Grandia OR Panzer Dragoon Saga OR Shining Force 3 S1/2/3?

[sych]

Final poll of the week and probably the hardest poll of the week. We have the best of the RPG's on the Saturn doing battle. Was reluctant to include the other two scenarios of SF but knowing the size of Grandia and PDS, this will even the odds. Obviously Grandia was only released in JPN but if you've experienced it on other consoles such as PS1 you can still count that as an experience as they very much idential with the Saturn graphically being the better of the two. So which will it be: Grandia, Panzer Dragoon Saga or Shining Force 3?

I think I'll leave it a month now before I do anymore polls to give all current polls already out there the chance to get real traction and a bit more attention. Plus I think there's enough there for discussions to go on for a couple of months. So happy debating.

GRANDIA



PANZER DRAGOON SAGA



SHINING FORCE 3

[dantemdie]

I only played Saga, but i did watch a lot of grandia And shining force.

I have to go with saga. As a panzer dragoon fan, it's hard not to look at saga with mysticism. It's atmosphere, it's battle system, it's story... The moment i got the game in my own hands i knew i was in for a special ride... And what a ride it was!

The ammount of holy sh*t moments this game had - shellcoof And the dragon crest were insane. When guardian Dragon boss battle started i was completely out of my mind...

I only have a single playthrough in saga, but it was so breathtaking as a panzer dragoon fan that absolutely justified the ridículous ammount of Money i payed for the game.

[thewhitefalcon]

Grandia is a very solid title, but solid isn't enough to beat Saga.

[Sonnington]

I kinda wanted to see Dark Savior go against Grandia since they both have the 2d sprites on a 3d background thing going on. Even if DS would get smashed; at least I'd vote for it.

Panzer Dragoon Saga. Easily. Not even a close call. Despite not being able to really get into the previous titles, Saga is easily one of the best games I've ever played in my life.

I guess I never gave SF3 a solid chance since the first fight outside the city I lost several times.

Grandia 1 I played a couple dozen hours of before quitting. I loved Grandia 2 and due to its reputation I figured Grandia 1 would get better eventually... but the whole thing felt really generic and bland. I didn't like the characters and the plot just seemed kinda lazy.

[bultje112]

this is impossible for me to decide yet. it's between shining force 3 (all 3 scenarios, especially 3) and saga. I will vote later but both 'games' are in my top 3 best games ever made.

[sych]

May 19, 2017 21:54:28 GMT Sonnington said:

I kinda wanted to see Dark Savior go against Grandia since they both have the 2d sprites on a 3d background thing going on. Even if DS would get smashed; at least I'd vote for it.

Panzer Dragoon Saga. Easily. Not even a close call. Despite not being able to really get into the previous titles, Saga is easily one of the best games I've ever played in my life.

I guess I never gave SF3 a solid chance since the first fight outside the city I lost several times.

Grandia 1 I played a couple dozen hours of before quitting. I loved Grandia 2 and due to its reputation I figured Grandia 1 would get better eventually... but the whole thing felt really generic and bland. I didn't like the characters and the plot just seemed kinda lazy.

You said it! Grandia is hugely considered by many as one of the best Saturn games ever made. And having played through the whole Saturn version with the game faqs and translations script and completed it I can massively understand why. For me to put Grandia up against Dark Saviour, would have been assisted suicide. Would be like putting Hardcore 4 x 4 up against Sega Rally. Grandia would have torn Dark Savior a new arsehole 3 times over, there would have been absolutely no point. Nothing wrong with Dark Savior of course but Grandia is just....well it's GRANDIA I literally start foaming at the mouth when I think about all of all Grandia's outstanding qualities. There are just soo many.

Still haven't made up my mind yet though.

[Sonnington]

May 19, 2017 22:33:45 GMT sych said:

May 19, 2017 21:54:28 GMT Sonnington said:

I kinda wanted to see Dark Savior go against Grandia since they both have the 2d sprites on a 3d background thing going on. Even if DS would get smashed; at least I'd vote for it.

Panzer Dragoon Saga. Easily. Not even a close call. Despite not being able to really get into the previous titles, Saga is easily one of the best games I've ever played in my life.

I guess I never gave SF3 a solid chance since the first fight outside the city I lost several times.

Grandia 1 I played a couple dozen hours of before quitting. I loved Grandia 2 and due to its reputation I figured Grandia 1 would get better eventually... but the whole thing felt really generic and bland. I didn't like the characters and the plot just seemed kinda lazy.

You said it! Grandia is hugely considered by many as one of the best Saturn games ever made. And having played through the whole Saturn version with the game faqs and translations script and completed it I can massively understand why. For me to put Grandia up against Dark Saviour, would have been assisted suicide. Would be like putting Hardcore 4 x 4 up against Sega Rally. Grandia would have torn Dark Savior a new arsehole 3 times over, there would have been absolutely no point. Nothing wrong with Dark Savior of course but Grandia is just....well it's GRANDIA I literally start foaming at the mouth when I think about all of all Grandia's outstanding qualities. There are just soo many.

Still haven't made up my mind yet though.

Fair enough. I played Grandia on a PS1. Was the Saturn fan translation better than the PS1 version?

[tempest]

I've only played the PS1 version of Grandia. While the battle system is unique and the world, characters, and story have a lot of charm, it feels generic at times and even tedious. For all the battle system's benefits, general battles feel too much like grinding. Still, the story is entertaining and fun. A great, if overrated, game, and well worthy of third place.

Shining Force III is a unique title in this lot, being a stategy RPG. It lacks the accessibility of the other two titles, but players who put time into learning the complexities of the game are highly rewarded. The non-battle graphics are a bit crap and the soundtrack is very hit or miss, but the story and gameplay are compelling. A worthy second place.

What can I say about PDS that hasn't been said before? Beautiful graphics, atmospheric soundtrack, awesome battle system, emotive story. It's my favourite Saturn game and favourite game of all time. I have fond memories of playing this until late at night during my end of high school examinations when I should have been studying. Instead, I was completely absorbed by disc 2. An easy first place for me.

[bultje112]

May 21, 2017 3:12:24 GMT Sonnington said:

May 19, 2017 22:33:45 GMT sych said:

You said it! Grandia is hugely considered by many as one of the best Saturn games ever made. And having played through the whole Saturn version with the game faqs and translations script and completed it I can massively understand why. For me to put Grandia up against Dark Saviour, would have been assisted suicide. Would be like putting Hardcore 4 x 4 up against Sega Rally. Grandia would have torn Dark Savior a new arsehole 3 times over, there would have been absolutely no point. Nothing wrong with Dark Savior of course but Grandia is just....well it's GRANDIA I literally start foaming at the mouth when I think about all of all Grandia's outstanding qualities. There are just soo many.

Still haven't made up my mind yet though.

Fair enough. I played Grandia on a PS1. Was the Saturn fan translation better than the PS1 version?

there never was a saturn fan translation unfortunately. the psx version I never played but I saw it and vowed to never play it thanks to it's terrible dub. I did play grandia on saturn for a while and it seemed fantastic so I hold off on that until a fan translation is made or until I learn japanese.

[sych]

May 21, 2017 9:20:33 GMT bultje112 said:

May 21, 2017 3:12:24 GMT Sonnington said:

Fair enough. I played Grandia on a PS1. Was the Saturn fan translation better than the PS1 version?

there never was a saturn fan translation unfortunately. the psx version I never played but I saw it and vowed to never play it thanks to it's terrible dub. I did play grandia on saturn for a while and it seemed fantastic so I hold off on that until a fan translation is made or until I learn japanese.

Actually that's not true. There was a Saturn fan translation. It was translated by the Alert Project group in 1998. This is what I used for the majority of the game. However it's not complete. They only translated about 70% of the story because a year later and over half way into their project the PS1 version came out so they abandoned it. So I resorted to the PS1 script to complete the remainder of the game which was no hassle at all.

However the English dub on the PS1 version is absolutely terrible as you've pointed out. So when I resorted to watching the PS1 version for the remaining 30% of the game on youtube, for the dub sections I turned the volume off and just read the text. Like yourself, I much prefer the original Japanese vocals of the Saturn version. Plus graphically the Saturn version is so superior to the PS1.

[sych]

May 21, 2017 3:12:24 GMT Sonnington said:

May 19, 2017 22:33:45 GMT sych said:

You said it! Grandia is hugely considered by many as one of the best Saturn games ever made. And having played through the whole Saturn version with the game faqs and translations script and completed it I can massively understand why. For me to put Grandia up against Dark Saviour, would have been assisted suicide. Would be like putting Hardcore 4 x 4 up against Sega Rally. Grandia would have torn Dark Savior a new arsehole 3 times over, there would have been absolutely no point. Nothing wrong with Dark Savior of course but Grandia is just....well it's GRANDIA I literally start foaming at the mouth when I think about all of all Grandia's outstanding qualities. There are just soo many.

Still haven't made up my mind yet though.

Fair enough. I played Grandia on a PS1. Was the Saturn fan translation better than the PS1 version?

I wouldn't say the Saturn fan translation was better than the PS1 version, it was just different in certain area's. The odd words changed here and there but other than that it was pretty much spot on.

It's the English dubbing on the PS1 version that really messes with the feel of the game. So if you chose not to follow Alents Saturn fan translation script and wanna watch the PS1 videos on youtube whilst in game, just turn your youtube volume down during the dubbing sections of the game and you'll be fine. Thankfully not every piece of text involved speaking dialogue so you won't have to do that for all sections of the story.

[xDerekRx]

Extremely difficult to pick between Shining Force 3 and Panzer Dragoon Saga. Both are unbelievable. I voted SFIII to give it some love in this poll. Just S1 of SFIII blew me away from the color, the in battle graphics, the smooth rotating camera, the quick load times, the enjoyable towns. Both games are a couple of the finest titles of that era. Its a shame Working Designs didn't end up bringing over Grandia like many thought they may or else Id probably given it a fairer shot in this poll.

[bultje112]

did you play the other 2 scenarios as well?

[xDerekRx]

May 21, 2017 9:12:56 GMT tempest said:

Instead, I was completely absorbed by disc 2.

Its funny you mention Disc 2, that was where the game really grabbed me. Disc 1 kind of flies by and I was sorta like "whats all the fuss about". Then there were a couple moments that I won't spoil (even though its 20 years later now) where the game just clicked for me and never let go.

[xDerekRx]

May 23, 2017 5:53:04 GMT bultje112 said:

did you play the other 2 scenarios as well?

I have actually not even played the 2/3 S yet which is why I consider it so impressive that even the 1st part is worthy of stand alone praise.

I have the translations burned and ready to play. I also own the original JPN versions just for the shelf aesthetic. Ive been itching to play these for so damn long.




Even have them displayed in the collection. Bultje112 I know you dont like US coverarts (and I complete disagree with you in that respect but to each his own) but I personally far prefer that SOA used the original Scenario 1 art on the box than the PAL one. Although there is 0 wrong with that one either. Nice hand drawn characters. I just love the original red/purple bright cover that they made for the JPN release. Really makes you wish the other 2 had come over just so we could have 3 separate cases to display. At some point I plan on making some custom blown up artwork using the S2 and S3 covers. But Ill save that until after I actually play through them finally! The guys over at the Translation project made some nice US art years ago that I might use. Ive seen some people on Ebay even selling S2 and S3 PAL cases which don't look too shabby.

By yeah even with just the 1st scenario only played, I definitely fell in love with it. Ive been also trying to find the JPN posters for all 3 games. So far was only able to get the S3 poster years ago off Ebay. I check JPN auction sites for any SFIII merch but unfortunately doesn't look like they made much other than the art/guide books.