Granstream Saga Review! [PlayStation] The Game Collection Feat. Jimmy Hapa!
January 14, 2018
Huge thanks to Jimmy Hapa for helping out with this Granstream Saga Review! Be sure to check out his channel! https://www.youtube.com/user/jimmyhapa Developed by Shade and published by THQ,…
48 thoughts on “Granstream Saga Review! [PlayStation] The Game Collection Feat. Jimmy Hapa!”
Quintet revealed alot of secrets to this world in video game art.
The first jrpg I remember, for that alone it holds a fond place in my heart. It had interesting features like its relationship choices and how your armor would whinge with what was equipped.
This was actually one of the first RPGs I played on the PS. Despite being utterly irked by the characters not having faces, I remember this game fondly.
The lack of faces for the character models really killed this game for me as a kid.
It was a fantastic game but it had the most shitty gameplay ever made and too much boring dungeons 🙁
the search for face XD
i love the grandstream saga and i think its nice that someone finaly puts some thought into it and is not just saying "meh the grafics suck so the game sucks" like many (not all) but many say…
man oh man. I just love when people pronounce it as Polly-gone-al. I always said pol ig un ull
I wanted to try this game but the fact the characters lack faces is way too freakish.
1:33 did you ever come across the magazine ads for Granstream Saga? I have, and there are actually two versions. The original, the female character on the right is pictured normally but then they made an edit(idiot more like) to it in another to have her featuring rather large and prominent, metal bustier clad breasts and bared forearms. When I saw this reading through a (then) new issue of Game Informer way back when, I immediately went back and looked at the first ad I saw for it. I thought it was shameless back then, still do.
Its so odd to me to see anyone say a single bad thing about the graphics of 7. Its the best looking game ever made. We were freaking out about how awesome it was when it came out
"But wait! What about the boobs?!"
SuperDerek! please do a Xenogears review!
where r they're faces
Hello! Im curious to know what game is being played at the very end of the video annotation? The link brought me somewhere else than the game. Thanks in advance!
My first game in PS1 is still the bets RPG I ever played.
The reviews for this game are staggering to me. I absolutely loved this game personally, and to this day it's still one of my favorite RPGs of all time.
I Really loved this game when i played this as a kid and now its incredibly nostalgic for me so I still really liked it.
I watched this…but didn't like or comment on it. What was I thinking?! Well, I just rewatched for a second time, and when I saw my lack of interaction, I thought, better fix that! This was a great review, guys. I've only briefly played Soul Blazer but really couldn't get into it, but I'm interested in actually giving this a shot after watching this review. After all, I do own it and have had it sitting in my PS1 collection for some time. The walking mechanics look pretty stiff though, I think that's going to be my biggest complaint based on what I've seen.
wasn't your character like that worlds anitchrist? lol!
To each their own when it comes to their game preferences.
But to me… this game brings only nostalgia and good times even though I haven't had the pleasure of finishing it. And maybe I'm only saying this because It was my first introduction to RPG gaming but the game as some good points even if the game does seem primitive now in today's standards.
But if I had to be honest, I reckon to do this game real justice is to give this game a complete overhaul in the graphics, re-vamp the entire battle system and fix up the puzzle solving parts of the game and maybe some of the dialogue but still keep it true to granstream saga fans. I think this game would be a hot seller.
Hell! If they can do it for Legend Of Zelda why not Granstream Saga.
I wish they had a remake of this. I loved it back in the day.
Look at you with the one earring in the left ear. Looks like we are back in the 90's where people were scared to have one in the right ear because "that means you're gayyyy" haha I'm just razzin ya though. Should go bold and go with only one in the right ear to show support for gay marriage! Btw are you from canada? If so what city or province? 🙂
I had this game as a kid I loved it the protagonist Eon reminds me of Adol from the YS series and as for the graphics well the lack of Faces was odd but stylistic polygons where new and developers where still figuring out the new hardware limitations just look at from softwares games on the same console kings field and its sequels where great but no one can call them pretty not to mention how slow and cumbersome the battles are in those games granstream saga runs circles around Kings Field!
dam son my man went hard on defending this game at the end haha
Yeah i really wanted to like Erghiez so i know how u feel but i did enjoy playing granstream at the time it 1st released
No, Shade is not Quintet. It was formed by former Quintet staff and some key member (scenario writer and music team) worked on Granstream Saga but Quintet was a separate entity. Quintet in the meantime was developing games for Saturn (Solo Crisis and Code R). Also Granstream Saga didn't dethrone FFVII from charts (not per Famitsu charts at least) since the game came out 11 months after FFVII release. FFVII was dethroned 5 weeks later by a Saturn game. Don't believe everything you read on the net.
WHY do the characters have no faces?
last thing i want to ask from you, you said this was the final end of the soul blazer series? would i need to go back and play this series to really get the understanding of it all?
i really dont understand why no one ever has anything good to say about this game! sure i agree at points it can be boring and there is no leveling system but this game i hold very dear to me! when i was kid i got sick with chicken pox, and was out of school for two weeks cause of it, during my first week of having my sickness my grandma went out and got me two new games, ff8 and this game, i ended up playing this more then ff8 cause i liked the look and feel of the game, it wasnt a ff game where you take turns hitting each other and give commands, it was all done in real time, and having skill and the right equipment also helped but no matter where i turn people bash this game…. i know people will always have their own taste in there own games but compared to a lot of shit rpgs that i have played id rather come back to this one cause i know im going to enjoy it, for example i get on the second disk of ff7 and just loose all interest in it, its no longer fun cause to me that game drags ass (like moat ff games), this game is short and simple, another complaint people have is that this game is to short, i have no issues with it being short, its forward the story is simple and you not going on to 3/4 disks of bullshit, dont get me wrong i LOVE FF games but this game is the most hated on in the ps1 era, and to me there is no reason why. GREAT GAMER!! IMO
I've owned it, played it, beat it, and loved every minute of this game. Best anime cutscenes and I didn't have no problem when I bought it. I wish this game was on PSN so I can rebuy it.
All polygonal rpgs from ps1 should be done in a remake using 16bit graphics (snes style). they aged baad (that includes ff7)
FulleZero?
I wanted this game for several years after playing a PS magazine demo. I was similarly disappointed when i got it – not enough to stop playing before the game ended though. For a game made early in the PSOne era, I can't judge the graphics much (though the manaquin looking characters do hurt the eye at times, the anime cutscenes are great). The plot and characters disappointingly didn't develop much, the story was exactly what you'd expect from the introduction. The gameplay was unique, but not in a good way sadly. I remember being very annoyed by the fire level (or the fact that there's element based levels like this is a platform game).
I remember this, this was my first rpg I played and I really enjoyed it. Me and my brother played the crap out of it.
First of all, thanks for introducing me to Jimmy's channel. Since seeing this, I've subscribed and watched a good bit of his content. Good stuff. 🙂 Secondly, I have not played this game before, although I've heard of it. I had no idea this game's links to the Soul Blazer saga. I will have to pick this one up myself, even if it doesn't get the full recommendation from this video. 😉 Great collab review! 🙂 I'm pretty sure I haven't commented on this video already. YouTube likes to hide my comments sometimes, and it's a little embarrassing when I comment on the same video twice. 😛
I grew up with this game and even though It has a few flaws it is still one of my favorites.
I loved this game as a kid. It's extremely nostalgic for me. I've been a bit wary on returning to it, after all this time. I think the characters a kind of charming and clean for an early PSX game, but the no face thing is a bit creepy. Glad someone finally reviewed this game on YouTube and did a fantastic job at that. Your other videos are ace as well so I'm glad to have discovered your channel!
I bought this game back in 2005, but the Pal version, which was actually published by Sony (SCEE – Sony Computer Entertainment Europe). Seems to me no changes were made from the US version. I have never played the Japanese version. Not a lot of people say anything good from GS, but seriously I don't know why. I still think this games still lingers its then reputation of being subpar, which is false to my belief. Sure, it's no Zelda beater but it's a fun game!
Remember kids, it was made before Ocarina of time, before Z targeting and most other action 3D Rpgs. Zelda Oot got it right for the first time, the other before that were like GS – they were still experimenting (GS has a fixed targeting system towards the enemy and in a confined space). It came out in Japan before coming a year later to the US and 2 wholes years to Europe , so basically players were already spoiled from other games. You see, that's the main problem with this game. It came out a bit too late. It should have been released by 1997 everywhere and I bet the reviews would have been a bit more warm. Another thing that could have placed the game higher in people's "want" list is not having the Quintet or Enix Badge on it. A lot of people still don't know this was made by the same guys as Terranigma and could be placed in the Soul Blazer Series, although probably as a spiritual sequel (but it also seems a lot of people refuse this). But I digress, about the game:
Yeah, it's your standard Action Rpg story-wise, but you have to admit it has a good vibe and the world has a nice aura about it. Graphically it's not a bad looking game, the textures are good, animations are ok too, shame about the eyes, but you can't have a grudge on a guy for not having eyes, right? I'd say it's a 7 out of 10 graphically speaking. An 8 out of 10 if you consider this was made in 1996-1997.
The fighting system does have its problems and is repetitive (a wierd killer blow system, using these is a bit clunky), but c'mon, even the Snes games had a similar system, they just worked better on 2D. I'd say a 5-6 out of 10 in gameplay, as the action is fast.
As for the sound the game has amazing soundtracks, they are some of the best on the Ps1 library, they are really that good. Real nice work here from the team, the best aspect of the game. I'd say it's a 9 out 10 since some of the sound effects are basic like hitting your opponent or some magical effects.
It's not that long of a game, you'd probably reach the end by the 20 hour mark, but it is compelling and a decent romp throughout the game and is very replayable, but should have had some mini games along the way as they are missing. 7 out of 10 in duration, it's decent.
I'd give this game a 6.8 ou of 10. It's decent, fun but ultimately has its flaws that lower the score a bit, but it's not a terrible game like Beyond the Beyond or Monkey Hero. On par with Alundra 2, though. I'd say it's a buy it if you find it below 10$ in the US, or lower than 15€ in Europe (it's a little more pricey in Europe).
They should really remake this game along with Ephemeral Fantasia on the Ps2.
to make the graphics a little better I wished they worked with the creators of the ps1 fighting game, Evil Zone!!! Evil Zone perfectly show each characters personality through 3D graphics and they had pretty good voice acting as well! In Granstream saga I wish they let you play as Arcia And Laramee!! With some kind of limit breaks!!! All In All Granstream Saga Is one of my favorites, but if they were having a lot of troubles with graphics couldn't they ask for help?
Awesome job, guys. It's great to hear dissenting opinions told in a fun way.
I feel you man about trying to like a game :D.
2001: A Space Odyssey reference. Nice!
Yo Derek we love your videos and like that you do a lot of RPG stuff. I'm a huge Shin megami Tensei fan and hope you get around to doing a video on that series! Also Check out our videos, none are rpg videos yet but we do play a lot of nintendo games. Your videos are really well done and we would also appreciate feed back on ours. Thanks and keep it up.
Well done lads!
I remember being really excited for Granstream Saga when it first came out because a friend told me that Ryo Yonemitsu was working on the soundtrack… and that turned out to not be true, but the soundtrack was pretty good anyway.
I really wanted to love the game, but I just didn't. It's got its high points: the overall premise and last few hours of plot, the combat system, the music… but that's bogged down too much by the boring characters and dialog, the pointlessness of actually fighting enemies, and the tediousness of the rest of the gameplay. A modern remake of it could be great, but I'm sure that'll never happen.
Quintet revealed alot of secrets to this world in video game art.
The first jrpg I remember, for that alone it holds a fond place in my heart. It had interesting features like its relationship choices and how your armor would whinge with what was equipped.
This was actually one of the first RPGs I played on the PS. Despite being utterly irked by the characters not having faces, I remember this game fondly.
The lack of faces for the character models really killed this game for me as a kid.
It was a fantastic game but it had the most shitty gameplay ever made and too much boring dungeons 🙁
the search for face XD
i love the grandstream saga and i think its nice that someone finaly puts some thought into it and is not just saying "meh the grafics suck so the game sucks" like many (not all) but many say…
man oh man. I just love when people pronounce it as Polly-gone-al. I always said pol ig un ull
I wanted to try this game but the fact the characters lack faces is way too freakish.
1:12 RIP THQ
1:33 did you ever come across the magazine ads for Granstream Saga? I have, and there are actually two versions. The original, the female character on the right is pictured normally but then they made an edit(idiot more like) to it in another to have her featuring rather large and prominent, metal bustier clad breasts and bared forearms. When I saw this reading through a (then) new issue of Game Informer way back when, I immediately went back and looked at the first ad I saw for it. I thought it was shameless back then, still do.
Its so odd to me to see anyone say a single bad thing about the graphics of 7. Its the best looking game ever made. We were freaking out about how awesome it was when it came out
"But wait! What about the boobs?!"
SuperDerek! please do a Xenogears review!
where r they're faces
Hello! Im curious to know what game is being played at the very end of the video annotation? The link brought me somewhere else than the game. Thanks in advance!
My first game in PS1 is still the bets RPG I ever played.
The reviews for this game are staggering to me. I absolutely loved this game personally, and to this day it's still one of my favorite RPGs of all time.
I Really loved this game when i played this as a kid and now its incredibly nostalgic for me so I still really liked it.
I watched this…but didn't like or comment on it. What was I thinking?! Well, I just rewatched for a second time, and when I saw my lack of interaction, I thought, better fix that! This was a great review, guys. I've only briefly played Soul Blazer but really couldn't get into it, but I'm interested in actually giving this a shot after watching this review. After all, I do own it and have had it sitting in my PS1 collection for some time. The walking mechanics look pretty stiff though, I think that's going to be my biggest complaint based on what I've seen.
wasn't your character like that worlds anitchrist? lol!
To each their own when it comes to their game preferences.
But to me…
this game brings only nostalgia and good times even though I haven't had the pleasure of finishing it.
And maybe I'm only saying this because It was my first introduction to RPG gaming but the game as some good points even if the game does seem primitive now in today's standards.
But if I had to be honest,
I reckon to do this game real justice is to give this game a complete overhaul in the graphics, re-vamp the entire battle system and fix up the puzzle solving parts of the game and maybe some of the dialogue but still keep it true to granstream saga fans. I think this game would be a hot seller.
Hell! If they can do it for Legend Of Zelda why not Granstream Saga.
I wish they had a remake of this. I loved it back in the day.
Look at you with the one earring in the left ear. Looks like we are back in the 90's where people were scared to have one in the right ear because "that means you're gayyyy" haha I'm just razzin ya though. Should go bold and go with only one in the right ear to show support for gay marriage! Btw are you from canada? If so what city or province? 🙂
I had this game as a kid I loved it the protagonist Eon reminds me of Adol from the YS series and as for the graphics well the lack of Faces was odd but stylistic polygons where new and developers where still figuring out the new hardware limitations just look at from softwares games on the same console kings field and its sequels where great but no one can call them pretty not to mention how slow and cumbersome the battles are in those games granstream saga runs circles around Kings Field!
dam son my man went hard on defending this game at the end haha
Yeah i really wanted to like Erghiez so i know how u feel but i did enjoy playing granstream at the time it 1st released
No, Shade is not Quintet.
It was formed by former Quintet staff and some key member (scenario writer and music team) worked on Granstream Saga but Quintet was a separate entity.
Quintet in the meantime was developing games for Saturn (Solo Crisis and Code R).
Also Granstream Saga didn't dethrone FFVII from charts (not per Famitsu charts at least) since the game came out 11 months after FFVII release.
FFVII was dethroned 5 weeks later by a Saturn game.
Don't believe everything you read on the net.
WHY do the characters have no faces?
last thing i want to ask from you, you said this was the final end of the soul blazer series? would i need to go back and play this series to really get the understanding of it all?
i really dont understand why no one ever has anything good to say about this game! sure i agree at points it can be boring and there is no leveling system but this game i hold very dear to me! when i was kid i got sick with chicken pox, and was out of school for two weeks cause of it, during my first week of having my sickness my grandma went out and got me two new games, ff8 and this game, i ended up playing this more then ff8 cause i liked the look and feel of the game, it wasnt a ff game where you take turns hitting each other and give commands, it was all done in real time, and having skill and the right equipment also helped but no matter where i turn people bash this game…. i know people will always have their own taste in there own games but compared to a lot of shit rpgs that i have played id rather come back to this one cause i know im going to enjoy it, for example i get on the second disk of ff7 and just loose all interest in it, its no longer fun cause to me that game drags ass (like moat ff games), this game is short and simple, another complaint people have is that this game is to short, i have no issues with it being short, its forward the story is simple and you not going on to 3/4 disks of bullshit, dont get me wrong i LOVE FF games but this game is the most hated on in the ps1 era, and to me there is no reason why. GREAT GAMER!! IMO
I've owned it, played it, beat it, and loved every minute of this game. Best anime cutscenes and I didn't have no problem when I bought it. I wish this game was on PSN so I can rebuy it.
All polygonal rpgs from ps1 should be done in a remake using 16bit graphics (snes style).
they aged baad (that includes ff7)
FulleZero?
I wanted this game for several years after playing a PS magazine demo. I was similarly disappointed when i got it – not enough to stop playing before the game ended though. For a game made early in the PSOne era, I can't judge the graphics much (though the manaquin looking characters do hurt the eye at times, the anime cutscenes are great). The plot and characters disappointingly didn't develop much, the story was exactly what you'd expect from the introduction. The gameplay was unique, but not in a good way sadly. I remember being very annoyed by the fire level (or the fact that there's element based levels like this is a platform game).
I remember this, this was my first rpg I played and I really enjoyed it. Me and my brother played the crap out of it.
which movie is that 8:18?
First of all, thanks for introducing me to Jimmy's channel. Since seeing this, I've subscribed and watched a good bit of his content. Good stuff. 🙂 Secondly, I have not played this game before, although I've heard of it. I had no idea this game's links to the Soul Blazer saga. I will have to pick this one up myself, even if it doesn't get the full recommendation from this video. 😉 Great collab review! 🙂
I'm pretty sure I haven't commented on this video already. YouTube likes to hide my comments sometimes, and it's a little embarrassing when I comment on the same video twice. 😛
I grew up with this game and even though It has a few flaws it is still one of my favorites.
I loved this game as a kid. It's extremely nostalgic for me. I've been a bit wary on returning to it, after all this time. I think the characters a kind of charming and clean for an early PSX game, but the no face thing is a bit creepy. Glad someone finally reviewed this game on YouTube and did a fantastic job at that. Your other videos are ace as well so I'm glad to have discovered your channel!
I bought this game back in 2005, but the Pal version, which was actually published by Sony (SCEE – Sony Computer Entertainment Europe). Seems to me no changes were made from the US version. I have never played the Japanese version.
Not a lot of people say anything good from GS, but seriously I don't know why. I still think this games still lingers its then reputation of being subpar, which is false to my belief. Sure, it's no Zelda beater but it's a fun game!
Remember kids, it was made before Ocarina of time, before Z targeting and most other action 3D Rpgs. Zelda Oot got it right for the first time, the other before that were like GS – they were still experimenting (GS has a fixed targeting system towards the enemy and in a confined space). It came out in Japan before coming a year later to the US and 2 wholes years to Europe , so basically players were already spoiled from other games. You see, that's the main problem with this game. It came out a bit too late. It should have been released by 1997 everywhere and I bet the reviews would have been a bit more warm.
Another thing that could have placed the game higher in people's "want" list is not having the Quintet or Enix Badge on it. A lot of people still don't know this was made by the same guys as Terranigma and could be placed in the Soul Blazer Series, although probably as a spiritual sequel (but it also seems a lot of people refuse this). But I digress, about the game:
Yeah, it's your standard Action Rpg story-wise, but you have to admit it has a good vibe and the world has a nice aura about it.
Graphically it's not a bad looking game, the textures are good, animations are ok too, shame about the eyes, but you can't have a grudge on a guy for not having eyes, right?
I'd say it's a 7 out of 10 graphically speaking. An 8 out of 10 if you consider this was made in 1996-1997.
The fighting system does have its problems and is repetitive (a wierd killer blow system, using these is a bit clunky), but c'mon, even the Snes games had a similar system, they just worked better on 2D. I'd say a 5-6 out of 10 in gameplay, as the action is fast.
As for the sound the game has amazing soundtracks, they are some of the best on the Ps1 library, they are really that good. Real nice work here from the team, the best aspect of the game. I'd say it's a 9 out 10 since some of the sound effects are basic like hitting your opponent or some magical effects.
It's not that long of a game, you'd probably reach the end by the 20 hour mark, but it is compelling and a decent romp throughout the game and is very replayable, but should have had some mini games along the way as they are missing. 7 out of 10 in duration, it's decent.
I'd give this game a 6.8 ou of 10. It's decent, fun but ultimately has its flaws that lower the score a bit, but it's not a terrible game like Beyond the Beyond or Monkey Hero. On par with Alundra 2, though. I'd say it's a buy it if you find it below 10$ in the US, or lower than 15€ in Europe (it's a little more pricey in Europe).
They should really remake this game along with Ephemeral Fantasia on the Ps2.
to make the graphics a little better I wished they worked with the creators of the ps1 fighting game, Evil Zone!!! Evil Zone perfectly show each characters personality through 3D graphics and they had pretty good voice acting as well! In Granstream saga I wish they let you play as Arcia And Laramee!! With some kind of limit breaks!!! All In All Granstream Saga Is one of my favorites, but if they were having a lot of troubles with graphics couldn't they ask for help?
Awesome job, guys. It's great to hear dissenting opinions told in a fun way.
I feel you man about trying to like a game :D.
2001: A Space Odyssey reference. Nice!
Yo Derek we love your videos and like that you do a lot of RPG stuff. I'm a huge Shin megami Tensei fan and hope you get around to doing a video on that series! Also Check out our videos, none are rpg videos yet but we do play a lot of nintendo games. Your videos are really well done and we would also appreciate feed back on ours. Thanks and keep it up.
Well done lads!
I remember being really excited for Granstream Saga when it first came out because a friend told me that Ryo Yonemitsu was working on the soundtrack… and that turned out to not be true, but the soundtrack was pretty good anyway.
I really wanted to love the game, but I just didn't. It's got its high points: the overall premise and last few hours of plot, the combat system, the music… but that's bogged down too much by the boring characters and dialog, the pointlessness of actually fighting enemies, and the tediousness of the rest of the gameplay. A modern remake of it could be great, but I'm sure that'll never happen.