RuminInLove | Let's Play Grandia (Saturn) #54 - FINALE [blind] @RuminInLove | Uploaded March 2023 | Updated October 2024, 20 hours ago.
I totally thought Leen was going to fall out of Evil Gaia btw.

Thumbnail:
twitter.com/InLoveRumin/status/1631819782826651648?s=19

Full playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlwskU9UwXjzo0hem6gRtIQ1gIhSm9ShE

TrekkiesUnite's translation patch: segaxtreme.net/resources/grandia-english-patch.67

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Some minor complaints:
-Being locked out of 90% of the game at the final save point is lame. Want to check out Castle of Dreams? Well I hope you like J Base.

-The dungeons are great, but the paths between areas are usually pretty unremarkable and tedious.

-It takes forever to leave the results screen after winning a battle.

-I really wanted a scene with Feena and Leen, Justin and his Mom, and Rapp with his parents during the ending. Are Rapp's parents even unstonified? What about Liete?... Or Gawdin or Milda? I think Star Ocean series spoiled me with its every-single-character-gets-an-after-credits-epilogue schtick. Also Grandia HD fucking filtered out Sue's freckles in the ending.

-I feel like the items could be organized better. Like give us an option to sort alphabetically or newest.

-The final boss theme is supposed to be a remix of every other previous battle theme but it sounds incredibly rushed. I coulda swore the audio was glitching. The final boss in general is... Mleh. The Evil Gaia transition was cool so I'll give it that.

-Justin being a chosen one is dumb. I don't really see why the devs felt the need to even add that plot point since it has no bearing on the story. In my head canon anyone could have been the chosen one and Justin only became it due to circumstance.

-Are there two Gaia's? Did Leen sacrifice herself to kill one of them or did Justin kill the same one that Leen sacrificed herself to kill...? This question doesn't even make sense due to how hard this part of the game is to understand.

-More experience and money from battles would be nice, but maybe it would have made the game too easy? Idk I think the game is easy enough that there wouldn't really be any harm in making it even easier with the grind.

-Might be dumb to ask for this since most games in general don't have this feature, but I would have liked a way to quickly exit locations you've already visited.

-I know it didn't really exist at the time, but skippable cutscenes should at least be a thing in Grandia HD.

-Grandia HD is comparable to the Silent Hill HD Collection in terms of quality.

-Grandia HD.

Praises:
-Incredible soundtrack.

-Replayability. I can tell this is the type of game that gets better the more it's played.

-Great voice acting especially for 1997 standards. The English voices are... Well, "charming" would be a nice way to put it.

-Amazing visuals.

-The intractability with the world. There are a ton of pointless little sidequests and you can walk by a broom and the broom will fall over.

-Amazing characters who all have relatively unique battle lines and animations from each other (which offers good replayability).

-Atmosphere and ambience was soulful and thick.

-It reminds me of Ratchet and Clank and Kingdom Hearts (for some reason).

-I like the message, moral, and general theming of the game. It's very optimistic and hopeful.

-Charming and well done animations.

-Getting Liete as a reward for making it so far into the game is really cool.

-I like how Justin isn't your completely typical boring protagonist. He has a personality I would usually associate with a side character and I like how he becomes more serious as the game progresses. Near the start he leaves Sue behind, then he says "We were born to open up the same path together!" to Gaia (or was that Baal?). Like symmetry, it rhymes.

-I like how Gaia is a giant insect. I don't know why. I guess I thought it was cool or I wasn't expecting it? Big boot.

-Being able to see what level you need to level up each magic to gain a certain ability is very convenient and I wouldn't expect this type of QoL thing from a 1997 game.

-Same thing about auto battle.

#rpg #grandia #jrpg