Digital Thoughts - Grandia Xtreme - PS2
Evann, our main protagonist, is recruited by the local Army to join a special task force designed to fight the “elemental disorders” currently threatening the world. The team sets off and journeys to the four ancient ruins in hopes of quelling this danger.
Along the way Evann and the team encounter many friends and foes, including Kroitz, Evann's childhood rival. Kroitz (voiced by the one and only Mark Hamill) has his own intentions for obtaining the slabs in order to awaken a power he believes will give him absolute control. It’s up to you and your friends to prevent the world from falling into an elemental catastrophe and awakening the worst evil the world has yet to witness.
Xtreme is bright, colorful and vivid. Each zone is full of vast detail from the basic interior designs of the hub town, to the vast monster filled dungeons. Enemy designs are fantastic and follow similar types from previous Grandia games such as goblins, floating starfish, beastmen, etc. Each are highly detailed polygons and have their own respective animations.
Character models are also so well done – from the wild beast girl, a young Elvish thief, to the military brute, each offers a style that fits their personality. Special moves and magic spells are absolutely top notch here. Grandia games have always been great with over the top spells and moves and Xtreme does not disappoint.
You can even go into a 1st person look around mode that allowed me to truly admire the wonderful art design and color work programmed into this game.
Xtreme is a dungeon crawler at heart and a damn good one. Most of the core loop will be spent raiding elemental dungeons in search of loot, smashing enemies for experience, and defeating each end boss. Along the way you will discover rare items, light puzzles and environmental traps. Weapons and armor are vast and varied with many dropped or stolen with special properties and elemental bonuses.
Each playable characters have their own special moves called “Arts” which can be combined into double, triple and even quadruple techs. Mana Eggs return once again and are better than ever: Each egg can be combined with another to create exciting and rare combinations which not only unlocks higher tier or new spells but stronger versions that cost less time to cast, more hits and area of effect.
Xtreme also has a deep skill system through the use of skill books. With this, you can unlock a massive variety of helpful support abilities to equip on your characters. Skills such as attack boost, increased stealing chance, movement speed increase etc allow you to truly customize your team to your personal tastes.
“Theme of Xtreme” is quite fitting for such a grand adventure. It has a sweeping and grandiose melody that fits right into the opening cinematic while retaining that signature Grandia sound.
“Theme of Rocca” will be heard quite often as it’s the main theme of the hub town. It has a funky, jazzy, high energy bossa nova sound that goes through quite a few variations along the life of the track. It never got on my nerves and was always refreshing to come back to after a long dungeon grind session. “Good Meal” is the Xtreme’s version of the classic dinner time theme known throughout the Grandia series. I have to say this is my least favorite version of it, but it does have some merits. I’m just glad to see its tradition continued even in this game.
Let’s talk combat. Grandia Xtreme has absolutely fantastic battle themes! “Combat 1” is a flamenco guitar mixed with trumpets, horns, snappy drums, and wonderful backup guitars. It’s so great that even if I hear it over and over and over I never tire as it simply prepares one for an energetic fight against any kind of beast. It ranks quite high in my personal echelon of greatest fighting battle themes of all time. “Combat 2” is played when your team is ambushed by the enemy. It has a rock guitar lead, with great synth leads. “Combat 3” is wonderful. A fitting and high energy boss theme. Riffing guitars, pulsing drums, and a gritty synth that has an excellent solo mid-way through the song. “Combat 4” “Illusory Meadow” is a strange departure from most dungeon themes. It’s a somber, soothing and reflective piece that is absolutely beautiful.
There is an Xtreme (ha!) amount of content post-game; extra dungeons, searching for rare weapons, armor, mana eggs, skills and techniques, mini games, and maximizing each party members’ levels. This is a game that truly gives you things to do!
Grandia Xtreme is a fantastic game. It currently sits at the top of my all-time favorite in the Grandia series. It may not have the deepest story, but what it lacks in plot is made up by the sheer staggering amount of content within. You can lose hours upon hours while dungeon diving in search of eggs, weapons, armors, skills, discovering new technique combinations, spells and farming endless enemies. Combine that with the cheesy over the top voice acting, beautiful saturated colors and a wonderful soundtrack and you have a game that will keep you playing for quite a long time.
