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 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.
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.
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