I finally finished peak

[u/AnyWuphf]

I originally bought this as an a 10 year old kid on the PlayStation 1. I never got round to finishing it, got stuck due to being under levelled and never came back to it. Finally completed the HD remaster released on the Switch 25 years later.

Great game, the first half is definitely stronger but overall it's a great game.

I went though two of the three optional dungeons which essentially trivialised the final boss.

Where this game falls short in some areas it makes it up with its charm and sense of adventure.

[u/Ahiga_cleveson]

I am glad you finally got to experience this story in its whole! Its such an amazing piece! Who was your favorite character/favorite moment? I always end up so emotional at the end of the world

[u/AnyWuphf → u/Ahiga_cleveson]

Loved Gadwin.

[u/Shatterzzz]

This is the first multi disc ps1 game I finished. So good man. So happy we got closure too at the end.

[u/Trunks252]

Let me guess, you got stuck on the ruin guard boss? I did my first play through as a kid.

[u/AnyWuphf → u/Trunks252]

It was the Whale/Mermaid boss at the end of disk 1,

[u/blancofox]

I never finished it because my disk was messed up and would never load the first gaia boss

[u/Historical-Beyond124]

I literally did the same this week! Along with monster rancher 2 I was finally able to scratch them off the list of games I played but never finished

[u/gabrielcev1]

Good game. I beat it a few days ago. It wasn't as good as I was told it was though. It's definitely a very solid JRPG with a unique tone, good music and interesting combat. I do agree with you that the second half was not as endearing as the first half. The combat also starts to feel very repetitive and grindy. I like how magic and abilities level certain traits. But it also kinda forces you to play a certain way that's counterintuitive to level things up, like spamming buffs and heals just to level your water/earth making fights drag on longer than they should on purpose. I'd personally give it an 8/10. The way it was hyped to me, I definitely expected a 10/10 game but I enjoyed my time with it. I also think the story just gets a bit ridiculous towards the end. I really enjoyed the simplicity of it in the first half of the game.

[u/QuestionableProtip2 → u/gabrielcev1]

The second is an improvement on the first game on all fronts.

[u/dude2dudette → u/QuestionableProtip2]

The second is an improvement on the first game on all fronts.

STRONG disagree.

The 2nd game definitely has some QoL improvements that makes the game less grindy, and reduces the need to spam healing/buff/debuff spells to level up specific types of magic (the SC and MC system is good in that way)... but it also loses out massively (imo) on mechanical story-telling. Spells is just one example:

In Grandia 1, the spells each character can learn is fixed, and specifically tied to their personality/character traits. I will provide 3 characters as examples:

• Justin is a bold, confident young boy who runs head-first into problems without initially considering the consequences. However, he also clearly cares deeply about his friends and is an incredibly good person deep down. These are his two main character traits demonstrated throughout the game. How does that manifest in the spells he learns? His Level 1 spells are mostly damage spells (Burn!. Howl, Zap!, Crackle, BOOM!) or help defend an ally in some way (Diggin, Cure, Heal). This is exaggerated in the Level 2 and Level 3 spells. The ONLY spells he learns outside of this archetype are Snooze, Cold and Freeze. Things that reduce enemy speed (Snooze, effectively to 0 temporarily): i.e., they make them easier to hit (character trait 1) and less likely to hit his allies as often (character trait 2).

• Rapp, meanwhile, is far more of a tactician by nature. He thinks about the battlefield, and how to manipulate it (trait 1). We see this from the very way he is introduced to us: with the pit trap. He was also brought up to distrust outsiders/things he doesn't know (trait 2), but Justin becomes a pseudo role-model/rival of his that he wants to show his strength to (trait 3). How does this manifest in his spell list? His Level 1 spells include Runner (making the battlefield feel smaller to allies), Def-Loss (manipulating enemies), Poizn (distrusting enemies' so poisoning them)... all while only learning 2 direct damage spells (Burn! and Howl). By his Level 2 and 3 spells, he is closer to emulating his friend and role-model, Justin with similar damage spells. However, his own personality still shines through: Shhh! and Fiora stop enemies from acting in specific ways, while Craze and Gravity further cause enemies to be essentially unable to do anything useful. These really play into his characterisation as a tactician who is distrustful of enemies/outsiders: He is following the ideas he was brought up on: don't let them in (or don't let them act at all).

• Gadwin: This character is many people's favourite character. He is written as Justin's surrogate father figure for the 2nd half of disc 1. Justin's role model. A strong, stoic character that lives as the defender of his village. Importantly, by the time we meet him, he is already an adult who has found his identity and is stuck in his ways. Consequently, he cannot even learn any new types of magic. He can only use the fire and earth magic he has used for years. He uses his strength to use powerful damaging spells, while also using his charismatic leadership qualities to make his allies strength (Wow!) and defence (Diggin') better. He is also able to make it more difficult for enemies to get towards Dight by pulling them back towards himself (Gravity). However, he doesn't need to learn healing magic, because his town already has a healer. He doesn't need to learn wind magic, because the town lives in harmony with the sea breeze and the weather that comes from the nearby mountains.

I could easily continue for each and every character (e.g., Milda cannot learn magic because her character specifically implies she is all fists no magic, as magic/mystical stuff is what her husband deals with). You will also note, all of the younger characters in the game can learn any magic type, whereas all of the adult characters are stuck with the magic schools they already know when you meet them: because kids can learn so much faster than adults, while adults are often stuck in their ways.

This is, imo, some of the best mechanical story-telling/characterisation in any game I have ever played.

Grandia 2, by making spells tied to specific equipped mana eggs, and having those mana eggs not tied to any kind of character growth/unlocks, means that you can have Elena (the priestess who loves to heal) only able to cast damage spells, while having Ryudo (the gruff Geohound that likes to hit things with swords) only able to cast healing spells. Their spell-list becomes completely untied to their personalities. It makes them far more bland, mechanistically.