Wayback Wednesday Vol. 39, Part 1: The Granstream Saga

A relic of its time, but with some worthwhile qualities

One of the first things a player will notice about Granstream Saga is that it’s a product of its time, with blocky graphics and uninspired character models. But even by those standards (late 90s), the game looked pretty dated compared to its peers. You can't look past the faceless characters; even your main character has no face!

However, that is unfair to the game, which is so much more than its graphics! This game also has one of the most unique battle systems on the original PlayStation. Every battle is 1-on-1 and action-based. You can swipe away at your enemies until your heart is content, but that won’t get you far. Or you can learn combos and use the directions to make quick work of them. Or you can take the middle road as I did and dash forward and/or back or swerve from side to side to avoid enemy attacks and look for an opening to counter. After all, honestly, your success is not dependent on learning the combos, as I never bothered to, but you need to learn to strafe from one side to the other, as you can get behind enemies this way and more easily slash them, even bosses.

While the battles are fun, navigating many of the dungeons is not as enjoyable, as they are often non-descript mazes. It is hard to tell where you’ve been and where you are going, and running around in circles while trying to find your way is likely. The camera does not help either, and the more you fiddle with it, the more it just seems to confuse orientation. In combat, it is automated and does not always provide the best angles, sometimes being obscured by the foreground, making it hard to see anything.

As for dungeon exploration, you don’t need to focus on fighting enemies much, as there is no grinding for levels. Levels, for better or worse, come at predetermined times (main events) in the story. This is good because it provides a minimum that all gamers will reach. For less seasoned players, this will create a struggle because you can never grind to get more levels. Plus, if you miss some very well-hidden “LP” (which functions as a bar of HP), you will have a much harder time down the road.

Search. Every. single. thing for as many LP stat growths as possible. Many of the weapons and armors are found in chests, like scraps of metal that are fixed by your scepter, but quite a few are missable and just as important as level increases, which you will see 14 of. Beating enemies often depends on a player switching weapons until they find one they are weak against, as well as switching armor. The right weapon/armor combo will make an enemy go down in no time. The wrong combo will make you weak as a lamb, potentially risking the loss of progress.

Characters in the game range from those who seem to just be there, like the mayor of one town, to the tolerable to the downright annoying and grouchy, such as Laramee, one of the more unlikable “good” characters you will find. The story is interesting but has a tendency to drag, adding too many unimportant details and cheesy, drama-filled dialogue. On the plus side, cutscenes, though clearly dated, are numerous and voiced rather decently. The cutscenes are numerous but often short, yet they still do a great job conveying the story.

Overall, if you can look past this game's flaws and how poorly it has aged, you will find a fun game waiting for you with the occasional long-winded dialogue or annoying (Laramee) character. It will take around 15–20 hours. I have beaten it twice, once in 1999 and once in 2019, and the battle system is what stood out during both playthroughs.

Wayback Wednesday Volume 1: Final Fantasy 7 and Chrono Trigger.

Wayback Wednesday Volume 2: Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

Wayback Wednesday Volume 3: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete

Wayback Wednesday Volume 4: Secret of Mana and Wild Arms

Wayback Wednesday Volume 5: Illusion of Gaia and Grandia

Wayback Wednesday Volume 6: Breath of Fire 3 and X-Men Legends

Wayback Wednesday Volume 7: Star Ocean: The Second Story and Super Mario RPG

Wayback Wednesday Volume 8: Demon's Crest and Dragon Quest VI

Wayback Wednesday Volume 9: Suikoden I and Jeanne d'Arc

Wayback Wednesday Volume 10: Ranking the first 6 Final Fantasy games

Wayback Wednesday Volume 11: Earthbound and Valkyrie Profile

Wayback Wednesday Volume 12: Legend of Legaia and Secret of Evermore