Grandia III - A Mini Retro Review
Anyone who has met me probably knows I’m a die hard RPG fan. So every now and then when I'm testing a batch of games for the store I find a title that peeks my interest. My usual excuse is that I should know 100% that the game works from start to finish. Though, imagine how long it would take to test every game from beginning to end... I don't even wanna thing about it. So that is how I came across Grandia III.
I've owned this game in the past and obviously traded it in somewhere at some point. Only ever played about an hour before moving on to something else. Or it's possible I was playing a larger scale game at the time and just never got to it again. The dangers of backlog and new games coming out every week.
I love Grandia and have been a fan of the series since the second game which is my favourite overall. I remember playing it on the computer which for an RPG at the time was probably the best way to play in terms of graphics and sound. I find what separates Grandia from all the other RPGs is the battle system. It’s an ATB with a gauge that shows all heroes and enemies in a lineup. This is separated into 3 segments, WAIT, PREP, and ACTION. When it's your characters turn you can Attack with a Combo, Critical, Magic or Technique. A combo lands you 2 hits and a critical deals more damage and cancel an enemies action (if they are in the action area of the ATB gauge). Spells are spells and technique are more powerful attacks that use up TP. Overall the battle require a good amount of strategy to max your damage and not get hit. Some of the bosses really require you to be on top of this otherwise they'll mop the floor with you.
Grandia III took me about 2 weeks to beat (so yes this game works from beginning to end) and I'd say about 33 to 36 hours. The story is not overly complicated with maybe one major plot twist. There was however this one foe who was at the end of the game with the main villain and I had no idea who he was... Maybe I missed a cut scene? Graphics are decent with areas filled and lush, pleasant to explore. Some of the enemies are a little on the blocky side and move very robotically. There also isn't a huge variety of baddies. I personally can't stand the Gilmen and their sound effect. An old enemy with a color change is a new baddy. I like the music for the game, the battle have jive and there are moment you really get into it. There is a dessert town with fully stock dessert music, not good.
When making a play through it's pretty important to understand the Mana Eggs and the Adventure book. In previous Grandia's you'd eventually learn to perform combos with more than 2 hits. In this game you need the right skill and an adventure book that boosts that ability. Same with Mana Eggs. Their primary use is to boost your magic proficiency. Without this the final bosses of the game are impossible. Our main character Yuki is a pilot so naturally you get to fly around at some point in the game. It's used to travel between different areas. I wish they would have expanded on this a little and included secret areas that were not related to the main story. Aside from the main storyline there are 2 distractions that I came across. A detective mystery side quest and a gambling house. Gambling is fun and both get you some interesting items.
I think it's worth a play through especially if you've played an of the others in the series. If you can't find this one try and find the Grandia HD Collection for the first 2 games.
Final Score!
Style / 3.5
Story / 3
Battle / 4
Graphics / 3.5
Music / 3.5