Grandia 3 sucks, with a free built in rant.

coltyhuxx

CAGiversary!
It's like getting a terrible blowjob. A few decent parts but ultimately I'm never going to finish this.

I'm not even on disk 2. The plot has turned into something alongside the worst of the Japanese plots I've seen, pretty much ever and I've schlocked through some serious shit before. It's weird because it started out pretty decent. Talk about hackneyed, immature, repetitive, repetitive, repetitive dialogue.

Yea, say what you want, "it's a Japanese RPG what do you expect." Well I'm putting my foot down - I EXPECT MORE THAN THIS. Not ALL Japanese RPG's are horribly constructed (most are, IMO). Seriously, fuck, Christ, why do people accept a level of writing like this as passable?

Not just the plot but the plodding way in which you navigate (cough.. yea right, navigate, you are on COMPLETE RAILS THE WHOLE TIME) the game is fucking tedious. You get some ghey-fruit from this guy in hopes he will commission you a ship and then, literally, one hour later you are back in the same damn map, in reverse, going to get some more ghey ass fruit for the same guy to build you another ship because you fuck up your first ship, in an absolutely disgusting plot-contrivance that nullifies everything boring minute of the three hours prior. Seriously, can I hunt for something more interesting. Man I'll even take a concession for something (boring) but tried and true: "a magical ring" or a "an enhanted stave"... but "fruit" that some guy "likes a lot?"... Stoooooops.

I kick myself for paying $50 for this... I've tried to come back to it but it's just a horrible mess of a game - an RPG with a terrible plot is just not going to win me over just with a semi-engaging combat engine.

Oh and last, can we make a game that allows you to run up a six inch grass hill instead of using that as an excuse to keep you on rails. It's really visually spectacular when your character does a running animation in place because there is a six inch tuft of grass in front of you. At least give me a fence or something.
 
Paying $50 would have been a mistake even if you liked it. That it sucks is just the CAG gods laying a dose of karma on your hinder.
 
Grandia III had its moments, but it never turned into something really good... I was hoping it would, but there came a point when I realized that wasn't going to happen. There's a lot of excellent RPGs out there, but this most definitely was not one of them.

Personally, I was most annoyed by Alfina's cold hand fetish.
 
I would compare Grandia III to Suikoden III. While they are competent on their own, as an extension of a respected series, they stink. A fraud, really.

All the standard Grandia conventions are there, from the fun battle system to the mana eggs that let you equip your heroes with magic. The visual style, however, is far more Square than Game Arts. Instead of brightly colored midgets, you get androgynous heroes in ornate wardrobes that look as though it takes them three hours in the morning to get dressed.

The battle system also seems less special. The characters are larger, and there's less distance between them and their enemies. This takes away any strategy the earlier titles might've had. Instead of deciding whether you'll fight the beast right next to you or finish off the weak monster on the other side of the screen, you can select any creature to battle and still achieve the same results. With the battle system thrown out, I find no reason to really play this title when there's so many better choices out there.

Also never pay full price for Square titles, they all seem to drop in price rather quickly nowadays.
 
I thought Grandia III is awesome. I'll admit, there are RPGs with better storylines, but it still had the 2nd best battle system ever (after FFVII). It was definitely much better than Xtreme, which I also like. Grandia III isn't as good as the first one though. I think it's just as good as Grandia II.

I think Yuki and Alfina are great characters. I really loved both of those two.
[quote name='Pijaibros']Also never pay full price for Square titles, they all seem to drop in price rather quickly nowadays.[/QUOTE]They are one of the only companies I'd pay full price for their games, since their games are almost always gold.
 
[quote name='Samurai T']I thought Grandia III is awesome. I'll admit, there are RPGs with better storylines, but it still had the 2nd best battle system ever (after FFVII). It was definitely much better than Xtreme, which I also like. Grandia III isn't as good as the first one though. I think it's just as good as Grandia II.

I think Yuki and Alfina are great characters. I really loved both of those two.
They are one of the only companies I'd pay full price for their games, since their games are almost always gold.[/QUOTE]

Jeez I'm confused now since I did like #2 but I know it wasn't a steaming pile of shit like Colty says about 3. What did you think of 2 Colty? Then I'll have my answer.
 
awwww

Here was me looking to a price drop for it. I loved Grandia 2 for the DC. Great story, some what so so dialog, great effects. It was a great game that I even bought the PC version last year and have started replaying it a few weeks ago. on the PC version it seems harder to fast forward text dialog so prepare to sit through mindless talk :(
 
[quote name='Sarang01']Jeez I'm confused now since I did like #2 but I know it wasn't a steaming pile of shit like Colty says about 3. What did you think of 2 Colty? Then I'll have my answer.[/quote]

I liked 2 a lot. It wasn't perfect and shared some of the same tennents as 3 but all in all it was enjoyable and I probably, unfairly, am giving it a bonus 1/2 star for being on the Dreamcast.

Seriously, though. The music, characters and story were far better developed, IMO.
 
20060222.jpg
 
[quote name='Pijaibros']I would compare Grandia III to Suikoden III. While they are competent on their own, as an extension of a respected series, they stink. A fraud, really.

All the standard Grandia conventions are there, from the fun battle system to the mana eggs that let you equip your heroes with magic. The visual style, however, is far more Square than Game Arts. Instead of brightly colored midgets, you get androgynous heroes in ornate wardrobes that look as though it takes them three hours in the morning to get dressed.

The battle system also seems less special. The characters are larger, and there's less distance between them and their enemies. This takes away any strategy the earlier titles might've had. Instead of deciding whether you'll fight the beast right next to you or finish off the weak monster on the other side of the screen, you can select any creature to battle and still achieve the same results. With the battle system thrown out, I find no reason to really play this title when there's so many better choices out there.

Also never pay full price for Square titles, they all seem to drop in price rather quickly nowadays.[/quote]

I liked both those games. I guess I'm used to the cliche filled RPG story, and just don't care anymore, as long as the game has quality gameplay. I think your assessment of the battle system is completely wrong, especially in regards to strategy.
 
hmmm i guess i'll wait till this one is around $10 before i pick it up :)

so is grandia II any good? better than 3?

how about star ocean: till the end of time?
 
[quote name='tehweezner']hmmm i guess i'll wait till this one is around $10 before i pick it up :)

so is grandia II any good? better than 3?

how about star ocean: till the end of time?[/quote]Grandia II is one of my favorite RPGs ever... yet I haven't played III yet. But from what people are saying it sounds a bit bland. I would still recommend Grandia II at this point.
 
*shrug* I like it. Combat as always is fun, I like the variety of skills, I like the critical/combo thing. Distance isn't quite as much of an issue as it has been in past games, but I still find myself [or the enemies] not making it in time. Some of the characters are annoying, but they do have personality. I think I like the 'magic experience point' thing from GII better than the mana eggs/merge thing, but it's all right.
Plot? Save the world, gods are dying, what the hell this knight is doing, I don't know.
The think that pissed me off is that it isn't subtitled. The sound is mixed oddly, so the story voiceovers are much quieter than in-game sound, and I prefer to read text rather than listen to voiceovers.
I don't feel the attachment to the characters that I did in GII, so I will agree, GIII is blander than GII [good word].
 
[quote name='tehweezner']hmmm i guess i'll wait till this one is around $10 before i pick it up :)

so is grandia II any good? better than 3?

how about star ocean: till the end of time?[/QUOTE]

Grandia II was a lot better... partially because it didn't have Alfina in it.

Star Ocean was absolutely terrible, IMO. The storyline was very weak and the game was far too long. Essentially, about 90% of the game felt like filler. The combat system could've been cool if it weren't for the fact that the AI controlled teammates are retarded. You die if you run out of MP in this game, so logically, the AI will spam magic attacks even if you tell them to be conservative. The characters were bland and uninteresting and the dungeon design was pretty boring as well.
 
I don't know what your going on about but by my memory japanese RPG's are way better then any RPG made by a westerner.

Most RPG's if not all RPG games on the PS2 sucks nowadays. It's almost like the creative mind of the child died in everybody after year 2000.

Most decent games takes place in our own time or the most recent world. When was the last time we played a good dinosaur game. I blame FF7:bouncy:
 
[quote name='RegalSin2020']
Most RPG's if not all RPG games on the PS2 sucks nowadays. It's almost like the creative mind of the child died in everybody after year 2000.
[/QUOTE]

You know, I usual think your posts are retarded, and well the rest of your post was, but this was actually pretty true. It's like every JRPG is just the same plot rehashed over and over, except for a few like Nocturne but they end up just being underground hits.
 
I've been playing Skies of Arcadia Legends for the last week or so and it feels like what Grandia III should've been. Grandia III's all about a main character who wants to explore the world... and then he wants to save the world. Of course, in the process, the devs forgot about the whole exploring the world idea and you're left with a fairly generic game with terrible characters. Well, Skies of Arcadia is all about exploring the world and saving it by going through elemential dungeons... except it pulls all of that off well... and has great characters.

Basically, if you want to play Grandia III... don't. Just go buy Skies of Arcadia instead.
 
I didn't play SoA Legends, but I did play Skies of Arcadia on the Dreamcast--I got both SoA and Grandia II for Christmas. While I liked the combat of GII and SoA, and some of SoA's interminable dungeons were rather frustrating, I agree--SoA was superb at expressing the feeling of 'exploration' and wide-open spaces and excited optimism and 'What's over the next cloud!", whereas Grandia II was a lot darker themed, and didn't create a feeling nearly so well.
I don't know how SoA did it, but it was one of just a few games that created a 'feeling' throughout almost all the game, and that feeling made me smile throughout the whole game, even with its frustrations.
It sounds like SoA:L does just as good a job with instilling that feeling. My DC is still hooked up, though I haven't played anything in a while; SoA is one of those that would deserve a replay if I can find another 60 hours to play.
 
That comic was awsome!!!

Back on topic:
I thought the story got worse also. I actually liked how it started. To bad it didn't hold up. And I hated Ulf. I wanted a real tank. If he weighed 200 pounds more and had an Axe instead that metal yoyo, he'd be acceptable.
 
[quote name='Rodimus Donut']That comic was awsome!!!

Back on topic:
I thought the story got worse also. I actually liked how it started. To bad it didn't hold up. And I hated Ulf. I wanted a real tank. If he weighed 200 pounds more and had an Axe instead that metal yoyo, he'd be acceptable.[/QUOTE]

I'd agree with both of those things. I thought the game started out really well. It gave me the feeling that it really was going to be epic and have you exploring some huge world... but it's like the devs realized that they didn't have what it took to make something truly huge so they decided to cut Alfonso and Yuki's Mom from the cast and just have you save the world instead... truly a disappointing turn.

As for Ulf... yeah. He's obnoxious. He looks stupid, he's uninteresting, and he doesn't deserve to be a tank.

Eh, but the game's so broken that I guess it's pointless to start ranting....
 
Yeah, I got all my ranting out about this game months ago (probably with you on the Grandia III board.) But still intresting to read what else people rant about, cause we all sound the same when it comes to this game.

For fun go on Gamefaqs and rant about how boring the story is. They'll roll their eyes and think "not another one." Most likely the same 3-4 people will defend it and say, "it ain't so bad", or the ever so classic "it didn't bother me."
 
I think the point that killed my enjoyment of the game was when they took the one character I really liked (Miranda) away. But yeah, the storyline really sucked hard, but damn if I didn't enjoy the battle system so much. It was way too much fun.
 
Grandia III sucks only because you know it could have been one of the best, if not the best, RPG on the PS2. Everything about tha game is wrong though: characters are completely forgotten left and right, never to be seen again. Everything is RUSHED after the second disc, first disc acutally has a really good pace: Alfina and Yuki progressively and slowly fall in love, the villains all show up and introduce themselves, you start meeting the guardians, Arcriff is destroyed, etc. Then in second disc, all of a sudden you're saving the world, the villains are for the most part gone, Alfina wants to marry you, and the game ends. It's a shame the battle system is better than ever and that the character designs are adorable.
 
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