Grandia is probably one of saturn's most long awaited games. Created by GameArts, the makers of Lunar, Grandia has been tauted as the game to dethrone Final Fantasy 7. Whether or not it does, I can't say because I have not completed played the game  (I've watched people play the game for a couple of hours) but I can definitely say that Grandia is the best saturn RPG. (i have not played Panzer Dragoon Azel) .

Grandia comes with 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 inro is a jumbled collection from the various cut scenes throughout the game and gives the gamer an idea on what to expect in the game. The best thing about the intro is the game's rich, ochestra-like theme song, which hums in your head even after you turn the saturn on.

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 bitmapped graphics and polygons. The background, ie buildings, tress and tanks are made of polygons while the characters are butmapped. 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 building, 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. IMHO, Grandia's most 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 u 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 scree inside buildings.

Digitised speech is only present during important events in the game. 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 knw 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 them 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 before I got bored and ALbert Oddesy 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.

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 disired 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 stategic fighting expecially 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 characters 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.

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 ok but not very impressive and are also bitmapped. I was hoping that the bosses were big, polygon types like those found in shooters.

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 aquired by getting mana eggs.Theorce 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 untill they repeat what they are saying. You can also get 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 goodbye 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. Do you move quickly, looking for the quickest exit or take your time, making sure you get every item.

Graphics 9.5
+ Incredibly detailed and realistic graphics creates a world that seems very much 'alive'
+ Very nice cut scenes
+ Characters are animated very well
+ Very colourful graphics
- some minor slowdown

F/X 9/10
+ Very clear and crisp
+ Many 'small' sounds like insects chirping in the night
- The load footsteps of the characters when they run can sometimes be annoying

Music 8/10
+ Memorable theme song
+ Rich music
+ Great variaty of tunes

Gameplay 7.5/10
+ Innovatice combat system
+ Ability to train moves and magic
+ Incredibly moving storyline
+ Did I mention the great storyline?
+ 50-70 hours of gameplay
- Very addictive and I hard little sleep playing this game

Replay value 7/10
+ Some secret areas and getting all the mana eggs
+ Getting high level spells through training
+ Experience the 'magic' of Grandia again
- Its an rpg. How many people play an RPG the 2nd time?

Overall score 9.5/10

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 realisme that GameArts was able to create. Grandia is more than just a game, it is an experience that every videogamer should not miss!