Before E3, GungHo Online Entertainment America broke its almost year-long silence on the Grandia and Grandia II remakes to say it would be announcing more about the game at the annual conference, including a release date.
However, that release date didn’t arrive until now. GHOE said today that the games will release on August 16 for Nintendo Switch. The PC version will release at a “later date.”
The Switch is getting the Grandia HD Collection, which includes Grandia and Grandia II, while the PC will get each game separately.
The Grandia Collection on the Switch will include handheld support and, of course, improved visuals compared to the originals. The PC versions will receive keyboard and gamepad support on top of the improved visuals, and those improvements extend to the original cinematic videos as well.
Both will have dual audio with Japanese and English options available, and there will be new French and German translation as well, making the games more accessible to an even wider audience.
Grandia and its sequel were two sleeper hits from the late ’90s that developed a loyal following. The first originally debuted on the Sega Saturn before making its way to PlayStation, while the second was a Dreamcast game later ported to the PS2.
Developed by the legendary Game Arts (the makers of the Lunar games), they featured the studio’s signature characteristics, including a deep plot, memorable characters, and a beloved soundtrack composed by Noriyuki Iwadare.
One of the key components of these games was their battle systems, though, which were ground-breaking at the time in how they handled experience and skill growth.
Final Fantasy VII remake might be ditching its original turn-based style, but with the Grandia remakes, Persona 5‘s upcoming expansion, Fire Emblem: Three Houses plus Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield on the way, it seems the turn-based RPG still has a lot of life left in it yet.
