GRANDIA EXTREME

Harsh I know but the voice-overs sound like a high school gym class put them together, when you walk around chests jump up, bottles clank, and doors swing open by themselves. After 5 minutes of the same horrible [...] sound effects you hear over and over and over you'll wish you were deaf their so annoying. On top of all of that the movement is choppy, when you walk around it looks as if your rollerskating because the ground slides underneath your feet.

Ok that can be annoying.. the storyline must be good right? WRONG! I mean give me a break! I know skitsofrenics who can hold a thought process or a story going that makes since longer then any of the characters in this game do.

Trust me this game is the worst game I've ever played. I'm an avid gamer. The best I can compare it to is to think of the worst acted 1980's film you can think of...


Return to the roots of Video Gaming   December 21, 2002
 12 out of 12 found this review helpful

In the last decade, video games have taken a very different formula from the roots. In the days before consoles, it didn't matter what the story of a game was. All that mattered was the gameplay. Why PacMan is running away from ghosts and eating power pellets is all but ignored. Then one day, someone introduced a magic element called plot, which could be used to cover up bad gameplay, and suddenly a hundred game companies eschewed forth clumsily-made games in the name of 'plot', to the point that gameplay has been all but ignored.

Then along comes a game like Grandia Xtreme, a pure dungeon-crawler and battle-oriented RPG which is moved along by a very basic, simple, and predictable storyline involving an army operation to end the "Elemental Disorder" which has been causing chaos on the planet only to find, as you might predict, there is a much darker scheme behind the army's intent. To most who have become accustomed to the 'Final Fantasy standard' (it doesn't matter if the game is fun, as long as the story is good), Grandia Xtreme is a fun, but mediocre game. However, to those who have been fans of RPGs for a long time and are looking for a more modern version of what they grew up with, this is it.

Several changes have been made in the fool-proof Grandia formula. Grandia Xtreme features only one true town, that being Locca, the base of operations for Evann (the main character) and party. Evann travels to different ruins through the use of a world map and links called "Geo-Gates", which differ from save points in that they transport Evann to and from Locca (where he is able to save, sell and buy items, etc.). Within each ruin is a multi-leveled labyrinth filled with monsters, traps, puzzles, hidden doors, and secret items. Each dungeon is meticulously designed and executed, promoting hours of exploration as well as sight-seeing. Also, dungeons not only respawn monsters, but items as well once they are beaten, allowing Evann to revisit each ruin to find new items. Another new element of dungeon-crawling involves the use of a ready stance, which Evann can use to reduce the chance of being attacked preemptively.

The battle system hasn't changed much, using the same real-time/turn-based system in the previous Grandia titles. The only noticeable differences are that the monsters in each dungeon level up with Evann, keeping the game difficult, and SP recharges as the battle goes on at a very fast pace, allowing for multiple special attacks within any single battle. Characters now have joint special attacks, where two, three, or even four characters can perform one special attack using their combined power, allowing for dozens of different special attacks any one character can use.

The mana and skills system, on the other hand, has changed quite a lot. Mana eggs are still used, but instead of learning new spells as the character uses them, new spells are created by joining mana eggs together, called "junctioning". Also of note is that MP is not based on the character, but on the egg itself, and the more times an egg is junctioned, the more MP and the more powerful the spells it will contain. The skills system utilizes papers found in the dungeons which are turned into skills by the Skillmaster in Locca. Those skill pages are then placed in different skill books, which are equipped on characters just as mana eggs are. To balance out magic-casting and skill use, characters can equip several mana eggs and skill books, but only a total of 6, and each character has a predetermined number of each they can equip (one may have 4 mana eggs and 2 skill books, another may have 4 books and 2 eggs).

Musically, Grandia Xtreme stands up along with its predecessors as a gorgeous masterpiece by Iwadare, who never seems to lose his touch. Many of the songs are very similar in style to those of Grandia II, while a few have a new Latin styling which simply adds to their beauty. Also included are neat little melodies called 'sound bytes' which can be found by revisiting ruins, as well as remastered versions of battle themes from previous Grandia titles, available upon beating the game. The rest of the sound except for sword clangs will have you gritting your teeth. The voice acting is pretty bad, especially in comparison to Grandia II (and even Grandia), but possible to stomach, especially Lisa Loeb who is perhaps the best voice actress in the game. Several battles are overshadowed by the sounds of things flying, which gets very annoying after a while. Overall, the sound is okay, but the English dialog could have improved greatly.

And finally, we come to graphics. Grandia Xtreme is graphically superior to the Dreamcast version of Grandia II in one sense -- the character models have mouths. Other than that, the game has pretty much the same graphical charge as the previous title. However, the expansive labyrinthine ruins are breathtakingly gorgeous with plenty of neat lighting effects to emphasize them. Luckily, Grandia Xtreme features none of the graphical glitches that were the bane of Grandia II's PS2 port.

Overall, Grandia Xtreme is a definite must-have if you are a fan of the series or dungeon-crawlers in general. It has all the gameplay that appealed in previous games, and more added on. It even has a second quest that becomes available upon beating the game. If you're not a fan of the Grandia series, you're better off picking up Grandia II and giving it a whirl.


Lots of action, low on plot   December 2, 2002
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

This game plays like an x-rated film; flimsy plot, but you won't care cause the actions great.
This has possilbe the best fighting controls I've seen, lots of moves, very configureable characters.
One thing - you start with a whole bunch of characters right at the beginning; I found it best after replaying to pick four well-balanced members and stick with them (be sure to balance out the magic/fighting....)trying to develop everyone (I did that the first time) left ALL characters kind of behind.
The mana egg development system is cool - no more casting spells just to build levels - spells are 'developed by crossing various mana eggs into more powerful eggs. Characters have personal skills that can be developed only by practise.
there are only a handful of bosses, but you can fight them over again as you like. They're refreshingly difficult - defeating them is an accomplishment!
Enjoy!


Where's the story?   November 19, 2002
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

Well, I was really looking forward to this game since I have both Grandia and Grandia II, but I was sorely disappointed. I play RPGs for the story and Grandia Xtreme is really lacking. It starts off promising, but then doesn't go anywhere. Without a good story, all of the other flaws in the game really stand out. The only enjoyable aspect was combining mana eggs and even that got tedious since you had to go through the same dungeons over and over again in order to get them. I also couldn't stand the fact that the 0 button did what the X button does in every other game (and you couldn't change the configuration)! Still this could have been overlooked if there had been any character development. There were a few changes to the basic system from Grandia II and I didn't like any of them. The menu was more confusing, you could only equip mana eggs and skills in town, and you couldn't carry much of anything in your inventory. So, you spent a great deal of time going back to the same village over and over and over again! It felt like a pathetic way to try and make the game more time consuming.

Overall, I would not recommend this game.