This is one of the floating continents of the story- and it’s in dire peril, of course. The most important thing to remember, though, is not to look over the edge

Following the impressive exploits of Final Fantasy VII, the role-playing genre, while still clearly bonkers, has friends in high places. Is this saga one of epic proportions or are we entering the realms of fantasy?
Gideon Kibblewhite

The form with this sort of game is usually very simple: walk around a 3D world in times gone by, chat to a few people, fight a couple of bad guys, and generally save the day in your quest for... something.

The Granstream Saga, for all its faults, is gratifyingly 'out there' in the loony stakes. You play a young orphan (why must heroes always be orphans?) called Eon (nice). Eon comes from the world Granstream, a place which has been literally torn apart by an ancient war and which now consists of five continents that, with the aid of magic crystals, float suspended in the air above the oceans.

But all is not well, of course: the magic crystals are running out, the continents are slowly sinking towards the sea and ... what are the locals doing? They're chopping off huge chunks of their floating homes in a bid to keep them afloat!

As if all this wasn't bad enough, the evil guys, the (cough) Imperial Wizardry are back on the scene and trying to mess everyone up. Only Eon, with the aid of his magic bracelet and a string of girlfriends, can save Granstream from universal sinkage…

The story is complete bilge of course, even by Japanese standards, but is the game any good? Well, Granstream's different elements - its walking, talking, fighting, and little animation sequences which break up the plot - all hang together and unravel almost seamlessly (despite the inevitable loading pauses).