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How is the Grandia HD Collection?

Benjamin_MFF

Benjamin_MFF

Member
I originally had a copy of Grandia 2 for the Sega Dreamcast and played a fair bit of it, I think I was 20 hours in. I don't know what happened to that copy of the game, so I was elated when the Grandia HD Collection was announced for the Switch. Upon release, the reviews talked about how the pixel art of the first game wasn't as "HD" and there were performance issues with the second game. I don't know why they didn't use the Sega Saturn version when porting the first game and why they had trouble with the second.

I saw there was an update for the game and wondered, how is the Grandia HD Collection as of today?

Is the pixel art an issue? Have they addressed technical issues with patches and updates? Would this be the de facto release or should I get another copy for my Dreamcast?
 
Benjamin_MFF said:
I originally had a copy of Grandia 2 for the Sega Dreamcast and played a fair bit of it, I think I was 20 hours in. I don't know what happened to that copy of the game, so I was elated when the Grandia HD Collection was announced for the Switch. Upon release, the reviews talked about how the pixel art of the first game wasn't as "HD" and there were performance issues with the second game. I don't know why they didn't use the Sega Saturn version when porting the first game and why they had trouble with the second.

I saw there was an update for the game and wondered, how is the Grandia HD Collection as of today?

Is the pixel art an issue? Have they addressed technical issues with patches and updates? Would this be the de facto release or should I get another copy for my Dreamcast?
Click to expand...
I heard it has serious frame rate and other issues.

You're better off getting Grandia II on GOG perhaps but I can't say for the other games.
 
As far as I've seen on the first game, they didn't fix the ground textures on the city that got scrambled in the PS1 version, so they've most likely ported the PS1 version, used the more detailed backgrounds in combat from the saturn version and used a smooth filter on the sprites similar to most emulators. I would personally suggest the Saturn version. This series deserves better.
 
I had heard that the Grandia HD remaster used the Playstation version as its base, but I had never imagined that the developers would copy the PSX polygon warping into the remake. That's just a hoot. And isn't it wild how the Sega Saturn original still looks better?

That said, I would be happy to play this on Nintendo Switch. We should always support efforts to revive or preserve classic videogames. I'm only holding out for the completion of the Saturn Grandia translation, which is still coming along nicely.
 
I saw it got a patch today Titled patch 1.01.00, the update will implement Japanese language support, improved frame rate optimization, enhanced visual effects throughout, and additional bug fixes
 
I still have my Dreamcast copy of Grandia II which I have hardly touched since I beat it about 20 years ago (despite being one of my favorite RPG experiences.)

But now you're saying I can play that game on SWITCH? Suddenly all reason goes out the window, and I must have it.
 
If they had remasterd Grandia 1 right, it would have been a must have title for any JRPG fan. People would still talk about it.
Hoever, since they pretty much fucked up the remaster, it's a hard pass for many, and nobody gives a shit anymore.

Very disappointing.
 
Played Grandia 2 remaster on PC. Game has audio issues and the soundtrack is fucked up but its definitely playable. Get it on a sale, good game but honestly I don't see anything an emulator couldn't do.
 
Starhowl said:
I played Grandia II on PC and there was a bug right before the very last endboss, that I could not circumvent and effectively rendered all the time invested playing through the game futile.
Click to expand...
any proof of this?
 
Rat Rage said:
If they had remasterd Grandia 1 right, it would have been a must have title for any JRPG fan. People would still talk about it.
Hoever, since they pretty much fucked up the remaster, it's a hard pass for many, and nobody gives a shit anymore.

Very disappointing.
Click to expand...

Is it really that bad? So you think if I wanna replay I should rather play my PS1 and PS2 version??
 
Xeaker said:
Is it really that bad? So you think if I wanna replay I should rather play my PS1 and PS2 version??
Click to expand...

Regarding Grandia 1, I'd say, yes, because such a bad "remaster" job should not be rewarded. Saturn version was always the best looking version (original sharp textures, backgrounds), but it was in japanese only (for a long time). The PS1 port of Saturn Version gave us a translation, but worse textures (especially in battles, where the background textures looked blurry). Yet, the PS1 Version is still enjoyable.

When the Grandia HD remaster was announed, people really wanted a quality remaster that does the original game justice, since Grandia 1 is - hands down - a TOP 5 JRPG of ALL TIME. Honestly, all they had to do, which would have made people happy, was to base the remaster on the Saturn Version, but they somehow managed to not even improve the textures (battle-backgrounds look just like the PS1 version), but actually make them look worse by applying some sort of texture filter to the sprites (similar to those ugly SNES emulator filter options).

There is no point. Get a good 14 or 20 inch CRT from Craigslist or whatever (for a couple of bucks or for free) and replay the PS1 Version.

Or, if you have a Saturn, get an english translaton patch for that (it's mostly finished, just the cut scenes are not translated) and enjoy that.
 
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Originally, I said they did the bare minimum. Since then, however, Nintendo has reset the bar when it comes to the bare minimum in relation to port collections.
 
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