Grandia III - Plot Vs. Character.

Grandia and Grandia II both contained great characterization and engaging plots so Grandia III has a lot to live up to. Does it succeed? The answer is no unfortunately. What does Grandia III do right? The answer there is characterization. The characters are the same deep seemingly real people they've always been in the series. The characters actually show emotion. They actually react to every detail. In other words there is far more to them beyond their visuals to let you now who they are. They're the exact opposite of your standard Square characters. The characters feel. They're not designed to just look teenage hip and angst-ridden. All Game Arts games have had a serious depth of conversation. Conversation both amongst main story characters and every last NPC in the game alike. Grandia III continues that great tradition. You can talk to every NPC three to five times and get little details of the character of the entire world. It's this lush attention to detail that helps give the overall game character. When you talk to an NPC in a Game Arts game, your party characters actually respond to them. Entire conversations are had. It's not just your main character either. Any of them might respond, and your characters could in turn respond to their response kicking off an entire exchange that further builds on their character development. It's this massive detail that keeps piling on information that allows you more insight into the characters should you choose to seek out and speak to all the NPCs. The Grandia series even goes one further. It actually has dinner conversations where the characters just sit around and talk to each other for the sole purpose of character development. Grandia III continues this tradition wonderfully. Another aspect of the Grandia series that's been carried over is the characters having minds of their own. They enter and leave your party on their own accord. You never really have control over them. They will just up and leave to do whatever they feel they must at whatever given time. There isn't any swapping out of characters to suit the player. The characterization for Grandia III has met the standards set by Grandia and Grandia II. So that leaves the plot. How did the plot fair? Not so well I'm afraid. The problem here is that it's all so very me too. It's something you've seen before a dozen times over in Japanese RPG storytelling. Earnest adventure seeking youth meets virtuous maiden with urgent task of world importance to complete. Said girl is being pursued by agents of evil. Said youth and maiden fall in love along the way and their love will see them through.  Grandia and Grandia II both featured great twists near the end, and it remains to be seen if Grandia III will follow suit. Part of the problem here is the removal general exploration. The game is exceedingly linear. You go from A to B to C with absolutely nothing in between. While you enjoy the characters along the way, they're just never venturing off the very well worn path. There is nothing really wrong with the plot, it's just that you've done it all before. I will have to wait until the very end to see if that changes of course. As of thirty-six hours in, the plot is standard stuff, and by result a little bland. Next time should deal with design. Puzzle, dungeon, and overworld design in fact.