Showing posts with label Grandia II. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grandia II. Show all posts

Time for some Grandia II...nes

To say I've been putting off playing Grandia II would be an understatement - the game's sat on my shelf for upward of a year now, with only a few plays on it so far. The idea of playing a JRPG on the Dreamcast is still an odd one to me, having grown up playing most of my RPGs on Nintendo consoles (or that time I binged a bunch of Skyrim on my bro's PS3).

But I'm not here to commiserate about video game backlogs. Rather, let us look to a particularly nifty feature of the Dreamcast release of Grandia II: the bonus "Music Selections" CD included. With a total of 12 pieces coming in at 50 minutes of music, it's a nice sampling of the game's soundtrack, with what appear to be a few remixes thrown in for good measure. Thankfully, no jingles or short sounds are included, so the CD works as a standalone listen.
My own personal copy
Oddly enough, the album begins with a remix. Both "Cançäo do povo (Little Shelter MIX)" and the last song, "Cançäo do povo," feature the vocal talents of Kaori Kawasumi. The song and its remix provide nice bookends for the whole affair, as the remix opens up with a catchy dance-like beat, and the original ends it on a more mellow, longing note.


Top 5 Games That I Would Play If I Were Stuck on a Desert Island

I'm sure you've seen it before. The "what X would you take if you were stuck on a desert island?" or "What X would you Y if that was the only thing you could Y?" Or something of the sort. Those silly, annoying questions that ask you to pick a few things, not even considering the fact that picking a favourite X may cause you great emotional distress, turmoil and mental unrest and ARRGRGHRGHH...

Sorry about that.

Still, they are interesting sometimes. Trying to think of article subjects the other day, this one was a potential topic. Instead, I went with the fruitless "hidden music track" quest. That quest showed me one thing - my Dreamcast collection is surprisingly small. This top 5 would represent almost 1/4 of my collection of 23 games! Fortunately, this is a hypothetical scenario, so I can give myself all the Dreamcast games, even the unreleased ones. I could even give myself a Dreamcast 2!

Deciding this list depends solely on one thing: replayability. (Or replay value, if you want to be a hater.) Can I play this game many times without getting bored? Can I learn speed-running techniques to learn and master the game? Can I find some wicked glitches to totally break the game? Also, soundtracks are an important consideration. Despite this, it's still rather difficult to imagine that scenario, given that I have over a dozen systems plus a robust emulator on my Mac.

So, in no particular order, here we go:

RPGs Across the Board; or, Grandia II - The Beginning

One of my favorite genres of video games is the RPG. I'm not overly attached to the turn-based combat (although I have come to like it over the years): I like the stories, and the bigger RPGs have great composers, like Final Fantasy, or the Mario RPGs. I had at least one RPG on most of my major systems, like the PlayStation, Gamecube, Gameboy etc...but something was amiss.

I had no RPGs for the Dreamcast! And because my current system had no affordable games available at the time, I made it a goal to get at least one good game. Fortunately, my brother had received a gift card to a local retrogaming shop. I had gotten Final Fantasy 7-9 there, so I hoped that they would have at least one good Dreamcast RPG. They had two.

Paper Dreamcast Goodies


During a recent trip to visit the parents, I uncovered a few Dreamcast goodies in the remnants of my old bedroom (now the combination workout/storage room). The first of these goodies is a very cool flyer advertising the Dreamcast's US launch. As you see above, the cover is very minimalistic and follows that dark edgy aesthetic that was so popular in the late 90's.


The flyer opens to a cool render of the console, with the design and features detailed on the second page.


It opens once again to show screens from the two biggest launch titles: Sonic Adventure and NFL 2K. I loved this campaign.


The other side detailed the other launch titles as well as titles that released later in the fall, complete with screens. Overall, it's a very stylish and well designed promo item. Hey, it made me want to buy a Dreamcast!

 Next up is a postcard advertising Phantasy Star Online. I found this at a sandwhich shop located next to my dorms in Chicago. They were given out via a little rack filled with cards advertising anything from vodkas to video games.


I had also found a Seaman postcard but forgot where I put it. However, it looked like this:


Finally we have a full-scale replica of Granda II! Okay, it's not that exciting, but it's sorta cool. These were put on display pre-release at stores like GameStop to advertise upcoming games. I received this along with a massive Sonic Shuffle box when I politely asked the store employee if I could have them.

Left: The imposter, Right: The real thing

So there you have it! Paper Dreamcast goodies. Until next time, keep dreaming!