Grand Kingdom is a game that’s far from light on content. Rather, there’s always something happening. You could be participating in the main campaign. There are single, offline quests that can be performed for specific kingdoms. You can even head to war, participating in multiplayer battles for your country of choice. One of the best things, I think, is enjoying the game’s Travel quests.
You don’t always have to be making Guild progress in Grand Kingdom. In the question section is a persistent Search Resonail Travel quest. It essentially gives you free reign over a region of the kingdom. More places open up as your characters level up and there are different objectives to enjoy and oversee each time you head to a place.
It all starts with Ruinsholt, the first place to open up when your characters reach level three, but eventually 16 other areas open up as your party levels up. Each one has enemies at an estimated level, Bounty Heads, Fixed Treasure Chests, and certain Resource distributions. You can even come across random events and masters, ready for more fights. You get all of this information going in, with information showing how many bounties and fixed chests are available.
What’s especially appreciated is how it’s always worth visiting these areas in Grand Kingdom. I like to take a party I’ve been working with to older regions, in case I’ve missed something. I ended up coming across some blueprints in Pio, as an example. There are often roadblocks in areas that can’t be traversed until you come back at a later time with the correct tools. Even weaker enemies and bounties in these maps can prove quite a challenge, if a Baku shows up to support them.
These Travel quests are also a less stressful experience. There’s no pressure here. You don’t have a deadline to worry about. As much time can be spent battling as you’d like. Dying is no big deal either. Since there’s no time limit, it’s fine if you fall and take a few turns to revive. Once I established my fourth troop, I didn’t even bother trying to take them on other quests. After they reached level ten, I had them spend an hour wandering the Tiore region which was filled with level nine enemies.
It’s a sense of freedom you don’t get in the rest of Grand Kingdom. This is a wonderful strategy game, but it’s also awfully structured. You need to be in certain places at certain times, perhaps adhering to specific rules. Perhaps I’m crazy, but I find wandering through its maps and exploring each nook and cranny relaxing. We don’t get that luxury in most of the other quests. The objectives get in the way. The Travel quests allow us to sit back, grind, and practice.
This means a chance to actually get every treasure chest. Here’s the kind of player I am. I hoard TP in Grand Kingdom. I never know when I might need to use a character skill that could warp my characters to a necessary point or heal them after a battle gone wrong. Maybe you’re the same? I like to be prepared. This means skipping out on some chests during more stringent quests, because what if I’d need that TP later? The Travel quests have chests peppered across the map and enough enemies to guarantee enough points to open them. It’s empowering.
Grand Kingdom is a game that encourages control. You want to be in charge of every situation. You need to be the master of a battlefield, acting as a puppetmaster ensuring every opponent moves where you’d want them to. You need to micromanage every turn, to be sure you’re there to protect specific positions and meet time constraints. The Travel quests are a wonderful break from all of that. It’s an opportunity to do absolutely everything on your own terms, and everyone playing the game should take some time to savor and enjoy that.
Grand Kingdom is immediately available for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita.
Published: Jun 28, 2016 01:30 pm