Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
More of an action game than an RPG.,
By
This review is from: Grandia Extreme (Video Game)
Grandia 2 for the Sega Dreamcast was one of the best RPG games in recent years. So, it was without question that this title would be on my 'must-buy' list when I read about its release. I figured it would be at least as good as G2, and hopefully better, with the PS2's DVD storage capacity. Well, after playing for nearly 120 hours (longer than I have spent on any other game), I'm still not sure whether to reccommend this game.Part of me is dissappointed, very dissappointed in the RPG aspects of this game. There is little, if any, storyline, and the characters are just typical anime kid stuff. The storyline in G2 was amazing. The scope of that game rivals any Final Fantasy game, yet the game itself was too easy. In Xtreme, the game is much harder, but the story is soo bad, they could have left it out entirely, and had a more interesting game. So, what makes one put in 120 hours (and counting) into a game that is so uninteresting? The gameplay. The game's battle system is the best I've ever played. I've never been a fan of dungeon-exploring, 1st person style adventure games, but this game is different. The action moves along so smoothly, and the games system of levelling up is ingenious. You can complete each stage as often as you want, each time with tougher enemies, and build your characters stats to unbelievable levels. And yes, the bosses can be fought more than once as well. And when you think you've actually beaten the game, think again. All the dungeons gain a HUGE increase in difficulty and a new 100-level dungeon appears. Overall, if you are looking for a fun game, that you will enjoy playing for weeks, I can't reccommend Grandia Xtreme enough. Just try to ignore the bad voice acting, and weak storyline, ok?
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good game with Minor flaws so 4.5 stars,
This review is from: Grandia Extreme (Video Game)
Yes, the Grandia serie finally gets an original title for the PS2, no the story is not as good as the first two, yes the battle system is still amazing, yes the characters are still memorable, and yes this is still a good RPG.The battle system is still the same amazing battle system that caught our eye in the first two Grandia games and believe it or not it can still be tweaked with to make it better! Now characters can combine moves together to perform double, triple or even Quadruple techniques! The magic and such is more of a crossover between the two Grandia games. There are a total of about 72 spells total and that means more than in the second Grandia game (but STILL less spells than the first). The game is packed with over 100 enemies! Almost 100 dungeons, and still memorable characters. Probably my only two major gripes with the game were that the storyline wasn't as good as the first two Grandia games, and it didn't seem like there was as much thought put into it becaue the storyline eventually got predictable and there weren't as many plot twist as the first two (and for Grandia when I say plot twist I really mean Jaw Droppers). And that there was only one place you could save but I didn't really have a problem with that since you can go back there in literally a second and go back to where you were in the same amount of time. The dungeons present some complex puzzles and you actually have to think a little more than usual. This brings out some fun factor for those who like to solve puzzles. Navigating dungeons is much easier than in previous Grandia games. Now, instead of following a compass (did that bother anyone else when they were in towns besides me?) you have a map much like in FFX that will tell you where enemy parties are! This is a great RPG. Also, again, unlike Final Fantasy I was happy that the game is so much more focused on the Characters involved in the story whether than the world around them. What I mean, they really fight for what they believe in, and they don't always need someone to say "you'll die too if you don't save this world." meaning they don't always need motivation like most other characters in RPGs. I also liked how you could combine eggs to make different ones for using magic! And what helps character developement is that they really do stick to whether they are made for magic or attacking. What I mean is certain characters can only equip a certain amount of Magic or Mana eggs at a time. Also, there are skill books that have different abilites for characters. And as with the Mana eggs depending on whether they're made for magic or not, so like Mana Eggs Characters can equip a certain number. The other problem that I had with this guide is that While I like the fact that the difficulty is better, I also didn't like the fact that they weren't enough boss battles. OVERALL: This is a nice RPG and its very complex just compared to the other two Grandia's the story isn't quite as good. so... POSITIVE NEGATIVE Good RPG and like I said in my Grandia II review I happen to be more intrigued by Grandia than Final Fantasy. Not everyone sees it that way but I'm just saying give Grandia a chance RPGers, there are more RPGs than just Final Fantasy and Zelda.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Return to the roots of Video Gaming,
By
This review is from: Grandia Extreme (Video Game)
In the last decade, video games have taken a very different formula from the roots. In the days before consoles, it didn't matter what the story of a game was. All that mattered was the gameplay. Why PacMan is running away from ghosts and eating power pellets is all but ignored. Then one day, someone introduced a magic element called plot, which could be used to cover up bad gameplay, and suddenly a hundred game companies eschewed forth clumsily-made games in the name of 'plot', to the point that gameplay has been all but ignored.Then along comes a game like Grandia Xtreme, a pure dungeon-crawler and battle-oriented RPG which is moved along by a very basic, simple, and predictable storyline involving an army operation to end the "Elemental Disorder" which has been causing chaos on the planet only to find, as you might predict, there is a much darker scheme behind the army's intent. To most who have become accustomed to the 'Final Fantasy standard' (it doesn't matter if the game is fun, as long as the story is good), Grandia Xtreme is a fun, but mediocre game. However, to those who have been fans of RPGs for a long time and are looking for a more modern version of what they grew up with, this is it. Several changes have been made in the fool-proof Grandia formula. Grandia Xtreme features only one true town, that being Locca, the base of operations for Evann (the main character) and party. Evann travels to different ruins through the use of a world map and links called "Geo-Gates", which differ from save points in that they transport Evann to and from Locca (where he is able to save, sell and buy items, etc.). Within each ruin is a multi-leveled labyrinth filled with monsters, traps, puzzles, hidden doors, and secret items. Each dungeon is meticulously designed and executed, promoting hours of exploration as well as sight-seeing. Also, dungeons not only respawn monsters, but items as well once they are beaten, allowing Evann to revisit each ruin to find new items. Another new element of dungeon-crawling involves the use of a ready stance, which Evann can use to reduce the chance of being attacked preemptively. The battle system hasn't changed much, using the same real-time/turn-based system in the previous Grandia titles. The only noticeable differences are that the monsters in each dungeon level up with Evann, keeping the game difficult, and SP recharges as the battle goes on at a very fast pace, allowing for multiple special attacks within any single battle. Characters now have joint special attacks, where two, three, or even four characters can perform one special attack using their combined power, allowing for dozens of different special attacks any one character can use. The mana and skills system, on the other hand, has changed quite a lot. Mana eggs are still used, but instead of learning new spells as the character uses them, new spells are created by joining mana eggs together, called "junctioning". Also of note is that MP is not based on the character, but on the egg itself, and the more times an egg is junctioned, the more MP and the more powerful the spells it will contain. The skills system utilizes papers found in the dungeons which are turned into skills by the Skillmaster in Locca. Those skill pages are then placed in different skill books, which are equipped on characters just as mana eggs are. To balance out magic-casting and skill use, characters can equip several mana eggs and skill books, but only a total of 6, and each character has a predetermined number of each they can equip (one may have 4 mana eggs and 2 skill books, another may have 4 books and 2 eggs). Musically, Grandia Xtreme stands up along with its predecessors as a gorgeous masterpiece by Iwadare, who never seems to lose his touch. Many of the songs are very similar in style to those of Grandia II, while a few have a new Latin styling which simply adds to their beauty. Also included are neat little melodies called 'sound bytes' which can be found by revisiting ruins, as well as remastered versions of battle themes from previous Grandia titles, available upon beating the game. The rest of the sound except for sword clangs will have you gritting your teeth. The voice acting is pretty bad, especially in comparison to Grandia II (and even Grandia), but possible to stomach, especially Lisa Loeb who is perhaps the best voice actress in the game. Several battles are overshadowed by the sounds of things flying, which gets very annoying after a while. Overall, the sound is okay, but the English dialog could have improved greatly. And finally, we come to graphics. Grandia Xtreme is graphically superior to the Dreamcast version of Grandia II in one sense -- the character models have mouths. Other than that, the game has pretty much the same graphical charge as the previous title. However, the expansive labyrinthine ruins are breathtakingly gorgeous with plenty of neat lighting effects to emphasize them. Luckily, Grandia Xtreme features none of the graphical glitches that were the bane of Grandia II's PS2 port. Overall, Grandia Xtreme is a definite must-have if you are a fan of the series or dungeon-crawlers in general. It has all the gameplay that appealed in previous games, and more added on. It even has a second quest that becomes available upon beating the game. If you're not a fan of the Grandia series, you're better off picking up Grandia II and giving it a whirl.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
