Granzella Beach Personal Space
by Burbie52, HSM team writer
The other day I was given the opportunity to visit Japan and see the new Granzella beach personal space, and I must say I was very impressed. Though at first glance it doesn’t seem like much, after spending a bit of time there you’ll find that there is much more here than meets the eye.
The exterior of this space is visually stunning; by that I don’t mean the personal space itself, but the setting into which it has been put – Granzella Beach. If you haven’t seen the pictures or videos of this place you will be pleasantly surprised. Unlike the Irem beach, which we are going to lose at some point in North America Home, this beach is filled with little nooks and crannies to find and explore.
It is an almost magical setting filled with the sound of birds chirping, ducks squawking and the sea lapping at the shoreline. There are paths leading to a couple of different areas, one through the small tropical glade and waterfall behind the store filled with butterflies, another to an islet, and another to the ramparts above the area and the path to the front door of the personal space. The waterfall has it’s own wonderful ambiance of sight and sound, with a beautiful rainbow arching across it during the day. It also has two mini-games attached to it; one where you ride jet skis and another that is like the underwater treasure hunt at Irem.
There are cordoned-off areas, one of which is going to become the new wedding chapel up on the ramparts in a small cave. The other cordoned off areas are a part of the personal space experience. For this tropical retreat they have created something very unique: owning the space allows you and your guests to go to areas no one else can, but that are still public. This outside access that the owner and guests have is quite large and varies from walkways to a nice deck area that you can lounge about in.
(NorseNote: you can read Aeternitas33’s review of the public space associated with this if you want some additional background.)
I went to the public area through the 
front door of the personal space that leads out to the big bonfire on the hill. Then my friend, JoannaDark, went through the back door off the deck behind it and I was able to see her and even wave and interact, even though she was inaccessible to me. This is an interesting turn for a personal space to take.
The personal space is a log cabin with a thatched roof. It has several levels to it and although the rooms aren’t very large, there are balconies on each level to add to the size and a spiral staircase that allows you to climb up to the roof itself, without having to glitch the space to do it.
It also allows you to move smaller pieces of furniture, like chairs and end tables up there. Every detail has been thought of in this basic cabin, down to the rough edges of the boards that make up railings of the balconies and the built in plants and small garden on the second floor. The various decks and roof give you a 360 degree panoramic view of the incredible public space around you.
When you are inside the personal space you can look down and see four female NPCs below you. One is sitting on the dock, dangling her feet in the water, another is walking around the store and beach areas; the last two are laying back on the beach as though they are sunning and chatting away the time. There are also a few male NPCs passing by, riding jet skis around the island. You can see the crab-like creatures crawling around on the beach as well. All of this adds to the feeling you are in your own beach cabin retreat. The sounds of the sea crashing on the rocks adds to that feeling as well.
Another thing about the space that is starting – I hope – to be a trend in new personal spaces is the fact that, like the public beach area itself, this place has a two-hour night to day cycle that it goes through. The only space we have in SCEA Home like that is the Sunset Yacht. The entry from the front of the cabin is a direct connection from public to private (for the owner) without any navigator involved. This all combines to make this an interesting experience as a personal space.
The night to day cycle holds its own sense of wonder also. At night you are treated to a fireworks show that you can watch from the roof of your house. The bonfire and beach fires below light up too and the smoke from the large bonfire in the front wafts up in front of you. The sun sets into a pink-tinted sea in the west, then rises again in the east shrouded in a purple misty haze. All in all, the whole effect is calming and peaceful.
I believe that this place, if it ever comes to NA Home, is going to be an incredible hit with everyone. It has many unique features that set it apart from a lot of the new spaces being offered in Home right now, because even if there isn’t a true mini-game incorporated into the space itself, there are two right outside your front door in the public area. This capability alone will make this place a buy for me if we ever get the chance.
We can only hope that should Granzella decide to join us here in North America Home, they bring this wonderful new personal space with them.
September 14th, 2011 by Burbie52 | 8 comments
Burbie52 is a 62 year-old published author and founder of the Grey Gamers group within Home. Born and raised in Michigan, she has lived there her entire life, with the exception of a twelve-year residency on the Big Island of Hawaii. She enjoys reading and writing, as well as video games, especially RPG's. She has one son in his twenties.
Nice review hun! Love it.
The space is enchanting. Granzella is going to make a big splash on the home scene. They’ve already shown what they can do and I’m sure they have a lot more in store for us. One can only hope that North America doesn’t have to wait that long to experience it.
Thanks Joanna, and also thanks for the tour in Japan. I agree with your wish that we don’t have to wait too long for this place to appear on our shores, literally.
Bombshell announcement on the EU forums!
Granzella Content in SCEE PlayStation Home 9.22.11. I suspect we will be getting that content at the same time. Locust (or was it Glasswalls) did say there would be a Global announcement about Granzella. Oh my goodness! Can’t wait.
http://community.eu.playstation.com/t5/PlayStation-Home-General/Announcement-Regarding-IREM-and-Granzella-Content-in-PlayStation/td-p/13563503
And on the North American forums!
http://community.us.playstation.com/thread/3892849?tstart=0
Who wants to have sex with me in that space? Leave comment below please.
But, Geo, you’re pregnant! How far along are you? Is it safe for the baby?
I just got this space and it’s wonderful. The roof is a great place to hang out and you can jump from one level to the one below. Wish they allowed you to hang picture frames.
I’ve experienced a closed version of this space already also, and I gotta say, even as limited as it was in it’s current state it’s a definite buy for me. I was toying with getting the tropical Island when I heard that Irem were removing their beach, but I’m glad I held out. The way you’ve (Burbie) described this place is great too, hyped me up for it even more. ROLL ON THURSDAY!