Grandia

"Truly an Epic RPG. Game Arts pulled through, big time!"

Grandia is a game brought over by Game Arts and has had wide popularity in Japan and the US alike. From its unique story to its innovative battle system, Grandia redefined what a Role-Playing game can be.

Story 10/10
Absolutely amazing. At first the story of a boy wanting to become an adventurer sounds really lame, but later in the game it gets to be enchanting and enthralling. It tells the story of Justin(that's right, a normal name in an RPG), who embarks on a quest with Feena, the girl next door, and his annoying yet cute, fun loving friend, Sue. Along their path to destiny they encounter many friends who aid in their quest. Stupid at first, genius by the end.

Graphics 9/10
Grandia utilizes the 2-D sprite characters with the 3-D world kind of system. The characters look great and kind express any emotion you can think of, but the 3-D worlds lack a bit, but it still looks good. The cut scenes look good but it is not square quality cg.

Sound 10/10
Beautiful. Absolutely amazing. The music is enough to make you play this game over and over. I loved the evil theme and the god times theme. They reflect each other so much. The battle theme is nice and I love the surprise attack tune. It had me dancin' in my underwear on many
occasions. The sound sets the tone for the battles, the mood for the story and the overall feel of the Grandia experience.

Control 10/10
Perfect. Nothing to say but that....Perfect.

Gameplay 10/10
This is where Grandia truly shines. The battle system is the best of any on any game on any system. It KO's Final Fantasies, Lunars and even chrono games. It basically is a free moving magic using physical attacking kind of thing. Magic is spread into level one, weak, level two, average, level three, extremely strong and, moves, each characters special moves. Physical attacks are broken down into combos and critical. Combos hit your foes twice and do good damage. Criticals can cancel your enemy(make them rechoose their move)but do much less than a combo. The battle system is truly a unique experience,

Replay Value 10/10
Do it for fun. Do it for side quests. Do it cuz' its cool.

Overall Score 10/10
Grandia has it all! The battle system and the story is simply amazing!!

Buy or Rent?
No need to rent. You can find this game for 15 to 20 bucks most places on the PSX and even cheaper on the Saturn.
Its a wonderful buy.

Grandia: Buy it. Play it. Beat it. Play it again. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/05/02, Updated 06/14/03