Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Pete Davison

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 14h

I love this game -- I remembered really enjoying it back in the day and this playthrough is reminding me exactly why. It's an interesting and oft-forgotten part of PS1 RPG history -- and it has some great '90s anime FMVs throughout, too.

Screenshot from my Let's Play of The Granstream Saga, showing an FMV of Arcia praying to the Wind in order to keep a continent afloat.

1 2

Reposted by Pete Davison

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 14h

This was a really interesting sequence that felt very much in keeping with previous Quintet games. In order to prove himself, protagonist Eon must answer several philosophical questions by passing through the appropriate doors. The room beyond the door reflects his answer in some way. (More in Alt)

Screenshot from my Let's Play of The Granstream Saga. Protagonist Eon stands before three doors, and is asked "How does a man achieve true success?". He is then presented with three choices, which correspond to the three doors: "By achieving wealth", "By overcoming hardships" or "Both". The correct answer, "overcoming hardships", takes you to a corridor in which pressing switches to open doors causes Eon to repeatedly fall down pits and have to clamber back up again -- a mechanical reflection of the concept of "overcoming hardships". This is later followed up with a room that emphasises the importance of "love" by placing you in a completely empty room with no doors and leaving you to contemplate existence for an uncomfortably long period before letting you move on.

2 1 1

Reposted by Pete Davison

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 14h

Probably the most interesting thing about the game is its real-time, one-on-one combat system. It places a strong emphasis on blocking and countering, and feels a lot like a very early version of what we see in Souls games and their numerous imitators today, albeit without stamina management.

Screenshot of The Granstream Saga's combat system. Eon, clad in full armour, slashes at an animated suit of armour that is attacking him.

1 1 1

Reposted by Pete Davison

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 14h

The game does use anime-style portraits in some dialogue sequences, but it's oddly inconsistent in how it uses them. Some extremely minor characters get them, but there are times when the lead characters don't display a portrait at all.

Screenshot from my Let's Play of The Granstream Saga. Eon and Arcia stand outside the Kilia Shrine. A close-up, anime-style portrait of Arcia, a very proper-looking girl with dark purple hair, is displayed. She says "Here is the entrance to the Kilia Shrine."

1 1 2

Reposted by Pete Davison

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 14h

Its top-down perspective may look a little odd given how 3D games evolved from thereon, but it makes sense for the way the game works -- and it also distracts from the fact that none of the character models have any face textures.

Screenshot from my Let's Play of The Granstream Saga. Eon discusses matters with the village Elder, who says "I see... you are worried about Valos."

1 1 1

Reposted by Pete Davison

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 14h

The Granstream Saga, if you're unfamiliar, is a PS1 RPG from Shade, a company made up of former Quintet folks. In many respects The Granstream Saga is a follow-up to Quintet's "Heaven and Earth" games on SNES, though it swaps pixel art for relatively early 3D.

Screenshot from my Let's Play of The Granstream Saga. Eon interacts with the village priest, who tells him "Arcia has the Wise Men's power, but she cannot find the lifting verses on her own."

1 1 1

Reposted by Pete Davison

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 15h

I really enjoyed my look at The Granstream Saga on PS1 last week, so I've decided to play a bit more on the channel. Here's episode 2! (Link to full playlist in the video description if you want to watch from the start.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lWE...

In search of the Wind's lifting verse | THE GRANSTREAM SAGA #2

YouTube video by ThisIsPete

www.youtube.com

2 3 3

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 5h

It was, but that version was *very* different, lacking the text adventure bits and... almost everything about the 16-bit versions. The ST port (which the Amiga version is based on) was basically a sequel, developed by the same chaps.

1

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 14h

I think the term's adoption in English is partly as a counter to those people who still don't distinguish "beat 'em up" from "fighting game", as those are two different things. The UK press in particular was terrible for conflating the two for the longest time.

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 14h

The term comes from the Japanese for them, which is "belt action".

1

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 14h

I love this game -- I remembered really enjoying it back in the day and this playthrough is reminding me exactly why. It's an interesting and oft-forgotten part of PS1 RPG history -- and it has some great '90s anime FMVs throughout, too.

1 2

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 14h

This was a really interesting sequence that felt very much in keeping with previous Quintet games. In order to prove himself, protagonist Eon must answer several philosophical questions by passing through the appropriate doors. The room beyond the door reflects his answer in some way. (More in Alt)

2 1 1

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 14h

Probably the most interesting thing about the game is its real-time, one-on-one combat system. It places a strong emphasis on blocking and countering, and feels a lot like a very early version of what we see in Souls games and their numerous imitators today, albeit without stamina management.

1 1 1

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 14h

The game does use anime-style portraits in some dialogue sequences, but it's oddly inconsistent in how it uses them. Some extremely minor characters get them, but there are times when the lead characters don't display a portrait at all.

1 1 2

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 14h

Its top-down perspective may look a little odd given how 3D games evolved from thereon, but it makes sense for the way the game works -- and it also distracts from the fact that none of the character models have any face textures.

1 1 1

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 14h

The Granstream Saga, if you're unfamiliar, is a PS1 RPG from Shade, a company made up of former Quintet folks. In many respects The Granstream Saga is a follow-up to Quintet's "Heaven and Earth" games on SNES, though it swaps pixel art for relatively early 3D.

1 1 1

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 15h

I really enjoyed my look at The Granstream Saga on PS1 last week, so I've decided to play a bit more on the channel. Here's episode 2! (Link to full playlist in the video description if you want to watch from the start.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lWE...

In search of the Wind's lifting verse | THE GRANSTREAM SAGA #2

YouTube video by ThisIsPete

www.youtube.com

2 3 3

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 15h

Yep. Cut a bunch out of my rotation because they were starting to drift in a "is this the WORST game ever?!" kind of direction and it was getting rather tedious to see. Maybe the vids had some depth, but confronted with negativity in a thumb and title, I'm never going to find out.

1 1

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 1d

You're welcome! Hope it brings a new listener or two your way.

Reposted by Pete Davison

Aidan Moher @aidanmoher.com · 2d

This is honestly such a lovely examination of @funfactorpod.com and what makes it so special to me and @tyschalter.com. Pete’s a king.

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 2d

Today I wrote a bit about @funfactorpod.com by @tyschalter.com and @aidanmoher.com. I have written about this excellent magazine-focused podcast before, but having been listening to the latest eps today, I wanted to do so again.

It is a good!

imnotdoctorwho.moegamer.net/2025/10/09/o...

#oneaday Day 489: You've got Fun Factor - I'm Not Doctor Who

I’ve written about this before, but I write a lot of shit on this blog, so you may not have seen it, particularly since I last wrote about it in March of this year, when you may not have even been rea...

imnotdoctorwho.moegamer.net

1 4 7

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 1d

(And writing about them)

Evercade @evercade.co.uk · 1d

For those who prefer to read, blog version here! evercade.co.uk/golden-oldie...

Golden Oldies: Irem Arcade 1 - Evercade

Irem Arcade 1 for Evercade is a popular cartridge for the retro gaming system, including R-Type, Moon Patrol, Battle Chopper and more.

evercade.co.uk

2

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 1d

It's a-me, banging on about old games professionally!

Evercade @evercade.co.uk · 1d

Let's take a look back at Irem Arcade 1, a fan favourite cartridge that originally launched alongside the Evercade EXP. This cart includes classics like R-Type, Moon Patrol and more!

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj3r-1xdtqs

Evercade - Irem Collection 1 - Golden Oldies

YouTube video by Evercade

www.youtube.com

3

Reposted by Pete Davison

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 2d

Today on the channel: a game that is not, in any way, Tetris, despite its name, but still a cracking puzzler and one of my faves on N64 nonetheless. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsA-...

Tetrisphere: not Tetris, but still a cracking puzzler.

YouTube video by ThisIsPete

www.youtube.com

2 4

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 1d

Nope. They've been veeeeeery quiet since that second big cyan block.

1 1

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 1d

Wish we saw more of this. Normalise company representatives and official social media accounts being able to tear rude and bigoted shitheads a new asshole in public.

No More Robots @nomorerobots.io · 2d

Here's how we handle manchildren on the Steam forums at No More Robots:

7