Grandia HD Collection Review (PS5)

Grandia, unfortunately, has not had the staying power of numerous other long-running JRPG series players likely recognize.

Unlike Final Fantasy, Ys, Dragon Quest, Shin Megami Tensei, Tales, or Trails, Grandia has long been dormant. With three numbered entries–the last being 2005’s Grandia III–and a short-lived MMORPG, it would be hard to argue that there is any kind of fervor behind games released on the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast, especially when the PlayStation would become the true behemoth for the genre.

Yet appreciation must be given towards GungHo Online Entertainment preserving Grandia and Grandia II while giving them just enough high-definition polish to be a bit more palatable for modern audiences. Is the publisher testing the water for a revival? That’s probably a far-fetched idea but in a landscape that seems more open to paying homage to the past and reigniting passion for classics, it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

Let’s address the major elephant in the room. The Grandia HD Collection was released on Nintendo Switch and PC in 2019. Why has it taken almost five years for this collection to come to PlayStation and Xbox consoles? It truly baffles me but may speak to the mind-share Grandia may lack.

However, game preservation is becoming increasingly more important as numerous titles are either lost to time or nearly impossible to play outside of emulation. Growing up as a Nintendo enthusiast, my time with Sega consoles began and ended with the Genesis. This means I missed out on Grandia for the Sega Saturn in 1997 and Grandia II for the Dreamcast in 2000. Regardless, in the PlayStation 2 era I finally sought out numerous renowned JRPGs and the Grandia series was one that was just out of my grasp, choosing to ignore the third game for PlayStation 2 because I didn’t want to miss any context the prior games may have provided.

For those who lack any knowledge or experience with the first two Grandia games, know they are dense games possessing a narrative scope that is emblematic of the era. The first Grandia centers around the young Justin who becomes embroiled in a conflict involving warring nations and ancient civilizations. Within minutes, any player who dived into Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy VI will be able to recognize the continent-spanning journey that Grandia grows into.

Instantly upon booting up the game I was hit with a deluge of nostalgia for a time period I was deeply entrenched in, despite never playing the game in its original form. Grandia uses sprites for its characters, placing them in a 3D world where players can rotate the camera around to discover unseen paths or items. Battles are somewhat turn-based, having a meter running along the bottom of the screen to indicate if a character or an enemy has an action coming up. Battlefield position is important, as is the strategy of interrupting enemies to knock them out of an action turn. An incredible sense of scope, an unforgettable soundtrack, and an ease of approach mark Grandia as a JRPG worthy of attention.

Grandia II is more “adult” in that the narrative doesn’t focus around youths and leans towards a grittier identity that many games were attempting to capture at the time. In the sequel, players meet a mercenary named Ryudo who becomes involved in an attempt to seal an ancient evil from the world. Though combat remains relatively unchanged, Grandia II‘s existence on the Dreamcast meant using polygons for everything.

Admittedly, Grandia II shows its age more than the original. In the early days of 3D visuals, developers were wrapping their brains around how to best translate games to this new dimension. The Dreamcast was a powerful machine and produced some incredible looking games but there’s still a bit of rust.

Ignoring any improvements made for the HD Collection, these two Grandia games deserve acclaim and recognition, especially for being as massive as they are. Sega’s post-Genesis days were a whirlwind of odd decisions and hidden gems but from my memory, most things that were distinctly “Japanese” came during the Saturn and Dreamcast days. Anyone who has an itch to play two JRPGs with a quieter legacy would do great with this collection.

Ultimately, however, the Grandia HD Collection is simply that: a high-definition collection of two Grandia games. There is no disrespect done here, rather a kind of reverence to preserve the two Game Arts-developed titles. Those looking for the depth of something like Star Ocean The Second Story R won’t find nearly any similar boosts. Rather, these two games feature an improved UI, sprites, and textures meant to maintain the effect of the original visuals but allow them to exist on modern displays.

Playing through the two games, there is a brightness and bulk to the visuals that one simply would not have gotten on a CRT television. I will admit that when sitting closer to the screen, it’s easier to notice a lack of sharpness in text boxes and menus. Additionally, to preserve a widescreen format, a little bit of stretching can be noticed, causing the sprites of Grandia I to appear a bit blurry.

In terms of enhancements, it’s the minimum I would expect from a studio attempting to bring older titles to any kind of modern standards. But where are save states or redone menus? While Grandia I seems to incorporate enhancements made when it came to the original PlayStation, it would take someone knowledgeable in either version to truly appreciate what is being done here. Cinematics, which have often struggled when brought anywhere close to high-definition, are serviceable.

The Grandia HD Collection lacks any bells and whistles worth gushing over. Rather, it is a perfect excuse to uncover a legacy JRPG series that many would argue has been lost to time. Players may long for higher quality remakes to allow for the most optimal, modern experience available but sometimes, a polished time capsule is all we need to enjoy a game in its purest form.