Grandia (PSX)

Grandia’s environments are depicted as three-dimensional maps, with characters represented by 2-D animated bitmap sprites. The camera is fully rotational and follows the party from an angled third-person perspective; it is often necessary to rotate the camera in order to see hidden items or passageways.

Grandia features a rotational party roster. The statistics of each party member increase each time they gain a new level by defeating enemies and earning experience points. Characters learn new abilities through the repeated use of weapons and spells. Once a particular weapon/magic spell is used a number of times in battle, its Skill Level is raised. Weapons are divided into different classes, including swords, maces, axes, whips and knives. Each party member’s potential abilities are listed on a Skill screen within the game’s main menu, as well as the Skill requirements that must be met in order to learn them. The game encourages players to periodically switch between weapons. When a weapon or magic element levels up, permanent stat points are added to that character as well. For example, when a character’s water skill levels up, they also receive +1 HP as well as +2 MP.

Monsters in Grandia are visible on the field and wander around aimlessly until the party gets close. A battle begins once the monster touches a party member. If the player manages to sneak up on the enemy and make contact from the rear, they gain a preemptive strike and attack first. Likewise, if an enemy touches the a party member from behind, they get the first strike. Combat is shown from a third-person overhead view. The IP bar at the bottom right corner of the screen displays a row of icons, which represent all party members and enemies on the screen. When an icon drifts to the mid-point of the IP Bar, that character can choose their next action. The IP Bar also shows the time it takes for enemies to attack; if the party manages to land a strike during the period where an enemy is preparing an attack, that enemy’s attack is canceled.

The documentation appears to be the manual. Grab it HERE!

 

Lunar 2:Eternal Blue Complete

The story takes place approximately one thousand years after the events of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete. Once again, Lunar (an inhabited moon that circles a planet called The Blue Star) is endangered, this time by the return of Zophar, the God of Evil responsible for the destruction of life on the Blue Star millennia before. This causes Lucia, a being assigned the task of eventually reviving life on the Blue Star, to awaken before her time and set forth on a mission to once again eliminate Zophar’s influence.

The story then unfolds from the perspective of Hiro, a teenaged archaeologist who resides in the Salyan Desert with his grandparent and adolescent dragon companion Ruby (who, like Nall in the previous game, resembles a talking, winged cat). The game begins with Hiro and Ruby pilfering a Dragon’s Eye jewel from one of the several ancient ruins in their region. The escapade ends with Hiro inadvertently setting off a trap that forces them to flee from the ruins and ultimately prevents their return.

On the way back to the research outpost, Hiro and Ruby are stopped by a principle member of Althena’s Guards, the arrogant and boisterous White Knight Leo, who informs them that a ‘Destroyer’ is to appear at the ruins to the Northwest and that they should return to their homes immediately. Upon arriving at their home, the two find Leo attempting to extract information about the nearby ruins (referred to as ‘The Blue Spire’) from their grandfather Gwyn, an elderly archaeologist, in the hope of achieving access to the ruins’ impenetrable interior. Finding Gwyn of little use, Leo departs, leaving the three of them to ponder the arrival of the so-called ‘Destroyer’. When Hiro climbs to the roof to survey the status of their surroundings, he witnesses a mysterious light emanating from the Blue Spire. He informs his grandfather of the strange phenomenon, and the three of them decide to investigate the ruins for themselves.

The documentation appears to be a full map and manual!

MAP

MANUAL

 

Lunar:The Silver Star Story Complete (PSX)

Silver Star Story Complete is a traditional, top-down console role-playing game featuring two-dimensional character and background graphics. Using the Sega Saturn and PlayStation’s advanced hardware, many elements of the original game’s presentation have been altered, including a larger color palette, more sophisticated visual effects, and improved sound quality. Throughout gameplay, the story is interspersed with fully animated cut scenes designed to give the game a cinematic feel, and allow the player to get more involved in the game’s plot. Players advance the game’s narrative by completing story-based objectives and interacting with non-player characters. In the original version, players encountered enemy monsters randomly every few steps when traveling in a harsh environments, while the remake now makes enemies visible, with combat ensuing only after a character has come in contact with one.^[1]

Many of the game’s new battle features were adapted from Lunar: Eternal Blue, including the auto-battle feature that allows players to set moves and actions in advance.^[1] While in combat, a player may choose to attack an enemy, move about the battlefield, use magic or items, stand their ground and defend, or flee the battle entirely. Silver Star Story Complete retains the original version’s movement feature, which requires characters to be within a certain distance of an enemy before it can be attacked. Battles are won when all enemies are defeated, yielding experience points that allow characters to gain levels, making them stronger as well as allowing access to better abilities. By gaining levels, as well as finding or purchasing increasingly more powerful weapons and armor, characters can battle increasingly more powerful enemies as the game progresses.

The documentation is a map and manual!

MAP

MANUAL

 

Lunar: The Silver Star (Sega-CD)

Lunar: The Silver Star is a traditional, top-down role-playing game featuring two-dimensional characters and environments. The player must navigate towns, fields, and harsh environments to complete story-based objectives that move the plot forward, as well as interact with non-player characters to expand the script and gain various rewards. Making use of the Sega CD’s disc hardware capabilities, short video and audio interludes accompany the game’s narrative, including full or quarter-screen animated images and redbook audio sound files. Players record their progress by saving to either the Sega CD’s internal RAM, or a separately purchased RAM cartridge that fit into the accompanying Mega Drive/Genesis. While traveling in the game’s world, players randomly encounter enemy monsters that must be defeated or avoided to progress. Battle sequences utilize a turn-based approach, with the player and enemies acting in accordance with their “speed” rating. The player issues commands to each controlled character in their party, which are then carried out in sequence until the battle ends. While on the battlefield, players may choose to move their characters to attack the enemy, retreat into a corner, stand their ground, or flee the battle entirely, with characters only able to strike enemies if they are close enough to their target or use a ranged attack. Nall, a supporting character not directly involved in combat, is present throughout the game to analyze enemies before battles begin, gauging their relative strength to the player’s group. Players may find weapons, equipment, and assorted items during gameplay that increase the effectiveness of characters in battle, such as causing more damage to opponents and increasing their stamina. Winning battles grant experience points that go towards making characters stronger and able to battle progressively more difficult enemies. Upon defeat, a player may choose to load a previous save file, or re-start their game at an automatically saved checkpoint.

Grab the Strategy Guide HERE!