was a Japanese free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Game Arts and published by GungHo Online Entertainment for Microsoft Windows as part of their Grandia series. Although originally announced in 2004, the game was beset by a number of delays and lulls in development, eventually received a final retail release in Japan nearly five years later in August 2009. It was the first online multiplayer game in the series, as well as the first to be initially developed for the PC. It retains many features seen in previous Grandia games, including visual themes, characters, and a similar combat system. The game utilized the BigWorld Technology Suite to render its vast world, and featured music from series veteran Noriyuki Iwadare. Although the game did not require a subscription fee, optional in-game items were only available through paid microtransactions. Acting as a prequel to the original Grandia, Grandia Onlines story takes place many years beforehand during the "Age of Genesis", a time marked by adventure and exploration. Players created a character from one of three races: the adventurous and adaptable Humans, the childlike, bushy-tailed Coltas, or the imposing, war-like Ralgas, as they travel the world to unlock the mystery of a strange occurrence which petrified their home village. During gameplay, players interact and battle with others, as well as with computer-controlled partners. The game was officially shut down on September 28, 2012. Gameplay Grandia Online was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game presented using completely three-dimensional environments and characters. Before playing, users were required to create a GungHo ID from the game's official website, as well as register an account used to log into the game's server. After logging in, players created a character from one of three available races, whose appearances can be customized in a number of ways, including face, hair, eyes, gender, and initial statistics, which determine a their specific strengths and weaknesses. When entering the game world, a character's appearance could be further customized by obtaining new equipment and using special dyes to alter their color. Characters were controlled from a third-person perspective, with the camera being completely movable by the user, and basic movement consisting of walking, running, and jumping. The game's user interface contained a text box for chatting with other players, as well as a mini-map for navigation that shows the location of objects and building in the vicinity of the character. All