Third Grandia with the same appreciated dynamic combat system and improved technical production. Story is less memorable than the second entry but gameplay remains excellent. A satisfying sequel for franchise fans and PS2 JRPG fans.
Your verdict
Category
RPG1 player12+
Description
A Game Arts sequel released in 2005 (Japan) and 2006 (US), with renewed visual and narrative ambitions. Young Yuki dreams of becoming a pilot, until his encounter with the mysterious Alfina sparks a mystical adventure. Combat is still excellent, faithful to Grandia's signature mechanics.
Grandia III review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
4/5
Story
★★★★★
"Captivating"
Grandia III stands out for its graphic ambition and its obsession with the sky. The hero Yuki dreams of flying, and the game multiplies aerial settings, cobbled-together aircraft, soaring above the clouds, dizzying panoramas rendered with rare care on the console. The detailed 3D environments and the flight cutscenes place this entry among the most polished-looking of the series.
Grandia III's music puts itself at the service of the series' famous battle system, built on placing and canceling actions on a time gauge. The battle themes, energetic and rhythmic, embrace this tactical ballet and revive the tension with each well-placed riposte. Elsewhere the writing opens to broad orchestrations for the big moments, but it is in the action that it gives its full measure.
The scenario takes as its hero Yuki, a teenager passionate about aviation, whose meeting with the mysterious Alfina tips into a mystical quest with divine stakes. Rare in the genre, his own mother accompanies him for a time, tinting the story with an unusual family warmth. Between the dream of flight and the clash with higher powers, the story owns a bright coming-of-age fable tone.
A Game Arts action-RPG praised for its dynamic battle system among the genre's liveliest and its aerial environments, an extension of a line valued by connoisseurs. Still fairly widespread in the West, its interest lies in this combat quality rather than scarcity. A prime piece for JRPG fans wanting a reference battle system on the console.
An underrated gem
It's fairly faulted for a story that frays, but people too quickly forget that Grandia III houses one of the most exhilarating battle systems in turn-based RPGs, all timing and dodges. Released at the tail end of the PS2's reign, it was overshadowed. Fans of snappy clashes and gorgeous backdrops will get their money's worth all the same.
