When I was well into PlayStation 2 RPGs, one I gave a shot was Grandia Xtreme, which was my first delve into the Game Arts franchise, when then I didn't know of its predecessors. Needless to say, it wasn't a totally positive experience given things like the save point starvation and consequentially having to go through long treks through dungeons without being able to recover, leaving you exhausted at the end of said dungeon crawls, although its predecessors seemed better in this regard, despite their PlayStation ports being technical messes. The Grandia HD Collection gave a great opportunity to redeem said issues, but did it?
Both games' narratives occur in completely different universes, with the first focusing on Justin as he yearns to become a great adventurer in search of his father, and the second focusing on a sarcastic Geohound named Ryudo charged with escorting a possessed nun, Elena, to meet the Pope so she can get cleansed. The first game's story is very hackneyed and melodramatic, while the second's is somewhat better in spite of boring cutscenes and borrowing heavily from another Game Arts title, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue. Lackluster translations, lamentably, don't help either game, with GungHo Entertainment apparently not being bothered to update their badly-written scripts.
The first and second Grandias feature variations of the same critically-lauded battle system, although said critics were obvious blind to their myriad flaws, beginning with their encounter systems, which are a huge step from the vastly superior ones like those in EarthBound, with enemies charging the player's party regardless of their strength, and some unfairness occurring with things like blinking and reappearing unexpectedly to surprise the player or in the second entry's case, aerial enemies that are a real pain to get the initiative against in the first place. How the player encounters said foes dictates whether they, the player, or no one gets to go first.
The game mechanics of both games largely follow the same rules, where the player's characters and the enemies all share one turn order gauge along which they move to a stopping point where the latter begin to execute their abilities, and the player decides the formers' commands. One key feature is the ability to cancel enemy commands if the player times their characters' attacks right (though foes can do the same), but both games require an incredible amount of foresight in this regard, given the unpredictability of enemy speed across the turn order gauge. A major thing that bogs down both games' battle systems is the lengthy, unskippable ability animations, which are significantly worse in the second game, and really prevents their gameplay from truly excelling.
Both Grandias have similar gameplay without combat, with players exploring towns and dungeons that are open or close-aired, or a combination of both. There are no explorable overworlds, with each having a rigid linear structure and plot advancement. The menu systems of both games are different and have their flaws, with the first having an annoying limit on item capacity; while the second ditches this, it has a really-irritating spherical menu system. Both, however, have save and recovery points that somewhat ease the pain of long dungeon treks, but they could have easily interacted with players better.
Noriyuki Iwadare composed the soundtracks of both games, which definitely do have their share of good tracks, although their quality is often grossly inconsistent, with some really weird or downright-bad pieces. Players have a choice between English and Japanese voicework for each game, but unfortunately, the first retains the same janitorial staff-quality performances as the PlayStation version. The second game's English voices are easily far better, but still imperfect. In the end, the sound of both games rises above average, but not by a heavy degree.
The first game's graphics were adapted to widescreen, with a world's worth of difference in their quality compared to the original versions, with nice colors and upscaling, looking overall generally gorgeous. However, the sequel is a far different ballpark, with hideous three-dimensional graphics that look every bit as bad as they did on the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2, very easily passing for a late PlayStation 1 game.
Finally, the first Grandia can be really long, up to ninety hours, while its sequel is about half that length, with little lasting appeal in either game.
Overall, while the Grandia HD Collection has a few things going for it like the battle systems (though these are far from perfect unlike mainstream and "fan" video game critics make them out to be) and to a lesser extent the soundtracks, they also have plenty going against them like the horrid control, average narratives, inconsistent voicework quality, and in the second game, the hideous graphics. Both also require a lot of time to complete, which is too much for games that are at best average, so unless they're on sale for a huge discount and your gaming dollars are really tight, you can easily live without experiencing them, as there are far better JRPGs out there.
This Deep Look is based on single playthroughs of both games.
Similar to how the original Grandia initially saw its release on the Sega Saturn, its sequel, Grandia II, would see its first release on its successor system, the Dreamcast. Like its predecessor, the second game would see a few ports, although these were largely inferior due to technical shortcomings, which I can attest to from personal experience with the PlayStation 2 version. The first two games would eventually see remasters on the Nintendo Switch, the second as the Grandia II HD Remaster, and later to other systems of the time. Does it still have the same issues as prior ports?
The first sequel stars a snarky, sarcastic Geohound, a special name for a mercenary in the game's world, named Ryudo, and his talking avian companion Skye, tasked with escorting a Songstress of the Church of Granas, Elena, to the St. Heim Papal State. Elena recently became possessed by the Wings of Valmar after a botched ceremony at a tower and wishes to be cleansed of this curse. As a result, she constantly shapeshifts into the female devil Millenia, forming a bit of a love triangle with Ryudo, with a whiny blonde brat named Roan and the smell-sensitive beastman Mareg eventually joining the group as well.
May Her Fussiness' reign last a thousand, eight thousand years until pebbles grow into boulders lined by moss
The narrative of Grandia II has some good beats and is overall probably the best of the franchise, given good backstory for the game world and its characters and some relatable themes, but that isn't really saying much. It borrows heavily from another Game Arts title, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue, not to mention many of its religious overtones and plot beats from Breath of Fire II. The story also feels forced down the player's throat constantly given the unskippable cutscene text, and the total absence of music during most of the scenes themselves increases their soporific disposition, which may make one fall asleep at times and just want to get the game over with.
The translation is definitely an improvement over the first Grandia, but still has its issues. The text is legible, and there is plenty of humor stemming from Ryudo's constant snarkiness, stemming from some Star Wars references, calling Elena "princess" and "Her Fussiness," and so forth. However, some of the problems from the first game's localization recur such as the needless CAPITALIZATION of words for emphasis when they would have sounded a million times better without it, not to mention the translators' unfamiliarity with the concept of contractions, which makes the dialogue sound horribly stiff and unnatural.
Yes, I HEARD her, and she was WONDERFUL.
The battle dialogue suffers from the typical JRPG trope of characters shouting the names of their attacks in combat, although things such as Elena saying, "Here goes my Impact Bomb!" and Roan’s "Golden Hammer, crash!" make it sound a little better. However, akin to the first game, there are a ton of asinine ability names such as "WOW!", "Shhh!" and "Magna Boring", alongside battle messages such as "You have initiative!" and SWAY whenever characters dodge enemy attacks. Overall, the remaster team could have made some effort to improve the original's lackluster localization.
The original Grandia received plenty of critical head for its battle system, which did indeed contain many positive elements in spite of its flaws, with its sequel’s mechanics building upon its predecessor's, to the point where RPGamer would piously proclaim it, through a user poll competition series, to have the "best battle system" of all roleplaying games, but is this really the case? That the encounter system bequeaths many of the same issues as the first game seems to begin to say otherwise, given that enemies charge at the player's party regardless of their strength, and there are some new issues such as it being a real pain trying to encounter aerial enemies without being ambushed by them.
Ryudo definitely does "have initiative."
As in the first game, characters have a choice between SP-consuming Special Moves and MP-consuming magic, which equippable Mana Eggs allow them to perform. Finishing battles nets all combatants still alive experience for occasional level-ups, money, and both Skill and Magic Coins, the former investible into each character's Special Moves to increase their speed and effectiveness (and hint, hint, focusing on those that can cancel enemy commands will really save you later on), and the latter into magic spells in Mana Eggs to do the same, in addition to unlocking more powerful spells.
The battles of Grandia II follow much the same rules as in the first game, with all characters and enemies on a turn order gauge dictating who goes when. The player's characters have a variety of means with which to smack down the enemy, including two kinds of physical attacks: combo, where they strike an enemy twice, and critical, where they can cancel an enemy's command if timed correctly. However, foes can do the same to the player's characters with their abilities, and as the rate at which everyone moves across the IP gauge isn't always clear, a lot of foresight is naturally necessary to triumph.
The only anime cutscene in the game, lasting for a few seconds when Millenia uses one of her skills. Enjoy it while you can.
Players ultimately get access to Skill Books that have special innate abilities that grant passive bonuses like increasing the casting speed of certain elemental types and heightened strength. Each character can equip a certain number of these skills, with Skill and Magic Coins increasing their effectiveness as well. The battle system works well much of the time, but things like the needlessly-lengthy and unskippable ability animations constantly grind the action to a halt and add countless hours of superfluous playtime to the sequel, alongside the frequent need for foresight. In the end, Grandia II's game mechanics aren't as great as RPGamer's followers made it out to be, though they also voted Final Fantasy Tactics as second, which goes to show their moronic standards.
Control in Grandia II treads a few steps forward and many backwards. It retains the positive elements from its predecessor such as save/recovery points and has some improvements like the compass actually indicating whether a direction is forwards or backwards through a dungeon, and in towns, it points to various facilities. However, there is a great deal of user-unfriendliness such as an incredibly-awkward spherical menu system, the continued lack of maps (which hurts especially in the badly-designed final dungeon), the inability skip through cutscene text (though other text is oddly skippable), long stretches without saving, and very infuriatingly, save points after a few bosses. Ultimately, the sequel doesn't interact with players very well.
The genius who put this save point after the boss should never, ever be allowed to work on games again.
Noriyuki Iwadare has always, for me, been a hit-or-miss composer, given his somewhat-inconsistent style, but Grandia II's soundtrack definitely has its high points. There are a lot of good melodies like the title screen theme, a few open-aired dungeon tracks, Elena’s singing, most town themes, and the battle tracks, among others. However, some genius at Game Arts thought it would be cute to have no music whatsoever during most cutscenes, even those without voice acting, and two of the dungeon themes that sound largely alike are incredibly weird, with one, for instance, having an unusual clocklike ticktocking effect which sounds really out-of-place.
The voicework, while imperfect, is a leap forward from the original Grandia. The English voices for characters like Ryudo, Elena, and especially Millenia are generally good, but Roan sounds like a cross between Hank Hill and Butters from South Park, with most other performances being hit-or-miss. Those who don't like the English voice acting can mercifully switch to the Japanese voices, although their quality is inconsistent as well, with Ryudo, for instance, sounding vastly different at times, alongside the typical seiyū butchery of English words. Overall, the sound is only a little above average.
No amount of gaslighting will convince me that this is "music."
The term "polished turd" best describes the "remastered" visuals, since the original game's graphics weren’t exactly a sight for sore eyes to begin with. The colors are good, if a little dull, the illumination effects are decent, and there are some good quirks like Skye perching on Ryudo’s shoulder. However, the FMVs are really grainy, the character models are blocky and mouthless, showing little emotion, with the environmental textures being incredibly ugly and pixilated, with an inconsistent framerate and slowdown galore. There's maybe one brief anime cutscene when Millenia performs one of her abilities, but in the end, Grandia II could easily pass for a late PlayStation 1 RPG.
Finally, given the needlessly padding via the unskippable cutscene text and overly-lengthy ability animations, the sequel can range between thirty to forty-eight hours of playtime, which is still significantly shorter than the first game. There is hypothetical lasting appeal in the different difficulty settings, but the Normal difficulty can already be exhausting, alongside the lack of achievements, the game being too long, the unskippable text, and the lack of plot variations.
On the whole, Grandia II walked many steps forward and many back compared to its predecessor. While the battle system has its strong elements, the action is constantly bogged down by the needlessly-lengthy and unskippable ability animations. The narrative has its moments as well, in spite of being derivative, and while the translation somewhat helps, the effort was otherwise lackluster. The same goes for the soundtrack, which has many good tracks, but also some terrible ones, alongside the radio silence during most cutscenes that make them feel incredibly boring. The ugly-as-sin visuals and the minimal lasting appeal round out an overall disappointing sequel, at best a mediocre addition to the not-so-grand Grandia series.
This review is based on a playthrough of the version included with the Grandia HD Collection on Normal difficulty.
Score Breakdown
The Good
The Bad
Combat has many good elements.
Story has its moments.
Some of the music is good.
Overly-long ability animations constantly grind battles to a halt.
Lackluster translation.
Very user-unfriendly.
Ugly graphics.
Little lasting appeal.
The Bottom Line
Has its moments, but inherits most of its predecessor's flaws and is generally a boring sequel.
Once upon a time, Sony had emerged as a competitor in the video game market with its PlayStation console, originally intended to be a compact disc add-on for Nintendo's Super NES before negotiations fell through. Sega had also released its Saturn console to provide competition for Sony's system, receiving a decent catalog of exclusive games like the Game Arts-developed RPG Grandia. However, due to Sega executive Bernie Stolar's prejudice against Japanese roleplaying games, Anglophone gamers were denied a translated version, Stolar having had similar policies when he headed Sony of America.
There can be only one
However, Grandia would be ported to the PlayStation and receive a full English translation, seeing release in 1999 two years after the Sega Saturn version. Critics and audiences would extol it as one of the greatest RPGs ever made, given its unique battle system, but it had its share of detractors critical of various technical issues, the sloppy translation, and the horrible English voicework that would go for decades unaddressed, after which the game received a remaster, along with its first sequel, to the Nintendo Switch and Windows. This rerelease provided a prime opportunity to rectify the various issues of the PlayStation version, but does it?
Grandia opens in the city of Parm with Justin, an aspiring adventurer, having a "duel" with his rival Gantz that involves finding faux legendary pieces of equipment scattered throughout town. Justin also has an enigmatic artifact from his absentee father, the Spirit Stone. Thus, he searches the nearby ruins to gather clues, with the Garlyle Forces, led by General Baal and his son Colonel Mullen, expressing similar interest. The result is a grand adventure by Justin as he embarks on a quest to discover the mysteries of the ancient and hilariously named Angelou civilization with the help of others while dealing with the adversarial military.
The quality of the narrative is inconsistent, with the initial rivalry with Gantz being asinine, along with countless fetch quests that contribute little to the central storyline, not to mention countless tried tropes like an absentee father and an ancient civilization, as well as pitiful attempts at humor and glacial plot pacing. However, the game backstory is decent for Angelou and the inhabited world. Many plot beats work well also, like the different and sometimes animal races, a few decent twists, serviceable attempts at comic relief like the three female sergeants Justin and his party repeatedly encounter, and the satisfying ending. Regardless, the story is average at best.
While the Grandia series now falls under Square-Enix ownership, publisher GungHo sadly made no effort to update the sordid translation by Sony America that plagued the PlayStation version, intact and reused in the remaster. Terrible names such as Gantz and Tentz, compressed item names in the game menus, spelled-out laughter, crying, and grunting, overuse of ellipses and exclamation points, unnatural battle dialogue, lousy spell names like "WOW!", poor writing like "I, (insert name here)," and so forth, heavily abound. The text is legible, and the translation makes some attempts at dialects for specific regions and races. However, the game localization is one of many areas where the HD remaster was a wasted opportunity.
The translation CHRONICALLY OVERUSES CAPITALIZATION in the dialogue.
The Game Arts franchise has received near-universal praise for its game mechanics, which remain unchanged from the original Saturn and PlayStation versions of Grandia. On fields connecting towns and in dungeons, visible enemies abound, with contact resulting in the game taking players to a separate screen for combat. However, rather than take cues from the visible encounter systems of previous RPGs like EarthBound and Chrono Trigger, the inaugural entry instead has all foes that Justin and company draw near charge his party, regardless of how powerful they are, with a few enemies having cheap movement patterns such as disappearing from the field and reappearing somewhere else.
How contact between Justin's party and the visible enemy occurs determines how combat begins. Justin contacting the foe when it hasn't turned red to indicate alertness results in his party having the initiative, contact by the enemy on one of Justin's allies results in them getting the upper hand, and contact by Justin with alert enemies results in battles starting standardly. Combat in Grandia is turn-based, with Justin's party and various enemies populating the battlefield, and a gauge at the bottom of the screen, called the IP (Initiative Points) bar, indicates the order in which everyone will take their turns, its representative icons moving in real-time according to unit agility, meaning that the speed of their arrival at the Command segment can vary wildly.
When the icons representing Justin and his allies reach Command, the player receives countless options for whatever they want the character to do. These include two variations of standard attacks with a character's equipped weapon: Combo, where they strike an enemy two times (or carry on their second attack to another foe if the first eradicates the original target); and Critical, which can cancel an enemy's command if their icon is moving on the segment between the Command and Action points (units on either side carryout out their actions when reaching the latter). However, the timing of this is often incredibly tricky and requires excellent foresight regarding factors such as battlefield position, the rate at which an opposing unit is prepping execution of their commands, and so forth.
As with standard attacks, there are two types of defending against the enemy: standing one's ground or evasively traversing the battlefield. Characters can also use items like in most other RPGs or attempt escape from battle, which is surprisingly reliable compared to other titles. The use of magic quickly becomes an option as well, with the player needing to acquire Mana Eggs scattered throughout the myriad enemy-infested fields and dungeons to grant a character one of four elements: Fire, Wind, Water, or Earth, which can hybrid into twin-typed spells.
Some issues abound with Mana Eggs. For one, finding the things in the first place can be difficult, given the frequent disorientation while exploring dungeons and fields, alongside the frequent loss of access to these previous areas as players advance the game. In that case, focus first on giving Justin and Feena all their elements, and only give them to Sue if you get more than three spare Mana Eggs since she eventually leaves your party. While players receive consumables to boost elemental skill levels when she and other guest characters leave your party, they are a poor substitute for an actual refund of the Mana Eggs. Regardless, if you follow this advice, the next permanent character, Rapp, will be at a huge advantage (and he joins with the Fire element). The final party member initially has all the elements, so there's no need to worry about that.
Battles can require a lot of foresight, but regular weapon and elemental leveling and use of their respective skills can often circumvent things.
Leveling a weapon or spell level, alongside learning new spells with level conditions satisfied, gives characters a bonus stat increase, which can be a godsend given that standard experience levels (with typical JRPG experience points acquired after battle alongside money and items) rise glacially. The game mechanics work harmoniously, combat rarely dragging on aside from unskippable and overly lengthy ability and spell animations that frequently stop the action in its tracks, and other issues abound like the unclarity of if moves, be they weapon or magic-based, can cancel enemy actions (and those of certain foes, chiefly bosses, can't be invalidated no matter what). Regardless, the battle system deserves the praise it has received then and today.
As mentioned, significant disorientation can abound when exploring dungeons, which is most common after battles. Given the dungeon design, Grandia would have seriously benefited from in-game maps, which would have singlehandedly shaved significant superfluous playtime from the game, especially for those who want to explore every corner of dungeons. Viewpoints come where the player can receive a skyward view of where they currently are but are a poor substitute. Other control issues include the inconsistent placement of save points (but these recover all health and magic), and whichever developer decided to place them after boss battles should never be allowed to work on video games ever again.
Other issues regarding the save system include the absence of autosaving when transitioning between areas and a suspend-save. Another is the parsimonious inventory limit, with players regularly needing to decide which items to dispose of and which to keep; while Stashes to place excess goods exist, the ability to send things directly to them without being at them would have been more than welcome. However, positives exist, like the remaster never crashing when I played from start to finish, the Switch Home button halting all the action and game clock, a soft reset, the ability to trade current equipment with newer gear at shops, and the always-welcome view of stat increases or decreases when shopping for new weapons and armor.
Alongside the game mechanics, the aural presentation is another high point of Grandia, beginning with a sweeping, epic central theme with numerous remixes, alongside countless other emotional pieces with superb instrumentation. However, many tracks sound unusual, like one where vocalists repeatedly shout "GUMBO!" and endless ambient themes. Lamentably, the same sordid janitorial staff-quality English voicework from the PlayStation version returns, but players can mercifully select the Japanese voices, which are a million times better. Ultimately, the aurals are good, but new rerecorded English voice acting would have been more than welcome.
One area the remaster luckily addressed, however, is the visual presentation, significantly upscaling and adjusting to widescreen the original's graphics consisting of two-dimensional character sprites with three-dimensional scenery, which appear smooth and polished. FMVs that hybrid CG environments and anime characters also return in upscaled glory. However, there is still much environmental pixilation and blurriness, the sprites often look weird and have chibi aspects like line eyes despite their proportions, and countless character portraits look asinine and occasionally gross regarding things like Rapp picking his nose and Pakon's nasal drippage. Still, the graphics do their job.
Move over, Joe Camel, here comes Joe...Giraffe.
Finally, the remaster is another Japanese RPG that puts quantity well above quality, with my final playtime a little over seventy hours; however, one can blaze through it quicker if lucky. Given the overdrawn longevity, alongside the lack of lasting appeal other than three extra dungeons, maxing every element and skill level, and the frequent absence of enjoyability due to the lack of numerous basic quality-of-life features and enhancements like in-game maps and the need to reference the internet to do everything (with no New Game+, no achievements, no narrative variations, no postgame content), one playthrough will be more than enough for a lifetime for most mainstream gamers.
Overall, Grandia HD has incredible aspects like its game mechanics and soundtrack. However, it is far from the masterpiece critics and audiences have extolled it to be, given its myriad issues regarding the control, narrative, English voicework, and localization, which the remaster sadly failed to address (and even the best aspects have notable flaws). Artificial longevity is another primary issue, inexcusable given the almost strictly linear game structure, with Grandia excessively overstaying its welcome. Regardless, the "iconic" Game Arts title demonstrates that video game quality, positive or negative, is a point of view. While it is often fun, it's hardly a bucket-list game, and mainstream gamers can easily live without experiencing it.
This review is based on a playthrough of the version included with the Grandia HD Collection to completion purchased and downloaded to the reviewer's Nintendo Switch.
Score Breakdown
The Good
The Bad
Fun battle system.
Lacks PlayStation version's technical issues.
Some decent plot beats.
Great soundtrack.
Remastered visuals show polish.
Requires foresight at times.
Very user-unfriendly.
Needs maps badly.
Awful translation and English voicework.
Finite lasting appeal.
The Bottom Line
Has many positive elements but is hardly the masterpiece critics and audiences have called it.
Finally reached Chapter 3, Sir Mervyn is out of my party, and Maribel's back in, yay. She was a Jester last I left her, and I'll continue to have her master the classes necessary to reach Luminary before turning her into a Druid as well (she had mastered Sage before she left). Shouldn't be too hard a task to pull off.
I've only made minor progress on my Grandia HD review...
Did all the stuff involving the Divine Shrine and now can use the Skystone. A cave has opened up in an excavation site, so that's my next destination. I'm still a Hero, Ruff one as well, Sir Mervyn a Druid, and Aishe a Paladin.
No progress on my Grandia HD review today, but hopefully I should be able to do some more significant work on it tomorrow now that a major commitment has transpired.
All the islands are now in the present. Had to look at a guide to find out my next destination, the Divine Shrine, and I think I know where it is. I'm still ranking up the Hero class, Ruff is still maxed as one, Sir Mervyn is still a maxed Druid, and Aishe is still ranking up the Paladin class.
Making a little headway on my Grandia HD review...
I'm in the past of Buccanham, after getting the moss from the dwarfs' cavern. I'm a Hero now, Ruff has mastered Hero, Sir Mervyn is still a maxed Druid, and Aishe is a Paladin.
Finished one paragraph of my Grandia HD review. Since I got a lot of other stuff out of the way today, I should hopefully be able to do more work on it tomorrow.
I'm in the past of Vogograd right now, and gained a ton of class experience searching for the treasure chest on the eastern peninsula. The Hero is now a Champion, Ruff a Hero, and Aishe a Gladiator. Sir Mervyn has mastered the Druid class, and I'm not having him go through any more vocations since he would lose access to said Druid abilities.
No work was done on my Grandia HD Remaster review...
I'm in the past of Aeolus Vale and got the Sacred Stone from the sanctum, afterward returning to town for a few cutscenes, and I intend to make a pit stop back to the present to bank all the gold I earned. The Hero is a Paladin, Ruff a Armamentalist, Sir Mervyn a Druid, and Aishe a Luminary.
Getting a little work done on my Grandia HD Remaster review...
Current Mood:busy
Current Music:"With Sadness in Heart" (Piano Version) - Dragon Quest VII
Did some more class grinding in Traveller's Tablet worlds before returning to the past Nottagen to finish the final quest. Maribel has left my party, replaced by Aishe, whom I made a Warrior since she has some ranks for that class. The Hero is a Priest, Ruff an Armamentalist, and Sir Mervyn a Sage. Maribel was a Jester before she left.
Had fun doing this one as well. The first image on the first row from the bottom is a reference to the Postman API Platform I've been studying and using in my coding bootcamp, and not spying on an actual postal worker.
I did some of the second part of the past in Nottagen involving the malign vines, afterward spending sizeable time creating Traveller's Tablets and going through their respective worlds to grind classes. The Hero is still a Gladiator, Maribel a Sage, and Ruff a Drake slime. Sir Mervyn is close to mastering the Mage class now.
Grandia HD Remaster
I'm at the final save point. I expect to beat this baby tomorrow.
Got the Mysterious Fragment from the present-day Sullk Tower, and gave one of the monster-obtained Traveller's Tablets dungeons a shot. Despite the enemies in one being super-weak, battles with them still count towards vocation advancement. The Hero is still a Gladiator, Maribel finally mastered Mage and is now a Sage, while Ruff is still a Drake slime and Sir Mervyn a Malevolantern. Doing the second part of Nottagen's past right now.
Grandia HD Remaster
I'm at the start of Gaia, with Feena back in my party. The end is near...
Current Mood:hopeful
Current Music:"Hear My Words, Ye People" - Sir Charles Hubert Parry
Finished (the first part of) the past in Nottagen to get it to appear in the present. I can now send monsters I've befriended in the Monster Haven to get tablets, and I got two. I'll try their respective levels to see if I get any class points at all for my characters, since only Sir Mervyn is still getting class ranks up. After I visit the present Sulkk Tower, though.
Grandia HD Remaster
At the Icarian City, without Feena in my party at the moment.
I completed my visit to Providence in the present, but couldn't find out where the broken goddess status was. I also had no more Fragments to go anywhere else in the past, and the stupid Shrine of Mysteries fairy wouldn't help, so I looked on the internet to discover that I hadn't gotten a Fragment from the Temple Palace in Al-Balad in the past and had to speak with the queen to get access to it. My Fragment Finder didn't give any indicator one was there until I spoke with her, but I got it and am now in the past of Nottagen. The Hero is still a Gladiator (though he did get one rank up), Ruff a Drake slime, and Maribel a Mage. Sir Mervyn mastered the Priest class, and as Maribel is still a Mage, I used a Malevolantern Monster heart on him and am working on that vocation.
Grandia HD Remaster
I crossed the Luzet Mountains to get back to J Base, where Leen gave her dramatic speech, which sounds a lot more emotional in Japanese than it does in English, where she sounds melodramatic. I'm back in Zil Padon, ready for the next plot point.
Finished the past Providence to get its island to reappear in the present and am now looking around it. Sir Mervyn is close to mastering Priest, while the Hero hasn't made any advancement as a Gladiator, Ruff as a Drake slime, or Maribel as a Mage.
By the way, a little something that I find odd about the jingle throughout series entries when a character joins your party:
Dragon Quest VIII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past
Still in the past of Providence, after the monsters attack. Sir Mervyn mastered Luminary, and I made him a Priest. Did a huge upgrade of all my equipment with the best weapons and armor available, which I could luckily afford.
Grandia HD Remaster
In the Underground Railway Ruins. Feena now has all of her spells, including the three ultimate ones that originally had ?? elemental level requirements.
Current Mood:busy
Current Music:"Nothingness...?" - Persona 5 Original Soundtrack.
I've reached the island with the war between Rucker and Providence. The Hero is still a Gladiator, and Ruff has mastered Monster Master and Warrior. I want him to master Mage as well so I can make him an Armamentalist class (so I have all base classes and intermediate classes mastered by at least one of my current party members), but since Maribel still hasn't mastered that class. I don't care much for two characters having the same vocation at the same time, I decided to use one of my Monster Hearts on him to change him to the Drake slime class. By the way, in a major improvement over Dragon Warrior VII, monster vocations no longer have prerequisites. He doesn't seem to have made much progress since his experience levels may be a bit high, but I'm still getting class experience for Sir Mervyn, who is now a Luminary, after which I'll make him a Priest to set him en route towards the Sage class before I ultimately unlock the Druid class (which I'm doing for Maribel as well).
Grandia HD Remaster
I'm hoofing it through the Luzet Mountains, and now have the fourth and final permanent party member, who already comes with all elements. Maybe I should have waited to conquer the extra dungeons after I got her so maybe she would have been more on par with the rest of my characters. On another note, the dialogue has a chronic habit of overemphasizing certain words (in some cases dozens of times within the same sentences, like in this screen, which makes an already lousy translation even worse:
Pretty much 99% of the dialogue would have sounded way better with no emphasis at all. I wish they had retranslated the game (and rerecorded the horrible English voice acting, but thank Heaven for the Japanese voices) since it was a remaster, but it was sadly a wasted opportunity.
Current Mood:busy
Current Music:"The Collapse of Lust" - Persona 5 Original Soundtrack
Climbed up the Highendreigh Tower and beat the boss, which was slightly tough, but skills to lessen fire and ice damage made a difference. Didn't get much class experience for my characters other than Sir Mervyn since the enemies in the tower were weaker than in the Tallest Tower in the World, and he's close to mastering the Dancer class. I had to go back down on foot since Evac didn't work for some reason. I told the professor and his assistant that I got rid of the monster. Now I'll have to climb back up to meet them at the top. Yay.
Grandia HD Remaster
Finished the Tower of Temptation and got all the goodies at the top. The third of the consecutive bosses (though I could heal in between them) did kill some of my characters a few times, but I made it in the end and will continue with the plot once I get back to town.
Current Mood:apathetic
Current Music:"Saint's Wreath" - Dragon Quest VI (Piano Solo)
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