The Granstream Saga

[gamechampionx]

I've recently seen various places listing "The Granstream Saga" as the fourth part of the Gaia series. I've never played this game, so I'm wondering if it's any good, and how tied to the "trillogy" this game is.

[inferiare]

Where was it said that it's part of the Soul Blazer series? o.o The only thing that would really connect it to the trilogy is that Quintet had some development into it (I have the game, and it has nothing to do with resurrecting the world or whatnot).

[gamechampionx]

Wikipedia is one of the places where it's listed as part of the series:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_series

It's apparently considered to be by some because of the state of the world in the game, which happens to be rather demolished and needs to be built up.

I can't agree or disagree because I haven't played it, but it seems more far-fetched than the connection between the games in the "trillogy".

[inferiare]

Methinks whoever edited that has their information mixed up. I've played a bit of Granstream Saga, and it has nothing remotely to do with the SB series in the way of a connecting game. The only connection it has would be the ruined world theme, but with the other three games, there's more than one connection to the others (Solid Arm, Turbo, Mu, etc).

And I was wrong about Quintet doing just some work on GS, it looks like, though I may have seen that they only produced it elsewhere (it doesn't say that on their official site, but I would have to look into it, methinks).

...and edit no. 1 says that it was developed by a company named Shade. If Quintet had any involvement, it wasn't in actually making the game. Also, Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, and Terranigma were all Enix games, so another company developing a game that was part of the Blazer trilogy makes no sense.

[gamechampionx]

Ah, ok. Thanks for the clarification. I did notice that when people were listing similarities, this game seemed to be on the "empty" side lol.

[inferiare]

Haha yeah. I think people are reading too far into Granstream Saga being a part when it's really not, since Quintet hasn't worked on any games since 2002 (that was the last time their page was updated, anyway).

[gamechampionx]

Heh, sounds about right.

This is probably just a case of "people are idiots", present company excluded.

[tay120n64]

That is kind of odd. I actually found out about the game in my most recent issue of EGM. They were talking about series they'd like to see revived, and Soul Blazer was in the top five. It listed Granstream Saga as the most recent release. I wonder why it would be considered part of it if there's no connection?

EDIT: I just read an article that stated why GS is game four. It turns out the graphic designer, as well as a few other Quintet members, formed "Shade", the company that made the game. Though they didn't put many (if any) connections in it, the designer intended for it to be the spiritual successor to Terranigma. Here's a page about it if you're interested:

http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/quintet/quintet4.htm

[inferiare]

Hm. Shade may have been Quintet, but... I've played the game, and it still doesn't strike me as part of the SB series. The SNES games still had quite a few things linking them, and there's been a few games with the death/resurrection theme in it.

However, the article mentioned that fans don't see GS as a sequel of sorts. Also, while I know SB didn't go the way of IoG and TN with the "Here's actual places in the world" (of course, I haven't finished SB, I get stuck horribly, so unless the places Blazer goes to are based off of real places, I'm going with this), and GS has no actual real places and is gone off of a fantasy setting, I would think that if it were a successor to TN, it would have been based off of the real world in some way.

However, that's just me.

[tay120n64]

Yeah, I agree, if it were a sequal to TN it would have real places, unlike SB, which has none. And where are you stuck at on SB?

[gamechampionx]

I think this is a case of the "spiritual sequel" labeling.

Saying that this game is the sequel to Terranigma seems to be analagous to saying that Act Raiser is the prequel to SoulBlazer.

[inferiare]

gamechampionx wrote:

I think this is a case of the "spiritual sequel" labeling. Saying that this game is the sequel to Terranigma seems to be analagous to saying that Act Raiser is the prequel to SoulBlazer.

Ahaha, yeah, that's what I was thinking. It has similar qualities, but not enough for it to be an actual part of the series. I don't think Quintet was thinking "HEY! It HAS to be a part of the SB series!", it was "Let's make it along those lines, but not a part of that series." The trilogy had its defining markers, such as Turbo, being able to fly/sail past South Cape in TN, fighting Solid Arm in Gaia...

Granstream has none of that. It has the "We need to save the world from collapsing into the water!", but not the full feel of "Resurrect the world, and save it from the bad guys!" like Terranigma did. While IoG had the first feeling of "Save the world from Dark Gaia!", you still had that in TN with the "Beat up Dark Gaia before it destroys shit!"

Though, I think I'll be getting a Wii points card so I can download ActRaiser.

Tay: I think I'm stuck at the boss in the first area. I seem to die a lot trying to get to him. XD

[gamechampionx]

Quote:

Though, I think I'll be getting a Wii points card so I can download ActRaiser.

Heh, cool. I've got the original cartridge which pzwns. I've very proud to own that, as well as SoulBlazer complete and Illusion of Gaia.

I'm a little disappointed in the selection of games available in the VirtualConsole dealy though. I was expecting big numbers and it seems we're getting nowhere near that. To be fair though, I don't even have a Wii so I guess it doesn't really matter to me.

[inferiare]

gamechampionx wrote:

Quote: Though, I think I'll be getting a Wii points card so I can download ActRaiser. Heh, cool. I've got the original cartridge which pzwns. I've very proud to own that, as well as SoulBlazer complete and Illusion of Gaia. I'm a little disappointed in the selection of games available in the VirtualConsole dealy though. I was expecting big numbers and it seems we're getting nowhere near that. To be fair though, I don't even have a Wii so I guess it doesn't really matter to me.

Yeaaaah, our game selection here is pretty non-existant. The good rpg's are expensive.

However I'm lucky to have the SB trilogy (yes, Terranigma as well!), even if I can't play TN. But, there's a few games I want off of the Wii virtual console. I only have Trauma Center for the Wii, so any other games I can get are good for me as well. XD

[tay120n64]

I was fortunate enough just recently to find Secret of Mana for $25. Normally it would be $40, which is alot for a used decade-old game.

I still want to get a sealed copy of Illusion of Gaia, being as I, like, worship that game.

That, and the fact that my copy is a hand-me-down. My poor little torn-up instruction booklet. It never stood a chance...