Granado Espada: Three’s company, too

WITH the oversaturation of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) in the market today, it has become a challenge for most companies to establish a niche in an industry where its consumers are quick to change games when an MMO no longer has the initial innovation and creativity that attracted them in the first place.

No longer content with the usual hack-and-slash, rinse-and-repeat formula, most gamers are constantly in search of that one game that caters to their oftimes demanding prerequisites: an ambiguously enjoyable plot, gameplay that differentiates itself somehow from the monotony of the level grind, a certain amount of customization for character individualization, unique player versus player/clan versus clan features, and a host of interesting in-game challenges, among others.

In terms of originality, Granado Espada, perhaps, comes closer out of all the other games out right now in the running for the title. While most MMOs have pseudo-fantasy and magical settings, Granado Espada is instead a historical RPG. Characters wear clothes reminiscent of a mock Elizabethan/Victorian turned baroque age, with perhaps more bare skin than would have been approved of in that prudish era.

There is an old European feel to the towns and cities that players are invited to explore for their daily health supplements, and battle arsenal — possibly an attempt to encourage Brave New World attitudes of exploration and curiosity in the same spirit of a Magellan or a Columbus. Dungeons and other areas where monsters lurk are a stark contrast; enemies spawn in damp caves and mountains, or in abandoned gothic ruins. In fact, monsters spawn fast, and you won’t want for monsters to fight despite the presence of other players in the area. Granado Espada is a beautiful world to wander in, but that’s not everything it has to offer.

Three heads are better than one

Family is a key feature in GE, and is possibly inspired by the Florentine de Medici family, or even by the more modern Corleones. Every player starts out with one barrack, which is composed of four characters at the onset, with an option to add up to nine characters per barrack as you progress. With a maximum of four barracks, this means every player can acquire 36 characters per server total — nine times more than regular MMOs. Every character is created under one family name of the player’s choice, used as their surnames.

Factions are Granado Espada’s version of guilds. A rich Faction can declare war on another, which increases colony war and player killing opportunities. The player versus player system is in the form of duels, where both parties are transported to the mission room to engage in fights. The winner also has the option of sending the loser back to the nearest city, or allowing them to graciously remain in the same location prior to their fight. Family points can be earned through successful duels or accomplishing certain mission quests, and these can be used to increase or expand character barracks, and create Factions.

What ultimately sets Granado Espada apart, however, is its Multiple Character Control (MCC) system — players may control up to three characters at once, allowing for an eclectic mix of strategy and techniques, and encouraging players to choose their classes wisely (musketeers, fighters, wizards, elementalists and scouts). Stat points are permanent no matter the level; characters instead grow stronger depending on the level of their skills and the weapons they have on hand, from guns, swords, daggers, magic spells and even a combination of long range and melee. Characters have unique Stances where these skills can be learned; they can be earned through accomplishing certain quests, or buying skill books from select shops.

Botting?

It seems like it at first glance, as certain hotkeys allow your trio of characters to fight oncoming enemies without the need to do the necessary point and click yourself. In this mode, characters can either remain where they are and engage incoming enemies in combat, or attack enemies within the area all through the Granado Espada AI system. While this seems to be a gift come true for gamers who do not wish to glue themselves to their monitors for hours at a time, it does not come without some restrictions. Characters cannot gather items monsters drop in this mode, and are susceptible to duel challenges from other players in the area if left unsupervised, resulting in lower family points. And while the AI system is fairly intelligent, it isn’t perfect; a sudden mob of monsters can easily kill off your characters and experience points. All in all, this feature seems to be a fixture in the game simply for a chance for gamers to relax and stretch their fingers, but not for gamers to leave their characters alone to do the levelling for them — at least, not without some of the repercussions mentioned above.

Non-player characters now playable

NPCs no longer just stand around ordering you to carry out quests or providing you with weapons and items for sale; accomplish certain missions and quests they ask for, and you can even include them in your party in lieu of your actual characters. Each NPC possess unique stances, from the doll-throwing Catherine to the martial artist Gracielo, and can be levelled up in the same way.

Like other games, though, Granado Espada still has its downsides. For now, detailed character customization is not an option until level 100, so most characters are going to wind up looking like carbon copies of the other, and armor aesthetics tend to repeat after every certain level. More missions are unlocked with every higher level, which can take awhile after hitting the mid 50-60s. Granado Espada has more hotkeys and a bigger interface available given their multi-character conrol, so familiarizing yourself with the keys may take awhile. Granado Espada can very well contain some of the more unique music and sounds in any MMO, like some surprising number of discotheque tunes or slaw haunting melodies in monster-overrun dungeons, but these tend to be repetitive after awhile. Fortunately, GE does offer an option to select add your own favorite music into their “jukebox,” replacing the game sounds.

Guns and Glory

Granado Espada is a refreshingly good game to start out the new year. Aside from its fun three-character fighting system and overall intense graphics, veterans to MMORPGs might not find anything too groundbreaking in terms of gameplay, but later game patches could probably rectify that. Casual players and game addicts on the other hand, will find this worth their time to play, given the numerous and compelling opportunities for character-centric exploration, good monster-player ratio, and faction wars.

Check out this in-game video clip of a Granado Espada boss fight on hackenslash TV.

Editor’s Note: hackenslash contributor Erin Chupeco writes for HardWare Magazine Philippines.

Listen to IP e-Games president Steve Tsao talk about Granado Espada in Episode 2 of hackenslash: the podcast.

Granado Espada
Genre(s): Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game
Developer: IMC Games
Publisher: IP e-Games/IP Interactive (Philippines)
ESRB Rating: Teen (T)

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