Grandia never grew to be as big of a franchise as Final Fantasy or Elder Scrolls. However, it has a rich history filled with a handful of quality releases over the years. Unfortunately, not counting an MMO that only lasted a few years in the early 10s, the series has been down for the count since 2005’s Grandia III. Now, old-school JRPG fans and those who’ve had an interest in the games but were never able to play them will have their chance to taken on these classic games. Grandia and Grandia II, in polished remastered form, are coming to the Nintendo Switch on August 16.
These remasters will feature touches up sprites and textures, improvements to the UI and cutscenes renders, dual audio options, as well as subtitles in a variety of languages. The games were known for their unique battle system that blended real-time and turn-based action. While turn-based has largely fallen out of favor with younger audiences, those who grew up playing classic Final Fantasy games should have no problems getting into Grandia. And who knows, if this remaster does well, maybe we’ll see Grandia III and the few spin-off games make their way to modern consoles as well.
The original Grandia came out for Sega Saturn in 1997, and then got an expanded touched up release for PS1 in 1999. Grandia II similarly started out on the Sega Dreamcast and eventually made its way to the PS2. The series is more fondly remembered for its battle system and visuals than its story, and to be fair in 2019 we’ve all experienced enough cookie-cutter JRPG lore to last a lifetime. That said, there’s a reason fans of the series have been wanting more all this time and the HD Collection could be considered testing the waters for a bigger return.
The Grandia HD Collection hits Nintendo Switch August 16. The remasters will separately come to PC as well.