Grandia Series - Spin-offs

Spin-offs

• Grandia: Digital Museum (Sega Saturn): Not officially a sequel, but a bonus disc using the same engine as the Saturn version of Grandia. Though it only consists of four dungeons, each one is very large compared to the ones in the original Grandia. Justin, Feena and Sue must explore them in order to recover artifacts from a museum of the original game that Liete has created. These unlock storyboards, special sound plays known as "Radio Dramas", saves for the original Saturn game, mini-games, bestiary listings and original artwork.
• Grandia: Parallel Trippers (Game Arts/Hudson, Game Boy Color): Uses the same characters and music as the first Grandia game. The actual game areas are different from those of the original Grandia, though many of the item, move and enemy names are the same. A group of schoolchildren who live in the "real" world are sucked into a portal while playing in an abandoned shed next to their school and end up in the world of Grandia. They must find three special keys in order to make their way back home, and enlist the help of Justin and friends, who are always keen for new adventures. This game was developed by Game Arts and published by Hudson in Japan in December 2000. It was never translated to English, but can be played on any system capable of running Game Boy Color cartridges.
• Grandia Xtreme (Game Arts/Enix, PlayStation 2): This incarnation of the Grandia series was considerably more battle-focused than the earlier games. The main character is a Ranger known as Evann recruited by the army to help neutralise the so-called Elemental Disorder, which has been causing havoc. A much improved Grandia 2 battle engine was used in Xtreme, and various other features were added to the game outside of combat to give it more the feel of a "dungeon crawler" such as Diablo. Rather than having a party decided by the plot as in previous Grandia games, Xtreme gives the player 8 characters from which the player is free to choose his preferred team. Graphics are much improved on Grandia 2 — the battling is quick and fluid, and loading times everywhere in the game are some of the fastest in any PlayStation 2 game. Battles are also more large-scale than any past Grandia game, with often over 15 combatants at one time. The character empowerment system was somewhat a mix of Grandia and Grandia 2, with techniques being learned and upgraded through use, but skills and magic being found and equipped. The game was criticised for having a weaker story, relatively uninteresting characters and only two "towns," which was a large change from past Grandia games which focused on story and travel.
• Grandia Online (Game Arts, PC): A MMORPG currently in development.