Grandia: Digital Museum

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Grandia: Digital Museum
Developer(s) Game Arts
Publisher(s) ESP Software
Platform(s) Sega Saturn
Release date JPN May 28, 1998
Genre(s) RPG
Mode(s) Single player
Media 1 × CD-ROM

Grandia: Digital Museum is one of the three spin-off entries in the Grandia series (the others being Grandia: Parallel Trippers and Grandia Xtreme) and is only available for the Sega Saturn in Japan.

The game is based shortly after the events of the first Grandia game. The three main characters, Justin, Feena and Sue, find themselves transported to a museum that Liete has created based on their adventure together. However, all the exhibits have gone missing. Justin, Feena and Sue must go into the dungeons nearby and try to track them down. Along the way Justin, Feena and Sue will come across many old friends and enemies, including Liete (of course), Guido, Bahl, Mullen and Milda.

The Levels - There are only four dungeons in the game (excluding the museum, which is more of a town/village area). Whilst there are only four, they are all very large and have more than enough enemies to keep the player busy (the monsters are all incidentally very difficult). These are unofficial names (the originals being in Japanese). The dungeons are:

* The Army Base - A large base commanded by the Garlysle troops. Outside there is a huge yard where the tanks have seemingly gone berserk. Inside are several areas, each controlled by one of the three lieutenants (Nana, Saki and Mio). You must find the key to gain access to the office, then fight both Bahl and Mullen at the same time.

* The Desert Palace - An ancient palace in the middle of a desert sandstorm, requiring both puzzle-solving skills and fighting techniques to make it to the top. There are several mazes which switch paths and platforms to find the correct route around, and at the top wait Gadwin and Milda.

* The Ocean Platform - What can only really be described as "an oil rig, Grandia-style". A huge network of platforms, gantries and pillars sticking out of the ocean. Can take a while to find your way around.

* The Ruins - Several different ruins underground, each seemingly depending on a season or time of day. Battle-hardened trolls wait, as does a large lava dragon.

The Museum Itself - Whilst this may not seem like a great deal, there are plenty of other distractions to be had in Grandia Digital Museum, and these are found in the exhibits that litter the four dungeons. These consist of the following:

* Artwork and storyboards - Several pieces of rare artwork and storyboards. Each one you get gives a small collection, such as 16 pages, which can be viewed and are set to music. Some of the more memorable ones include Feena in her wedding dress, dungeon and location sketches (you can see original character sketches in there, looking different from the game ones) and a drunk Bahl outside a bar.

* Character Portraits - The character portraits that pop up each time a character is speaking.

* Sound Theatre - A collection of sound or radio plays featuring the Grandia cast.

* Grandia 1 saves - A handy little addition, this allows you to download a save file from the game to your Saturn memory, for use in the full Grandia 1 game to play from a certain point.

* Bestiary - Basically, a library of all the monsters and their characteristics.

* Arcade - An arcade featuring mini-games for you to play. Including games such as baseball, archery, an eating competition, a text-based Grandia game, and a game in which you must defend Feena's panties.