Together Retro: Grandia

[BoneSnapDeez]

Disc 2, baby!!!

Took me almost exactly thirty hours to get to this point.

So either this is truly a 60 hour game, disc 2 is much shorter, or I'm playing at a really slow and leisurely pace. Guess I'll have to wait and see. Whatever the case I feel good now about finishing by the end of the month. My wife is going on a trip this weekend so I think a Grandia-binge is in order.

[BogusMeatFactory]

Disc 2, baby!!!

Took me almost exactly thirty hours to get to this point.

So either this is truly a 60 hour game, disc 2 is much shorter, or I'm playing at a really slow and leisurely pace. Guess I'll have to wait and see. Whatever the case I feel good now about finishing by the end of the month. My wife is going on a trip this weekend so I think a Grandia-binge is in order.

oooohhhh! I am so close too, but not quite to Disc 2 yet!

I just made it to

the pirate island

at the 27 hour mark.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Word up. You have about an hour to go. Maybe less.

[BogusMeatFactory]

Also.....don't read this if you haven't completed the first disc.

I am so sad to see Sue go! She was by far my favorite character and I desperately wanted to see her child-like view of the adventure as we continued. I know that it was a great story element of the stress the adventure has taken on her, as well as a good segue to the romantic relationship between Feena and Justin, but dag nabbit I wanted to hear her say, "EARTHQUAKES ARE SCARY!" one last time!

[Nemoide]

Almost 21 hours in... I just finished Typhoon Tower after wasting a SHAMEFUL amount of time wandering around trying to figure out how to progress.

If anyone's curious here are my party's stats

Justin level 16
Sword - 15
Club - 15
Axe - 13
Fire - 10
Wind - 10
Water - 7
Earth - 5

Sue level 14
Club - 14
Throwing/Ranged - 13
Fire - 1
Wind - 4
Water - 14
Earth - 7

Feena level 16
Knife - 19
Whip - 18
Fire - 10
Water - 5
Earth - 10

Gadwin level 30 (wait he's still here?)
Sword - 22
Fire - 6
Earth - 8

Maybe some audio expert can chime in, but the music in the game sounds really compressed. Listening to the OST an audio CD sounds 100 times better than it does in-game. The same is true for Lunar. Also, the sound effects and voice acting are significantly louder than the music, which can be grating. Hard to get a proper TV volume. Again, I find this to be common for games of this era.

To make a half-educated guess, I assume the game's audio isn't necessarily *compressed* as much as it is just MIDI data being played through the Playstation audio-chip. That would make it more of a chiptune than something like redbook audio. The OST was probably a recording of the same MIDI data played back with higher-quality hardware. MAYBE that's it?

[SpaceBooger]

Also.....don't read this if you haven't completed the first disc.

I am so sad to see Sue go! She was by far my favorite character and I desperately wanted to see her child-like view of the adventure as we continued. I know that it was a great story element of the stress the adventure has taken on her, as well as a good segue to the romantic relationship between Feena and Justin, but dag nabbit I wanted to hear her say, "EARTHQUAKES ARE SCARY!" one last time!

Crap! I cant resist spoilers.
I just finished the Dom Ruins last night, put the game on my PSP so I can play it more often, and am 13 hrs in.
I do have a question for those who read the above spoilers:

With Sue not being around after a while I probably shouldn't waste more mana eggs on her... or is she that important to power up while she is still part of the party?

[BoneSnapDeez]

Boogie,

You can get away with just giving her Water and one other (Earth is good). I also gave her Fire but it never got above level 1.

Make sure you check the stash spot after she leaves. Some of her magic levels can transferred to other characters.

[alienjesus]

I haven't played this since the weekend, I find it difficult to sit down with a TV game int he evenings after work.

I'll dive back into this at the weekend with another marathon session like last week.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Haven't made too much headway into Disc 2. About to enter the Petrified Forest.

Levels for those who are curious (spoiler for new character):

Justin
Level 26
Sword 25
Mace 23
Axe 24
Fire 24
Wind 17
Water 31
Earth 23

Feena
Level 25
Knife 23
Whip 23
Fire 16
Wind 16
Water 25
Earth 16

Rapp
Level 22
Knife 13
Sword 13
Bow 24
Fire 7
Water 5

[Vant3c]

Well I just made it over the wall and now have to track down a party member. I like as I was climbing was the small breaks in between the climb, and the sense of strong caring the characters have between one another. It made all that more impactful once you do get to the top. I just sat there with a smile on face and just loving the game still. The banter in the game is really well written and keeps you engaged throughout the story.

Now here is a question as to which is better and why. I know this also came out on the Sega Saturn in Japan only and people say its the better verison but how so? Does the Saturn version have better textures, no frame rate issues or faster loading times? I am just wondering as to the why if anyone knows.