Grandia | REVIEW (Nintendo Switch)

[@PelvicGaming]

* Hi hello. Yes I know it's not "Black History Month" as this was supposed to be posted last Friday. But with all the announcements last week I didn't want it to get swept under the rug! So here it is on a Thursday! Also, don't forget to check out my Patreon; consider supporting me on there! Thank you!!

[@sokumotanaka9271]

Do you think other games deserve love than final fantasy 7? Yes I totally do, there's so many great stories with deep characters and fulfilling worlds that are just as great if not better than ff7 in many aspects; and that's not a dig at ff7 but it's a persona preference, even ff7 has flaws and it can't do things better than every story ever. time and tech lead us to improving off games after game as we continue forward. and it's important to remember the old greats but not diminish new experiences by comparing them to the old for those who do, it's disrespectful to both mediums. In my opinion at least.

[@kohaku059]

every month should be black history month

[@davidrodriguez2631]

Good to have you making content again!

[@anonamatron]

@@kohaku059 Every month should be history month.

[@christianlopez707]

The reason FF7 probably gets so much attention is because of how much promotion there was for the game. It was advertised like crazy while other JRPGs weren't as promoted or advertised as much.

[@shawnje3072]

This^ FF7 got massive marketing from Square, Eidos, and Sony of America. If there was one game that won the market for the Playstation early on it was FF7. It was effectively a mainstream game at the time when role-playing games were NOT mainstream at all (one aspect of this is the copious amount of shitty minigames in it.) All this is reflective of the global market. In Japan, role-playing games were more highly regarded and FF7 did not splash as hard. I feel like most JRPG enthusiasts of the time do not point to FF7 as being the best, though it is certainly important.

[@christianlopez707]

@@shawnje3072 I think Projared added on to that by saying that they kinda hid the fact that it was an RPG. So some people probably didn't know what game they where getting until they bought it.

[@Taikaru]

But it also totally deserves it. Amusingly, it was my first JRPG and I had no idea what they were. I played a demo that came on a PC Gamer CD, that only had the battle system, and bought it just because of that... had no idea there was a massive story, let alone be the first game to make me cry. After that I was hooked, insatiable, and it led to me scraping together the money to experience so many unforgettable JRPGs like Xenogears, Suikoden, Lunar, Grandia, Valkyrie Profile etc.

[@Kalamoona]

LPPTBAVAAEHFLFPVVG was great. A lot of people complain about older games having "bad" voice acting. But often they are the most memorable parts of those games for me.

[@KarasawaL30]

Square-Enix (Squaresoft at the time) had an insanely aggressive marketing campaign in the West during the 90s that really pushed FF7 (as well as their other titles), and it also happened to be a game with a really high budget. I think those two things made it hard for other JRPGs of the time to compete for a player's attention. Grandia is something special.

[@mopeybloke]

There is another side to that. If FF VII hadn't been successful, maybe you wouldn't even have got localisations for some of those games, and they probably would've sold even worse. Just look at the SNES era games for examples.

[@Timeforceletsgo]

I want to say, you've been in my recommendation list forever on youtube. I finally clicked on this and can't stop watching your videos. I love your sense of joy when it comes to jrpgs, and although we do not agree on the same things sometimes I love that, it makes me look at things from a different angle. Keep it up, love love love this channel.

[@Zaurthur]

This is weirdly the best review I've seen for a video game maybe ever. Everything is talked about in concrete and specific terms. Systems are explained by how their mechanics interact and how they compare to other games in the same genre. Subjective parts like the story, music, and characters have emotional reactions backed up by examples. It's perfect. Every other review I've seen of this HD collection has been nothing but gushing about the originals which is not a review.

[@PelvicGaming]

Wow thank you so much! That honestly made my week. I believe I should present the facts then state why the mechanics do or don't work AND why I like them. So that way the people get the facts of the mechanics, and even if my opinion on them is bad maybe it's something that appeals to others. :) I appreciate the kind words!

[@oscarzxn4067]

This is my favorite RPG, it may not be the biggest, more ambitious or with the best story, but it just clicked with me and I loved nearly everything about it, the sense of adventure, the characters are really likable, the battle system is really fun, the colorful graphics and the general vibe it has is very special, also the game manages to be linear without feeling like a bunch of corridors like other RPG's I have played, and I just love the romance of Justin and Feena, one of the best I have seen in any media, just incredibly natural and well developed with some beautiful scenes. There are just a couple of things on the ending I didn't care about and the english dub is not the best if you are one of those people who don't like hearing japanese voices, but overall I adore this game

[@psych_zuki]

When you said “no random encounters” it was like the spongebob pretty patty meme where he sets the sign on the table, except all the customers are me. I am very glad to have gotten a taste of the voice acting as well, this is a game I’m excited to get to playing 😆

[@o0Azure0o]

I hope you enjoy it! Every bit she hit on about the sense of adventure and wonder is there. It truly has a good coming of age story.

[@tanookiplayer]

Love that voice acting segment. Doing that Toad voice must have hurt a lot.

[@PelvicGaming]

Ya know...I say shit in Toad's voice more than I care to admit...

[@Knokalakooh]

You really hit the nail on the head on what makes this game special. It really is one of those JRPG’s that captures that childlike innocence of exploring a vast world and making new friends along the way. The only other JRPG’s I’ve played which capture a similar feeling are Earthbound, skies of Arcadia, and dragon quest 8 & 11.

[@corywashington9580]

I would add the Xenoblade 2 in as well for that sense of childlike adventure.

[@si-level]

huh that's why i like 8 and 11. Haha so its has similiar vibe

[@Venoix]

Welp, looks like you surpassed that 700 likes, so I'm looking forward to the Grandia 2 voice segment. Especially if you cover Millenia's lines. Haha. Grandia holds a special place in my heart. It came into my life at a time when my life was tumultuous, and the sense of adventure and the beautiful music helped to center me and served as an escape from what was happening in my own life at the time. I am glad to hear that you really enjoyed the game, too. Ah, yeah the Gumbo theme was great. It was a refreshing twist to what other games of the 90s were doing. I also really like Mullen's Theme and especially the theme of Luc Village.

[@PelvicGaming]

OH SHIT I DIDNT EVEN NOTICE I PASSED 700 LIKES....SHIT. LOL ALSO YOUR LETS PLAY HELPED ME IN ONE OF THE OPTIONAL DUNGEONS SO THANK YOU ♡♡♡

[@BryanTruong]

Your final line of the review was a great overall summary for my thoughts on Grandia. And I'll tell my wife about the products you recommended!

[@NitramNetwork]

New segment: Pelvic destroys her voice box

[@CrowTRobot]

The queen of RPGs is back! Great review, made me want to check this out.

[@rydenhope3602]

Glad to see this review. I also had the same feeling with grandia, where I loved the characters, music, story, and just overall feeling of youthful adventure. It gave me the same whimsical feeling of a ghibli movie. Great review, and I'm having a blast going through this channel!

[@NataliaNeeSama]

"Earthquakes ARE SCARY!"

[@PelvicGaming]

I HAD THAT BUT I CUT THAT OUT

[@shonwolfbark]

Oml lady I love the voice acting bit this is great. It's sad that you dropping the 10 out of 10 thing but yeah people it uppity about the numbers. This a great review

[@countquackula8539]

FF7 is an amazing game despite what some people say. It get hate because of its popularity. I played both Grandia and FF7 and love them both. The only difference is FF7 sold more hence why its so popular.

[@PelvicGaming]

Oh I wanna be clear. I do NOT hate ff7. Hell haven't played it to hate it.

[@countquackula8539]

@@PelvicGaming Its a great game i just think people nitpick it too much because its so popular. Same with FF7 remake. I actually like the remake as much as the original even though it only covers 10% of the game.

[@TheIndieOcean]

I never finished Grandia but I did enjoy my time with it. Absolutely agree that Final Fantasy 7 disproportionately overshadows other PS1 JRPGs. The big one I have a chip on my shoulder about is Breath of Fire 4, which I think is overall a far better game than FF7.

[@Kenko_4]

Happy New Year! I hope you had a great break and I look forward to what's come on the channel in 2021! Grandia is one of the classics that I really want to play (along with 2) and this review made me want to play it even more. I like the decision to just say "recommended/not recommended", I agree most people don't watch the review and end up not understanding the scoring at the end. Thank you for the great review!

[@Artimes.]

Wow, so if you are enjoying "The adventure" and asthetic appeal of the many varied locations spread across the world in grandia, the colorful cast of characters, etc then I serously point you to SKIES OF ARCADIA!! THIS HAS TO BE YOUR NEXT MAJOR GAME. I am serous when I say you are going to fall in LOVE! with this one.

[@corywashington9580]

I wanna play it so bad, but the price for the game on the dreamcast was expensive last I checked. I missed out when I was a kid and I have wanted to play it for a while. I seriously hope it gets a port to the Switch.

[@StarlinkNova]

As someone who enjoys FF7, I agree that it gets way too much attention compared to other JRPG's on the PS1. It's a great game sure but I enjoyed other RPG's on the system far more. But that's just me. This was a great review to kick off the year!👏 It's been forever since I last played Grandia. Think it's about time for a replay!

[@windmage0168]

I like the artstyle of this game. I'll consider getting this game.

[@heathazegaming8534]

Best combat system I’ve ever played in a JRPG

[@coreyhouse2647]

It's worth it

[@Taikaru]

Do it! Such a wonderful game.

[@ElRichard]

I grew up playing Grandia, and love it! Happy 2021 so far! You crack me up!

[@jmporkbob]

Materia was a really good mechanic for FF7 during its time. Also the cinematics are another thing that FF7 gets high praise for, for being the first to really push video games into feeling like so much more than a video game. That said, I totally agree that there were many other RPGs in that era that were innovative and amazing for it.

[@jonathansoko1085]

What i hated about materia is it took the role in roleplaying and largley allowed you to throw it out the window. I hate any game that allows or has systems that allow characters to all do anything and everything. I feel like its lazy design, and as i said it throws out the role in role playing.

[@jmporkbob]

@@jonathansoko1085 It was a subtle reimagining of the job system, but with more customization. If you don't like your characters to be able to change what they do, then fair enough. But imo it's definitely a valid archetype.

[@mopeybloke]

@@jmporkbob Also the characters cannot do everything all at once, so you still have to choose who has what. I think the tryth of this complaint is actually that the game is too easy so there isn't much of a point paying attention to your set up on most occasions.

[@yubacore3369]

As someone who also recently beat this game, it was nice to hear your thoughts on it as well! Keep up the awesome content

[@amurter19]

There's definitely a negative emotion that occurs in me when someone proclaims FF7 as the best rpg of all time but the amount of RPGs they've played is very few or... Just FF7.

[@thommccarthy1139]

I get this feeling but I've played a ridiculous amount of rpgs and ff7 still just has the most interesting mechanics/world building/music/characters to me.

[@anonamatron]

Well, that's why pop culture sucks. I think FF7 on its own isn't "pop" but it's success has made it pop. Pop culture people (which is like everyone) only know surface level nonsense and don't have a clue about what they're talking about... When you tell them they don't know what they're talking about, they dismiss you instead of trying to learn something about why, which is their biggest flaw. I like FF7 though, but there's a whole lot of other stuff I like too.

[@juanortiz9123]

The voice acting bit was great! Good job Pelvic girl!

[@tommj4365]

Yea funny af... would love to see more of that for many other games

[@Relic_cileR]

You really should play FF VII Pelvic! Awesome review! I’ll be grabbing this on my Switch now thanks to you. Voice acting segment 5 ⭐️!!!

[@janbiela8596]

Great review! I really enjoy the length of your videos. You say everything that's important and add some personal touches without ever dragging on. Also Grandia is exactly the kind of game i need right now. Keep it up :)

[@coreyhouse2647]

A lot of us hadn't heard of any other rpg series back then so a 3d final fantasy of course was a lot of our first PS1 RPGs. There was just so many good PS1 games coming out to budget our allowances on, that a lot of good games were passed by

[@wyrdhunter]

I think the main thing that made FF7 burn itself into everyone's nostalgia was the sudden emotional twist when Aerith was killed. I know that when I played it back in the day that made me sit there and wonder what the hell just happened. The only moment up to that point as emotionally jarring was Chrono suddenly being wiped out of time in ChronoTrigger when I played it on the SNES. That was another WTF! moment.

[@johnlawful2272]

Crisis core: were not done yet

[@Werewulf150]

As someone who’s played FF7, you are not wrong in what you say. I played the other games you mentioned prior to 7 and was like “This is what we fucked over Xenogears for?”. It is a great game but its not amazing compared to its competition. Its praise is most likely due to it being many people’s first JRPG experience(especially for 90s babies like myself) and the fact that at the time, it had the best graphics in the genre.

[@Berthier90]

After an event happened you can return to villages for new dialogues :) btw your Review ist Great thanks for doing it :P Grandia is my Favorite Game of all Times.

[@shadowphantom2]

It does get under my skin to see how much FF7 tends to get the most attention for the ps1 era of jrpgs, and jrpgs as a whole now, but thankfully it doesn’t seem to be choking out everything. It has been nice to see Square spending this generation porting over some of their rarer rpgs to current gen consoles and PC. Romancing Saga 1 - 3, Trials of Mana, and now Legend of Mana along with Saga Frontier.

[@MrTacticalApproach]

Me and my brother had a Megadrive, Snes, 3do yet my first ever Jrpg experience was ff7. Blame it on my dad because he was the one buying the games when we were young lol I guess for a lot of people it is also their first rpg ever. I guess that is why it is such a beloved game. I do agree with you though that Suikoden, Xenogears etc also deserve that. I hope you could get to play ff7 someday.

[@RJSnax]

I’m so happy to see you back. Also I think you just sold me on this game. Also also, your toad impression is spot on lmao

[@Gangerworld]

Playstation 1 had an embarrassment of riches when it came to JRPGs. So many brilliant gems. Final Fantasy 7 was one of them - it's an excellent game (that's been kind of despoiled by SquareEnix and Nomura's obsession with milking it to death) worthy of its praise, but yeah other JRPGs from that era have been overlooked which is a shame. Being a jrpg gamer back in the PS1 days was hella fun.

[@Gangerworld]

Of course, Grandia was a Sega Saturn game but I played it on the original PS1 when that got its port. Same era so the point is the same.

[@MrGrimlocksmash]

Can’t wait for this review! I only played psx grandia for twenty mins and they failed to hook me (my fault). When they announced the switch port, I was so ecstatic.

[@HybridAngelZero]

Absolutely adore Grandia! I'm so happy that you covered this. And yes, I also quote these lines fairly often... It'sa... TOUR NAY DOH!

[@6lu5ky86]

Played this way back in 98, still a favorite.

[@SotNist]

The thing with "overrated" games isn't really that they're bad... they usually deserve to be well regarded. It's just that so many other great games never got much love. That can be annoying.

[@Taikaru]

Agreed! I posted the same thought without realized it had already been expressed. Always happy to see games like Grandia and Xenogears getting more love.

[@Werewulf150]

We lost out on a complete Xenogears due to FF7 as well, so some of us are bewildered as to why Square would cannibalize like that,lol

[@NovaEX777]

My absolute favorite game of all time. Always like seeing Grandia getting some love. Also the voice acting bits were hilarious 🤣

[@ivanvargas2425]

Perfect timing. I just recently got my switch copy. Your my go to for rpg reviews

[@PelvicGaming]

Thank you so much!!!

[@MrMustardfinger]

Really missed your videos good to see you back. These games are right up my street but great to see them reviewed so well as they are usually a big time sink so need to make sure they are the right choice

[@NovaWolf01]

That deck swabbing theme is on my favorites playlist. Also welcome back!

[@chadgarrett6947]

I always liked Final Fantasy 6 better than 7 myself. I also enjoyed Grandia more. But I give FF7 it's credit for pulling more people into the Jrpg genre and making it much bigger in the west to the day.

[@sarahpod]

How did I just learn about your channel today?? Amazing, and entertaining reviews! Thanks, and you've definitely earned yourself a subscriber!

[@PelvicGaming]

Wow!! Thank you so much!!

[@sigcane8548]

I have no intention of replaying it, but I remember it as the best jrpg of the ps1 era. It was leagues beyond everything else. Great review and more voice acting segments pls.

[@eal21]

If you think Sue had fun battle phrases, wait til you hear some of Millenia’s.

[@corywashington9580]

Millenia's battle lines still play in my head years after lol!

[@decusq]

"Does Final Fantasy 7 get too much attention?" *Looks over to see there are now 9 games about Final Fantasy 7 now and more to come* "I'd have to agree"

[@jonathansoko1085]

As a kid i hated ff7 because it wasnt midevil DnD type of vibes. I dont hate it now but its still not a highlight of gaming to me.

[@Artimes.]

@@jonathansoko1085 Translation was pretty incoherent at times, characters such as yuffie and vincent added little to story when they were major characters in the world, especially Vincent. The story had quite a few loop holes specifically stuff dealing with the war of wutai and midgar which was an internal conflict that should have been explored more. The backstory behind zack and first soldier sephiroth. The remake aims to change most of these things and give it a more polished experience in terms of writing but with the episodic nature of the remake project, it will be some time before we are able to experience it all in its entirety. As a result though the story it self was some what confusing and many of the characters lacked alot of personality compared to many other rpg casts that I have seen. FF IX for example probably is the more "complete" and polished FF game of the series in regards to the points I made. The whimsical and often more spirited fused anime arch types I prefer more because they always bring so much energy to their characters but thats just a personal opinion over what I prefer as character archtypes. Also this may be a preference thing but Personally I prefer a more eastern fantasy setting in my rpgs. Its just far more colorful and you get this wide variation of locales, cultural phisophies and abstract designs explored that FF VII really has not tackled, at least not on the same level as like Legend of Dragoon, Skies of Arcadia or Grandia or even my fav of the genre, FF IX.

[@danielostrowski856]

@@Artimes. I love FFIX but I don’t know that I would say it is particularly ‘complete’, in the sense that after Disc 1 loads of subplots about Burmecia are just dropped. Freya’s arc ends the moment it starts and it really bothered me when I played it, since I was always expecting Fratley to show up again and actually do something, but he never did

[@corywashington9580]

@@danielostrowski856 I completely agree. I honestly never understood the hype behind mainline FF games outside of maybe FF6. Grandia had a better combat system and art direction, in my opinion, compared to many of the Playstation FF games. Choosing 2d sprites in a 3d environment looks great even today. Playstation FF games look much worse outside of their cutscenes (which are admittedly beautiful). It always felt like I was playing on a 2d painting with 3d characters and it made it very visually confusing even for gameplay. Like what can I interact with and what is just a jpeg. I dunno it just seems like Legend of legia and Grandia deserves a lot more attention. FF 7 seems to be many people's gateway into JRPGS and was heavily marketed in the west at the time. However, as someone who started with other jrpg franchises I never shared the same adoration for the final fantasy franchise (outside of spinoffs like Dissidia).

[@rogerioandrade9409]

Thanks a lot for this review, PelvicGaming. I am so glad that this game got an update. Back in the late 90's, there was a lot of hype about this game and everyone on the magazines and internet praised Grandia. I never was able to get a copy and my curiosity never ceased during all these years. Now I am definetely getting this, and after this review, I am sure I will enjoy it a lot.

[@JMrealgamer]

Nice in depth review. I’ve downloaded this already. Definitely looking forward to it. FFVII is good but it like all other RPG’s would be nothing without Dragon Quest.

[@jeffii9890]

A+ for the video A++ for the new segment A++++++++++++++ for new segment's name 🙌🏿

[@mitsuruhype]

Okay so like... I very much agree with the idea that a TON of games get overshadowed by FF7 when it comes to PS1 JRPGs. As you said, it's not a bad game, by any means, but so many RPGs on the PS1 get thrown to the wayside because they're not FF7 and I do think that Grandia was one of them.

[@eggroll20xd6]

Please bring back the voice acting segment! Grandia 2 has some great lines! Also, I loved your takes on the lines.

[@thegamedimension2605]

What an official roaring start to 2021 recordings from you! I am so so happy you reviewed this game, you really hit the nail on the head about everything with Grandia, could not have put it better myself. This game deserves a ton of praise and so much more attention and I hope being on the switch gives it a ton more love. Fantastic review! (Also for the love of god I hope the voice acting segment returns that was so much fun)

[@danielostrowski856]

I fully approve of getting rid of scores because people do get very fixated on them to an unhelpful degree, and I just don’t feel like they’re very helpful, especially since people get mad at things being given scores like 7/10 since they’re too low

[@Weighty68]

Yeah scores are completely arbitrary. They only serve to validate feelings and distill an entire video’s worth of opinions into a single number helping no one all that much. Glad to see other people are beginning to let the videos speak for themselves rather than a number.

[@IFinishedAVideoGame]

Literally have this game on switch from Limited run waiting to be played! Maybe this is the boost I need to finally play it! It looks absolutely fantastic!

[@peterherring9]

Great review! I adored Grandia II back in the day, so I've always been curious about the first game. Your video has given me the push I needed!

[@CosmicChris]

Good review. But oh my god, I'm crying at the Voice bit. The Toad voice. You should do a segment where you do those attack voice overs, but as Toad. Or just do it for some of your favorite attacks in general.

[@swagikuro]

Thanks for the review. 35 year old gamer and coping with the fact that I no longer have the physical ability to play online games at a high level. So I'm returning to my roots and planning to play all the acclaimed classic jrpgs that I missed. And that is many because I really only have experience with square jrpgs - but jrpgs is where it all began for me.

[@kenking2536]

You put a lot of work into your reviews and videos, real talk you have quality content.

[@ronsilk6212]

Another amazing review. You are so detailed and on point with everything. Thank you so much for making my day. Now im going to finally go play Grandia on my Switch.

[@expsharevideogames]

Part of why FF7 gets so much praise and kudos is because it literally singlehandedly changed the status of RPGS in the US. Not only that, it put the final nail in the coffin of the Sega Saturn by instantly pushing the Playstation over the sales number of the Saturn in Japan. Up until that point the Saturn was actually outselling the Playstation in Japan. It's one of those games, like Mario 64, where it REALLY did change everything for its respective genre. Before FF7 rpgs were a very obscure niche market in the United States. FF7 made RPGs mainstream. Without it we wouldn't have had anywhere near the number of RPGs we had in the USA during the PS1 and PS2 generations and possibly not in later generations either.

[@Carbabydoll]

So glad you are back to review girl💗

[@MrGrimlocksmash]

Gawwwddddd the tactics vibes from this game though ❤️. Love the content. Sorry to comment spam. Your reviews are so enjoyable and I’m glad I found your channel. Stay safe! I eagerly await more uploads.

[@marcuslima745]

I like how I can like this twice (s/o fg accounts)! Cuz that's exactly how I felt about this video and this game! Yup. Sometimes FF7 steals everybody's thunder. When think that in the same short span of time we had Suikoden, Wild Arms, Grandia, Alundra, Breath of Fire 3, Final Fantasy Tactics etc. FF7 is a great game, the advent of 3D RPGs to the world, the one you gathered your friends to watch the CGI and summons. But to me there were games just as if not more magical! (Plus 6, 9 and tactics are better, don't @ me, world!) Wonderful review as always m'lady, and just as charming as Grandia was! Much love, bby!

[@davidrv2098]

Welcome back lady! I loved this game on its original PlayStation when I was a kid. Even though I'm not a native English speaker, I kept playing this game ignoring all the story, just for the battles and the graphics. Take care!

[@altalksgaminglive6870]

Nice review - this was a Limited Run game I passed on but I was like, "should I shouldn't I?" I didn't but now I am having slight regret for not picking up. I like the idea of having customizable spells for characters and knowing that experience is saved as an item puts my qualms about a rotating party at ease. I'm big on the Lunar games and this was always recommended and now I can see why. I also haven't played Final Fantasy 7 but I feel that about the JRPG love too especially because Lunar: Silver Star Story has that spot for me, personally. I like your new recommend or not format as well, I've always hesitated to do reviews in part because I think people will just skip to the number and miss the why but that's a great way to keep people engaged.

[@damikki]

Great review and fantastic tee-shirt 😁 thank you. Happy new year and welcome back

[@normalguycap]

Grandia and Legend of Dragoon are the single most influential games to my growth besides Megaman. This was a thrill to see pop up in my subscriptions. The music and the writing were incredible.

[@hard4games]

The voice acting segment was amazing! My one thought on the voice acting... I was mostly okay with the character's voices...except for Justin's. I don't know why, I just hated it. Didn't ruin the game though, was just laughable for me.

[@stephens9772]

Great review, you had me thinking I should give it a try again until the voice acting lol

[@jiznoof]

Welcome back from your break. Thanks for another great video and I gotta say your voice acting skills are awesome. Hope to see more content from ya soon 🙂

[@LeCoffreDuGeek]

ooooh !!! this brings back memories ! I LOVED this game back then, to honest: I jsut bought it back a couple of days ago and wanted to make my own review about it ! :) Thanks for your superb review, it motivated me to dive back into the adventure. Though I rather play the original with the pixelated art rather than the "smoothed" remastered version. It's just a personal taste. Havea a good day !

[@CruxisAngel7]

I think the same could be said for many JRPGs that fell under the radar back then because FF7 stole the spotlight and ruined the rest of the PS generation for future JRPGs. Grandia sadly being one of them, which is a shame because it's a fantastic adventure from start to finish. When I first played it, I honestly felt like I was playing a Ghibli film like Laputa (which I swear was the inspiration for Grandia XD) and that film was my favorite Ghibli film out of all the ones they've made. =3 But I think like some people had said, I agree that FF7 is a little overrated nowadays, especially when they are other FF games in the series that deserves so much more attention and some freaking new remakes. (Give us a FF9 and FF6 remake SE, you cowards!) While I did love FF7 as a child, and for the time era it came out, it was indeed a fantastic game. However I am not the biggest fan of the expanded FF7 universe, because I feel like Square are just trying to milk that game for all its worth and they ignore the other FF games in the series that deserves a return for new generations of gamers to enjoy. So needless to say, my love for FF7 has dwindled quite a bit with every new FF7 game they make. Because it feels like they're just making new lore up just to justify them milking their precious cash cow dry. Anyway, rant aside, I love Grandia, sure the voice acting was...interesting to say the least. XD But people have to remember the era this game came out in, this was a time when voice acting in video games was still brand new frontier territory for international releases so naturally back then voice actors weren't nearly as plentiful as the amazing voice actors we have now. This was still a brand new thing so when it came to getting English voice acting, they had to make do with what they had within their budget. XD Would have been pretty cool if Gung Ho took the time to redub the game with new voice actors. But then again, this game is like a time capsule of much more simple time and when the PS1 truly had plethora of JRPGs that were really good for their time but sadly never got their due because of FF7 and ever since then people are always comparing them to FF7 and that's tragic in a way, because they always expecting FF7 quality when these JRPGS are just trying to do their own thing and not be like Final Fantasy 7 to stand out. This is why games like Bravely Default and Octopath Traveler have grown in popularity and games like Grandia, the Lunar series, Xenogears and the Mana series are looked back with more fondness. And I think slowly SE are realizing that people want more of that. Which is why we're getting the Legend of Mana and the Saga series released on the Switch. Oh and of course Triangle Strategy which I am super excited for! =3

[@Taikaru]

I just love Grandia!!! It really did fill me with a sense of "adventure" (cough) unlike any other game. It felt like being immersed in a much-expanded Ghibli world like Laputa or Nausicaa. In my book, FF7 definitely deserves the praise it gets (although the expanded universe is questionable). The other games just deserve a to be talked about a lot more too. Especially Xenogears, the most epic story ever attempted.

[@Taikaru]

I also love how there is a special victory theme for winning without taking damage. Got that one on my phone, along with "Deck Swabbing" and "The Three Young Women." Grandia's music is just amazing. But more especially from a design perspective, I really love the concept of certain tracks kicking in only when special conditions have been fulfilled... would be great to see more of that.

[@femtrooper]

Great video!!! This has me even more excited to play Grandia this year!

[@maximusvega4863]

Hello just watched your review an hour ago and loved it! I also subscribed recently and have been catching up on your videos! I’m so happy that I found another JRPG channel to watch and I wished more people talked about them! Also I agree Grandia is fire but I still need to finish it!

[@EdreesesPieces]

Fantastic review! Really glad you enjoyed the game so much. Definitely one of the great classic jrpgs everyone should experience. Also welcome back from the break!! However, I can't deal with those smooth sprites on the switch version... I'll always play the original version. Up to personal preference though.

[@MoonSpiritChannel]

I do love the voice acting segment. Really highlights VO acting from the era that wasn't quite up to snuff for its time. Hope you didn't paralyze your vocal chords so much.

[@animeator]

Absolutely agree that this is overlooked. I first played it when it was relatively new. Like 2001-2002 somewhere... I don't remember exactly because it was 20 years ago. My sibling bought it and, being a good big bro, I had my own save file too. So good. They beat it before me of course.

[@rmckee78]

Great video. The mic fake out made me lol.

[@KidBarista88]

Always happy to see your videos! Missed you!

[@Mojoanimeo]

Yay!! I am so glad you loved Grandia. It is one of my all time faves. Also one of the few games that uses the trope of "adventurer" in a way that feels nostalgic and wonderful. Its very close to being like my #1 Lunar SSSC. Tropes are there for a reason and when a game gets it right it can be so damn wonderful *chefs keese*

[@Mojoanimeo]

Also about your FFVII question. It absolutely overshadows other amazing games that were just as good if not better. Although growing up when it was released I do know why. It was the first huge cinematic game. With tons of cutscenes and production value. When it released it was STUNNING. No game matched it. Because of that I believe it stuck in peoples minds. I still absolutely love it. But I wish others got just as much love, such as my fave Lunar or any of these beauties: Legend of Legaia, Suikoden, Grandia (duh), Legend of Dragoon, Thousand Arms, Koudelka (Shadow Hearts), and oh so much more.

[@alexanderwinfield2467]

Harroo! Thanks for the review. I agree with you about FF7. It is quite a good RPG, and worth a playthrough, but I played it and this game at around the same time, and found Grandia incredibly more appealing. The characters, the gameplay, even the story (Grandia tells a pretty traditional tale but tells it very well), all stand out to me. In fact FF7 is pretty low on my list of PS1 RPGs...Xenogears, Chrono Cross, Persona 2, Valkyrie Profile, Legend of Mana...all just had more personality, in my humble opinion. I even think Grandia LOOKS better compared to FF7, and its sprite animation has definitely stood the test time. FF7 looks like a minecraft rip-off now, though I get it was amazing in the day.

[@watchergirl9]

Wasn't wise to have my headset still on when you did the voice acting. Thanks for the video.

[@Densetsu13]

Hay gurl hayyy, welcome back! 🙋🏾‍♂️ This review was so on point. A classic fave of mine and I got about 1/3 through the Switch remaster before getting distracted by FF7R and then Trails of Cold Steel IV... But your review gave me the urge to get back to it! What I love about your work is the attention to detail and fun hot takes, like the differences between the Saturn version vs Switch and your impressions of the characters' battle lines respectively in this review. Even the beach sketch for Suikoden 4 speaks to your level of creativity! All this to say, you've got a new Patreon supporter. I've been following you for a while now and it's about time. 🙂 P.S. Don't stop keeping Shadow in line and putting him in his place over on the podcast. 😎

[@MsBrendalina]

This was an amazing review of my favorite RPG. You just earned a subscriber! That voice acting bit was fantastic! 😂

[@michaelmirrorcle9779]

GameArts is one of the greatest and most underrated JRPG developers. Voice acting back in the day was Cheese and Corn. Grandia is so good. Grandia 2 is pretty amazing too. While I do love and adore FF7, there's a lot of games that get overshadowed by it and takes up so much space in this genre.

[@PieInTheSky9]

10:13 As Kenneth would say

[@fvakarian]

Another great video, Lady P. I have never played Grandia, although I've been planning to do so for a very, very long time. Your review is a very strong argument to get me to do so. Regarding FFVII (Which is my favorite JRPG and my favorite game), I do agree that maybe it gets a little too much attention, but I also think that it's quite easy to understand why. At least when it comes to RPGs, FFVII was the first time that a kind of balance was struck so well between "Stupid, crazy, fun anime shit" and "Characters that for the most part have motivations and backstories which are a bit darker and more mature than we were accustomed to". Also, the mixture between cyberpunk, fantasy, spiritualism/environmentalism and cosmic horror is still to this day something that wasn't quite replicated or surpassed. ALSO, the soundtrack is absolute pure fire. It's a game that's easy to like IF you're into what it is putting out, IMHO. Yeah, I know it's a tad "ugly" for modern standards ( I like how it looks, though!) and that sprite-based games like Grandia and Xenogears will forever be more beautiful, but... such is the plight of early 3D in-game models in the eyes of most people. Anyway, it's totally fine not to like it. I don't like a lot of popular games too! No biggie. Keep up the good work!

[@Lukamusic81]

Suikoden 2, Legend of Dragoon, Final Fantasy 9, Breath of Fire 4, Grandia are all just as good if not better than FF7 but FF7 is the big commercial hit that got the most attention out of any RPG...

[@Kgoku4]

Nice job on the video. Wish you the best with the growth of your channel moving forward. For your question about FF7 and other RPG games from the PS1 era, there are absolutely alot of other PS1 generation RPGs that deserve much more love than FF7. Speaking as a person who grew up where these games were new, FF7 was honestly only just above average.... its hype was mostly about the advancements in CGI graphics at the time. I don't even think FF7 was the best PS1 generation Final fantasy game, let alone bet of the generation like some make it out to be. Suikoden 2 is an excellent example (I just glanced in your history and saw your review, which Ill probably watch. Honestly, Suikoden 2 is probably the best RPG on the Playstation in my estimation, and its certainly in my top 5 of all time. Although there are a lot of other greats, such as Breath of fire 3 and 4, Xenogears, Vagrant story, Wild Arms 2, Parasite Eve, and Crono cross to name a few.

[@jaygoet]

Man this reminded me I really need to finish Grandia, also I LOVE your mighty mite Link shirt

[@PelvicGaming]

It's such a fun journey! Also thank you!!

[@MJ4LGBTQ]

Grandia 2 next? One of my faves o Dreamcast 😊

[@Feelin_DanDy]

I lost it at the VA part XDDD Also check out Grandia 2, it's also pretty great!

[@omensoffate]

It’s better

[@Tanzu_87]

Well about lvl healing u mentioned. There is actually a way to lvl ur healing fast. Througout the game there is couple enviroment traps that dmg ur party members just heal ur party and then go rest to save points that are nearby and voila u have gained exp. Spam that method for a while and u have now lvled ur heal.

[@sachatherpg-booksguy8269]

Did you think to do the Lunar games one day ? I say that because game art, one of the studio who works on grandia, game art, work on those games.