Grandia

Grandia is a jRPG by Game Arts, creators of the Lunar series, which initially appeared on the Sega Saturn console, and only after several months was ported to PS1. The production tells the story of travellers who are looking for a valuable artifact and face the evil military.

Story

Justin lives with his mother in the port city of Parm. His father disappeared during one of his distant expeditions years ago, leaving behind only a mysterious stone. One day the boy finds an mysterious communicator at an archaeological excavation site, through which a strange woman contacts him. The stranger tells him about the extraordinary power of the artifact he possesses and suggests that all the answers will be found in a city built by an ancient civilization. An adventurous boy decides to leave his family home and set out into the world. During the journey he meets similar troublemakers who want to accompany him during the expedition. Over time, the group attracts the attention of the military organization Garlyle Forces, whose leader, General Baal, wants to use the ancient power to achieve his own goals.

Mechanics

Grandia is a typical representative of the genre, in which the player controls a party of heroes while exploring the world, conducts conversations with characters, progresses the characters, performs various quests, and battles with encountered opponents. The authors did not use the random encounter mechanics known from many other jRPGs and allowed the player to avoid battles if they wish to do so. Winning a battle, however, is necessary to develop the abilities of the heroes. It is the adopted mechanic of character training that distinguishes Grandia from its competitors. Heroes improve their abilities faster if they actively use them in combat. The player is therefore encouraged to use a wide range of spells and talents on a regular basis in order to gain access to new or better skills. They have a lot of options in deciding in which direction they want to develop individual heroes and which spells and special attacks related to weapons they want to improve in the first place.

The battles themselves are fought in an original combat system, a unique feature of the franchise, in which the order of action is determined by a bar in the lower right corner of the screen, on which the icons symbolizing characters present in the arena move. Each of them moves at a different pace to the right, depending on the statistics, previous actions and events on the battlefield, and when it comes to the end of the bar, the player can give issues command.

Technical aspects

The game combines 2D and 3D graphics elements. The characters are presented as two-dimensional bitmap sprites that move around 3D areas. The camera presents the action in isometric view, offering the option of free rotation. One of the advantages of the game is the soundtrack composed by Noriyuki Iwadare, with compositions perfectly building tension and matching the events.

Last updated on March 16, 2020