Grandia HD Collection Review – Retro JRPG Essentials

Grandia HD Collection (PS4) Review

Grandia HD Collection is a set of the very first 2 video games in the Grandia JRPG series, initially launched as a collection for the Switch in 2019. PC owners got access to Grandia HD Collection later on that year, however PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners are lastly getting their hands on it in 2024! COGconnected examined the Grandia HD Collection for the Switch when it was very first launched. While that evaluation does an excellent task of summing up the video games, I have a little bit more love for them than that customer did. I ‘d likewise like to elaborate a bit more on what makes the fight system unique. If you have that Switch collection, then this brand-new release is precisely what you currently have. There’s no brand-new material. If you’re brand-new to the Grandia series, and curious about these timeless JRPGs, then keep reading, and I’ll inform you everything about them.

Grandia was initially launched for the Sega Saturn in Japan in 1997. It was ported to the initial PlayStation a couple years later on, which’s the variation we got in North America. Grandia II was initially launched for the Sega Dreamcast in 2000, and this time, North America got it just a couple of months after Japan. There was a port for the PS2 a couple years later on. The Grandia series had another mainline video game, Grandia III for the PS2, and a couple of spin-offs. The Grandia HD Collection just has the very first 2 video games. I would have actually liked if Grandia III was consisted of, since it was likewise excellent, despite the fact that the majority of would consider it an action down from Grandia and Grandia II.

Video Game Arts Pedigree

The series was established by Game Arts, who are generally popular for the Lunar series. Grandia is an intriguing juxtaposition to Lunar, since both series stand out at various crucial elements of JRPGs. Lunar is most precious for its plot, in spite of its basic fight system. Grandia has a really easy plot, however has a splendidly intricate and immersive turn-based fight system.

Without handing out numerous plot information, the stories discovered in the Grandia HD Collection are far more light-hearted than the common JRPG plot. In Grandia, there is a background story about a wicked basic excavating ancient ruins for unidentified factors. The genuine focus of the story is on the characters, and their humorous interactions. The lead character is Justin, who imagines a life of experience. He leaves his home town with his “sibling” Sue, to climb up a huge wall at “The End of the World”. The focus is placed on the character interactions, their enjoyable discussion, and the happiness of their experience. Grandia is missing of a great deal of the doom and gloom discovered in its finest JRPG contemporaries. I like the traditional JRPG “punch out God” plotline, however Grandia’s easy going nature is a breath of fresh air to the category.

Next-Level Combat

Both video games in the Grandia HD Collection share a comparable fight system. It’s turn-based, comparable to Square’s ATB systemA gauge in the corner reveals all the contenders, who approach their turn at differing speeds. Attacks can stop contender’s turns, so success can actually depend upon the gamer’s capability to delay their challenger’s turns as much as possible. There’s likewise a little bit of onscreen motion, and particular attacks impact particular locations. Opponents can be seen in dungeons (a rarity for the time), and gamers can get preemptive strikes by starting fight.

Every character’s abilities and magic spells can be levelled up. Each weapon has actually abilities connected to it. More powerful spells take more time to cast. A great deal of the delight of playing the Grandia HD Collection for me was explore abilities, levelling them up, and making brand-new abilities in turn. The only drawback to the fight system is that there’s never ever truly a time the gamer can simply blast through fights. Every fight requires time, and a few of the spell animations can get repeated. The gamer is constantly exploring, and never ever tired. Fight is a genuine reward, and the widely accepted element of the Grandia video games that shines brightest.

Damn Dirty Camera Zoom

The world and environments of both video games in the Grandia HD Collection are dynamic, and a genuine reward to check out. There’s one mechanic about exploring I actually didn’t like, and that’s the zoomed-in cam. A great deal of the dungeons can get quite maze-like. And the video camera is so near the characters that it’s really simple to get lost. The designers were certainly familiar with this, and consisted of checkpoints where the gamer might zoom the electronic camera out, to get a much better take a look at things. Think of playing a Metroidvania where you might just take a look at the location map at conserve points, and you understand. A minimap would have been a lot more stylish service. It’s something that may be a big difficulty for a great deal of contemporary gamers, and the sole acne on these exceptional video games.

Grandia’s graphics are 2D sprites on 3D backgrounds, while Grandia II’s graphics are totally 3D. Both video games look truly great, however the sprite operate in the initial Grandia is remarkable. The character styles have plenty of life, and actually communicate feeling well throughout cutscenes. I’m a sucker for excellent pixel graphics, and the PS1/ Sega Saturn time of 2D sprites may be the most visually pleasing graphics age for me. There has actually been some criticism towards the remastering of the graphics in the Grandia HD Collection. The sprites in the initial video game were remastered with a softening. Some would have chosen a truly crisp pixel discussion. I in fact truly like the soft appearance, however a graphics choice might have been an option that would have delighted everybody.

Strong Remaster

The remaster quality of the Grandia HD Collection is great, however is likewise really bare bones. The only choices are to invert the electronic camera controls, and pick in between English and Japanese voices. The voiceacting is a genuine reward though, and exists for a big part of the video games. The pacing of these scenes is a little uncomfortable and sluggish. Some may grumble about the voiceacting as bad, however it has a retro appeal, comparable to the voiceacting in the early Citizen Evil video games. I truly enjoyed it. The music is a fantastic mix of whimsical experience/ dream tunes, and standard heavy metal guitar. It produces an enjoyable Japanese retro taste. Fans of 80s/ 90s JRPGs and anime will understand the precise noise I’m describing.

Both video games are now provided in a widescreen element ratio, however there’s a result on the anime cutscenes I didn’t like. Due to the fact that the anime video footage was shot in a fullscreen format, and since the remainder of the video game was transformed to widescreen, the choice was made to have actually blurred letterboxing on the edges of the image, rather of simply black bars. Rather of concealing the element ratio distinction, the videos all draw attention to this odd result. It’s eventually not a huge offer, however it’s an unusual option that it wasn’t an optional impact.

In Conclusion

All of my problems about the Grandia HD Collection are nitpicks. These are 2 terrific, timeless JRPGs, with an easy going tone, and distinct battle system that makes them stick out among their contemporaries. They’re both long JRPGs, and nearly expense half the cost of a brand-new release. The Grandia HD Collection is an exceptional worth for anybody who’s a fan of the category. And it’s a fantastic entry point for anybody curious about retro JRPGs.

*** PS4 code supplied by the publisher ***