Grandia III.(online game evaluated)(Product/Service Evaluation)

Shane: Final Fantasy might be the big man on the role-playing campus, but the lesser-known Grandia franchise has been quietly advancing the RPG genre with clever innovations since its inception nearly a decade ago. These games offered sprawling 3D cities, realistically scaled overworld maps, and a nifty battle gauge illustrating turn order years before Final Fantasy X blatantly nicked all three features. Grandia III continues the series' successful run--RPG fans hungry for the oft-delayed FFXII should undertake this quest in the meantime.

Grandia III doesn't significantly alter the established formula--all those aforementioned innovations still hold up today, after …