For many PSX gamers, Grandia has been the Holy Grail of sorts. Something they have heard of and sought after for a long time, but due to the fact that it was never released in the US, or even existed on the PlayStation hardware, only the few and proud (and Japanese literate) could experience Game Arts' masterpiece. There were the scattered people (including me) that decided to hope and pray that Working Designs would translate and release the game here in the US on the PlayStation. While they got half their wish, it was SCEA that got their mitts on the translation. This news struck fear into the very souls of the people who were waiting for so long. You see, SCEA has this habit of just releasing RPG's, with little or no work spent on making the translation "sound" good. They displayed this talent with their translation of Star Ocean: The Second Story, but would they mess up again?

Fate would not have it that way, as the translators at SCEA have come up with one of the best translations of all time. One that never sounds broken or ignored at any point in the entire two-disc set of the game. In fact, by the end of the game, you will feel like you know the characters personally. This game relies on dialogue so much more than the characters of recent Squaresoft epics (I swear, Squall talks to himself more than anyone else in the game), that it will bring you back to the days when characters and story mean so much more than animated sequences. I'm betting that the fan base for Grandia raised the expectations so high, being primarily focused on the story, SCEA was afraid to make any errors in its translation. For such a flaw to be identified by the avid demographic would result in a high factor of disappointment to all that have anxiously awaited its release.

Grandia is the story of Justin. A young boy who wants to be an adventurer, and will do anything to achieve that goal. But unfortunately, he lives in the sleepy port town of Parm (perhaps a little ode to the Phantasy Star series?). After a series of adventures with his best friend, Sue, Justin sets out to the New Continent to New Parm. Justin and Sue meet new friends and have adventures that take them all the way to the End of the World and beyond...far beyond.

The game itself is a typical RPG but where it exceeds that is in its battle and experience system. The battles are viewed from a three-quarter overhead view with a panning camera moving to whoever's turn it is to attack or make an attack decision. But the meat and potatoes of the battles are in its quick timer line. This is a bar at the lower right hand corner that shows all of your characters and your enemies. Who ever reaches a certain point in this bar gets to make a battle decision. After your decision is made, you have a small amount of time to wait before the attack or magic is executed. This few seconds is very important in the whole scheme of the battle. For instance, if you chose to attack with some fire magic, and the enemy next to you attacks you, it could cancel your attack and put you all the way back at the end of the time bar. The whole battle system is based around this bar, and it can even be used to time your parties attacks together to create multi hit combos. The experience system is also very original in the fact that you get experience depending on what skills you used during that battle. Want to power up that Earth Magic? Use it on as many enemies as you can during battle. The spells themselves level up the more you use them, and then reveal even more spells you can do as an extension of the original.

But that's only the basics of the magic system. Each person has three levels of magic, each categorized with their own magic points. But the catch is that you must master spells on the earlier levels to get the spells later on. Sound easy? Yes, until you get the proper mixture of elements. I would say that each character can have up to a total of about 25-30 spells each, but that depends on whom the Mana Eggs are given to. Ah, the Mana Eggs, the only low point of the magic system of Grandia. Mana eggs are recovered through out the world and can be taken to shops in which you can trade them for one of the elements: Earth, Water, Fire and wind. Sure its great and all, but you have to do this for each party member. And if you give a Mana Egg to someone who will later leave your party, then you're out of luck.

The graphics in Grandia are a mixed bag. The style is very similar to that of Xenogears, but more of a pastel/cartoonish design. One thing I did notice is that the sprites don't look as bad up close as those of Xenogears, they just lend themselves to their environment a lot better. Dispersed sparsely throughout the game are CG and Anime cut scenes. But these are so rarely used that it's like a complete surprise when they come up. But also, out of all of these, only one is really notable at all, and this comes near the end of the game.

The music of Grandia is simply amazing, but it all really depends on your taste in RPG music. I had a friend that said the "Theme of Adventure" sounded like it was from a Soap Opera, while it sent chills down my spine every time I heard it. The voice is also a mixed bag. There is a lot of voice through out the game, whether it be chanting a spell name or during an important scene. Some of the voice is very well done, but others just fall flat. I just could get over the fact that Justin's voice sounded so bad that I cringed every time I heard it, and at times had trouble taking the character seriously. But I felt the game redeemed itself in the voices of Feena and Leen. But again, while the voices are nowhere near as bad as those in Star Ocean: The Second Story, a little more work could have been spent here and there.

Besides certain voices, there is little else to point out that is bad about Grandia. Perhaps my only other gripe would be the lack of an actual over world. It's simply a map where you select where you want to go. There isn't any actual exploring at all, and once you pass that mountain pass or whatever is in the way, you don't need to go through it again. But honestly, I didn't really notice the lack of an overworld once I was about two hours into the game.

I wholeheartedly believe that every gamer into RPG's should play this game. You owe it to yourself; get lost within this living, breathing world and remember what RPG's should be like.

· · · Mezz