Collection essentials #481: Grandia Xtreme (PS2)

Grandia Xtreme is sort of unusual in that it is an entry in a console JRPG series and definitely belongs to the same genre, yet it is classified as a “spinoff” game rather than a true numbered entry. Normally you’d see such a spinoff on a handheld system like the Game Boy while the main numbered entries are on home consoles, but not in this case.


The excellent Grandia turn-based battle system is here again, complete with the ability to cancel enemy attacks if the timing is right. A lot of other elements you’d expect to see in Grandia are here, too. What makes this game different is that it’s much more focused on dungeon crawling. Most RPGs involve a story that unfolds as a hero embarks on an epic quest across the world, visiting many towns and dungeons along the way. Grandia Xtreme does have a story, but there’s no real world-exploring here as there’s only real home base area from which you travel to various dungeons. All your party members join quite early in the game. It seems gameplay was the real focus here.


If I’m being real, this game is pretty good but definitely not great. I’m not even going to summarize the story since it’s really quite forgettable. The game has voice acting, and interestingly they tried to get big names for the voice casts including Mark Hamill, Dean Cain and Lisa Loeb, but the result doesn’t stand out too much. The characters can be somewhat amusing, but they have virtually no development over the course of the story.


I had to wonder about whether or not I wanted to include Grandia Xtreme on my essentials list. And the thing is, I enjoy the Grandia series so much that I figured it wouldn’t be right to leave it out. The Grandia battle system is still highly enjoyable. This game isn’t even the best gameplay-wise or anything; most of the game battles feel too easy, until you hit a rather nasty difficulty spike eventually (or at least that’s what my experience was). I wouldn’t generally recommend this game as those curious really ought to play the original Grandia instead. But if you’ve played the other Grandia games and are still wanting more, you’ll certainly enjoy your time with Grandia Xtreme as well. That was the case for me, and that’s why Grandia Xtreme makes my essentials list.

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