Finally there's the presentation of Grandia III which is is superb. Grandia III is the kind of game that tells most of its story through beautiful and brilliant cinematics. While I'm not a big fan of games that have way too many cinematics, Grandia III's are worth taking the time to watch. The rest of the story is told through in-game text, which is paced pretty well. While players may want to just try to plod through this stuff as quickly as possible it is not recommended that you do - especially in the early parts of the game. This is where the game's story really excels and these cutscenes and the dialog are truly compelling. .

While the characters in Grandia III seem like the usual clichéd and contrived suspects you'd find in a Japanese role-playing game at first glance, as the story progresses and things get darker you'll realize that this is a different cast of characters and a different kind of story worth following (at least before you load up disc 2). Many of the characters are fleshed out by their shortcomings and the fact that are fallible. The early parts of the game where Miranda (Yuuki's mom) is part of the group are the most interesting, and the relationship between her and her son is built in a way that you don't usually find in Japanese role-playing games. It's a shame that this kind of story-telling goes by the wayside in the second disc, because Game Arts was on the path to perfection. The interactive dialogue around campfires and at dinners was also a nice touch, which told the story while serving it up in a way that let players decide in what order to tell the story. A very good idea, and from a presentation standpoint very compelling.

Final Thoughts

As I mention in my opening comments, Grandia III lands somewhere in between grand and average. The game's combat system and excellent graphics makes up for a weak second half storyline and ho-hum characters that bring the go down a notch and I have no problem recommending it to role-players that find themselves mostly ignoring those aspects of these games. In the end GameShark finds that the sum of Grandia III's parts ends up being a solid "B" with no regrets.

Grandia III and all associated art, logos, names and titles are copyright 2005, 2006 of Square Enix and Game Arts. All Rights reserved, used with permission.