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The Joy of Playing Grandia, on Sega Saturn

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Re: The Joy of Playing Grandia, on Sega Saturn

#61

Post by deadbabe »

klaussilveira wrote: post #51
throwaway613745 wrote: post #37

I almost always try to play on original hardware on an appropriate display (CRT) whenever I can. The deluge of remasters and remakes we've been getting can be nice - but I find a lot of the time that they can be hit or miss. They often feel like they've lost a lot of the magic created when the developers of the era had to work with the limitations of the hardware of the era. Pixel art on those old CRT's vs pixel art…

Finding a good CRT locally has been pretty difficult. I think everyone is caught on the "this is worth gold now" trend.

It’s not worth gold, a lot of CRTs are dead or dying, the tubes have limited hours. After that, they just become junk. Most have been disposed, so you’re going to struggle to find a local one.

Shipping them is annoying and expensive, no one wants to lug around heavy ass CRTs and larger ones probably have to ship on pallets.

Small CRTs that are easy to carry will get snatched up quickly, but mostly by retro gamers who have no alternative.

The difficulty of finding CRTs is mostly a logistics problem. Not because they are so valuable that people horde them.

Re: The Joy of Playing Grandia, on Sega Saturn

#63

Post by thrownaway85 »

jerf wrote: post #50

I haven't played the first one but I played Grandia II on the Dreamcast and I think it's still my favorite battle system in a JRPG to date. Not only does it have the obvious details you can see on a YouTube playthrough, but higher-end play with it also requires managing positioning, which is easy to miss as an option at all in the menus, or to think it has no purpose. A low-level challenge run would probably be a lot…

Im probably a fool for posting this but this thread and these responses warm my heart. It's good to see so many people were affected by this era of gaming from Sega the same way that I was.

The battle system in the later SMT games, especially after 3 is one of the best turn based systems I've ever played. It was a refinement of FFXs in so many ways. It encouraged you to "break" it as it were.

Then there's games like Grandia 2... And Shenmue. God, I love Shenmue these days. The first one is brilliant in so many ways I didn't recognize when I played it when it came out. Absolutely wonderful game. The track that plays when Ryo and Guizhang fight the Mad Angels at the dock, "Earth and Sea", takes me back. For me, it's the most perfect Christmas game that Sega ever made

Re: The Joy of Playing Grandia, on Sega Saturn

#64

Post by ethagnawl »

klaussilveira wrote: post #51
throwaway613745 wrote: post #37

I almost always try to play on original hardware on an appropriate display (CRT) whenever I can. The deluge of remasters and remakes we've been getting can be nice - but I find a lot of the time that they can be hit or miss. They often feel like they've lost a lot of the magic created when the developers of the era had to work with the limitations of the hardware of the era. Pixel art on those old CRT's vs pixel art…

Finding a good CRT locally has been pretty difficult. I think everyone is caught on the "this is worth gold now" trend.

Where are you located? I've been grabbing them whenever I see them (roadside, e-waste, yard sales, etc.) for years and honestly have too many. Some of them, like my 36" Trinitron, have become an albatross.

Re: The Joy of Playing Grandia, on Sega Saturn

#65

Post by jajuuka »

jerf wrote: post #50

I haven't played the first one but I played Grandia II on the Dreamcast and I think it's still my favorite battle system in a JRPG to date. Not only does it have the obvious details you can see on a YouTube playthrough, but higher-end play with it also requires managing positioning, which is easy to miss as an option at all in the menus, or to think it has no purpose. A low-level challenge run would probably be a lot…

My first experience with Grandia was Grandia II as well but on PS2. I ended up getting the PC version as well, which at the time was fairly novel to see JRPG's on PC. Grandia II is still one of my nostalgic favorites. As you mentioned the typical turn based combat with positioning was a fun addition that could change your combat experience each time. Was like an evolution of the Chrono Trigger combat system.

Re: The Joy of Playing Grandia, on Sega Saturn

#66

Post by Marazan »

jerf wrote: post #50

I haven't played the first one but I played Grandia II on the Dreamcast and I think it's still my favorite battle system in a JRPG to date. Not only does it have the obvious details you can see on a YouTube playthrough, but higher-end play with it also requires managing positioning, which is easy to miss as an option at all in the menus, or to think it has no purpose. A low-level challenge run would probably be a lot…

Grandia II battle system also breaks when you get Teo. An area effect Critical? Basically allows you to completely control every battle even if you haven't invested in a board wiping Uber character.

Re: The Joy of Playing Grandia, on Sega Saturn

#67

Post by ethagnawl »

TavsiE9s wrote: post #23
nottorp wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 10-13 minutes if I remember correctly Mmm played any Kojima games? :)

Nope, MGS was big on Playstation when I was growing up and the whole stealth gameplay does not appeal to me.

I haven't seriously tried playing it again since it came out but it didn't appeal to me either and my friends all thought I'd lost it. I also remember the clerk at Electronics Boutique being gobsmacked when I wanted to return it.

I do generally find stealthiness to be engaging and great fun _as a component of game play_ but as the main draw and, especially, from the jump I just found it to be frustrating and annoying. Maybe I'd feel different these days, though. I'll try it again some day.

Re: The Joy of Playing Grandia, on Sega Saturn

#68

Post by throwaway613745 »

layer8 wrote: post #58
spondyl wrote: post #7

I was just about to go to bed and what a surprise seeing Grandia trending #1 on Hacker News of all places. For myself, Grandia is one of those games that was part of my childhood so despite having flaws, it transcends ratings in a sense. It was the first game I ever got on the first home console I ever had, the PlayStation 1. I would only have been about 9 or 10(?) (31 now) and the intro to the game is burned into my…

Did they ever fix the HD version? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UokSL_j7Ot8

[dead]

Re: The Joy of Playing Grandia, on Sega Saturn

#69

Post by hnlmorg »

wffurr wrote: post #60
zoeysmithe wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shrug, if I blog about the joys of driving down route 66 in a '57 Chevy, I really dont have any obligation to give equal time to what its like in a '57 Packard. Its a Saturn fan site, so its just going to be Saturn-centric.

You could spend a little time singing the praises of your '57 Chevy and what makes it particularly joyful to you.

...which almost always ends in flamewars with people arguing over something that's entirely down to nostalgia and personal preference.

Re: The Joy of Playing Grandia, on Sega Saturn

#70

Post by qingcharles »

triwats wrote: post #39

My sister picked this up from a random supermarket in 1998/1999, and I sank 100s of hours into watching her play it through. She does this thing where she wants to start games over and over again from the start, play them for a bunch of hours, then start it again. The soundtrack and the challenge of beating the game at that age was wonderful. I beat it a few years ago for the first time all the way through again. Rea…

The soundtrack to Grandia lives rent free in my head. I've not heard it in 20 years but I can still play it back.
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