SingingSaddenedSwan wrote:
Grandia 1. was a big fan of Grandia 2...and good grief there is so much reading in Grandia 1, good thing that the characters are funny, as it's definitely a game more about the reading than the combat so far (4 hours in), Grandia 2 seems to have gone the opposite philosophy.
How interesting! I played them in the opposite order (ie. I played Grandia at release) and the original is one of my favourite JRPGs (and easily Game Arts' best game), whereas 2 was a massive disappointment that lacked the original's charm and substance. This is in spite of the hideous graphics and bad voiceovers.
I need to replay it some time, I have it on my Vita and more recently played through Grandia 2, when its (new) PC port was released.
I've been playing Trails in the Sky FC. I was playing The 3rd but I feel pretty apathetic about it compared to the first two, so I figure if I replay the whole trilogy the momentum alone should push me through The 3rd. That's how gaming physics work, right?! These games actually remind me a lot of Grandia, in that they have an incredible amount of charm and a well-judged mix of industrial revolution and magical themes... and they both start off as small, character-focused stories and become much more epic. It feels like a lot of JRPGs now forget the importance of character progression being mirrored by the plot.