Metareview - Grandia III (PS2)

The Grandia series has had its share of hits and misses over the years, and the latest iteration, Grandia III, follows that same pattern with its great graphics and battle system, but poor story and character follow-through after the game's first disc. Here are a few representative reviews and quotes for GIII:

• 1UP (8.0/10): "I almost feel like I'm reviewing two games -- the first disc, which is awesome, and the second, which is ho-hum."
• RPGFan--the domestic review (81%): "The first disc features some great character development.... The emotional scenes in the first disc are really striking, especially with the great dialogue.... The [voice] acting is good as a whole, though there are some stinkers.... The music, on the other hand, is, to put it bluntly, crap."
• Penny Arcade: "With RPG combat systems wresting more and more control away from players... it's a relief that Grandia has retained a fully turn-based system where position and timing still matter. There are actually spots on the controller where our tears of jubilation disturbed the hand oils and snack residue."
• IGN (7.6/10): "Despite its relatively short playing time and lack of things to do outside the main quest, its battle system, initial character introductions, and boss fights are compelling enough to warrant a total playthough."

If you find the good (a great first disc and crazy combos) to outweigh the bad (a short, linear game with uneven difficulty), then GameArts' latest might be the thing to hold you over till FFXII. Otherwise, it's mired in a decidedly average spectrum of titles--good, but not spectacular--clocking in with a 79 out of 100 overall metascore (out of 20 current reviews).