Grandia is probably one of saturn's most long awaited games. Created by GameArts, the makers of Lunar, Grandia has been touted as the game to dethrone Final Fantasy 7. Whether or not it does, it's hard for me to say because there's no english version of Grandia (I will make some comparisons with FFVII) but I can definately say that Grandia is the best saturn RPG. (I have not played Panzer Dragoon Saga).

Grandia comes on two CDs, a 'Grandia Encyclopedia', a CD with the Grandia characters talking about god knows what and best of all, a piece of cloth with the Grandia map. The game also comes with an adventure manual that gives some hints of the game.

The intro and cut scenes in Grandia are a mix of CG and anime. The intro is full screen and is very clear, though as usual is not up to the PSX's standards. The intro is a jumbled collection from the various cut scenes throughout the game and gives the gamer an idea of what to expect in the game. The best thing about the intro is the game's rich, orchestra-like theme song, which hums in your head even after you turn the saturn off. In fact, I can still remember the theme song now.

The world of Grandia is very much like FF7 where technology meets magic. There are trains, aeroplanes and giant warships as well as portals and spells.

The graphics in Grandia are a mix between 2-D graphics and polygons. The background, ie buildings, tress and tanks are made of polygons while the characters are 2D pixels. Just imagine Shining Force 3 with much more detail.

The first thing I noticed about the game was how incredibly detailed the graphics were, far surpassing Shining Force 3's. The houses look more real and solid unlike SF3's which look like cardboard cut-outs. The detail to the buildings and streets are incredible. Inside houses you can see pictures hung on walls, tables in the corner with books, the fire burning brightly and the fan turning lazily. It gives the houses a more realistic look unlike other RPGs where houses had only a few furnitures and looked alike. Also the backgrounds in Grandia are much more interactive than FFVII and everytime you press on something, there is a certain response. In FFVII, I got bored of looking for things in houses because there was no response and you always find things in places that don't make sense or can't be seen. IMHO, Grandia's most graphically impressive stage is the ghost ship where u are inside a ship's that coming apart. The amount of detail is as usual incredible and it really feels dark, gloomy and mysterious.

Though the graphics are not as 'beautiful' as FF7, they are much more alive and 'real' in the sense that the characters can go anywhere they want and the game can be viewed in whatever direction.

The bitmapped characters are OK but the frame rate is not very smooth, especially when you rotate the background. There is some slowdown in the game. You can tell my comparing the running speeds of the characters when there are no objects on the screen and when you are inside a town. The 3d graphics really pushes the saturn to its limits so I guess that is why GameArts opted for 2d characters. You can rotate the backgrounds just like in Shining Force 3 but you cannot do it inside buildings. This is because a lot of the details in buildings are bitmapped and it would be very troublesome to draw the objects from various angles so that players could rotate the screen inside buildings.

Digitized speech is only present during important events in the game. Though I don't understand Japanese, it gives the characters a more outstanding personality and gives me a feel of the atmosphere. What makes Grandia's sound effects stand out from other RPGs is the small little details that help make the game real. For example when you are in the harbour, you can hear the ships sounding their 'horn', the waves hitting shore, the seagulls flying around (you can see them too). All these sound effects go a long way in making the game more enjoyable. Just by hearing the sounds I know I am near the beach or deep in the jungle.

The music is a mixed bag of mediocre and outstanding tunes. The mediocre music is usually during the exploration part of the game while the best tunes are during the important sequences.

I must admit, I never liked Lunar type fighting gameplay. I only played Lunar for less then 5 hours (editors note: that was a big mistake) before I got bored and Albert Odyssey lasted only a few hours before I got fed up with the star appearing everytime I encountered the enemy. Luckily GameArts decided to add an added dimension to the battles and the ability to train and mix spells and moves.

Battles are fought Final Fantasy style with a timer. Only when the timer reaches 'com' point the characters is able to choose his course of action. The character will carry out the desired action once the timer reaches 'action'. The speed of the timer from 'com' to 'action' depends on the action. Attacks are faster while magic and items are slow. When a character is attacked, he is stunned and his timer stops for a while. This allows some strategic fighting especially bosses where you must try to get in most hits possible before the enemy can attack.

The battleground does not only allow you to move left and right but also up and down. Your character's path may be blocked so it is better to attack the closest enemy first. If your characters cannot attack because he is blocked by friend or foe, his timer will restart and his turn is wasted. Overall, I find the battles much more interesting than FFVII though FFVII has better looking spells.

The enemies are the usual, slime, trees, monsters, abominable snowmen, fish etc etc. The funny thing is that human enemies do not die. They just become unconscious while the other enemies explode into thin air. The bosses are O.K. but not very impressive and are also bitmapped. I was hoping that the bosses were big, polygon types like those found in shooters or FFVII.

Another important aspect of Grandia's gameplay is the weapon and spell training. The more your character uses a specific weapon, the more skilled he is at that weapon and the damage is more. Every character can use three type of weapons but can only be armed with one. Every weapon is more effective against certain enemies. For example, trees are easy meat (wood) for axes and for some strange reason projectiles are particularly effective against crabs and other shelled creatures. There are 6 types of weapons : knife, sword, mace, axe, projectiles and whip.

Magic is divided into two types, SP and MP. SP is magic using weapons. The more SP attacks you use, you will get more SP moves. MP is divided into 3 levels, namely level 1,2 and 3. Every level has its own type of magic and not every level 3 spell is more powerful than than level two and one.

Magic is divided into 4 basic elements : fire, wind, water and earth. Fire and Wind can be combined to make thunder, water and wind can be combined to create ice, water and earth can be combined to create forest and fire and earth can be combined to make explosion. Any of the 4 basic elements of magic can be acquired by getting mana eggs.The force spells are pretty simple and are mostly bitmapped. GameArts should have used saturn's full capabilities to generate impressive looking spells like those in Shining Force 3.

There can only be a maximum of 4 characters in one party but there are a total of 8 characters in the game.

The exploration part of the game is basically a maze where you have to get to the end to reach the next village. There are no puzzles to solve and you must talk to everyone in the village again and again until they repeat what they are saying. You can also lose HP when not fighting. There are hazards like falling rocks and toxic pools.

The are some secret stages which are optional and not necessary to complete the game. I only went to one of them. These secret stages are used as training grounds for your characters to gain new moves and spells.

What is amazing about this game is GameArts' ability to combine graphics, sound and gameplay into an incredible RPG. Storywise, this RPG is spellbinding. The scene where the hero Justin says good-bye to his homeland to sail to the new world was pretty moving and done beautifully. The rest of the game is also as impressive, especially the romance part of the game.

I finished the game in 57 hours but i know one guy who finished in 49 and another in 65. It depends very much on how you play the game and whether you want to train. Do you move quickly, looking for the quickest exit or take your time, making sure you get every item.

On the presentation side, this RPG was every bit what I expected. Its light and bright mood may not appeal to some but what I did not expect was the awesome storyline and the sense of realism that GameArts was able to create. Grandia is more than just a game, it is an experience that every videogamer should not miss!