It's a little tricky finding a common thread between the different Grandia games. The original Saturn Grandia was called the system's "Final Fantasy VII killer"; though it didn't actually kill anything, it was still whimsical and had a great, innovative battle system. Grandia II enhanced that battle system but had a much darker tone to its story, which kind of threw off expectations. Grandia Xtreme was a story-light dungeon hack with great battles. So, what can you expect from Grandia III? So far it seems like a good mix of the first two games. It goes without saying that the unique battle system is back, but the plot seems to strike a balance between the hyper-kiddy cuteness of the first game and the seriousness of the second.

It starts off on the kiddy side as you catch up with Yuki, a young man from a small village who's obsessed with building an airplane to fly across the ocean. After he and his friend Rots complete the contraption, he takes off on an evening test flight, much to the chagrin of his oddly youthful-looking mother, Miranda. Unbeknownst to him she's stowed away in the back, and the extra weight causes them to crash in the middle of some heated action. A cute elfin girl is being chased by evil-looking RPG villain types, so Yuki and Miranda spring to her defense. (Mom is surprisingly good with daggers.) It turns out the girl is a Communicator, one of the few who can talk to the gods, and certain people would do anything to get her back...

Strategic Chaos

Grandia III has a beautiful world and its story has promise, but it would appear that the excellent battle system is once again the star of the show. As before, there are no random encounters. You can see all monsters running around the field, and though they do rush you, they're fairly easy to avoid. Still, you've gotta fight to power-up, so you might as well jump into the fray. You can tilt the odds a bit in your favor by smacking the enemies with Yuki's sword before engaging; this stuns them and gives your party the opening moves.


What sets Grandia III's battles apart is their dynamic, pseudo real-time nature. An icon representing each enemy and hero travels around a "command wheel" in the corner. Once they hit a certain point on it they can take a command; once their icon travels a little further they actually execute it. Since you're privy to the enemies' places on the command wheel, you can time your attacks to counter theirs. The most obvious strategy is to hit them with "critical" strikes before they attack, which will send their icons sliding way back on the wheel and greatly delay their actions. Time your attacks correctly and you can sometimes prevent the enemies from taking a single swing.

Another key element comes in the aerial combos. Certain attacks can send enemies soaring (complete with a helpful altitude readout), and hitting them while they're airborne leads to massive damage. Finish them off in this state and you'll get bonus money and even a shot at rare items.