We woke up this morning unable to find Feena. Walking out of her humble abode, we see her enjoying the breeze. The graphics here show the flowers blow, which is a wonderful addition that's well done. Justin asks her what she's thinking about, and she reiterates stuff about the wind. It seems to be a theme of the game, which I can get behind. Feena continues, philosophizing about how it thinks and must feel to be free. It gets Justin excited, and she ends this scene by telling Justin, "Let's go where the wind starts."
We cut to a scene on board the airship Baal, Mullen, and Leen are in. It's a short scene meant to foreshadow the upcoming Dom Ruins. These guys are planning an expedition to find the "Final Piece" at the same location we're heading.
The party wakes up Sue, and they head towards the Dom Ruins in the south. But first, we need to get through the Rangle Mountain Range. Before that, return to New Parm to upgrade Feena's gear. She also has that missing Mana Egg, which I use to teach Earth magic to Justin. Pakon is crying in his room over being turned down by Feena, but the woman (not guy) at the reception desk thinks she can move in now. But on to Rangle!
The monsters here are various worms and snakes. The worms aren't a threat, but the cobra can use poison. Because of the awful item management in Grandia, carrying around too many antidotes is a bad idea, so good luck. I don't think it affects you outside of battle, so there's that. Both of those die in one combo, but the Odd Birds are pretty tough. It takes two combos, and they can do some heavy damage. Not only that, they cause confusion with one of their special moves. They all give a tremendous amount of EXP and Gold, so it's worth the grind. Halfway through is the only story scene here. They reach a spring and decide to camp for the night. They sit down for supper, and it's one of those scenes where we can talk to everyone. I kinda like these.
After Feena asks about their life on the otherside of the ocean, Sue asks Feena about her childhood. She has a sister that randomly joined the army a few years. Justin and Sue hope it isn't one of the three commanders. But what about Leen? Talking to Feena has her asking about the plans with the Angelou and Alent. She's a bit confused, but so am I, now that I think about it. Why are we heading to Dom? For the thrill, I guess? In the morning, Feena is already up and gives them a view of what's to come. They're high on a mountain range overlooking a massive forest covered in mist that's aptly titled the Misty Forest. But beyond that is something even higher in elevation than they: The End of the World. It's a massive, giant, towering, big, beautiful wall that signals the of the Elencia Continent and the world as we know it. No one knows what's on the otherside of the wall, nor has anyone ever returned from the forest betwixt.
The second half of the mountain range is pretty much the same. Explore both sides thoughtfully as there are two Mana Eggs in this area. Mana Eggs give status upgrade on level up, so they're even more important. They've not had to reach but are quite hidden. I returned to New Parm to teach Sue Wind magic and Feena Earth.
We finally reach the outskirts of Dom Ruins, but we need to find it in this forest. The forest is inhabited by Ents, who take no damage from weapons. Use your newfound magic. They like to stay together, so even the tiniest of AoE works well. Explore a bit to find stat upping items. I think they're out here, but they might be in the actual ruins. Follow the yellow icon in the compass. The actual Dom Ruins are in a dusty wasteland infected with slimes and more powerful sea monsters. The outside is a gigantic open field intermixed with ruins. There are a few things here that make it worth exploring. To leave, hang along the left side of the yellow compass and hug that fence backwards while climbing the small hill. That makes no sense, and I apologize for my terrible navigation. As we approach the ruins, we're jumped by Red Orcs. They fight like the other Orcs we killed across the ocean but with more HP.
The actual insides of the ruins are the most maze like in the game. It seems pretty straightforward until you get to the elevators that make this place feel 3D. Shortly after we enter, we find an exit, but it comes with a special note. There is a massive fissure between the two sides of the Dom Ruins. So how do we cross? Firstly, from here, climb to vines. We can now search around the second floor. At the save point, head straight from the entrance. Turning takes you to the exit. Somewhere beyond that are two switches that move two snake faced platforms. The far one moves one across the gap, and the first one you're likely to find moves the one it's on. This makes a bridge so we can cross.
I didn't explore that much here because I found a Mana Egg not too far in from here. I returned to New Parm, taught Sue Earth magic, and proceed to grind out some magic for the rest of the night. Grandia has a FFII type of battle mechanic where the more you use your spells, the stronger they get and new, more powerful spells you learn. You can even combine two types of magic to master all new elements! Sue has Ice magic, and Feena has Explosion, which probably isn't Fire magic... But back to Dom...
...nope. We're doing that tomorrow.
Lotta progress; very little story. It happens, and it's great!
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