Announced during Limited Run Games’ LRG3 show, GungHo’s Grandia HD Collection will be getting a limited physical release for the Nintendo Switch.
Grandia HD Collection brings together remastered versions of both Grandia and Grandia II, with a digital version having already been released for the Switch last year. It has been more than 10 years since the creation of a new Grandia title, but these remasters have stopped the series from fading into obscurity.
The original Grandia first released in English for the PS1 back in 1999, telling the story of a young boy named Justin who aims to follow in the footsteps of his missing father by becoming an adventurer. His goal is to climb the “End of the World”, a huge wall that spans the entirety of the planet. Dragging along both his friend and another adventurer, Justin ends up finding out more about the world on both sides of the wall.
Grandia II meanwhile released on multiple systems, coming to English Dreamcasts in 2000, with PS2 and PC releases following a few years later. Taking place in a new setting with a fresh cast of characters, the mercenary Ryudo is tasked with escorting a possessed girl after a botched ceremony. Unsurprising, Ryudo’s quest is tied to the fate of the world, along with his tragic past.
The Grandia HD Collection is technically a Switch exclusive, though both remasters are available separately on PC. Grandia II HD Remaster actually released on PC years beforehand, with Grandia II HD Remaster only coming to the platform after the Switch collection.
One oddity with the collection is the lack of a PS4 release, despite the fact that both games were originally available on PlayStation consoles. In an interview with DualShockers, GungHo’s Director of Game Publishing Takeshi Minagawa stated that the game’s absence on the console was due to the difficulty of supporting 4K resolutions. He mentioned that “there is a possibility that we are going to convert and try to bring Grandia and Grandia II to PS4”, though there has been no info on this since the interview.
Limited Run Games are aiming for an August 7th release for the Grandia HD Collection, though no box art has been shown yet. A full list of today’s announcements can be found on the LRG website.