Jul 082015
From sweeping orchestral openings to hard rockin battle tunes, the Grandia series has something for everyone.
0:00:00 – Theme of Grandia (Grandia)
0:11:25 – Town of Palm (Grandia)
0:14:53 – Snowy Laine Village (Grandia)
0:19:10 – Battle 3 (Grandia)
0:28:32 – Carbo (Grandia II)
0:33:16 – Dangerous Zone (Grandia II)
0:36:49 – Fight Ver 1 (Grandia II)
0:45:02 – Inn Town Agear (Grandia II)
0:49:15 – Commercial Town Liligue (Grandia II)
0:51:59 – Fight Ver 3 (Grandia II)
0:57:04 – Combat 1 (Grandia Xtreme)
1:00:53 – Combat 3 (Grandia Xtreme)
1:09:40 – Theme of Grandia III (Grandia III)
1:14:32 – Surumania (Grandia III)
1:20:26 – Granasaber (Grandia II)
Thanks for this episode! Grandia II’s battle system is one of my all time favorites so it’s music is burned into my head.
Side note – My apologies if you already know about this but Streets of Rage is being released on vinyl!
I was able to pre-order it from Data Discs
http://data-discs.com/products/streets-of-rage
Also Shenmue is coming to vinyl as well
http://data-discs.com/collections/records/products/shenmue
Another pleasant surprise! I was that guy Hank was talking about who desperately hoped Grandia would come to the Saturn, specifically due to the GameFan coverage. When I realized that wasn’t going to happen, I ended up importing it(my first import). I played it with a fan-translated script printout on my lap. Not the best way to go through a game, but it was a great experience nonetheless.
The theme for Grandia wasn’t typical for its time; it was about a kid who goes out on an exploration/voyage. It really tried to give the feeling of wonder from going out into the wide world.
I also bought Grandia II for the DC, and enjoyed it immensely. Both games were great because they were some of the first JRPGs to address grinding in a somewhat meaningful way(although I guess earthbound did the same).
oh my god worth it for Dangerous Zone alone. Grimm mentioned Highway Star in regard to one of the other battle songs, but DZ seems like it’s literally built on nothing but that song’s scream / organ solos.
I played Grandia for the first time 2 years ago after picking it up on PSN and it’s one of my favorite games of all time now. The music is sooooo good that it gives me the feels just hearing it. The steam release of Grandia 2 is one of my most anticipated games as the only way to play the best version is to buy a dreamcast copy which is around $100 now.
So happy to finally see a Grandia episode!
I’m not the biggest Grandia fan by any means (have yet to play 1 or 3) but Grandia II is tied to so many fond memories. Never fully beat it on Dreamcast, but I certainly plan to once it’s on Steam. I think the last time I played it was in college. Had my Dreamcast hooked up to my PC monitor via VGA and I think I was in a dungeon associated with Lilligue?
I remember convincing my friend to get it back in 2000 as he was the only person I knew who got a launch window Dreamcast. I just remember watching videos of the game in action online (I think it was on The GIA or IGN?), and being blown away by that catchy battle theme.
Funny enough there WAS a PC version released around the same time as the PS2 version, but that was also a pretty sloppy port. I really oughta get Grandia 1 on PSN because I am REALLY digging the first game’s music!
I may be one of the biggest Breath of Fire fanboys around, but even I will concede to Noriyuki Iwadare’s Grandia II “FIGHT! ver. 1” as the greatest JRPG battle theme of all time. It’s the perfect god-tier concoction of aha 80s synths, Joe Satriani-esque guitar soloing and ESPN Monday Night Football rip-offs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7O8LqwKwwg . But seriously, Grandia II’s Battle Theme gives me chills and just gets me pumped up every time I listen to it and made the battles that much more fun.
Likewise, all the town music is really damn good, I love how jazz-funky Carbo Village is. “Nightmare Village Mirumu ~ A Good, Unknown Anxiety” is another great town theme.
I remember hearing that Grandia Xtreme, despite having Mark Hammill, wasn’t a very good game, so I avoided it. The most I’ve seen of Grandia III was in screenshots, and then it sort of came out and I didn’t give it much attention. Now I wish it and Xtreme were PS2 Classics (Xtreme is, in Japan at least)!
Gotta give some shoutouts to some VGM people who did some awesome covers of Grandia music, notably:
Grant “Stemage” Henry’s cover of Grandia II’s Battle Theme https://stemage.bandcamp.com/track/fight
The World is Square’s lovely folk performance of ‘Nightmare Village” https://theworldissquare.bandcamp.com/track/kitchen-nightmare-village-people-nightmare-village-a-great-unknown-anxiety-grandia-ii
Video Game Orchestra’s performance of the Grandia theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4fUdY1PGhY
Dammit, Kulikowski! I was going to mention the Monday Night Football thing, both here and in the Battle Sampler episode when I heard it the first time. Then I didn’t. But I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN.
Wow Grandia has pretty cool music.
I dunno is this weird, but I recognise the battle music that starts at about 37 minutes into this episode, but not from any of the games, I’ve never played them; but from ANOTHER VGMpire episode.
I listened to your battle sampler show multiple times, because it had such a great range from different series. I’m 99% sure the song in question was the song that started the battle sampler episode.
You’re correct. I was waiting for one of them to call attention to that fact but they didn’t for some reason. Now I’m just going to go home and cry for a little bit.
I commented before I finished the episode.
Now that I listened to it all, there was another Grandia song later that I remember from the battle sampler episode.
So two in total I think.
Yessss! Can’t wait to listen to this one. I played Grandia II on the Dreamcast. It was the 2nd or 3rd RPG I ever played. The other two were Evolution (not quite the same quality) and Skies of Arcadia (of even greater quality in my book). I loved Grandia II. “Dangerous Zone” sticks out in my memory more than any other song. It is just so blood pumping and when it plays, you know that some serious sh** is hitting the fan.
I replayed Grandia II about a year ago. It’s still quite a good game. The story is nothing special, but there’s a lot of surprising detail in the game world. Every NPC has 2 or 3 lines, and they all change their lines every time something significant happens in the story. It kind of blew me away to see that they bothered giving new lines to NPCs in the first town when I’m halfway through the game. Also, apparently Ryudo is voiced by Liquid Snake. Who knew?
Hah, you guys mentioned Evolution and E.G.G! I never expected such obscure games to get a mention. Brett, I’m glad you loved Grandia II and I hope it does well on Steam. There’s a lot to love about it.
Grandia II has long been on my short list of “games to play” if only to finally hear the music in context. “A Deus” is one of my favorite game pieces *ever*. The idea of using Portuguese rather than Latin or French for an “official” language sets it apart, even if the pronunciation is apparently kinda bad. Also, I think I’m a sucker for harps. “Romance at a Windy Isle” and “A Goodbye, and a Decision” are also gorgeous songs worth checking out. Can’t wait for it to finally hit Steam…whenever that’ll be.
Thanks for the show, as always!
ooooooh! I really loved this episode! I never played any of the grandia games but man, this is some super good music. It has a specific sound of a time of RPG soundtracks that I love and make me all super nostalgic. thanks for making this ep. I’ll have to get my hands on that 1 & 2 OST. definitely.
Grandia 2 is a soundtrack I can go back to endlessly. I played the game once something like 10 years ago, but those themes stick fresh in my head still. It has just the right blend of dramatic tension and fun melodies that match the game so well. The battle theme is one of the best ever, and ‘Dangerous Zone’ is a perfect cheesy rock instrumental.
This episode is really making me want to go back and play it. This was the first game that really shocked my mid-Western roots. [SPOILER] “The final bad guy is the Pope!”?
So glad to hear this music again. Grandia is my 2nd favorite RPG of all time (right behind Skies of Arcadia). This series is fantastic and the music top notch. Catchy, fresh and holds the test of time.
Thanks for sharing this with us!
that Grandia 2 battle song is so freaking good…”Fight Ver 1″ I think is the title. That chimey synth melody…. “All I see is four heroes flying through space in a cadillac” – C. Ant