Grandia HD Collection Reviews
I hope GungHo supports the collection after launch with patches to polish things up, but even in its current state, I find this to be a solid Remaster.
Ultimately, Grandia HD Collection is two games that play very similarly but with opposite tones. Grandia is for bright-eyed young kids, and Grandia II is for their cynical older siblings. Yet they both have excellent dialogue, open dungeon design, and battle systems that invite customization.
Grandia soars thanks to its charm and battle system, but this port does it no favors otherwise.
Grandia HD Collection features the definitive versions of an already spectacular game and its slightly less amazing sequek
The Grandia games deserve a much better remastering treatment than they’ve been given here, but Grandia HD Collection is nonetheless a respectable release.
With Grandia HD Collection, GungHo had everything to succeed. And if both adventures still offers a strong experience, the game is filled with way too much bugs in every aspect to deliver a sastisfying experience. Filled with errors, the new French translation rubs shoulders with crashes and audio inconsistencies. Too bad, because the gameplay mecanics are still interesting, decades later.
Review in French | Read full review
As a Grandia fan, it’s been an absolute joy replaying these classic games on Switch.
Grandia HD Collection has a few issues but in spite of these is a still a worthwhile addition to any JRPG fan's collection.
If you never played the original Grandia games, this is the best way to play them – even with a less-than-stellar graphical upgrade. It does bring you back to those long nights spent as a little kid. If you played them before, this is a great way to go on your adventure again.
Grandia HD Collection offers two great JRPGs but the lack of polish and quality control has made this collection feel a little disappointing. It is still a good way to experience these classics if you missed them when they were first released.
For the awesome games alone, Grandia HD Collection is worth checking out for any RPG fan.
Having never played a Grandia game, I came in not knowing much about the series and what makes it great. Walking away, I'm left in awe of not only the battle system, but also how you power up your party. The port is a bit rough when it comes to slow down, particularly in battles, but it's worth dealing with the inconvenience to experience this classic.
GOOD - I would have preferred Grandia and Grandia II to be released separately, since the first one in this collection is so much better than the second one. Updated visuals really enhance the original game and it’s still so much fun to play today. The sequel didn’t receive the same amount of attention and as a result keeps this collection grounded instead of allowing it to soar high like it should have.
Grandia 1 and 2 deserve four stars by themselves. The games are dated, yes, but they stand the test of time, flaws and all. They are (mostly) timeless and I would replay them over and over. But maybe wait for this specific collection to go on sale.
Both Grandia games deserved a much better treatment than the one GungHo gave them, and we really hope the publisher will support the game in the coming weeks, but the sheer value of the titles inside this package is enough to recommend a buy nonetheless for any Switch owner.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Overall, the Grandia HD Collection contains an awesome soundtrack, fair visuals, and fairly decent story. Both games combat is very fluid and has that something that newer games are missing with their combat system I think. Whether you played this game in your younger days, or this is the first time touching it, you will find the games very easy to get into, and the fact that you can carry it around with you on the Switch makes it that much easier to play. For the price of $39.99 USD, you too can own a fairly good and simple RPG series. For two games that is only 19.99 per game and very reasonable.
You can’t really help the fact that older games lack flexibility in terms of user interface and system mechanics, but the sooner you accept how they’re supposed to be, this great remastered JRPG provides the best of all JRPG quality you’d ever experience.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Grandia HD Collection needs to be seen from two angles. As a game, it brings two excellent and charismatic adventures with one of the best turn-based combat systems in JRPGs, highly recommended for those who enjoy the style. As a collection to re-release old games, however, only the bare minimum has been made, with no extras or quality-of-life improvements. Even with the important step of bringing the games to more current platforms, these versions have technical flaws and are far from definitive.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
It’s a little baffling to me why it took publisher GungHo this long to bring Grandia HD Collection to more consoles, nearly five years after its initial run. There’s likely a perfectly good reason for that, but still, it’s kind of silly when you think about it. Nonetheless, they are finally out on just about every single current console and on PC now, so this is your best bet at getting two of the finest RPGs – easy the highlights of the franchise too – in honestly their best form they’re likely to ever be.
Grandia HD Collection is in a rather rough place. While the original experiences are classics, this collection is essentially the same games with a slightly fresher coat of paint. For some this will be enough, as the amazing narratives persist, though I fear the choice will limit its appeal. Even some of the more basic expected quality of life choices, such as save anywhere, are not present, and for this reason it's one of those experiences that will either blow you away, or leave you underwhelmed.