Developer: GAME ARTS Co., Ltd. (original), SkyBox Labs (this port)
Publisher: GungHo Online
Price: $20, 25% launch discount (USD) till Aug 31st
Platform: PC (Steam/GoG)
Release Date: Aug 24 2015
http://store.steampowered.com/app/330390/
https://www.gog.com/game/grandia_ii_anniversary_edition
15 years after the stunning Dreamcast debut of Ryudo and his epic adventure, Grandia II is back and better than ever! The classic Japanese RPG returns with enhanced visuals, new difficulty level, and features both keyboard and gamepad support!
Take the role of a hardened mercenary with a heart, and go on an epic adventure filled with magic, new friendships, and surprising storyline twists in search of a weapon once wielded by a deity. It’s the classic tale of a band of adventurers destined to save the world, but things are not always as they seem…
Grandia II is famous for its great characters, mature storytelling, memorable music and fantastic battle system, and there's no better way to experience one of the most beloved console RPGs of the 32-bit era than this special Anniversary Edition!
* Visual upgrades to textures, lighting, and shadows
* Original Japanese voice option
* Additional difficulty level
* Gamepad support
* Steam Trading Cards
* Steam Achievements
* Steam Cloud Save Support
* Selectable Video Options
* Remapable Keyboard & Gamepad Support
* 100 Save File Slots
* Dreamcast VMS Save File Support
System Requirements
MINIMUM:
OS: Windows 7
Processor: Dual Core, 2.5Ghz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 4000 Series / Nvidia GTX 200 Series / Intel HD 3000 Series
DirectX: Version 10
Hard Drive: 2 GB available space
RECOMMENDED:
OS: Windows 8
Processor: Quad Core, 2.5Ghz+
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 260, AMD Radeon HD 4850 / Intel HD 4000 Series
DirectX: Version 10
Hard Drive: 2 GB available space
(C) 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001 Game Arts. (C)GAME ARTS/SQUARE ENIX 2002.
Character designs by Youshi Kanoe.
FAQ:
(Quotes are pulled from
here. Lots of other useful info/insight.)
What's this?
PC rerelease of Grandia II, one of the best RPGs of the early 2000s and still one of the poster childs of turn-based/command-based battle systems till today. Originally on Dreamcast, it had a later PS2/PC port which suffered many technical issues. This port is based on the original Dreamcast version. This port is in large part the direct result of
a poll GungHo put out a few months ago asking which games people would like to see on Steam.
60FPS?
Update: HELL YES (in combat, as per patch 1.03)
Widescreen?
No. On Widescreen resolutions you have the option of stretching (please don't do it) and the game otherwise pillarboxes to a 4:3 display area. Windowed mode (Alt-Enter) seems to use a 4:3 window based on vertical size of the selected resolution.
Widescreen: As some fans have theorized, the FMVs and cutscenes were the most problematic for a widescreen format. On top of that, various elements of the game would have needed to be completely redone. In this case, we were testing the waters with classic Steam ports, but this is something we can consider in our future ports.
Resolution?
Update: 4k, Ultra-wide, Custom resolutions
What's With The OT Topic?
If you didn't have to ask, it'd actually be not vague enough.
Why should I get this?
Despite not having every bell and whistle known to mankind tacked on in a Frankenstein manner, it's a very competent port, and functions without much hassle on modern operating systems. For example it isn't the technical nightmares the old PC version and PS2 version were. Also see points below:
Hard Mode?
Hard mode is
hard. Personal experience so far has me needing to put quite a lot of thought into how to use skill/magic coins and tough decision making on the major bosses. GungHo has this to say:
"Yes, there was a lot of work done for Hard Mode both for regular enemies & for bosses. It's not just the raw health & defense numbers that are different, but also the speed of the opponents attack bar (frequency) that have been adjusted. As the user starts to progress the boss battles will start to become very challenging. Some battles later on that may have took 20mins on Normal Mode before could last 45-60mins+ mins on Hard Mode.
General world enemies in Grandia II Hard Mode are more difficult because of an increase in their frequency of attacks, their increased HP, and in some instances their ability to take damage. This makes each enemy engagement more risky for the player, while still providing the same reward and XP curve, ensuring that enemy difficulty does not outpace player advancement. Combat has not been ramped up overly excessively for world enemies, as the player is never a great distance from a save cone and we don’t want Hard Mode devolving into a constant shuttling between the save cone and the next world enemy.
Bosses in Grandia II HD Hard mode however, have been made significantly more difficult. Their attacks are much more frequent, forcing the player to make constant decisions about when to heal, boost, or attack; balanced against the player’s capacity to counter boss attacks with defensive maneuvers. Bosses also have large boosts to HP, defence, and in some cases even their base damage values. Vulnerabilities to specific attacks have also been decreased, but not so much that enemies lose their “personality”. This ensures that players still have an avenue to attack bosses in specific and tactical ways. Regardless of these increases though, players should be able to beat any boss via a tactical approach, regardless of the leveling up choices they’ve made prior to that point in the game."
Personal experience update: Through to the end of the game, difficulty eases off somewhat. The overpowered AOE abilities that were bread and butter in the original (and virtually all other Grandia games) still will wipe the floor, but it does take longer to get to that point, and several boss battles do require a lot more strategy regardless. It's definitely a better experience than the vanilla tuning, in my opinion.
Bugs/Support?
Update: Many bugs have been fixed, many fan-requested features have been patched into the game since OP. Support is 'done'. Some minor issues remain, but it's unlikely we'll see anything nearly as surprising as a patch popping 60fps battles on us anymore.
More here
Modding Possibility?
A lot of the assets are out in the open, unencrypted. There are a couple of ongoing projects and/or proposals like a HD texture mod in combat and hi-quality soundtrack replacements.
Screenshots
