Grandia (USA-PSN) PSP Eboot

Review by magistery0:

Story:
Our young would-be adventurers Justin,Sue and Feena goes out searching the world with the spirit stone as their lead for the mysterious civilization of angelou!
While learning about the strengths of their friendships and the bonds they have created with the people from their travels, they too slowly grow, understanding more about themselves as a person and their purpose that they have unfold among themselves!

Graphics:

While some (if not most) will complain of how grainy and messed up the 3D Graphics in this game are, as a long time RPGamer, I truly DISAGREE with them! sure, given the date of birth of this game will show just how unrefined the graphics were back then but that also includes most 3D games were made at that same time! (FF7 you say? well if they were given the same time, budget and man power to create grandia i doubt people will be complaining in the first place!)
The graphics are GREAT! for a game that was ported from a different console (Sega Saturn) i couldn’t be more happy than seeing everything are well in placed!
The environments are actually well done! you can even interact with some of the objects inside the game! and that shows you the great lengths they put into adding those simple subtle touches.
The 2D sprites are quite well done! the running animations, battle animations, every 2D animations are very well detailed!
The frame-rate does kind of drop when a lot of stuff happens in one place but that’s just a minor blemish that doesn’t affect the games potential.

Gameplay:

One of the most unique combat/battle system on the PlayStation EVER!!!
and if you’ve ever encountered this same combat system from a different game, im confident to say that it was Grandia who helped inspired that game!
it plays like your traditional turn based combat but with a twist! your turn depends on your character’s AGI/Agility, more AGI more chances to sneak in turns!
there are two attacks:
1.Combo: you can hit your enemies twice in a row!
2.Critical: Hit your enemies where it hurts! with chances of cancelling enemy attacks! it’s mostly used when your enemy is about to cast a spell/skill.
Also using special attacks consume SP, while using magic consumes MP!

Music/Sound:

Nothing here that really stands out for me. most soundtracks are just not that memorable and i am quite a bit disappointed about it.
there only a handful of Good soundtracks that i can remember, the battle music (in Disc 2 gets even better!),Boss Battle music…and that is it..
while people can argue that the music are great, but for me i have heard better.
Aside from soundtracks, the VOICE ACTING is superb! while,yeah.. at that time it was (and it is still for me!) the battle voices are really a nice addition in combat! they gave you a sense of realism when your attacking,casting/performing magic/skills,getting hurt,dying,retreating,using items etc.
sure its a commodity in today’s games but back then.. heck even FF7-9 didn’t have any voice acting so there! XD

Overall:

AN AWESOME ADVENTURE EXPERIENCE! I always say this in an RPG, “you’re not just playing but, you’re also experiencing it!” and nothing rings true more than Grandia!
Did i mention this still stands in 5 on my top 10 Best RPGs?