To sum up a review in the PS magazine in 2001: Poor Graphics but great adventuring.

Grandia is without a doubt one of the best RPG's to grace the PSX system, sure it doesnt have the amazing graphics like SOME games out there, but it more than made up for it with a storyline that was interesting & wonderful game play that made you stick with it. It didnt need to be fancy & complicated to make it enjoyable & its replayable without getting boring

A lot of RPG makers could learn a lot from Grandia 1