Genre: RPG
Developer: Game Arts
Publisher: Game Arts

Grandia is composed of some of the most elaborately and richly detailed environments this reviewer has ever seen on a 32-bit platform-- the Saturn could push quads like nobody's business, and there is no better showcase than this title. Each town is like an aesthetically beautiful diorama, where the camera can be rotated with the shoulder buttons. Indoor areas such as houses, churches, or the insides of ships have a loving attention to detail which can be scarcely described. The character and enemy sprites are huge, and have thousands of frames of animation between them drawn from all angles, as the camera moves and scales all over the place during battles. Portraits really bring the memorable characters to life! Occasional pre-rendered, full-motion video sequences round out this sensational visual feast.

Noriyuki Iwadare, composer from the "Lunar" titles, was retained for this release and puts in a great shift. It's not quite Nobuo Uematsu territory, but there is a ton of variety from the melancholic to the sensational to everything in between. It has one of those battle themes which never gets old, even after hearing it hundreds of times. There's not much in the way of voice acting-- it's saved for special moments in the story-- but when it is present, it sounds great. As is typical for the Saturn, sound effects are crystal clear and absolutely pop out of the speakers.

The "A" button opens the menu, holding the "B" button forces the characters to run, while the "C" button progresses dialog. "L" and "R" rotate the camera in the towns and dungeons. The battle engine is turn-based, but has a fun real-time progression meter along the bottom which shows the ordering: real thought has to be put in to, "If I do this, my character will need to run across the board; will he interrupt the enemy's attack in time?" kinds of situations. The dungeons are often massive and lots of fun to explore. Unlike many JRPGs of this vintage, Grandia has save points generously placed, and the party's state can also be restored at these markers.

It's difficult to find fault with Grandia. The characters are some of the best in the history of the genre, both from a visual design and writing standpoint; the visuals are among the top not just on the Saturn, but on any 32-bit console of that generation; and the title has a great soundtrack plus excellent overall aural characteristics. The pacing can feel ever-so-slightly off, and the frame rate is not as smooth as it could be-- but these are minor quibbles. Grandia stacks up very favorably to "Final Fantasy VII", which had come out twelve months earlier, on the competing Sony PlayStation. Thanks to phenomenal modern-day fan ISO patches, the game can be enjoyed by English-speaking audiences on the Sega Saturn!