First introduced on the Saturn as a Final Fantasy killer, the demise of the platform left American audiences without a translation. Now two years later, Sony has picked the game up for a domestic release.  Is this game the greatest RPG ever? Better than the great Final Fantasy?  Absolutely! 

Grandia is a special game. It's a game that has the heart and spirit to match and/or surpass anything out of Square's offices. Sure, Grandia doesn't have the jaw-dropping graphic sequences or the overly dramatic world-saving plot line that a Final Fantasy game might have, but it has a certain quality that is just as good: A sense of adventure and excitement of discovering new worlds and sharing the lives of memorable characters.  For example, Justin, the main hero of the game, has an infectious energy that easily draws the player into the Grandia world because of his innocent sense of wonder at everything that happens to him.

Grandia is a game that starts without the usual premise of a world in danger. Justin is a descendant of a long line of adventurers who simply is curious about the world he lives in. With his father's gift of a mysterious Spirit Stone -- an ancient relic of a lost civilization, he sets off with his best friend, Sue, on an adventure to find the legacy of this lost civilization and solve the riddle of the history of his world. The protagonists in the game are the forces of the Garlyle Army, the leader of which wants to uncover the secrets of this civilization for his own ends. Thus begins a trek across Justin's world to the ancient capital city of Alent, where all of the mysteries will be revealed. 

Ultimately, the plot comes down to a bunch of kids having fun and the circumstances which put them into a position to stop the ambitions of the Garlyle Army.  From Justin's perpetual excitement and adventurous spirit to Sue's motherly affection for Justin, and the bravery of Feena, who ultimately becomes the main love interest, the characters are all overflowing with personality. The trio provide a focus for the story. The game is also one of the longest RPGs ever made, clocking in at around 60 hours.  If anything, Grandia provides a satisfying quest that never gets dull.

Graphically, Grandia provides much to admire. Although the FMV scenes are sparse, they are effective at enhancing the story and are well done.  The rest of the game uses 3D sprite graphics in the style of Xenogears.  Cities are fully 3D and rotatable. The impressive views of every environment show a world alive with everything moving -- from people to windmills and birds. The amount of detail given to the environments is staggering. Small touches -- such as being able to knock-down bottles off a table simply by running into it -- add a sense of realism not found in other games.  Battle graphics also take place on a 3D field, with the enemies and your characters fighting in turn-based combat. 

The music in Grandia is one of the most memorable soundtracks ever made.  The theme music is especially good and is very effective at conveying the intended sense of adventure this game espouses so heavily. Sound effects are present everywhere both in cities and dungeons. There's also a lot of voice acting which, unfortunately, is where the game stumbles. The English voices are some of the worst ever in a game.  It's painfully obvious that the voices do not belong to professional actors.

Why Sony did such a rush job in this aspect is beyond me.  This game could have received a perfect rating in the sound category, but the voices are so bad it really hurts the overall feel of the game. It takes a lot of getting used to but the majority of the game is without voice and the text translation is decent.

Gameplay is where Grandia really shines. The character growth and combat systems are some of the best I've ever seen. Any RPG which actually encourages combat and makes it fun is a worthy addition to the genre. Each character can use several possible weapons which increase in experience as they are used. Each weapon also develops special attacks that are determined by the availability of SP points which also increase with experience.  

During combat, the set of available commands is accessed on a ring menu, which includes lots of options in addition to the usual item, escape, attack, and magic selections. Characters can either do a combo attack or a critical attack. Weapons include knives, swords, clubs, bows, and whips each unique to an individual character.  Special attacks are accessed through the special/magic icon. 

Magic is also handled a bit differently. Spells are based on the four elements of wind, water, earth and fire. Spells are purchased by using Mana eggs, which are scattered around the world. One mana egg will buy one type of elemental spell. As the spells are used in combat, they will gain experience and stronger elemental spells will be learned. Eventually, the player can buy a combination spell with any set of two basic elemental spells to give a stronger mixed spell. This kind of system adds a vast variety to character development because not only is there a mix of possible weapon related abilities which can be learned but also an equal and greater variety of possible magic attacks. Combat in this game is a very good thing because it helps character growth and uncovers new and graphically pleasing attacks. 

Game flow goes from city exploration to dungeons with a location based over-world map which the characters don't actually traverse. Control is very intuitive -- having a simple set of menus for items, status, magic and equipment. There's also analog control which makes for easy running. The camera is fully rotatable allowing viewing of environments from all angles. Another neat addition to navigation is a compass which has a red mark to indicate north and a yellow pointer that points to the present destination in both towns or dungeons. The closer you get to the destination the faster the compass spins allowing easy travel to the target of any dungeon.  Enemies are also seen upon approach and can be easily avoided by running around them.  Coming up from behind an enemy will give a turn advantage to your characters while conversely if an enemy attacks your party from behind then they will have the surprise advantage.  During combat there's also a turn meter which shows when and in what order your characters can attack in relation to the order of enemy attacks. Again, this feature adds more strategy to the combat and keeps each encounter fresh and free of repetition.