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Granado Espada

Granado Espada is a 3D fantasy MMORPG with a unique multi-character control system set during the Age of Exploration. Play up to three characters at once and explore the Kingdom of Vespanola.

Publisher: T3Fun
Playerbase: Medium
Type: MMORPG
Release Date: July 10, 2007 (NA)
PvP: Duels / Open World / Arenas
Pros: +Unique multi-character control system (play 3 characters at once). +Excellent music. +Unique setting.
Cons: -Built-in bot cheapens experience.

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Overview

Granado Espada Overview

Granado Espada takes players back to colonial times where fame, fortune, adventure, and a whole lot of work await those brave enough to settle in the New World. Recruit family members from a pool of more than 200 unique characters. Build your family’s reputation and make your mark in history. Take control of three family members at a time as a Pioneer and embark on quests and adventures to further the cause of the colony. The game is set during the Age of Exploration under the fictional kingdom of Vespanola.

Granado Espada Key Features:

  • Unique Setting – experience life in the colonial times, with great costumes, landscapes, and music to match.
  • Control Them All – interesting multi-character control system, where you play as three people at once.
  • Let's Make a Family – creative Family system, where players can expand their families to acquire members with specific skills and occupations.
  • Colony Wars – participate in something like a guild war, where clans can compete for colonies each week for two hours in this PvP event.
  • Collect Them All – recruit rare characters into your family with collectible cards.

Granado Espada Screenshots

Granado Espada Featured Video

Granado Espada - Official Gameplay Trailer

Classes

Character Classes:

  • Fighter – a versatile warrior suited for melee battles. They can use a large variety of weapons and possess the perfect balance of attack, speed, and defense.
  • Wizard – a magic-wielding class with an arsenal of AoE spells, curses, and debuffs.
  • Scout – a support class that uses tools, traps, and heals to assist allies in battle. This is the healer class of the game. Daggers are their weapon of choice.
  • Musketeer – skilled in using guns and muskets to inflict massive damage to enemies from far away.
  • Elementalist – uses the power of fire, ice, and, lightning to take out multiple enemies at once. This class has one of the highest damage outputs in the game.

Despite having only 5 starting classes, Granado Espada has 150+ NPCs that can be recruited to join your team. This gives the game an enormous amount of 3-character party combinations.

Full Review

Granado EspadaReview

By Marc Marasigan

Granado Espada is a free-to-play fantasy MMORPG developed by IMC Games. It was originally released in South Korea by HanbitSoft in 2006, and was later localized for the North American market by GamersFirst (previously K2 Network) as a pay-to-play game under the title of Sword of the New World, and later, Sword 2. The game’s open-beta phase went live on June 27, 2007 and the game was officially released on July 12, 2007. The game then transitioned to a free-to-play model on August 21, 2007. On October 31, 2012, GamersFirst’s licensing contract expired and operations were transferred to T3Fun, who reverted the game back to the original name, Granado Espada.

Unlike most MMORPGs, which are typically set in the medieval ages, Granado Espada is set in the Baroque period of Europe, where colonization of new lands was the focus of almost all the European nations. The game puts players in the shoes of Pioneers who have just arrived in the New World. Players recruit characters into their families, whom they can mix and match to their liking and help the new colony achieve its goals.

Starting a Family

One of the unique features of Granado Espada is its Family system. Instead of controlling just one character, players can control three characters at a time and can have others ready to be swapped in at a moment’s notice. Don’t worry though - starting and managing a family in Granado Espada is much easier than in the real world. Players start the game by choosing a family name, which will be their in-game name. They then create and customize the first three characters in their family. Initially, players can choose from five basic jobs for their characters: Fighter, Wizard, Scout, Musketeer, and Elementalist. Granado Espada falls woefully short in its customization aspect. Players have no control over how their characters will look like except for a choice of two face styles. Players are also forced to create a Scout as the first character. This character, however, can easily be swapped out by creating another character once players have access to their family barracks after going through the family creation process.

Granado Espada’s unique family system is one of the game’s selling points. As players progress through the game, they can acquire RNPC (Recruitable NPC’s) or UPC (Unique Playable Character) player cards by completing certain quests. These cards can be used to recruit the indicated character into a player’s family. Each recruited character also possesses Inherent Skills unique to them. These skills are maxed when a character reaches Level 45 and don’t require spending of skill points. There are currently more than 150 cards available which can also be traded with other players. Collecting all 150 cards can be a quest on its own. It will, however, take a very long time.

Families can also gain Family Attributes, which are passive bonuses that apply to all family members. Family attributes are unlocked and improved using Family Points that players gain every time their Family level goes up. One Family Point is rewarded per Family level.

Home, Sweet Home

Inactive family members can be found lounging around in the family’s barracks. The barracks are where players can view all their characters, create new ones, manage their teams, and move to specific locations. This is also where players start out every time they log in to the game. Players start off with 4 character slots, and additional barracks of 4 character slots each requires Quarter Slot Permits, which can be bought from the item shop or purchased from other players using Vis, the in-game currency.

The New World

Players start their journey in a city, aptly and quite unimaginatively named, Startonia. Honestly, I have absolutely no idea what this city is for. Players are asked to talk to an NPC, given medals, and thrown off the deep end. Aside from the tooltips that pop-up when players encounter something new in the game, Granado Espada lacks anything resembling a tutorial. After being transported to the pioneering city of Reboldeaux, players are shown a pop-up of the keyboard controls and left to fend for themselves. This pop-up can be toggled on and off by pressing F12. This feature doesn’t really explain much, and I had better luck searching the internet on how to do stuff like auto-combat or auto-loot. Now, this might be okay with typical MMORPGs, but Granado Espada is unique in the fact that it combines MMORPG elements with RTS (Real-time Strategy) and new players will definitely be overwhelmed by the sheer number of commands. Almost every key is mapped, along with additional commands that make use of the Alt, Shift, and Ctrl keys.

Visually, Granado Espada is just awesome. For a game that’s almost a decade old, the graphics are still comparable to most modern MMORPGs and may even be better than some. The cities are just breathtaking and accurately depict the architecture of the Baroque period, where the game is set. The character costumes and gear are also very detailed and elaborate. The background music is absolutely phenomenal and is one of the things that sets this game apart from other MMORPGs. The classical music fits the game’s theme perfectly and makes it seem as if you’re listening to a professional orchestra.

Pioneers of the New World

As pioneers in the world of Granado Espada, players will be taking on quests and dungeons that benefit the colony. Quests are the typical breadcrumb kill-and-collect quests. Dungeons are instanced and, like most MMORPGs, will have players killing every mob in sight to get to the end. Getting your characters to max level, currently 120, involves an ungodly amount of grinding. Although, unlike other MMORPGs, grinding actually rewards more experience early on compared to completing quests. Better experience gains or not, killing mobs can get old very fast.

Three’s a Crowd

Unlike most MMORPGs, Granado Espada players take control of three characters at the same time. This requires a bit of micro-managing and a whole lot of keyboard commands. This is actually one of the game’s selling points and is what makes it unique. I, however, suck at micromanagement and was virtually clueless the first hour or so. One character is enough for me - three is just too much. Overly aggressive mobs swarming your team every few steps doesn’t help, either. Making characters use specific skills can also be a bit confusing if you haven’t mastered the controls yet. The keyboard is divided into three parts, one part for each character. The QWE line of keys are used for the first character, the ASD line for the second, and the ZXC line for the third. Fortunately, the game has an auto-combat feature. Turning this on allows players to just sit back and relax as their team attacks every mob within range. Variables can also be set, such as using potions when a member’s health falls below a certain point. The auto-combat feature is perfect for new players floundering around trying to figure out what to do. It does take away from the fun of the game though. The feature can also be used even when AFK. Looting items is done manually though, which in my opinion is only fair. Otherwise it’s just legalized botting.

Check Your Stance

Another unique aspect of Granado Espada are stances. Players can change each family member’s combat stances on the fly. The selected stance affects how each member of the team functions in combat. Stances are different for every job. For example, scouts have a stance that allows them to heal party members, and another stance that gives them a more active role in combat with debuffs. Musketeers have a stance that restricts their movement to increase damage, and another stance that allows them to move while shooting.

The Bazaar

Granado Espada’s item shop contains items typically found in most free-to-play item shops. It contains exp boosts and consumable items, as well as cosmetic items like costumes and rare pets. Additional barrack slots can also be purchased in the item mall, along with some exclusive player cards. As with most MMORPGs, the item shop gives paying players a bit of an advantage, but nothing really gamebreaking.

PvP

No MMORPG would be complete without a way for players to test their skills against other players. Granado Espada allows players to challenge another player’s team to an instanced duel. This can be done through a menu opened by clicking on the other player’s family name or through PvP officers found in major cities. Players can also join Clans, the game’s version of guilds. Clans can declare war on another clan and will be hostile to each other during Colony Wars, a 2-hour weekly PvP event where Colonies around the map can be conquered by clans. Players can also join PK (Player Kill) servers where players can flag themselves for a PvP called Baron Mode. Barons appear hostile to all players and drop items when killed.

Final Verdict – Good

Granado Espada features graphics that have stood the test of time, spectacular music, and unique gameplay features. However, the RTS elements incorporated into the game are a double-edged sword. While it would definitely appeal to players who have a knack for micromanagement, it would also drive away players who find it difficult. The auto-combat feature, while being a big help, makes things just a little bit too easy. The grindy aspect of the game doesn’t help, either. All in all, a solid game that could benefit a lot from additional content to lessen the grinding, which most likely isn’t going to happen soon.

Screenshots

Granado Espada Screenshots

Videos

Granado Espada Videos

Playlist: Granado Espada

Links

Granado Espada Links

Granado Espada Official Site
Granado Espada EU/Russia Official Site
Granado Espada Wikipedia
Sword of the New World Wiki (Same game. Great wiki with guides, databases, and more)

System Requirements

Granado Espada System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

Operating System: Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3 GHz or AMD equivalent
Video Card: GeForce 6600 GT / ATI X1600 Pro 256 MB
RAM: 2 GB
Hard Disk Space: 10 GB

Recommended Requirements:

Operating System: Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo Dual Core CPU or better
Video Card: GeForce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD3870 512 MB
RAM: 4 GB
Hard Disk Space: 10GB

Video card must support Dirext X 9.0c or above. Granado Espada supports 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.

Music

Granado Espada Music & Soundtrack

Additional Info

Granado Espada Additional Information

Developer: IMC Games Co. Limited
Game Engine: PathEngine
Closed Beta Date: June 4, 2007
Open Beta Date: June 27, 2007

Foreign Release(s):

South Korea: February 14, 2006 (HanbitSoft)
Southeast Asia: August 30, 2007 (IAHGames)
Thailand: March, 2007 (Playpark)
Taiwan: October, 2007 (Wayi)
China: November, 2007 (The9 / 9hgame)

Several localized versions are no longer available. The global version of Granado Espada is published by T3Fun/HanbitSoft.

Development History / Background:

Granado Espada was developed by South Korean game developer IMC Games Co LTD. It first launched in South Korea on February, 2006 by HanbitSoft. The game won the prestigious 2006 Korean Presidential award for "Best Graphics" and "Game of the Year." Since its original launch, Granado Espada achieved quite a bit of popularity early on, as the game was licensed in half a dozen regions. Granado Espada made its way to North America through GamersFirst (K2 Networks) as "Sword of the New World," which was later renamed to "Sword 2," but the North American service through GamersFirst shut down. T3Fun, a global publisher owned by the Korean company Hanbit soft, picked up the service. Various localized versions of the game still exist, including the IAHGames version, which services Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand. Granado Espada launched as a pay-to-play game, but went free-to-play on December 5, 2007.