me personally is that there are many AOE attacks enemies have and it seems impossible to separate characters to keep all of them from getting hit, though it could just be me not understanding that particular part of the game. (Did I mention that this battle system is complex?)
In Grandia The player can level up their proficiency in weapons they use, magic atrtibutes they learn and their overall stats.
As typical for almost any RPG get enough EXP from killing enemies and characters will level up and better their stats.
Magic and weapons only level up if the character uses them and it can lead to some extra grinding or some less effective battles specifically to increase one or both of these.
Difficulty: 7 - Grandia is not as old as some other JRPGs so it doesn't try to break your spirit like some old classics, but that does not mean the game holds your hand. Knowing where to go is not a problem and since enemies appear on the field, instead of randomly encountered, it is hard to get screwed by an unlucky encounter.
Actually battling, on the other hand, is where the difficulty lies. To my knowledge the game doesn't let it be known or really even hints most of the time what enemy is weak to or strong against for the most part. It is up to the player to try everything they have to see what weakness their enemy has, which can lead to botched first tries. While playing I battled every enemy I saw on screen even if they weren't in the way, while using them to increase a magic attribute or weapon level, because I do not like to grind in any game.
Enemies and bosses for the most part did not pose too much of a threat for most of the game but, especially towards the end, bosses became more numerous and much tougher. I can imagine a Player rushing through levels just to see the next cut-scenes are going to have a very tough time and a lot of grinding later on.
Grinding is a big factor in terms of difficulty to me personally. I did not grind in my play through, but on the last few bosses I had to use my tiny brain to its max to win.....with some luck.
Final thoughts
In the end Grandia is a Superb game that will stay with the player that is willing to put in the work and time to achieve victory late game. The visuals, audio and Story weave together to make a very moving, inspiring and fun adventure for players of all ages. The best way to play this game is through the HD remaster, which is a lot easier to set up than finding a working sega saturn. Alternatively you could play this game on playstaion (if you can find a copy) or buy the Playstation version digitally on PS3, PSP, or Vita. I bought it online for $19.99 and it is worth every penny.