Grandia 3

[Ultimate Strategist]

Anyone who picks up Grandia 3 for story, or compares it to Suikoden in anyway will most definately be........disapointed.

The Grandia series has always, yes always, been about the battle system. Grandia's battle system owns Suikoden's twice over. Don't get me wrong, i love Suikoden, that's why I'm here. But it is the truth. I picked up G3 mainly for the amazing battle system, and I am loving the game immensly. Battles are fast paced, spell animation is beautiful, Graphics are lush, customization is deep, all in all fantastic.

If your looking for story oriented/completely driven RPG's, then yes, steer yourselves away from the Grandia series and spend your money elsewhere. I hear Tales of Legendia is good for that.

If you actually like fighting the random encounters in games then Grandia is for you. The Grandia battle system is that fantastic. Grandia's battle system>Shadow Hearts battle system>Suikodens>Every other Rpg.
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["If you are ever fighting a jedi master. Always shoot the padawan first to mess up his concentration..... [/b][/i]

"True peace is impossible. Only an illusion of
peace exists in the superficial calm of our lives.."

[Cedric]

I'll agree with the battle system. It's this particular game's strong suit. Without any strategy, you're going to get dusted very quickly. Most of the time, you have to decide whether or not to cancel normally, cancel with a special attack, or just defend during monsters' charging periods. This decision usually determines life or death in the later battles. Some of the bosses become deadly if you make crucial mistakes. At least items are way cheaper this time compared to Grandia 1. That helps ease the battling.

Sometimes the advice option is dumb and you can actually cancel in some cases where the computer thinks you can't. Of course, you'd have to have one character stall movement by attacking with a combo while the next character cancels.

Then there are times when you should use some low level but all-range type of spells in order to stall the enemy group from attacking. There's really a lot of different ways to approach battle in the game.

But I will disagree with your opinion of the story. The plot is disappointing for a good reason; the past two games actually had a nice story after all. While they use the cliché "save the world against all odds" storyline, the previous two games always managed to put a spin on the storyline to make things surprising. Grandia 2 was especially splendid in its story. I see nothing of the sort in this title, and it really hurts what could have been a very good game. In my opinion, the only thing holding up this game is the battle system. And if you don't like the game's battle system, then all is lost.

It's worth renting at the least.
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[Locke]

Got to disk two, and have lost all motivation to continue. I think I have the story figured out. I don't like when that happens. Though, whats up with the victory music being different on disk two? Thats a new one to me.
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Legendary Locke


3 Time Suikox WWE Fantasy Champion

[Gaspars_apprentice]

Anyone else think the music in Baccula is the most horrifying piece of crap (I'm not even going to call it music) in any game ever, let alone the Grandia series? I really was expecting more from Iwadare, speaking with regards to the OST as a whole...Yeah the main theme is nice, and so are some of the initial town pieces.

But once you hit disk two and the battle music changes, its almost as if the game (as a whole, not just the music) deteriorates into a game that's not even on par with Legend of Dragoon (ok maybe that's a bit harsh but still). For those who haven't played it yet, listen to the masses and don't waste your time with this lackluster game. Rent it at best.

[bbsting120]

Hmm all the comments here have made me think twice about buying this game...I wish it was for rent somewhere near me because at this point I think I'm going to have to pass. : /

[Locke]

Yeah, I rented it twice cause the first rental I didn't get much time to play it. Second rental I had time, the last half or so of disk one was decent. Disk two on the other hand became a strugle. I finished one part just so I could get galactic bang. Then I quit cause I just don't care anymore.

Come Wednesday I'll be playing MLB 06:The Show and I'll lose myself in that till Suikoden V.
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Legendary Locke


3 Time Suikox WWE Fantasy Champion

[AstonishingPanorama]

Grandia III wasn't THAT bad... *ducks an oncoming barrage of tomatoes*

Yup, battle system pwns all games hands-down.
Yup, without strategy, you're well.... screwed. (Cancel vs. Combo)

It shines in terms of battle system, the plot wasn't too bad, the voice acting and music changed with what disc you were on...

If anything, I'd say that Grandia III while no comparison to the intrigue and politics surrounding the Genso Suikoden series... is certainly not enough to ban it from your individual game libraries...

Think of it this way, it'll make for an interesting diversion when your brain is fried from playing Suiko V~

Here's to hoping some of your re-consider your positions on what makes or breaks a purchase... *cheers*
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"I'll fight your war with all my heart, I'll send you back in body parts, I'll crush your will with the truth you stole, I'll say a prayer for your long-lost soul..." -SOAD

[Beethoven4567]

Grandia III to me is a huge dissappointment. The storyline sucks compared to the first two, and the character development is poor. In Grandia II, there was a balance between dungeons and towns, but in G3, i spent 70% of my time in dungeons. To me, the first Grandia is still the best in this series.

I hope next time in G4, they cut all this crap about "Evil God wants to destroy the world" and make a more complex storyline like in the Suikoden series.
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"In war there is no substitute for victory"

[Zelphiel]

[jjrrs]

[Sialeeds]

First I thought it was a mere coinscience but I played several hours disc 2 and then the game started to suck soo much I threw it in the other corner of my room. Pretty pathetic if I recall how great Grandia(1) became when you switched to the second disc..

[Seraphblade]

Grandia 3 was an okay game. It's nothing compared to suikoden though. The story was just one linear plot and the world was very limited to what you can do.