Grandia Xtreme
A dungeon-crawling entry in the Grandia series.
Game Arts developed and Enix published Grandia Xtreme, a role-playing game for the PlayStation 2, in January 2002. This entry in the Grandia series later saw a Japanese PlayStation Network release from Square Enix on December 17, 2014.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Game Arts
- Publisher
- Enix (retail); Square Enix (PSN)
- Artist
- Kamui Fujiwara
- Composer
- Noriyuki Iwadare
- Series
- Grandia
- Platforms
- PlayStation 2
- Released
- January 31, 2002 (JP); September 30, 2002 (NA)
- Genre
- Role-playing
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Grandia Xtreme plays similarly to other Grandia titles, with battles occurring in dungeons or scripted situations. Combat takes place on a three-dimensional battlefield where characters move and strike enemies. The Battle Gauge shows icons for characters and enemies; icons move at a rate based on their speed rating. When an icon reaches the top, the character can attack, use items, defend, or flee. Players progress through dungeons solving puzzles. Geo Gates transport the player back to the city, the only location with a save point in the armory. Some gates are one-way, requiring the player to restart the dungeon.
Plot and setting
The world of Grandia Xtreme is inhabited by three races: Humans, Arcadians, and Hazmans. An uneasy alliance among them is threatened by a natural disaster called the Elemental Disorder. The Humans deploy their Nortis Army to investigate, while representatives from other races gather to help, but tensions rise amid suspicions that the disasters may be artificial. The player controls Evann, a young ranger who can activate technology in ruins. After his father's death, he trained with a sword but lacks a strong work ethic. Evann is drawn into events that reveal the cause of the Elemental Disorder, the military's true intentions, and secrets behind the ruins. Seven other characters join him: Carmyne, Brandol, Myam, Lutina, Ulk, Titto, and Jaid. Together, they combine forces to resolve the world's problems.
Development
Game Arts announced a new Grandia installment on June 1, 2001 under the tentative name Grandia X. It was later retitled Grandia Xtreme and published by Enix, which had invested ¥99.2 million in Game Arts for 15% of the company. This was Game Arts' first title developed exclusively for the PlayStation 2. The developers designed it as an action role-playing game or dungeon crawler to appeal to casual gamers, while keeping and enhancing the combat and magic systems and the story's enchantment aspect. Kamui Fujiwara, character designer of Terranigma, designed the characters. Development took about 18 months. An aggressive marketing campaign promoted the game as a brand for the future. It was shown at the Tokyo Game Show in August 2001 and as a playable demo at the World Hobby Fair of Tokyo in January 2002. The game released in Japan on January 31, 2002 in regular and limited editions, the latter including a pocket watch and a Geo Gate diorama. Pre-orders received a miniature tote bag. The English voice acting was directed by WorldLink Technologies in Seattle, with Mark Hamill as Colonel Kroitz, Dean Cain as Evann, and Lisa Loeb as Lutina. The North American version was shown at E3 in May 2002 and released on September 30, 2002. Enix America partnered with Versus Books for a strategy guide and with RPGFan for a quiz contest.
Music
Noriyuki Iwadare composed the score in about half a year, focusing on battle and dungeon music with an overall theme of friendship. He used the looped streaming ADX format and had no technical issues with the PlayStation 2 hardware. He initially struggled with the militaristic aspects of the plot, particularly the opening Theme of Xtreme, for which he found no inspiration for two months. After a staff member reminded him the game is still Grandia, he completed the track, imbuing it with camaraderie. The track Quan Li uses the same melodic motif as the ending theme but omits a sharp note to convey the wrongness of causing pain in a holy war. The ending theme is based on love for mankind. The soundtrack was published by Two Five Records on March 1, 2002, featuring the vocal arrangement Rein-car-nation sung by Kaori Kawasumi instead of the game's ending theme. The battle theme Combat 2 was omitted because Iwadare did not consider it one of his favorites; he stated he would agree to include it in a potential second volume.
More in Square Enix Games of the 2000s
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