Thoughts on the Grandia series?

>>3743901

Grandia II is my favorite JRPG of all time

Grandia I is fantastic but very different and MUCH more lighthearted in tone. Battles are the same system but with 2D sprites. Feena is waifu.

>>3743901
2 Was fantastic.Solid music. Solid characters. Solid combat. Beast story. I'll only drop its points for the lack of upgrade options, timewasty overworld design and the worst sin of the genre, some battles you can't win.
1 I've never played since I can't see it living up in any way to the first.

>>3743901
I've got both in my backlog since people always seem to mention them in the same breath as Skies of Arcadia as having a great feel of adventure.

I love a good JRPG, but I look forward to it even moreso when it's a relatively overlooked one that I know nothing about. Trying to finish a couple of other games before I move on to them, though.

>>3743980
>1 I've never played since I can't see it living up in any way to the first.

U wot

>>3743901
I recommend record of lodoss war.

Grandia 3 is even better.

Mostly dismissed by edgy contrarians who like how """"edgy""" G2 MC is in the first hour or two, before he goes fulll cuckboi.

Also playing G2 atm, really like it, fine game. Only thing I dont like that much, is that it is very linear, literally no side-quests. And it could be a bit harder.

I love how everyone sits together to chat and eat

File: 1464531050023.jpg (148KB, 615x409px) Image search: [Google]

148KB, 615x409px

>>3744130
the game rushes you through the events, I would've liked more exploration and some side-quests. it's a shame.

>>3744117

I like G3 and all man but I don't think all the complaints about it are unwarranted

>>3744053
Derp. Meant the second.
>>3744130
Sidequests would have taken away from the urgency of the narrative.

>>3744170

That's present in all the Grandia games, I love it.

Typical JRPG series where each game is slightly worse than the last one.

The story is babby's first anime tier
There's like 5 locations in the game
Awful voice acting
Battle system is cool but gets tedious

>>3743901
Fuck that game, you play for 10s of hours and then Guimond Cloitier's fucking "backup" discs you bought for $1 each fucking freeze up because he used the NUKEd scene release instead of the PROPER. Fuck that shit.

>>3743980
1 is better than 2. better hero and better love interest. better villain. better stat development. skills have to be earned by using element or weapon type...none of this egg bullshit.

>>3744421
>being a third world faggot

>>3744467
>paying for "GD-ROMs" when Guimond Cloitier sells the same thing for $1

Too poor to buy a boot disc?

File: image.jpg (79KB, 500x985px) Image search: [Google]

79KB, 500x985px

>>3744387

>Awful voice acting

You shut your whore mouth

>>3744117
GIII wasn't hated for lack of cool protag, it's for fucking Alfina, and the clear Squeenix intervention. A publisher should be left out of development. Instead, what I got was Grandia 2: Final Fantasy 10 remix.

>>3744486
Why buy a boot disc when most dreamcasts can just play CD-Rs unmodified. Even if you don't have the right model you can very likely get one for cheap. DCs are some of the cheapest consoles worth buying on the open market today. The bubble hasn't really hit them yet, but they're also old enough that most people still consider them worthless.

Grandia 1 had a lovely battle system but the characters and story grated on me, and I also really hate permanent removal of party members.

I still need to try the rest of the series.

I started playing G2 on steam. Not progressing fast because I don't have time to play it.
Clearing 1 area a month.

Still, it feels like what rpgs should be. I've played so many indie games that felt like satires, I was starting to think it was just me, but I can say for certain that games they were made differently then.

>>3743980
They're two rather different experiences. As this anon said: >>3743938 Grandia I is signficantly more lighthearted. In that way it's a magical, incredible experience, and it was actually a pretty breathtaking game back in the day. However, it was more powerful in its sense of wonder than its actual setting. It was pretty goofy, and silly for the better part, but very enjoyable on the whole. Grandia II is significantly more mature and somber as game, as it's probably the game which has grown on me the most. I enjoyed the first couple of times I played it, sure, but as I grew older I came to appreciate just how truly mature it actually was as a game, and how good of a sequel it really was. They're both great games that are similar enough so that you don't have to learn much new, but so difference in their tones and moods to the point that they both make for extremely unique experiences.

Xtreme was basically Grandia II for Super Players. Great game in that way, if balls-to-the-wall hard compared to Grandia II, at least technically.

Grandia III is pure garbage though. Never hated a game more in my life.

>>3744170
I really like that mechanic as well, hell parties talking to each other as an option in general in games is a nice feature imo

>>3744424
op here, sounds interesting so I'll have to check out the original Grandia after I finish 2. What is Grandia 3 like?

>>3744527
Than why is JoJo and Illbleed so expensive?

>>3744898
>What is Grandia 3 like?
Trash.

I'll give a detailed explanation on why it's so awful if you'd like.

>>3744898

It's not like the others but it's worth a go if you like the Grandia battle system

>>3744935
yes plz I'd like to know why

File: 220px-Parallel_trippers_box_front.png (142KB, 220x277px) Image search: [Google]

142KB, 220x277px

there's also the gbc game

>>3744903
Every console has expensive titles. But unlike the other anon I wouldn't recommend playing back CD-Rs on your dreamcast. Those poor lasers don't deserve that. Just get one of those SD card adapters and boot games off sd cards. Then you don't have to use downsampled scene releases either. 800mb limit no longer applies.

I at least started 2 playthroughs on Grandia 1 and always stopped at the same place, around meeting the big overleveled warrior guy. I think in the second playthrough I got as far as the loli left the party.. I'm not sure why, I guess I was bored. The longer I played it, the more it felt like a chore. I also don't like the dungeons that much. I still understand if people love the game though. The story is rather lighthearted and the art style & world design are pretty cool. Maybe it's just not my stuff.

I think I ALMOST finished Grandia II but I think I borrowed it from a friend and he took it back then I probably forgot about it. Strange case though, I actually finished Grandia III.

>>3744530
>I also really hate permanent removal of party members.
>Want your hot mom as a party member?
>Too bad, here's some other fags, your mom is too busy having sex. Also fuck you.

I remember being really sad about the loli cannot keeping up with the MC and has to go home.

>>3743901
Just played through Grandia II a couple months back. Was a pretty average JRPG, nothing special.

>>3744117
>Mostly dismissed by edgy contrarians
What are you talking about? Grandia 3 has the best battle system of all the games but that's literally the only thing it got right. The game starts off great, a bit cliche, but it has certain aspects that gave it a lot of potential: the whole flight dream Yuki has and the mother-son dynamic he had with Miranda. Then all of a sudden it feels like someone jumped in and steered the game into the shitfest that it quickly turned into once Miranda and Alfonso literally leave the game. Yuki's flight dream ultimately culminates into nothing and the game starts to shape up one of the most generic, wishywashy plots that sounds like it was written by a teen trying to be deep.

Plot points and characters start being thrown into the game with no rhyme or reason and interesting, expected questions about the plot and game's characters are never answered.
Grandia 3's entire script after the turning plot is as painful to listen to as FFX's laughing scene. The game starts giving you Saturday morning cartoon lines that are not helped by the often subpar voice acting and expects you to take it seriously.

And though I love the battle system, holy shit is the game unbalanced. The game's difficulty is fine up until the Minotaur boss. Enemies from then on are always faster than your party and you'll have to sit through long battle animations that they continuously get to spam providing that they haven't managed to wipe out your party.

I really, really wanted to like the game. I even liked Xtreme, but Grandia III is just a disappointment of a game that goes on for far too long.

>>3745265
SD loaders are very slow

Ripped scene disc images don't wear the laser out if they have their tracks arranged properly.

>>3746184
may I inquire which jRPGs satisfied your lust for a fucking well crafted story?

because they are all wishy washy cringe-inducing shit, it's the staple definition of the genre.

>>3743998
I know this pain. Another thing is RPGs are massive timesinks. It doesnt help my autism forcing me to do all the sidequest collecting shit, or rare drop hunting.

>>3744130
lack of sidequests is refreshing. i prefer an expanded post-endgame dungeon/arc over filler in between.

>>3743901
Grandia I is like THE best JRPG of all times, taking the best from the genre while having surprisingly low amount of flaws.
Definitely play it, it is WAY better then Grandia II.

File: wasted.png (357KB, 612x389px) Image search: [Google]

357KB, 612x389px

I never played Grandia II, but I did like the first one. It had a similar vibe to Skies of Arcadia which I loved, although it was far more light-hearted.

It does start to drag on a bit from a certain point onwards. The battle system is interesting and different from most RPGs, but there comes a point in the game where you're so powerful that you can pretty much prevent any boss from being able to move more than two or three times in a battle, which makes things a little dull. The only battle I had trouble with was the one against those three lieutenant girls, because that was one of the few boss battles against multiple characters at once and because they can start wailing on you if you allow them to move once too often. I think there's a hack floating around with a better balanced battle system, though.

>>3744387
The voice acting is fine. A little cheesy but that's what I liked about it. It's not like the PS1 had a lot of examples of good voice acting anyways.

Grandia 1 is better on Saturn. Avoid the ShitStation port.

what are some other jrpgs with fun combat system and no random encounters?

>>3747473
super mario rpg, baten kaitos origins (not retro)

>>3747473
Hybrid Heaven

>>3747484
kek im not touching that clunk junk with a six foot pole

>>3747467
One's in English, the other is not.

File: spookyl.jpg (11KB, 300x250px) Image search: [Google]

11KB, 300x250px

>>3747485
>kek

Nice 2011 meme, can I borrow it?

>>3747495
>memes age

Love this meme. Me gusta.

>>3747508
Who were you quoting?

>>3747412
I'm not looking for a well-crafted story or DEEP characters, I'm more than aware that eventually, even an JRPG with a great setup will fallback on cliches and love and friendship prevailing over evil. Just look at Valkyrie Profile. Plot presentation and direction is what can make or break even the most grandiose heh plot and I think that's what killed the game for me. It has a very uninspired plot that isn't handled well at all, especially in contrast to Grandia 2.

>>3747880
Who were you quoting?

File: Sue.jpg (47KB, 500x576px) Image search: [Google]

47KB, 500x576px

Grandia 1 is a great game. The way skills and magic work make it a bit grindy, but its lighthearted story sets it apart from most other RPGs of the era.

>>3747884

That ain't true

Play Tactics

>>3747965
is she some hobbit or just a little girl

>>3748002

The latter

>>3745256
This one and the Star ocean blue sphere deserve western releases.

>>3748308
yeah, fortunately parallel trippers has been translated

>>3744117
gameplay
>everything is hit sponges, takes forever to kill
>instant specials are nerfed
>instant items are nerfed
>auto counter is nerfed
>passive battle bonus gone
>magic looks worse because models < fmv
>have to destroy mana eggs to get new ones, you're fucked if you didn't max it out before fusing for another
>it takes random chances to master a special
>'defensive' special like the ball of light does far more damage than any offensive specials
>stage size is nerfed to minuscule size because reasons

characters
>nobody says a single line of joke until hour 7 when you finally get Ulf
>your mom leaves you because reasons
>fucking alfina and her entire tribe

background
>literal replica of breath of fire, a world where titans are near extinction and that is bad

music
>only memorable tracks are reuse of previous ones

npcs
>says absolutely nothing interesting, which was a strong point of G1

The only thing I got out of this game was hunting bunnies. That was great. The rest of the game, not so much.

File: 3x3.png (2MB, 954x957px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 954x957px

>>3743901
I've only played the first one and it's one of my favorite games of all time. I'm playing through Skies of Arcadia and I love the sailing and exploration, the story, characters and battle system are pretty generic though, even when compared to Grandia.

>>3743901
First one is great. Classic game arts.
2 shit the bed coz they tried to be square soft and all deep and edgy. It's some of the cringiest writing you can find in a jrpg.

>>3743901
This any good

>>3743901
Grandia I fell into the kind of game I enjoyed once but just didn't feel like I could enjoy a second time. The dungeons were a bit too long and the gameplay too repetitive (which is one reason dungeons felt long) to make me want to do a second run through. It was great though while you were exploring for your first time with the characters and honestly did not know what would be happening next.

>>3744527
You have revealed yourself as a young person rather than someone who played retro games when they came out. This is due to the fact that self-booting Dreamcast CD-R games only became a thing a year or so after the initial advent of the boot disc / swap method.

>>3744898
Not retro, never will be.

>>3752567
You're right, I never had a dreamcast before the 2010s. All of the images you will find on rom download sites today are self-booting though (unless they are specifically meant for sd card loaders), so why would anyone who doesn't already have one need to buy a bootdisc?

>>3752585
Because people on dial-up would rather pay $1 per game in 2000 than trying to download and burn themselves over a 56K.

>>3752591
>in 2000
There are no people in 2000. All the people are here, in 2017.

>>3752647
woah

>>3747465
No, it's really not fine. I guess if the only form of entertainment you view is from after school cartoons, then maybe.

>>3745051
It isn't. He is trying to be an edgy VR cuck.

If 3 is trash, then 2 is also.

They are both 8/10 games.

>>3743901
excellent

I feel that the fighting system got better with each of the numbered Grandia games. 1 < 2 < 3. This is the only thing that G3 was good for, other than having the hero's milf tag along for the first part of the adventure.

However, overall, G1 had the best plot for consistency. G2 was more serious and less about another JRPG kid going off on an adventure (with an admittedly increasingly deeper scope and higher stakes) but I felt that compared to Justin's journey, Ryudo just... sort of stopped being the cynical jerk that made early G2 so dang good and the plot devolved as time went on. He didn't get the same character development, or rather the scope of it that Justin did.

Grandia 3's plot is just awful garbage, and a sterling example of why Sephiroth was a *terrible* example for RPG villains for years to come. You get a goddang plane to fly around on and had a perfectly fine plot device of evening having a radio that could have been the impetus for all sorts of adventures, but NOPE, it's all about stopping the big dumb shithead who doesn't want to have his life be controlled by the gods... so he let's the EVIL god control his life for him instead.

>>3743901
I never played it

>>3745256
>Yfw there's actually a competitive scene for this