Grandia III
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Player Reviews
Average score: 3.3 out of 5 (based on 13 ratings with 1 reviews)
Graphically superior...inferior everything else.
The Good
You know, after playing a couple of hours of this game I actually thought about adding to game of the week. It seems I spoke too soon.
Anyway, the game wins all awards when it comes to previews and stuff, but after playing more than 5-7 hours it really see the game for what it is (I could be mistaken) - See Bad Section.
Well, the good? Lots actually the first time around. This is the most graphically superior RPG I've seen yet. If this is called eye candy, then I'll be damned...I'll buy me some eye candy at the candy shop! The graphics ARE amazing, very soft and realistic in an anime kind of way.
What was even more amazing was the graphics of the interface (inventory, etc.), it was amazingly user-friendly and I might say, the taste of coloring is state-of-the-art. All thumbs and toes up for the graphical department (especially the dude who chose the coloring).
The Bad
I must admit, I don't think I've played the game long enough to come to a final assessment on this game (10 hours or so still isn't long enough for me to properly asses an RPG...or was it 2 days?).
I played the game until this area called Dragon Village or something. Eventually, I got bored with the game. Why? Because the game lacked 2 major criteria that makes an RPG - a good RPG game:
(you may disagree, but in my experience, story has nothing to do with what makes an RPG a good RPG...eg. DOS First Person RPG games)
- RPG Combat
- Character Development
Graphically, again it's outstanding. The game has little matrix-like moves (there seems to be a lot of that going on) and the real-time yet turn-based strategies seem fun...at first. The thing is, after one too many battles, it gets boring. There doesn't seem to be much reason to fight. I've often faced the same problem with Final Fantasy games, but they managed to find a way to make you want to fight. All the combat is eventually just attack-attack-attack, no matter how great it looks, it again sums back to pressing the X button when it's your turn. When your bored, you can use the AI setting and let the computer fight for you (unless its a boss). You usually win with the AI and often the AI fights better than you. This kinda means there isn't much reason for you to play manually, really...and since combat usually takes more than 2-3 minutes per session, you do get irritated that there are a lot of monsters and you find out you want to avoid entering combat sequences as often as possible.
Well, there isn't any. Leveling up is automatic, so that kinda kills your personal involvement with the characters. Some other RPGs games where automatic leveling up usually have skill or items requirements involved, so you want to level up to try out that new sword or armor. Here, the only requirement is skills but it's not that much of a necessity. I had really high hopes for this game, I was surprised on how shallow the game play eventually became (haven't found any side quests either...quite odd for a console RPG). I still think I'm wrong about the game, but I really don't know since I've RARELY get bored with an RPG game (except slash-and-hack wannabe RPGs).
**The Bottom Line**
I hope this isn't my final assessment for this game...I really hope not. I'll pick up this game again in the near future and see if my perspective changes.
PlayStation 2 · by Indra was here (20755) · 2006
Contributors to this Entry
Critic reviews added by nyccrg, Big John WV, Jeanne, Alsy, Wizo, Alaka.