GRANDIA
Long before humans claimed world superiority, the benevolent Icarians ruled the world in peace. After dividing the world in half with a great wall, they used their vast knowledge to transcend the bonds of flesh and become beings of pure light and thought. After their departure, humankind and a horned, feral race developed independently on opposite sides of the world. While humans embraced technology, the other race embraced religion and magic. Humans developed a strong government, and out of that government grew the Garlyle army. Under the corrupt leadership of General Baal, the Garlyle army has been scouring the world for bits of magic and technology that will lead it to the ancient capital of Arent and its secrets. Destined to come into conflict with the army's plans, a precocious 15-year-old, Justin, and his friends, Sue and Feena, stumble on the Garlyle army's plans and begin a globe-spanning race to discover what happened to the Icarians and stop General Baal and his lackeys from awakening a deadly secret.
Grandia is more interesting, playable, and satisfying than most RPGs. To top it off, Grandia is an enormous game, requiring around 60 hours of play time to complete. But what could keep a game so interesting for so long? Three things - the story, the battle system and the world itself. While the story isn't the most original in the world, it is well done and, like GameArts' flagship Lunar series, focuses on a handful of well-developed characters instead of on the fantastic events that surround them. The story has a charm and sense of wonder built in that makes you feel as though you've actually accomplished something upon reaching a new area, acting as a kind of pacing that rewards you for every advancement. As notable as this is, Grandia's battle system is what really makes the game shine. While many RPGs tend to string a story together with a series of battles that may or may not be fun, Grandia's battle and experience system is just about as fun and rewarding as it gets. Unlike many of today's customization-heavy RPGs, your party is determined by the story. While some would say this limits the customization of your experience, it forces you to get to know the characters that are so central to the story. Additionally, this lack of customization adds a level of familiarity with your characters' individual abilities and strategies - something customization-heavy RPGs tend to ignore.
When wandering the myriad dungeons, you can see monsters approaching to attack, similar to Square's Chrono Trigger. If your party isn't ready for more fights or you just aren't feeling belligerent, you can usually evade these attackers, reducing the frustration found in many random-encounter RPGs. This said, however, many times you will welcome or even seek out encounters to strengthen your party; the battle system is that fun. Grandia's combat system merges bits of Square's Active Battle system with pieces of Lunar's system, all presented from an overhead 2D view. Time constantly flows during battle, pausing only to let you issue a command. The handy IP bar in the bottom right corner of the screen lets you know who's attacking and when - a vital feature, considering that time is a commodity. In addition to the standard RPG elemental and weapon distinctions, you will also have to factor distance into the equation, resulting in a slightly more strategic battle system. Because every character can attack at the same time, battles are generally shorter than those in most RPGs. Because Grandia's story forces you to spend an extended period of time with only a handful of characters, the game's magic and character-development system become especially important. You'll start out with no magic but will find mana eggs not far into the game. Mana eggs can be hatched at weapon stores to imbue a character with one of four elemental affinities and one spell to start with. Repeatedly casting spells of a particular element will further the character's understanding of that type of magic, gradually opening up more spells. Before you reach the game's CD-switching midpoint, you can expect for at least one character to have all four elements at his disposal. After acquiring multiple elements, characters can begin learning multi-element spells - mix proficiencies in water and air and you've got ice magic. Each character can use a handful of weapon types; mastering each of which will deliver new attack techniques. Eventually, the magic and weapon systems will merge, opening a final tier of battle-readiness and elemental-attack techniques. By the end of the game, you'll have access to more than 80 spells and attack techniques, and each character's library of skills is based on that character's personality. Justin's spells tend to be more offensive, while Sue's tend to be more defensive, for example.
Download:
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http://rapidshare.com/files/21292210/Grandia.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21292291/Grandia.part02.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21292293/Grandia.part03.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21292296/Grandia.part04.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21292297/Grandia.part05.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21292601/Grandia.part06.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21292604/Grandia.part07.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21292617/Grandia.part08.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21292629/Grandia.part09.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21292614/Grandia.part10.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21293358/Grandia.part11.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21293462/Grandia.part12.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21293460/Grandia.part13.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21293459/Grandia.part14.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21293451/Grandia.part15.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21293464/Grandia.part16.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21294474/Grandia.part17.rar
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SIZE: 16x50MB + 1x48MB
NO PASS
Enjoy !
tyrant
Link checked on Tue Aug 11, 2009 10:54 am [WBB_Linkchecker_Bot]