Grandia beaten too. I don't think there's been a game that's impressed me this much in years, possibly not since Ōkami, which is funny considering how old it is and I've griped about basic mechanics in the past. Let me just get out of the way all of my complaints before I get onto why I loved it so much:

-Magic was pretty much worthless in comparison to physical attacks, a balance problem that continued throughout the series.
-Characters were not particularly deep or amazing.
-The plot itself wasn't great either: Kid is bored of his life and goes out on an adventure to see an ancient civilization and saves the world in the process.
-OST was a hit or a miss, mostly the latter. For every great and memorable track like this, you got two of these.

Which makes the game seem pretty fucking shitty, and I'll agree that you need to be a certain type of person to enjoy what I liked about it: the fucking world itself. Remember, this game is about a kid bored of city life and wanting to go on an adventure. He starts out in what seems like a regular RPG town: industrial, steam pipes everywhere, a fountain and some green space. As he travels further and further from that point, everything incrementally becomes more and more bizarre. It's doesn't throw the crazy shit at you from the beginning. They give you some odd stuff initially so you get a taste to build up a tolerance. But with each new town and dungeon there's something new and surprising to examine. Even in the final dungeon I still was finding unexpected stuff. I have never in my life have seen and I doubt ever again will see backgrounds, dungeons, or character design like this. It's unique, it's weird, it's interesting, and I finished the game feeling like I did go on an adventure. I have no idea who was on this team, but they sure as hell were missing from Grandia II and III. For me this was pinnacle of the series and nothing ever compared.