So I just beat Grandia after playing it for awhile. I was raving about how awesome this classic RPG was awhile back in this thread. And for the most part, it is highly enjoyable. But it definitely tapers off near the end and it makes it a real chore to finish the game.
See, for most of the game the motivations of the main characters are clear. There is a huge sense of adventure in the game, despite its 2D point-and-click world map, and the promise of new frontiers to explore beyond the horizon is the main theme that drives the game. But once you reach the intended destination that you were trying to get to for the entire game, you go "okay? What now, then?". Well, the answer to "what now?" is that the game descends into an incredibly cliched "save the world against a dark and imposing evil" plot. It is really thrown at you, it is literally almost like "Okay, and now you have to save the world by the way".
The final series of dungeons is rediculously bland and uninteresting compared to the vibrant places you explore throughout the course of the game, and it makes it worse that once you pass a certain point you can no longer visit the towns on the continent. Which is, I might add, a feature that I absolutely despise in RPG's. It makes it feel so incredibly sloppy, and evident that they ran out of room on the disc so made it impossible for you to visit the towns anymore. Lame.
The game starts off mind-numbingly slow, then picks up so much that you can't bear to put it down, and then grinds to a screeching halt near the end of the game. I would give it an 8/10. And that is being nice. If only it kept up the pace straight until the end, it maybe would have been one of the best RPG's I've ever played.
Well...what now? Maybe I'll shell out some hard earned cash and buy an X-BOX and Star Ocean 4. That is sure to be the good RPG that I so desperately want...right? I think the Chrono series has spoiled me in the RPG department.
