75/100
Critics2 reviews

Where to get it

Steam

2006 · IMC Games · Adventure · Fantasy

Granado Espada

Granado Espada is about discovering new continents during Europe’s Age of Exploration era between the 1500s and 1700's. The Multi character control (MCC) is the most unique feature of the game, allowing players to control a party of up to three characters at a time. The approach to this style of game play makes Granado Espada feel like a hybrid MMORPG and RTS.

Released: 14 February 2006
Platforms: Windows
Genres: Adventure Fantasy MMORPG Role-playing Strategy
Developers: IMC Games
Publishers: —
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Third person
Themes: Action Fantasy
Engine: PathEngine
Country: South Korea
Age ratings: ESRB T GRAC 15+PEGI 12

About

Granado Espada is a Korean fantasy MMORPG developed by IMC Games Co., Ltd. The game was released in February 2006 in South Korea, and English localizations were launched in the summer of 2007 in North America and Southeast Asia. Granado Espada won the 2006 Korean Presidential Award for Best Graphics and Game of the Year with features previously unseen in MMORPGs, such as the possibility to control multiple characters at once. Granado Espada features an art style based on the Baroque period of Europe, contrary to its genre's ubiquitous sword and sorcery aesthetics.

Keywords

anime
free-to-play
polygonal 3d
party system
geomancer
in-app purchases

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Story

The world of Granado Espada takes place on a newly discovered continent based on the Americas during the Age of Exploration. The world is divided into different maps and grouped into themed regions such as forests, tropical jungles, plains, swamps, deserts and ice fields.

The continent, currently under the control of the fictional Kingdom of Vespanola as a colony, is in a crisis due to negligence by the home nation due to a war in the Old World. On the continent itself, internal strife has arisen from the feud between the Royalists supporting the Vespanolan crown, and the Republicans campaigning for independence. Therefore, the Vespanolan Queen has ordered a policy of Reconquista for the continent by attracting more people from the Old World to settle there. The player takes the role of a pioneering family from the Old World, eager to explore the continent and eliminate elements that will threaten the survival of its people.

Reception

Critical reaction to the North American release has been mixed. IGN's Metacritic lists an average rating for the game at 66, which is also the listed industry average for all games at the site. GameRankings has the game listed at a similar figure of 70%. 0) citing "tedious quests and little payoff".

IGN expressed similar concerns, noting the familiar grind between many other Korean MMOs. "You know, it's frustrating because as much as you want to like this game, unless Korean is your preferred flavor of MMO, you probably just won't."