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Classic JRPGs ‘Grandia’ and ‘Grandia II’ are coming to the Switch
Two classic JRPGs are coming to the Nintendo Switch: Grandia, which first came out on the Sega Saturn in 1997 before a wider release on the original PlayStation, and its sequel Grandia II, which debuted on the Sega Dreamcast in 2000. Japanese publisher GungHo is bringing remastered versions of both to the hybrid console sometime this winter.
Grandia: How a forgotten JRPG solved the problem of repetitive combat
This is a weekly column from freelancer Rowan Kaiser, which primarily focuses on "Western" role-playing games: their stories, their histories, their mechanics, their insanity, and their inanity. This week, however, Rowan focuses on a forgotten JRPG: Grandia. One of the core issues facing most role-playing games is how they deal with repetitive combat. Since RPGs tend to be so much longer than normal games, with a wider scope, it's much more difficult for them to create unique battles like a shorter action game can. So RPGs tend to have constant, similar, repetitive fights. These are often derided by players and critics under umbrella terms like "random battles," "grinding," or in massively multiplayer games, "trash." Yet RPGs need those regular battles to keep the games interesting. With rare exceptions, the player skills are unlikely to be tested in terms of skill outside of combat, and most RPG stories depend on violence and its consequences. This makes combat an integral component of the pacing of RPGs. Successful RPGs tend to strike a balance between combat, exploration, and storytelling. When one of those three part is left unchecked, the game can become boring – and it's usually excessive repetitive fighting that's the issue. For decades now, RPGs have attempted to make their regular battles more interesting, and less likely to be described as trash or grinding. Japanese RPGs have historically tended to experiment with different combat forms more aggressively than their Western counterparts. Some games, like the Suikoden series, tries to avoid the combat issue by making combat smooth and unobtrusive, as I wrote about in a prior column. But not every RPG can, or should, de-emphasize combat. When combat works, even in common random battles, it can be the best part of an RPG. How can RPGs avoid having combat be too repetitive and meaningless?
My year long quest to defeat Grandia 2's (almost) final boss
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer. Once upon a time, it took me a solid year to beat what I thought was the final boss of Grandia II.Now, before you start making fun of me, I want to point out that even one GameFAQs guide refers to Valmar's Core as "very extreemly (sic) absurdly abnormally ridiciously (sic) giganticly (sic) impossibly hard!!!" This was also right around 2000, and online help was a little harder to find at that time. I was more or less on my own.With that in mind, think about all the things that can make a final role-playing game boss difficult. In my experience, those elements include high speed, a wide variety of attacks that target the entire party, multiple body parts, and healing spells. Valmar's Core includes all of those elements and more, meaning that your only hope of killing the thing is removing its ability to heal itself before blitzing it. There's simply no way to last long enough to take out all three of its heads and its core before it wipes out your party.In many ways, it's the perfect final challenge for the JRPG in which the main wrinkle is that the protagonists and villains share one time bar in a race to see who acts first. The three heads and the core act independently of one another, which strains the ability to interrupt the icons with an attack before they reach the point where they can attack -- the main mechanic -- to the absolute limit. One mistake, and Valmar's Core will show no mercy.
PSN's classic JRPGs: What holds up?
This is a column by Jason Schreier dedicated to the analysis (and occasional mocking) of his favorite genre, the Japanese role-playing game. Whether it's because they're too antiquated or just too niche, he believes JRPGs don't get enough attention in the gaming industry today. It's time to change that. "Hey Jason," you say, an innocent twinkle in your eye. "I've never played any old-school JRPGs. Where should I start? Which are the best ones? Do any of them hold up in 2011?" Excellent questions, my hypothetical friend. There are plenty of ways to get your paws on the classics, but it can be tough for newbies to tell exactly which ones are worth playing. You could try asking a more experienced JRPG fan, but he might be too blinded by nostalgia to discern whether or not his favorite game has aged well. So to help you sort through the chaos, I'll be delving back into a whole bunch of old JRPGs over the next couple of weeks. I'll spend about 30-60 minutes with each one -- certainly not enough time to properly review a game, but enough to get a feel for whether it holds up today, and how it compares to my memories of it. Today we'll start with the PlayStation Store, a veritable treasure trove of classic JRPGs.
Game Arts founder Takeshi Miyaji passes away at 45
G-Mode announced today that its CEO and founder Takeshi Miyaji died on July 29 at the age of 45. Cause of death was not released as part of the statement. Miyaji co-founded Game Arts at the age of 19, and is best known for creating the Grandia series, as well as his involvement in other classics like Silpheed, GunGriffon, and Lunar: The Silver Star. In 2000, Miyaji founded G-Mode, a development studio focused on the then-emerging mobile-phone gaming market. He will be succeeded as CEO by Ryu Okoriyama, CEO of Gaia Holdings.
Grandia coming to Euro PSN November 10
Considering Grandia's innovative, pseudo-real-time battle system, it's ironic that Europe has spent years waiting for its turn to see the game hit PSOne Classics. The game hit the Japanese PSN in April 2009 and landed on US PS3s earlier this year, and now the Game Arts favorite will finally be available on the European PSN starting November 10 (tomorrow!). For just €7.99/£6.29, you too can relive one of the greatest RPGs of the 32-bit generation and experience a battle system that today's games still have trouble topping.
Grandia coming to PS1 classics on PSN this week
PlayStation classic Grandia will make its way to the PSN this Thursday, February 25, at a price far less than what you'd pay for a new or used copy. For $10, North America can finally access the RPG that's been on the Japanese PSN since April 2009 -- and on the Sega Saturn since 1997. Grandia stands out from other JRPGs with its exciting combat system, which was obviously in its infancy during the first installment. In fact, we've been waiting for another high-profile game to iterate Grandia's turn-based battle system for years. Y'all just wait, when Joystiq publishing is off the ground, we'll iterate the heck out of it.
Grandia Online coming this summer
BigWorld have formally announced the latest game build on their BigWorld Technology Suite, Grandia Online. Grandia Online is the latest in the Grandia series of games that started with the Grandia RPG on the Sega Saturn and has continued with two sequels and several spin off games on a range of consoles and the PC. Grandia Online is set before the story in the first game, but in the same game world. This release comes after a long development during which it wasn't always clear that the game would actually be released. The game was first announced in 2004 with beta testing announced for September 2006 with development by GameArts, but development transferred to GungHo Online Entertainment in early 2007. Development has since reverted back to GameArts, with GungHo Online Entertainment remaining as publisher.The title is expected to enter open beta this month, with a full release for the later in the summer on PC.
Rumor: Microsoft will publish bargain-priced US Project Sylpheed
Never trust retail listings as concrete evidence of future releases, but GameStop has an interesting page up on its website for Square Enix's Project Sylpheed, here spelled Silpheed. What makes the listing all the more bizarre is its bargain price of $39.99 and its publisher, Microsoft Game Studio (which, oddly enough, is also listed as the developer).Of course, the actual developer, Game Arts (Grandia, Lunar series), has used many publishers -- Grandia II, for example, saw Square Enix publishing the title in Japan and Ubisoft publishing in US and Europe. We don't feel this has anything to do with Microsoft trying to butter up Square Enix while Final Fantasy XIII's exclusivity is supposedly in discussion, but that Square Enix had no interest in distributing the title outside of Japan. But, if the $40 price is accurate, how much faith does Microsoft have that US audiences will embrace the game? There's so much about the listing that feels shaky.No announcements have been been made by Microsoft, Game Arts or Square Enix. According to the listing, Project Sylpheed will be released July 11.[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
TGS: Blue Dragon = Dragon Quest + Chrono Trigger + Grandia
Wired's Game|Life blog has posted an early, albeit vague, impression of Hironobu Sakaguchi's pair of upcoming Xbox 360 RPGs, Blue Dragon & Lost Odyssey. During today's media briefing in Shibuya, Japan, Sakaguchi took the stage and demoed (read: picked up controller and played) his studio's new projects. While Game|Life doesn't provide many specifics, its post does draw some big comparisons, describing Blue Dragon as a fusion of Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger, with "maybe" a dose of Grandia. Game|Life notes that enemies are on-screen (i.e. no random battles) and that the Job Change system (from Final Fantasy V) is featured in Blue Dragon. Game|Life's description of Lost Odyssey is even more provocative, as it declares the game to look like a "much more dramatic" Final Fantasy. We're sure that Microsoft has its fingers crossed that this impression will stick -- and spread. We'll hit you with our own from the show floor in the coming days. In the meantime, see for yourself: Blue Dragon Lost Odyssey
