Grandia I and Grandia II are two games I have always wanted to play and yet have never have had the opportunity to try out for myself. And yes, I am well aware that Grandia I is available on the PlayStation Network.
The announcement of an HD remaster collection for PC and Nintendo Switch has had me excited since I first heard it. So, it was a pleasure to finally be able to sit down and try a hands on demonstration of both games with Minagawa Takeshi-San, Director of Game Publishing with GungHo Online Entertainment.
There has been a bit of a miscommunication with the HD collection that needs to be cleared up. In regards to Grandia I, the game is based off the original PlayStation One version of the game.
The HD remaster of the game was developed using the PSX version of the game with the Sega Saturn game being played with it side by side. The original assets were “painted over” to help smooth out edges, giving the game an HD upgrade, as well as bring the games graphics more in line with the Saturn version of the game.
As far as Grandia II goes, it is almost a direct port of the original PlayStation 2/Dreamcast version of the game, with enhanced visuals and aspect ratios, very similar to the Grandia II Anniversary Edition released a few years back on PC.
Both games are a true HD remaster of the original games, just not built from the ground up or even just slightly touched up as has been in the case with remasters that have come out recently. Both games will support HD resolutions, though the cutscenes will be in 4:3 aspect ratio. Also, the audio hasn’t been updated and will use the original games audio tracks.
While Grandia I did look a bit like the Eagle filter from emulators had been used on it, both games looked great and played extremely smooth. I didn’t notice much, if any, slow down during our play time with both games.
Our own Rory Hutchings was there with me during this sit down interview and hands-on play of the games and he was also impressed on the work done on two games that he had played and loved years ago.
We saw both games running in both docked and handheld mode on the Nintendo Switch, and in either play mode, both games looked and played fantastically. In what has become almost my norm, I found myself really looking forward to laying back on my couch and playing through these games I missed as a kid, in handheld mode, and enjoying them to their fullest.
Unfortunately, we weren’t told of any release date nor where we told when players could reasonably expect these games to release. It should also be noted that the Nintendo Switch version will contain both games as one collection, but for the PC, the games will be released separately.
If you currently own the Grandia II Anniversary Edition, your copy of the game will be upgraded to the Grandia II HD Remaster at the time of launch. You can find our original coverage of the Grandia HD Collection here.
