What do you remember about Grandia Xtreme, and how do you think it compares to the other Grandia games? Gain early access to my videos by supporting me at www.patreon.com/xygorgaming OR through RUclips membership by clicking the JOIN button above!
Even though I owned a PS2 it was really difficult to find a used copy of Grandia Xtreme due to how expensive retro games have gotten in recent years. And so Xtreme became my very first PS2 game through emulation and I really ended up enjoying it! So much so that every other game I've played on the PS2 has been through emulation and it was thanks to this game that I was convinced that this would be the way I would play PS2 games in the future.
I believe every ps2 grandia game has its own strong point. Grandia has the most charm, Grandia 2 has the best story and characters, and Xtreme has the best combat system. Because of this, Xtreme is the main one I come back to if I ever want to experience the Grandia gameplay loop for nostalgia. It has many flaws but remains my favorite due to how finely tuned the combat was.
I’m currently playing Grandia for the first time and am having so much fun. I don’t know when I’ll get around to playing Grandia Xtreme but glad to learn more about it until I get to play. Thanks for this video.
Which part are you up to? Grandia 2's skill/magic upgrade system is better than 1's due to it not requiring anywhere near as much grinding but the game is a lot easier and shorter overall sadly (AoE spells are really powerful in Grandis 2).
I've been playing for around 10 hours. I just beat the Dom Ruins. I haven't had to grind so far. But I really don't mind grinding. I'm looking forward to playing Grandia 2 as well after I finish the first. :)@@tempestfennac9687
Same. I feel it had the most refined version of the combat system. I'll admit it lacks in a lot of other departments, but the way you can treat battles like calculated time/space puzzles makes it my favorite to play. It helps that the combat osts slap hard. Shout out to anyone else that climbed the vortex corridor!
During the time this game came out, I hated dungeon crawlers. One town, tons of battles and exploring what feels to be endless floors. Nowadays I love it lol Great review dude! Makes me want to try out the game now.
Still Life is easily my favorite Opeth album, and one of the great musical masterpieces of it's kind in my opinion. Always enjoy your videos, keep the excellent content coming and I'll be here for it.
The battle system is one of the best. The biggest problem this game has is how the saving is handled. You go long periods of time without being able to save.
This game is one of my biggest inspirations for getting into making games. Working on a dark story with some heavy mmo qualities and a "grindy" feel like Grandia X-treme where you can farm bosses but only when the dungeon lets you in. The MC travels the world to help the Mercenary Guild he joins, further help the expansion of other towns and people who pay him for his services, like a bounty board of sorts. The story is a little complicated but will be told between 2 games, with one being a prequel of 20 years ago. It's simple enough to tie into the having to enter different dungeons to help the world out by getting rid of a monster strong enough to ruin the balance, or maybe just population or food chain control with some dark stuff and a main villain getting involved every now and then.
I really enjoy this game, but I also love to grind and this combat system is so addicting. It's no Grandia 1, or 2, but I liked this better than 3 at least.
The only thing I remember about this game is the amazing combat. I'm a huge fan of team techniques, like in Chrono Trigger and Tales of Xillia, and this game had some really cool ones!
I feel like GameArts must've made this as a quicker, less risky project to quickly come to grips with developing on the PS2 hardware after the Dreamcast exited the market. After all, the PS2 port of Grandia 2 was relatively rough. That could be why they opted for this design rather than a sprawling, full-blown RPG with lots of towns and world locations to explore - just a thought. I actually have fond memories of this one, though I never came close to beating it. This and Mega Man X Command Mission were both slammed by contemporary reviewers for being grindy dungeon crawlers rather than full-blown RPGs, but I didn't care in either case because they were both pretty and had really fun combat, lol.
Small world...I bought this a few weeks ago, but more as a collector's item and to fill out a gap in my PS2 library. Might try it, but your review is basically in line with the game's contemporary reviews. I doubt I would stay with it long enough to finish it. That said, the art style of classic Grandia is very nice to see again!
This is my favorite RPG - as far as combat goes. It really gave you control over the flow of the fight and every decision felt impactful - when I played this game I never noticed the grind because I looked forward to fighting. I actually thought the voice acting was pretty good, it's the script that's so horrible. Little to no plot and bad dialog make a terrible foundation for a genre known for storytelling.
Thank you so much for covering this game. The reason I bought this game (and Grandia 3) was really for the innovative combat system. For me, this is what made the game enjoyable, as the story in and of itself is fine but it is in the shadow of the previous entries. Love your channel!
This is why I loved Grandia Xtreme the best. It's a grindy dungeon crawler. I suppose since I'm 50 and have been playing JRPGs since their inception, I enjoy the grinding/fighting/leveling loop more than newer fans that value story.
Oh, I am a Grandia Xtreme enthusiast, and I am replaying now. I love GX for its absolute freedom in terms of battle system, especially towards the postgame. Grandia battle system in itself is a masterpiece which is severely under-utilized in JRPG today, but in Extreme with skills and magic available you can create absolutely crazy builds and dominate enemies in stylish ways. I make an effort not to overlevel, 'cause then the challenge will be gone, which reminds me of Disgaea kinda. I wish it had a serviceable story, as now I either have to ignore the plot or make light-hearted fun of it, but in the end I play it for the combat.
I still wish I had this game. It was fun albeit frustrating at times and I do remember the VA was not great but I spent so many hours with this game and I hope it actually gets a rerelease at some point.
I have to disagree with you. This is probably the best grandia game for the fighting aspect. I played 1, 2, and 3 but xtreme is just so much better. When you playing xtreme and meter goes to the red and start pulsating is a hit plus the 100 lvl dungeon is great 👍. I really love the dungeon crawling asap and finding and combining eggs to get the best one is worth it. If you want story I'll go with grandia 1. But action I'll go with xtreme
My first & favorite Grandia is 2 on the Dreamcast. I remember wanting to buy Xtreme for the PS2 but learned it was a dungeon crawler & decided against it as I need a story to keep me moving through a game. I enjoyed 3, since it the awesome combat, but the story felt not as good. I am currently playing through 1 & enjoying it, but I don't think any will compare to 2.
I played through the three mainline Grandia games which were awesome, but heard mixed things about Xtreme, which is why I stayed away from it. I may try it one of these days, it’s a shame that the Grandia battle system was never adopted as the standard for turn-based JRPGs. Seemed like the next evolutionary step after the ATB system
Do not remember if I have this or not, thinking I did not pick it up but it could be it does not hold the same to me as Grandia 1 or 2. Things I can see I do not like: circle for turns (hard to understand looking at it), main hub (instead of world map), repeated forced dungeons. Actor's can only be as good as the lines they have to read, if the story is bad great Actors are not going to be able to make it better. I know I am saying Actor's instead of VA's but it works the same.
Sabe a minha opinião, esse Grandia Extreme era pra ter sido suposto possivel Revolution 3 de Dreamcast. Talvez Game Arts viu a precoce mort3 do Dreamcast, pegou todos os assets do jogo modificou, mudou o nome pra Grandia e lançou no Playstation 2. Opinião é essa.
I played it and enjoyed it. I still have my PS2 copy really enjoyed the soundtrack from the lunar guy guy, but there was not much that’s memorable about the game. I think it’s the only game I’ve actually played even though I’ve known about these games since the first one was announced back in the day, it was OK. It was just a PS2 RPG of its time.
Beat Grandia 1 and 2, then later xtreme came out and could never finish it. I remember feeling like I was in an endless dungeon and never making any progress. I also remember hating the new mana egg system compared to the older ones. I still own the game.
The combo skills were also very badly balanced. I found one of the cheapest combos to be one of the most powerful, and one of the most costly to be one of the weakest. That, and the bad overall design are what made me put it down without finishing it.
This was my frist Grandia so I have a soft spot for it. Really enjoyed the combat and dragon egg finding. Def liked it way more than Grandia 3 which just felt so bland and drawn out.
I was a big fan of the first two Grandia games and I thought the visual design of the mc in this one looked super cool. But I just couldn't get into this game. Such a bummer. 😕
I think the battle system in this one is a lot of fun, but, it takes some getting used to. My bigger concern that even with Mark Hamill, the voice acting is horrible.
I don't remember much about this game. The only thing I can recall is finishing it and saying to my brother "that's it?" So to me it wasn't memorable at all, the first 2 grandias had a good story to go with the gameplay so xtreme falls flat IMO.
I took a hard pass on Grandia Extreme back in the day because of what a departure it was from the standard formula. The terrible name certainly only further solidified my impression of it, superficial though that is. I was a kid. Ironically in 2024 the idea of a Grandia dungeon crawler sounds super sick and is 100% up my alley. Double irony being that they go back to more standard JRPG fare with Grandia 3... and I really strongly disliked that game. That the main characters mom is a party member notwithstanding. That was a fun trope subversion. Shame that. Maybe they'll do a second collection someday and I'll give X and 3 both a second shake.
Randomly generated dungeons are inherently poorly designed...it's a dungeon crawler...and unlike Persona 3 which had heavy story focus and other things to do when you're not exploring Tarturus....Grandia Xtreme was solely riding on the battle system.
Im playing thru 3 right now and the story as much as im trying to like it is garbage lol but the battles are fun and very smooth seem even faster than 1 and 2 even tho they are 3d now
The voice acting is garbage. Except for Cain, Hamill and Loeb it's all done by total nobodies with no other credits to their name. I speculate they spent all their money on those three and had nothing left for the rest.
![Dreamcast Longplay [034] Grandia II (US)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/brorOoePcls/mqdefault.jpg)
What do you remember about Grandia Xtreme, and how do you think it compares to the other Grandia games?
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Even though I owned a PS2 it was really difficult to find a used copy of Grandia Xtreme due to how expensive retro games have gotten in recent years.
And so Xtreme became my very first PS2 game through emulation and I really ended up enjoying it! So much so that every other game I've played on the PS2 has been through emulation and it was thanks to this game that I was convinced that this would be the way I would play PS2 games in the future.
I believe every ps2 grandia game has its own strong point. Grandia has the most charm, Grandia 2 has the best story and characters, and Xtreme has the best combat system.
Because of this, Xtreme is the main one I come back to if I ever want to experience the Grandia gameplay loop for nostalgia. It has many flaws but remains my favorite due to how finely tuned the combat was.
I’m currently playing Grandia for the first time and am having so much fun. I don’t know when I’ll get around to playing Grandia Xtreme but glad to learn more about it until I get to play. Thanks for this video.
Glad you're enjoying it! It's a great start to the series. Hope this gives you a decent impression of this one.
Which part are you up to? Grandia 2's skill/magic upgrade system is better than 1's due to it not requiring anywhere near as much grinding but the game is a lot easier and shorter overall sadly (AoE spells are really powerful in Grandis 2).
I've been playing for around 10 hours. I just beat the Dom Ruins. I haven't had to grind so far. But I really don't mind grinding. I'm looking forward to playing Grandia 2 as well after I finish the first. :)@@tempestfennac9687
This is my favorite Grandia game.
Glad someone else likes it so much more than me!
He's not the only only. After X, 3s co.bat was such a step back.
Same. I feel it had the most refined version of the combat system. I'll admit it lacks in a lot of other departments, but the way you can treat battles like calculated time/space puzzles makes it my favorite to play. It helps that the combat osts slap hard.
Shout out to anyone else that climbed the vortex corridor!
@@duquin hell yeah. Gotta get that spirit blade.
During the time this game came out, I hated dungeon crawlers. One town, tons of battles and exploring what feels to be endless floors. Nowadays I love it lol
Great review dude! Makes me want to try out the game now.
Still Life is easily my favorite Opeth album, and one of the great musical masterpieces of it's kind in my opinion.
Always enjoy your videos, keep the excellent content coming and I'll be here for it.
Thanks! I agree that Still Life is the best Opeth album!
The battle system is one of the best. The biggest problem this game has is how the saving is handled. You go long periods of time without being able to save.
This game deserver a remaster just like Final Fantasy X has it.
This game is one of my biggest inspirations for getting into making games. Working on a dark story with some heavy mmo qualities and a "grindy" feel like Grandia X-treme where you can farm bosses but only when the dungeon lets you in. The MC travels the world to help the Mercenary Guild he joins, further help the expansion of other towns and people who pay him for his services, like a bounty board of sorts. The story is a little complicated but will be told between 2 games, with one being a prequel of 20 years ago. It's simple enough to tie into the having to enter different dungeons to help the world out by getting rid of a monster strong enough to ruin the balance, or maybe just population or food chain control with some dark stuff and a main villain getting involved every now and then.
I really enjoy this game, but I also love to grind and this combat system is so addicting.
It's no Grandia 1, or 2, but I liked this better than 3 at least.
If you love the grind, this is your game!
The only thing I remember about this game is the amazing combat.
I'm a huge fan of team techniques, like in Chrono Trigger and Tales of Xillia, and this game had some really cool ones!
I feel like GameArts must've made this as a quicker, less risky project to quickly come to grips with developing on the PS2 hardware after the Dreamcast exited the market. After all, the PS2 port of Grandia 2 was relatively rough. That could be why they opted for this design rather than a sprawling, full-blown RPG with lots of towns and world locations to explore - just a thought.
I actually have fond memories of this one, though I never came close to beating it. This and Mega Man X Command Mission were both slammed by contemporary reviewers for being grindy dungeon crawlers rather than full-blown RPGs, but I didn't care in either case because they were both pretty and had really fun combat, lol.
Small world...I bought this a few weeks ago, but more as a collector's item and to fill out a gap in my PS2 library. Might try it, but your review is basically in line with the game's contemporary reviews. I doubt I would stay with it long enough to finish it. That said, the art style of classic Grandia is very nice to see again!
So good game and i still revive experience with this game every year.
This is my favorite RPG - as far as combat goes. It really gave you control over the flow of the fight and every decision felt impactful - when I played this game I never noticed the grind because I looked forward to fighting. I actually thought the voice acting was pretty good, it's the script that's so horrible. Little to no plot and bad dialog make a terrible foundation for a genre known for storytelling.
Thanks for your input, I'm glad someone loves it so much!
Thank you so much for covering this game. The reason I bought this game (and Grandia 3) was really for the innovative combat system. For me, this is what made the game enjoyable, as the story in and of itself is fine but it is in the shadow of the previous entries.
Love your channel!
This is why I loved Grandia Xtreme the best. It's a grindy dungeon crawler. I suppose since I'm 50 and have been playing JRPGs since their inception, I enjoy the grinding/fighting/leveling loop more than newer fans that value story.
Oh, I am a Grandia Xtreme enthusiast, and I am replaying now. I love GX for its absolute freedom in terms of battle system, especially towards the postgame. Grandia battle system in itself is a masterpiece which is severely under-utilized in JRPG today, but in Extreme with skills and magic available you can create absolutely crazy builds and dominate enemies in stylish ways. I make an effort not to overlevel, 'cause then the challenge will be gone, which reminds me of Disgaea kinda.
I wish it had a serviceable story, as now I either have to ignore the plot or make light-hearted fun of it, but in the end I play it for the combat.
i love this grandia extreme 😍
Word, glad someone does! What do you like most about it?
I still wish I had this game. It was fun albeit frustrating at times and I do remember the VA was not great but I spent so many hours with this game and I hope it actually gets a rerelease at some point.
Did you cover Langrisser RPG series?
It comes from the 1990s, so the visual style is similar to Slayers anime.
I have to disagree with you. This is probably the best grandia game for the fighting aspect. I played 1, 2, and 3 but xtreme is just so much better. When you playing xtreme and meter goes to the red and start pulsating is a hit plus the 100 lvl dungeon is great 👍. I really love the dungeon crawling asap and finding and combining eggs to get the best one is worth it. If you want story I'll go with grandia 1. But action I'll go with xtreme
Thank for the video, I am about to play this game
Give it a try, and come back and let me know what you think!
Did you get to the Aqua Ruins yet?
I've always wanted to get into Grandia but I dont know where to start. What's a good into to the series? I'm big on good story over a battle system.
Definitely the first one!
the final fantasy 5 of the grandia series. not a great story but boy it's fun to play when you get to actually play it
Interesting, I wouldn't have thought of that comparison because I consider FF5 to be upper echelon!
Grandia 2 was my fav out the series
I need my eyes checked.. I read Grandma extreme initially 🤣 that'd have been the best game ever
My first & favorite Grandia is 2 on the Dreamcast. I remember wanting to buy Xtreme for the PS2 but learned it was a dungeon crawler & decided against it as I need a story to keep me moving through a game. I enjoyed 3, since it the awesome combat, but the story felt not as good. I am currently playing through 1 & enjoying it, but I don't think any will compare to 2.
This is the only Grandia that I never got the chance to play, so I had no idea they made it a dungeon crawler. How disappointing.
I played through the three mainline Grandia games which were awesome, but heard mixed things about Xtreme, which is why I stayed away from it. I may try it one of these days, it’s a shame that the Grandia battle system was never adopted as the standard for turn-based JRPGs. Seemed like the next evolutionary step after the ATB system
Do not remember if I have this or not, thinking I did not pick it up but it could be it does not hold the same to me as Grandia 1 or 2.
Things I can see I do not like: circle for turns (hard to understand looking at it), main hub (instead of world map), repeated forced dungeons.
Actor's can only be as good as the lines they have to read, if the story is bad great Actors are not going to be able to make it better. I know I am saying Actor's instead of VA's but it works the same.
Sabe a minha opinião, esse Grandia Extreme era pra ter sido suposto possivel Revolution 3 de Dreamcast. Talvez Game Arts viu a precoce mort3 do Dreamcast, pegou todos os assets do jogo modificou, mudou o nome pra Grandia e lançou no Playstation 2. Opinião é essa.
I didn’t even know this existed.. I just have 1, 2 & 3.. All 5 Star titles imo Come on SE give us a reboot!
You probably weren't missing that much!
@@Xygor eeks
I played it and enjoyed it. I still have my PS2 copy really enjoyed the soundtrack from the lunar guy guy, but there was not much that’s memorable about the game. I think it’s the only game I’ve actually played even though I’ve known about these games since the first one was announced back in the day, it was OK. It was just a PS2 RPG of its time.
Right on, it has some redeemable aspects but yeah, I'm with you.
@@Xygor i liked that they played the grandma 2 battle song in those bonus deep dungeon dungeons :)
Do you think this is a Grandia game to skip over for someone just getting into the series or is it still worth the playthrough?
Only Grandia 1 & 2 were ever released in the UK, so I've never played any of the other Grandia games.
Ok i didn't even know they've made other grandia after the second on dreamcast 😅
Oh yeah! And more after this!
Beat Grandia 1 and 2, then later xtreme came out and could never finish it. I remember feeling like I was in an endless dungeon and never making any progress. I also remember hating the new mana egg system compared to the older ones. I still own the game.
I remember when you beat Grandia 1 and 2. Good times. I watched you through your window.
The combo skills were also very badly balanced. I found one of the cheapest combos to be one of the most powerful, and one of the most costly to be one of the weakest. That, and the bad overall design are what made me put it down without finishing it.
This was my frist Grandia so I have a soft spot for it. Really enjoyed the combat and dragon egg finding. Def liked it way more than Grandia 3 which just felt so bland and drawn out.
Mark Hamill voice acts in this game.
Great battle system, great dungeon design, great gameplay": it's a dungeon crawler, so for me that are more than enough.
Thanks for your input!
I was a big fan of the first two Grandia games and I thought the visual design of the mc in this one looked super cool. But I just couldn't get into this game. Such a bummer. 😕
Agreed!
I think the battle system in this one is a lot of fun, but, it takes some getting used to. My bigger concern that even with Mark Hamill, the voice acting is horrible.
I don't remember much about this game. The only thing I can recall is finishing it and saying to my brother "that's it?" So to me it wasn't memorable at all, the first 2 grandias had a good story to go with the gameplay so xtreme falls flat IMO.
I took a hard pass on Grandia Extreme back in the day because of what a departure it was from the standard formula. The terrible name certainly only further solidified my impression of it, superficial though that is. I was a kid.
Ironically in 2024 the idea of a Grandia dungeon crawler sounds super sick and is 100% up my alley.
Double irony being that they go back to more standard JRPG fare with Grandia 3... and I really strongly disliked that game. That the main characters mom is a party member notwithstanding. That was a fun trope subversion.
Shame that. Maybe they'll do a second collection someday and I'll give X and 3 both a second shake.
I actually hated this. Coming from grandia 1, then 2 both are masterpieces. Then this. It was very jarring
I pretty much agree!
Ta mais pra Evolution 3, do que um Grandia.
Grandia Xtreme was such a disapointment after Grandia II.
I have to agree with this.
Randomly generated dungeons are inherently poorly designed...it's a dungeon crawler...and unlike Persona 3 which had heavy story focus and other things to do when you're not exploring Tarturus....Grandia Xtreme was solely riding on the battle system.
True!
Persona 3 is overrated but yeah it was better, but the new censored remake is bad.
Im playing thru 3 right now and the story as much as im trying to like it is garbage lol but the battles are fun and very smooth seem even faster than 1 and 2 even tho they are 3d now
Not great, not terrible.
The voice acting is garbage. Except for Cain, Hamill and Loeb it's all done by total nobodies with no other credits to their name. I speculate they spent all their money on those three and had nothing left for the rest.
This game doesnt exist. Time to do grandia 3 the one that seperated the fan base haha
Which one of the two do you like more?
@@Xygor definitely 3 loved the cast and story