Grandia III Feb. 14th official

[keiblerfan69]

From Gamespot.com

Grandia goes online in Japan as Square Enix preps Grandia III for in North American Valentine's Day launch.

It's a good-news day for fans of Square Enix's Grandia series, regardless of which hemisphere they call home. The role-playing series, which debuted in the late 1990s, is getting an all-new edition in Japan and a localized version of the latest in the series in North America.

Game Arts is currently making Grandia Online, and it's been scheduled for launch within the year. In an interview with Japanese site 4Gamer, Gungho Online Entertainment president Morishita Kazuki revealed that the PC massively multiplayer online role-playing game is scheduled for release before the Tokyo Game Show 2006, meaning that gamers in Japan will be able to play it before September 22. Morishita hopes to launch Grandia Online simultaneously with Gungho's new portal site "Gungho Mode" for maximum synergy. Because of scheduling conflicts, however, he admits it may be difficult.

Gungho Online Entertainment became the second major shareholder of Game Arts in May 2004 when it acquired 11.9 percent of the company's stock. Last November, it purchased additional shares of Game Arts and raised its stake to 51 percent, turning the studio into a consolidated subsidiary.

Grandia III
Watch Yuki and Alfina in the latest trailer for Grandia III
Watch | Download

Though the aforementioned bit of info bodes well for Japanese gamers, American Grandia fans weren't left empty-handed. Square Enix, who took over Grandia's North American publishing duties from Ubisoft, today confirmed that a localized version of Grandia III for the PlayStation 2 will be in stores on February 14.

Grandia III, which was previously released in Japan, follows Yuki, a young boy who longs to become a famous pilot. His path crosses that of Alfina, a special girl who can talk to the world's mystical protectors. Together, they will stand up against Alfina's once righteous brother, who has been filled with hatred and plans to destroy the world.

Grandia III is rated T for Teen and will cost $49.99. For more information on the game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

By Staff

[hezeuschrist]

Ouch, my wallet

[drewbrim]

Can't wait! I loved II and Xtreme.

[sabre2922]

2 was great on Dreamcast but I havent played extreme yet was kinda put off by a few reviews.

Grandia 3 will be yet another in a looooong line of RPGS that I have yet to pick up for my PS2 including DQ8, Shadow Hearts 2 @ 3, and the upcoming Phantasy Star Universe and FF12.

[keiblerfan69]

Yeah I just started Grandia II today. Gonna try to beat it before this game comes out.

[segagamer4life]

yeah I am getting this..... can't wait to add it to my collection

[Nez]

I love one and 2 xtreem I never played wasn't supposed to be all that great so I didn't bother. Here hoping 3 will be even greater then the first 2.

[kainemaxwell]

Great V-Day gift to gamers!

[PDorr3]

I have been reading up on this and think I might buy it. I loved G2's battle system, however I didnt like the bland dungeons and towns much. I played the PS2 version (not xtreme) so it wasnt as pure as the DC original.

3 looks to have vastly improved environments, and an even deeper battle system. Im looking forward to it.

[evil_genius]

Grandia 2 is one of the few RPG's I liked enough to actually finish.

[InsaneDavid]

I'm not dropping any of my money until I read a review from someone who loved the original Grandia. (my all time favorite RPG) Grandia II was a huge dissapointment compared to the original as first it was WAY too easy compared to the original, the battle and weapon experence system was simplified far too much, the ending stank, oh.. and they completely thew out the whole world / plotline / story created in the original. I could have forgiven that last part if the story wasn't so ho-hum and the ending so horribly bland.

[PDorr3]

Anyone else get this yet? I picked it up yesterday and so far I am loving it. 5 hours in and I must say the characters are all interesting. Most notable are the battles though. They are even better than grandia II's thanks to the new aeriel combo system, which works very very well. I love the environments, battles, and the characters are likeable. I havent gotten far enough to get into the new mana egg fusions yet though.

[Eternal Tune]

I've had it since the day it came out, since I wanted that damned pre-order compass. In the end I ended up with two, now I guess I won't get lost.

Anyways, I absolutely love this game. I'm 12 hours into it. Everyone is ragging on the "cookie-cutter" story, but I've yet to see it go sour. I few things disappoint me...namely one of my favorite characters leaving the group. That's not really a spoiler, since it happens earlier on. Another thing is in the main game menu, when you move the cursor over the new game, load, and options, it makes sounds. I spent too much time trying to make a song outta that.

[Beavertown]

I few things disappoint me...namely one of my favorite characters leaving the group. That's not really a spoiler, since it happens earlier on.

You should spoiler tag that man. I just got it yesterday and I'm about 2 hours in and you just ruined that for me.

Anyway. The battles are great. Characters and story are a bit cliche and the dialogue is pretty juvenile. But I guess that's just the subject matter.

[PDorr3]

Actualy if you read some of the "pro" reviews online, namely 1UPs they throw out that spoiler quite often, namely because it actualy hurts the game, since the two characters that leave you are really interesting and well developed.

[Beavertown]

Actualy if you read some of the "pro" reviews online, namely 1UPs they throw out that spoiler quite often, namely because it actualy hurts the game, since the two characters that leave you are really interesting and well developed.

I didn't read any reviews.

I am about 5 hours in now, and the story and characters have improved, so I take back what I said earlier.

[PDorr3]

Im just over 10 hours in. Story is starting to pick up, however I am STILL not able to fuze eggs....I am saving them up so I can make some of the most powerful combinations.

[sisko]

I just finished the first disc last night. I've played Grandia and Grandia 2, and so far this is my favorite of the series.

I'm curious as to why all the reviewers were slamming the storyline. Yeah, its a similar concept to most RPGs, but nearly as cookie cutter as...say....Final Fantasy.

The character development has been pretty good so far, and for the most part, the voice acting has been GREAT.

The skills set-up is a nice feature, but its far too exclusive. The skill mastery levels up slower than magic, but skills are infinitely more useful.

Mana Egg fusion is a great way to easily obtain some high level eggs, but don't do what I did. I fused several low level eggs to make a couple of level 9 and 10 eggs, which I can't equip because my magic level is too low. So now, I'm using level 3 and 4 eggs at level 8 because I used up most of my eggs.

I'm kind of annoyed that the Arrange Dice played such a minor role. After around 200 hands, I had enough medals to buy 4 sets of Mysterious Clogs, the Gambler, and still have around 100K medals left. Starting with only 200 medals. I wish they kept adding more and more powerful items. Maybe there is a place to gamble on disc 2?