"This is one quality title right here."

Platform: Playstation

Genre: Role-Playing

Publisher: SCEA

Developer: GameArts

ESRB: E (Everyone)

Released: Q4 1999

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Grandia 

While the Final Fantasy series is widely considered to be the premiere role-playing experience on the Playstation. There’s one title in particular that has made its way to the system from the Sega Saturn that could easily give Square’s juggernaut a run for its money as the RPG king of the mountain. That title being Game Arts’ Grandia. With an absolutely stellar story, and characters that are more lively and fleshed out than those found in other series this game provides the integral components to make for an RPG that will rule the players life until they’ve finished the game.

If there’s one area that is slightly weak in Grandia it’s the graphics. However, one must remember that the game was originally released some time ago on the Saturn, so of course the visuals me look a tad dated. Be that as it may the character design is nice, anime-like fare. The monsters are well assorted and the characters have a lot of personality put into their appearance. Spell effects are still very pretty with Gadwin’s Dragon Cut being an exceptional example. The animations can be downright hilarious at times when party members use a special skill. When Sue and Puffy team up to do their "Raw-Raw" healing move it’s a laugh-riot to see the two of them break out pompoms and cheer on the rest of the party. The dungeons, forests, cities, and so on all have a very wide ranging look to them as they are an interesting mosaic of medieval, tribal, and modern influences to make for a diverse world to explore.

The story is very traditional for the world of RPGs as it follows a young lad by the name of Justin who is out to travel the world and become an adventurer just like his father. He meets up with an assortment of different characters that join up and help 

him out along the way. Now while we’ve seen all of this stuff countless times before it is the sheer power of the character design and how incredibly fleshed out each person is that makes this story so strong. It’s easy to actually want to see Justin fulfill his dream of becoming a full fledged adventurer, to want to keep going just to see more of the character interaction, and see how the plot unfolds. There’s always a little something that is left out of the story in Grandia so that when it’s explained it hits the spot just right.

There is a fair amount of voice acting throughout the game during important story progression sequences as well. Overall the quality of the acting is quite good, but the sound quality leaves a bit to be desired as the reverb used makes it sound like everyone is talking in a bathroom. The music in Grandia is exceptionally good. While also containing a bit of an anime vibe, there is also a ton of orchestral pieces to help strengthen the eclectic ambience of the game.

This is one quality title right here. The story is most certainly the centerpiece of the game, but with strong and varied visual design, and quality audio, Grandia also sports the artistic strength to be a top Playstation RPG.

- Mr. Nash