One thing I miss from my childhood is my sense of adventure. Seriously, everything I did felt like some grand quest and nothing in real life as an adult has managed to capture that same sense. That is, until I played the original Grandia for the first time. I’ve long been a fan of RPGs. Few have struck the same notes, or made nearly the impression that Grandia has. It represents full childhood innocence, and a grand adventure. This is not something RPGs from this era were targeting. In an age of angst and complicated storylines Grandia stood out for it’s simplicity and innocence. No matter the era in which it was released this game is still special. Today I’m here to tell you why. Let’s take a look at the original Grandia as it was released on the Sony PlayStation.
As I already mentioned Grandia is all about adventure. I meant it. You play as a young boy named Justin who dreams of one day becoming an adventurer. This guy lives in the town of Parm in a fantasy world where dragons, orcs, and goblins roam the land. Steam engines are the latest technology, and have helped society discover new lands. Justin’s dreams come true one day as he is given a pass to explore a set of nearby ruins with his best bud Sue.
It is here that the two accidentally unlock a secret locked area of the decrepit temple. Here appears the image of Liete a high priestess of the long lost civilization Alent. She beckons him to this legendary city to unlock his full potential. Unfortunately the evil Garlyle Empire is also interested in this legendary city and the power it supposedly harbors. Justin and Sue barely escape, and decide to set out to the Eastern continent in hopes of eventually finding Alent.
Grandia sounds a little more basic plot-wise than other RPGs of this era. There are no spiky haired amnesiacs, nor does it in any way try to be edgy like so many others were. Instead the premise is just as I described it. Grandia is about two kids wanting to explore and go on adventures. It may be a simple concept but the sheer innocence of it, and overwhelming charm really set Grandia apart from the pack. As time goes on the plot does center around saving the world and all that gibberish but even at that point Grandia explores far more interesting themes and ideas than most other RPGs. The story is seriously amazing and absolutely memorable.
Another area where Grandia took another path was in it’s presentation. Developers were pushing for realism at the time even in RPGs. Pre-rendered backgrounds with polygonal characters allowed for this. Grandia went a different route. While the environments are fully 3D and rendered with a lot of polygons the characters are entirely sprite based, colorful, and feature heavy anime influence. In this sense it definitely feels like an evolution of Game Arts style they introduced with the Lunar series. As the sprite based party you wander through towns, dungeons, and more. The semi-isometric view can make things a little awkward, but you’re given camera control via the shoulder buttons to circumvent this issue.
I’ve already talked about how great the story is. Let’s be honest though. What really matters is gameplay, and the battle system will make or break any RPG. Fortunately Grandia has one of the best combat systems of all time. That is no exaggeration. To begin with enemies are viewed in dungeons before battle. They move around in patterns, but if you get close they’ll charge at you. If they approach from the rear they’ll have the advantage as far as being able to act first, and vice versa if you sneak up on them. The fact that there are no random encounters is sure to please those jaded by the mechanic in classic RPGs.
Grandia uses a hyper detailed version of the classic ATB system introduced in 16-bit Final Fantasy. In this game there is just one bar, and icons representing each character and enemy. The icons start on the left side of the screen as they move to the right at varying speed. This depends on the speed stat of the character. Once they reach a specific line on the chart a command is input, and then carried out when the icon touches the end of the meter. The thing is specific commands can cancel the enemy’s attack setting them back on the action bar. If you planned correctly you could stop specific enemies from ever attacking during battle. It’s a very solid mechanic, and allows for some very interesting combat scenarios.
Your party will always consist of up to four different characters, and who you can use is completely determined by plot developments. These vary in stats as well as default magic, special skills, and types of equipment they can use. Spells are universal between almost everyone (a few characters can’t use magic at all) and is taught by using Mana Eggs which are rare and hidden in various environments. In battle these use MP. Special skills are different in that they are specific to each character, can only be used when specific weapons are equipped, and instead drain the SP stat. Because of these differences each character feels unique from one another, and each has their own role in battle no matter how much customization you do.
Speaking of customization there’s a whole lot of it here. While the game does use a linear experience points and level system to become stronger there’s much more at play here. Grandia lets you fine tune characters in some really creative ways. As you attack (or use special skills) you gain weapon skill points. Upon gaining a weapon level you’re awarded stats specific to that armament type. For example, swords increase strength and speed, but axes award double the strength and no other bonuses. That’s just a glimpse at the options because you have tons of different weapons types despite each character only being able to use about three.
Magic will also increase your stats upon leveling it up. This too increases your stats, but that aspect is a bit more limited than gains you get from weapons. The main reason to grow your magic level is because that’s how you learn new spells. The same goes for special skills and weapons, but sometimes magic level (in specific elements) comes in to play as well. On the downside this affects how you play the game. You’ll find yourself spamming spells you don’t necessarily need to gain more powerful magic. Or hanging on to particular weapons when more powerful ones are available. I found this aspect annoying the first time I played, but honestly you can ignore it if you choose. That’s the beauty of Grandia. You can fine tune your party just as much or little as you please.
What’s really cool and forward thinking is the fact that when a character leaves your party per the story you’re given items indicative of their skill levels in magic and weapons. You can use these on your other party members to increase their skills. This means that any grinding you do on short term characters is never completely wasted. Unfortunately this is reduced a bit (by 2/3 to be exact) so all of your progress isn’t carried over. Still, it’s a really neat idea that character skills can be passed on to others when they leave your party.
If Grandia has any downside (and this is a real stretch) it would be that it’s too easy. Thanks tot he canceling system there are some encounters that if you really understand the mechanics, and appropriately plan ahead, your foes will never get a strike in. The beginning of the game is more difficult than the end, but that’s just because you haven’t had time yet to fine tune your party. What is interesting however is that the game contains three bonus dungeons apart from the main story. These are actually genuinely challenging. They are maze-like labyrinths featuring tough as nails enemies with few save points, but loads of useful treasure contained within. The Tower of Temptation in particular is one of the most difficult dungeons of any Japanese RPG ever.
Another minor complaint is the fact that there’s no traditional world map. Instead the overworld is a simple selection screen showing a zoomed out view and the options for which places you can move to. For a video game where the main theme is adventure and exploration this is an odd move. It’s also not something Game Arts had ever done up to this point. I assume this was to cut down on development time. Honestly it’s not a big issue for me. The world map has a lot of stop-gap locations with no plot revelations that it still feels like you’re exploring plenty.
Grandia was originally released on the Sega Saturn. I’m not going to sugar coat it; that version just looks better than this PS1 iteration. It runs better, and features better texture work. That’s not to say that the PlayStation version is ugly because it’s not. RPGs did not often have 3D environments at the time and these look really nice. Grandia is bright and colorful, and though a bit pixelated looks really nice. Battles are a bit different because everything (except for the spell effects are rendered entirely with sprites. The game looks really good, but it doesn’t push the PS1 hardware in any meaningful way.
The soundtrack however is amazing. Each town has it’s own music, and each track has it’s obvious inspirations from real world locations and cultures. All the while the music in Grandia carves out its own identity. It’s not a full symphony, but there’s a ton of instrumentation that takes great advantage of the redbook audio. This includes guitar and trumpets to great effect. Grandia’s music is surprisingly amazing. The voice overs however are not. The acting is absolutely horrible. It never gets better. Some story sequences are fully voiced and the dramatic effect is completely lost. Characters also have real audio samples and spoken dialogue each time a spell or move is cast. It’s all bad. Seriously, Sony really messed up with this one as a publisher.
