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"Can a RPG be charming, cute, AND good?"

I don't know how, but I let over a decade go by without so much as even TRYING out Grandia. This MAY be because I never knew that it was made by Game Arts, the people who gave us the Lunar series (another charming game, even if it was too easy). Well, thanks to a new friend I've not only given the game a try, but I've poured over 60 hours of my life into it. So... that being said, here's what YOU can expect from Grandia (before you pour 60 hours of YOUR life into it):


Story: 9/10

You take on the role of Justin, a young man living in Parm who's dreamed of becoming an adventurer his entire life, like his dad. He lives alone with his mom and plays with his neighbor Sue, while they go on child-like adventures in town. Justin longs for a REAL adventure though, and soon gets permission from Parm's museum curator to explore the nearby ruins, but when he gets to the ruins, a souvenir from his Dad (one of the worlds legendary spirit stones), reacts to some of the ruin's ancient architecture, sending Justin on a GRAND quest to uncover the ancient Angelou civilization and learn why it is no longer around.

The story follows many RPG's theme of starring a young man that you wouldn't think could do HALF of what he ends up doing (the standard "Coming of age" theme), but what separates Justin from the countless mobs of young men who star in their own RPG's is undoubtedly his energy, persevering spirit, and can-do attitude. As you play through the story you'll tangle with a mysterious military organization who is also trying to uncover the past (providing you with an antagonist) as well as make plenty of friends along the way. Some friends will stay with you permanently while others will just join you for a little while. Justin's journey pushes him ever eastward, but he'll still have time to stop and solve various village's and friends problems along the way (they have to get that 60 hours of game play in somewhere!).

Overall, the story and characters are simply charming and cute, as I'm sure you'll agree if you spend any amount of time with Grandia (which doesn't come as a surprise, coming from the people who made Lunar). The story doesn't take itself TOO seriously (until the end) and is often very comical as well. The writing is clever and cute throughout the game, and that INCLUDES the HUNDREDS of non-playable characters that you'll encounter as you visit the game's numerous cities. The story isn't without its flaws here and there though (which I won't spoil for you), but is definitely a story worth telling.


Game play: 9/10

Yes, Grandia IS a RPG, but it isn't turn-based, so don't expect your party to line up and take turns smacking the enemy. The battles aren't even random! Instead, when you enter a dungeon or "enemy-infested" area, you can CHOOSE to engage the enemy, as the enemy sprite is out on the field (be careful though, because they will often SEE you too and come running after you). Once you enter a battle, you'll be in a limited area with the enemy while a bar at the bottom of the screen with your character's portraits and the enemy's start to head right. This is the action bar. See, to do anything your character has to reach the "input" part of the action bar. Once they get there you can give them a command, but then you have to wait a little longer to get to the "execute" portion of the bar for them to do whatever you told them to do.

Having that space between the "input command" and "execute" portion of the bar is there for a reason, though. You see, you can actually either use a combo attack or a critical attack when you want to physically attack, and if the enemy is about to execute HIS attack, you can often use a critical (or high-damaging) attack and CANCEL his attack entirely, putting him at the beginning of the action bar. In fact, any time you (or the enemy) get hit, you'll move down the action bar a bit. This of course adds an element of strategy to the battles.

You'll also discover "mana eggs" as you play through the game, which allow you to learn magic. There are four different kinds of magic, namely fire, water, earth, and wind. However, as you learn new magic you can often combine them for new types of spells. For example, fire and earth will result in explosion magic. Speaking of leaning things, you DON'T actually gain much of anything by leveling up in this game (a few stat increases). The REAL gains come from leveling up your MAGIC and WEAPONS (each character can use a variety of weapon types). You see, each time you use your weapons or magic you gain some experience for it. Once you hit 100 experience, you gain a level in that weapon or magic. These levels are important as you gain stats each time you level a weapon or magic up PLUS you can only learn new skills or magic by having your skills at certain levels.

The rest of the game is fairly standard if you're accustomed to RPG's at all. You'll go on and gain money so you can use it to buy the latest and greatest equipment and talk to important NPC's to progress the story. The only real thing to add here is that you can actually set up tactics for each party member to follow and have the AI of the game fight FOR you, meaning you can take a "hands-off" approach to battle if you wish (which is GREAT for fighting through tons of weaker enemies).


So what stops the game play from getting a "10"? Well, while the battle system is undoubtedly fun and engaging (with a clever method of learning skills and leveling up), it can be rather repetitive at times. The dungeons can also be VERY confusing, often requiring you to do certain things when you have NO idea what they want you to do. This can lead to frustration, but thankfully you can just use a guide if you get TOO stuck (I recommend Zylicyde's, by the way). Overall the game play in Grandia is fantastic and falls well beyond the realm of "just another RPG".


Graphics: 9/10

The graphics in the game are very well done. The character designs are colorful and detailed (helping with the game's charm factor) and the animations throughout the game are often witty and well done. Even the magic effects were good, which is surprising. The environments that you'll explore on Justin's grand journey provide plenty of variety and are well done as well, although some of the dungeons can be rather bland in color and reuse a lot of the same textures throughout (meaning you'll fins yourself walking through bland gray hallways and boring brown caves every now and again).

For the game's dialog system, the game uses character's portraits in a dialog box to show their emotion. The artwork here is of course fantastic and does a good job in showing the characters emotions as well. Overall, the game's graphics are fantastic, with good environment variety and some repetition in the games many dungeons.


Audio: 10/10

Now I won't lie to you guys: usually on my bigger reviews (like this one) I head on over to You Tube and play the game's OST (Official Sound Track) and listen to it to gain a greater understanding and appreciation for the sound track. However, with Grandia's tunes so deeply and freshly ingrained into my head I don't have to. Why? This music is not only memorable, but it's FANTASTIC. The game's soundtrack uses just about every instrument in the book (up to and including a full orchestra) to produce it's sound, but it also uses them effectively to establish a catchy rhythm. Tracks are often associated with a theme as well which helps endear them to you. For example, your characters will often sit down and have dinner with each other, with the same catchy tune playing each time.

The voice acting in the game is also very well done. While the game isn't fully voiced, it does have dozens of voiced sections. You'll also have each character being voiced all the time in battle as they have to comment on their magic and skills before they do them. Through the whole game, I only disliked ONE person's voice actor, but that's not enough to detract from the game's stellar audio. Trust me, Grandia is one game you want to have the volume turned up on!


Re-playability: 9/10

Well, you already know the game is LONG, as I poured 60 hours into it. Granted, I DID do some grinding here and there for some skills, but I can guarantee you'll get your money's worth with Grandia. While I did do my fair share of grinding, I DIDN'T get every skill there is in the game. Trying to get every skill in the game DOES mean a lot of VERY REPETITIVE grinding though.

On top of the game's impressive length, Grandia also features three bonus dungeon for you to explore. The first two aren't TOO big, but the third one is massive and features the game's best equipment. And unlike most games that try and give you bonus dungeons AFTER you beat the game, when having the game's best equipment means NOTHING, Grandia gives you its dungeons BEFORE the game's final boss.


Overall: 9/10

Overall, Grandia is simply a charming and fun to play RPG, just as worthwhile as the PlayStation-era Final Fantasy games. If you're looking for a good, long RPG to play, don't hesitate to give Grandia a try! And what's even better is the fact that while the PlayStation version costs a pretty penny, you can find this game for CHEAP on the PlayStation Network. I hope you've found this review helpful. Have fun and keep playing!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/14/11

Game Release: Grandia (US, 09/30/99)