My sister picked this up from a random supermarket in 1998/1999, and I sank 100s of hours into watching her play it through.
She does this thing where she wants to start games over and over again from the start, play them for a bunch of hours, then start it again.
The soundtrack and the challenge of beating the game at that age was wonderful.
I beat it a few years ago for the first time all the way through again. Really enjoyed it, but never played the sequel.
I find a lot of modern games unisnpiring. Too much focus is on creating a general great game, rather than focusing on story / mechanics.
Thanks for the post!
The soundtrack to Grandia lives rent free in my head. I've not heard it in 20 years but I can still play it back.
I only know the second part of grandia, but it is great!
(There does not seem a story connection, though)