Grandia HD Collection console review: Better late than never

Grandia HD Collection brings back a pair of classic RPGs that many modern gamers may have missed out on. While sure, my favorite RPG franchise is Dragon Quest, I have many fond memories playing Grandia 1 and 2 with friends, back in my high school/post high school days. While I still have questions about this HD Collection - primarily, why it took so long to get to modern consoles - I’m glad it did.

There are problems with it, but those issues are more to do with how the game was designed, less this particular port of Grandia HD Collection. It played amazingly well on my PS5, but there are still things to discuss.

Grandia HD Collection brings amazing JRPG Classics back

The translation for this game was pretty excellent for its time (Image via GungHo Online)

Grandia HD Collection puts a spotlight on two RPGs modern fans might have never even heard of: Grandia 1 and 2. Grandia 1 was first available on the PlayStation, and the sequel was on the Dreamcast and then PlayStation 2. The games offer a perfect blend of childlike innocence, and awful, terrible tragedy in one place.

The titles are both quite different from each other, in presentation and story, and that’s to their credit. Personally, I’m a bigger fan of Grandia 2 - but that’s because Grandia 1 has one of the slowest starts to any RPG I’ve ever played in my entire life. The game picks up and gets amazing, don’t get me wrong. But the start? Oh, it’s like pulling teeth.

I won’t spoil any major story moments, but the beginning of Grandia 1 and 2 are definitely night and day. The first game starts you off as a young child, exploring a pretty large town. In the second title, you start off as Ryudo, who is a Geohound.

The characters in both games are memorable for their own reasons (Image via GungHo Online)

Geohounds are hired to do specific jobs, regardless of what their moral compass would normally tell them. Reviled by many communities, their personalities are pretty different - but so are their upbringings. These games both have stories that are 100% worth investing time in, but you have to overcome some annoying features.

Both games in the Grandia HD Collection play exactly as they did originally

The bigger a town is, the more annoying it can be to explore (Image via GungHo Online)

My main gripe with the Grandia HD Collection is that the games function in the same way as they originally did. It’s mostly exploring towns that feels like such a chore - moreso in Grandia 1 than in 2. The map pulls up kind of slowly, and it’s not always very clear where you’re heading to.

That’s not really a big deal, but it is kind of annoying and clunky to explore any town in these games. Thankfully, these games are old enough to have every bit of information that you need sitting right on the internet. It’s not a major negative though - it’s the kind of gameplay I came to expect from the RPGs of my teenage years.

I was just hoping for some quality of life changes for these games. Those weren’t present in the PC version of these titles that I reviewed so many years ago, so I don’t know why I expected otherwise.

There are definitely quality-of-life changes or updates that could have been made other than the graphics and loading times. The map could have been labeled, or leveling could have been improved in some way or sped up, like in the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster on console.

Combat is where these games really shine in my opinion (Image via GungHo Online)

For better and worse, the Grandia HD Collection is exactly as it was intended to be played. Some people expect more out of HD Collections/re-releases, but I do want to highlight that for the suggested retail price, that it’s more than fair.

The “turn-based timeline” combat system was truly a unique experience though. As time passes in Grandia 1 and 2, different combatants will have their turn come up, then you wait for the ability or attack to proc.

It’s very satisfying to line up an attack, and when your enemy goes to strike, yours pops off and completely neutralizes potential incoming damage. The potential for strategy is immense in these games.

The graphics of the Grandia HD Collection are fantastic, and dual-audio was a perfect choice

The visuals are certainly sharper in the HD Collection (Image via GungHo Online)

Some people love the dorky, sort of clunky English dub of Grandia HD Collection, and I don’t blame them. A lot of early RPG dubs were pretty mediocre - it felt like the anime of the era, though.

Thankfully, this offers a Japanese dub as well. That’s how I experienced this collection because I missed out on this back in my youth. The Japanese dub is stellar. You also have upscaled, HD graphics that honestly look pretty fantastic in both games.

In conclusion

Sometimes you have to flex on 'em (Image via GungHo Online)

Grandia HD Collection is a satisfying pair of games on modern consoles, that’s for sure. I’ve heard of slowdown on the Nintendo Switch version, but it’s nothing that I can confirm for myself - as I reviewed the PlayStation 5 version. The last time one of these games came to light was when the original was added to November 2023’s PlayStation Plus catalog.

I don’t know what took so long for these games to come to consoles, but I’m glad they did. I know a lot of people that have very fond memories of this underrated RPG series, and after a few hours of playing, it won’t be hard to see why. They tell compelling stories, have striking visuals, and incredibly catchy music.

The games aren’t really connected, so you can start with whichever one you want and not feel let down by the experience you have.