A young boy named Justin inherits a magic stone that leads him on a journey around the world to uncover the mystery of a long-lost civilization.

Along the way, he meets other adventurers who join him on his quest, which draws the attention of the militaristic Garlyle Forces who seek to uncover the secrets of the past as well.

Grandia received a largely positive critical response during its original release, and was voted by readers of the Japanese magazine Famitsu as the 73rd greatest game of all time in a 2006 poll.

Grandia is a set in a fantasy world where societies thrive in an era of increasing technological developments[5] following the collapse of the ancient Angelou (エンジュール, Enjūru, ("Enjule")) civilization centuries before.

Slipping past the Garlyle soldiers into the ruins, Justin finds a holographic device that displays the image of a woman named Liete, who tells him that his stone holds great power, and he must travel far to the east in search of Alent (アレント, Arento), the ancient city of knowledge, to learn of its true potential.

Returning home, Justin avoids his mother and sneaks out to the docks early the next day to board a ship bound for the New World across the ocean while promising to become a great adventurer like his father.

Escaping their capture aboard a military train, the three make their way to a village at the foot of the great wall, where it is revealed that Leen is Feena's long-lost sister.

Making their way through a forest, the three meet Gadwin, a beast-man and seasoned knight who sees potential in Justin and leads the three to the ancient Twin Towers in order to contact Liete again.

Fearing for her safety, Justin obtains a teleportation orb and lets Sue use it to return to Parm and continues onward with Gadwin and Feena to the bounds of the continent and yet another ocean.

Moving forward in search of Alent, the party meets a traveling merchant named Guido who leads them to his home town, where he acts as chieftain despite his young appearance, allowing them access to more ruins.

It is here that Feena discovers innate magic powers that manifest in the form of wings when she is in trouble, and is promptly captured along with Justin's Spirit Stone by invading Garlyle soldiers and taken aboard Baal's flagship, the Grandeur.

Due to the self-destruct mechanism being activated by accident, the ship starts to fall apart, and Guido and Rapp end up getting separated from Justin, leaving him to face Baal alone.

Realizing Feena and Leen are the current revival of the Icarians, Justin sets off to save them from the Gaia-fused Baal, who now faces mutiny among his troops, including his son Mullen.

In an epilogue ten years later, Sue, now a teenager, reunites with Justin and Feena, who arrive home after nearly a decade of adventure with children in tow.

New features for the PlayStation version included support for the system's DualShock analog control sticks and vibration function, as well as compatibility with Sony's Japanese-only PocketStation peripheral, which allows players to download game data on a portable device for use in a special mini-game.

[19] Although the company had expressed interest in bringing the game to the PlayStation as early as 1998, technical problems originally prevented the title from being ported to the system.

[21] The North American version was originally announced by Sony as a summer release during the 1999 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, but was pushed back to the following October.

[24] The music for Grandia was written by Noriyuki Iwadare, who had previously worked with Game Arts as composer for their Lunar series on the Sega CD.

[25] Iwadare was called upon to write the music due to his relationship with the company, and claims that his work on Grandia was "a turning point in my career",[26] and described the music-making process as "very interesting".

[25] "It's the End" by Japanese rock group L'Arc-en-Ciel, from the band's 1999 Album Ray, was used as the game's official commercial theme song during its re-release on the PlayStation.

[45][46] Due to the hype surrounding the game and its not being released outside Japan, a number of American and European publications reviewed the Saturn version as an import.

Next Generation lauded the game's use of complex 3D models and animation and detailed audio to create a living and immersive world, as well as the real-time strategy elements and wide array of actions available to the player during combat.

"[37] The UK-based Sega Saturn Magazine was similarly laudatory to the 3D visuals and attention to detail in the background animations and sound effects, and also praised the character progression over the course of the story.

The review emphasized that Sega Saturn Magazine was running a walkthrough of Grandia through several issues so that readers could purchase the game without fear of becoming stuck due to the language barrier.

[4] The PlayStation version of Grandia met with similarly positive reception to the Saturn release, though sales remained lower than the original in Japan, selling approximately 97,460 copies in its first three weeks.

[23] Francesca Reyes reviewed the PlayStation version of the game for Next Generation, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "Light-hearted, but incredibly involving, Grandia proves to be worth the wait.

When most of the exhibits go missing, Liete uses her magic to transport the three to four separate dungeons each containing remnants of their previous journey to find and restore them to their proper place.

As players progress through the game, bonus material becomes unlocked in the museum itself, which includes music files, artwork, and movie clips related to Grandia, as well as minigames.

The following exhibits are found in the four dungeons: Grandia: Digital Museum debuted as the fifth highest-selling game of the week during its launch in Japan, and would go on to sell approximately 32,226 copies in its first month.