Sleeper of the Week: The Granstream Saga (PSX)

[maxlords]

Today we’re looking at one of the most ignored action/RPGs for the PSX, The Granstream Saga. A surprisingly fun combination of hack and slash action and classic RPG, The Granstream Saga was roundly ignored when it was released. Maybe it’s because it game out about the same time as really excellent RPGs like Grandia and several others. Or maybe it’s just because there was little to no advertising for it and no one knew what it was at all. Either way, it’s not a game that many bothered to play or went out of their way to find.

The action in Granstream Saga is surprisingly advanced for the game’s age. The dungeons are all 3rd person and almost top down. You view the game from a fairly steep angle, and many of the enemies are surprisingly fast. If you sneak up on an enemy, you get a free shot at em when combat starts, but be careful because they get the same! To attack, you use regular attack buttons, but fighting game style combos are also available and quite powerful. It pays to learn them! You can even sidestep, similar to strafing in an FPS, a handy move to jump out of the way at the last second.

For story, The Granstream Saga has a tightly woven and fairly engrossing plot. Your goal is to stop the floating continents of your world from sinking out of the sky. To do so, you must talk and fight your way through five sections of the game. When I played through it, I beat the game in about a day and a half of moderate to heavy play, so it’s just long enough to get a decent run out of, but not painfully long like many modern RPGs.

The graphics are showing their age these days and are nothing special, but overall, the experience of the game is surprisingly fun. Ok, fine, the graphics are starting to feel painful these days, and the control is a bit rough. The plot isn’t deep, and it’s not full of big shocking surprises, but it’s at least solid and fun. The cool thing is that you really don’t have to dedicate much time to this one….it can be blazed through in a matter of a handful of hours….maybe a week of light play. And regardless of whether it’s a bit clunkier than you might expect, if given a fair shake, it’s surprisingly fun. It’s definitely not on the same level as Grandia or Alundra, but it’s better than you might expect.

For those of you looking for a bit of a break from the standard RPG, something that’s not too heavily involving and has a decent story, The Granstream Saga may surprise you. Oh yeah, and if even has two distinct endings, both easily reached. I bought my copy when the game came out for around $30-40 and I got my money’s worth out of it. Today, mint complete copies sell for under $5 on eBay. It’s a low demand game that pretty much everyone ignores, but it’s definitely fun to try out!

[slip81]

Cool pick this week. I orginally played this one when it came out, but never actually finished it because it was a rental.

I remember liking it, but not enough to buy it when it was new. I never knew it was so cheap now though. I'll have to pick this one up and play through it after I whiddle down my current "to play" list.

[NeoZeedeater]

I thought it was funny that they chose to put the naked ass part in the demo to try and sell it. The game seemed decent but I didn't like it enough to buy it.

[Drexel923]

I bought it when it came out and enjoyed it. It's not on the same level as some other PS RPGs, but it's still good enough to own.

[mark1bdi]

just bought a copy of this for £3. Haven't tried it yet, but will give it a whirl tonight....

[SoulBlazer]

Good pick. I got the game for $10 a few years ago and enjoyed it. Yes, it's not a GREAT game, but it does the core things well enough that it's worth a playthrough.

The anime scenes in the game are quite good, the humor in the game is decent, and some of the battles are actually a challenge.

Some great lines from the game also.

[Kid Fenris]

All things considered, Granstream is average. The visuals are bland, the story is trite, and even the somewhat enjoyable combat system gets old after a few hours. It's disappointing when you consider that the game had some former Quintet and Falcom members involved in its creation.

Granstream is, however, notable for reasons that don't really matter. Though the story's cliche most of the time, the ending makes a suprisingly dark (and strangely fun) turn. The animated sequences are nice to look at, too. I guess it's worth picking up for five bucks, and perhaps ten if you want a short, occasionally interesting action-RPG.

It's also the last game I can find that featured Tomoyoshi Miyazaki, who co-wrote Granstream's scenario. As Vice President of Quintet, he worked on most of their 16-bit games and directed their best, Terranigma/Tenchi Sozo. After his somewhat minor contribution to Granstream, he just dropped out of sight. Strange

I thought it was funny that they chose to put the naked ass part in the demo to try and sell it.

TH*Q also changed a female character's costume for Granstream's cover and print advertising. The original art and initial magazine spots showed the blue-haired Laramee (cigarettes?) in her modest in-game outfit, but the later ads and box art depicted her with less . . . practical attire.

[Richter Belmount]

^
What I would give to see those guys back at work on a terranigma 2.

[Dahne]

Pretty fun game. The battle system's nice. It's a little freaky that the people DON'T HAVE EYES.

[josekortez]

Bought for $1 yesterday. Will try today.

[hezeuschrist]

I originally had this striked off of my "to get" PSOne RPG's, but maybe I'll stick it back on there. I'm sure it can be had for fairly cheap.

[roushimsx]

I loved the demo when I played it but found the full game to be really ho hum average when I finally got around to playing it. It wasn't as bad as Legend of Legaia, at least.

Still, nice writeup and a good pick. Brought back some nostalgic memories of firing up that demo and playing the fuck out of it.

[EricRyan34]

This really has nothing to do with the game I guess, but it just reminded me how much I love Pthe PS1 and its games. The graphics, the games, EVERYTHING. They remind me of when I was a teen and saving up every penny I got for a new Playstation game. woohoo!