Grandia I and II remastered are coming to Switch as a packaged game

Grandia I and II are coming to the Nintendo Switch as a remastered game. GungHo Online Entertainment America announced that the titles will be coming to the Switch fully remastered. This is the first time the game has had an easy release since 1999 when it was launched for the original PlayStation in North America. Grandia II hasn’t been available since early 2000 when it was available on the PlayStation 2 and Sega Dreamcast. But now it’ll be coming out for the holiday season in 2018.

Developed by Game Arts, who may be known for their work in Sliphead and the Lunar series, Grandia games have only seen four main releases- plus an MMO, special disc, and a spinoff game. Other than that, there hasn’t been much action for this series over here in the West. Similar to the Lunar games, the Grandia games are known for their insane combat mechanics and awesome sprite art.

It was very well-received and highly-rated overseas and at home in the US. It released around the same time that FFVII came out and both of the games were compared against each other. Gamespot said that Grandia is superior to “FF7 in all of the ways that matter.”

Grandia was released for the Japanese Sega Saturn originally, then found its home on the PlayStation shortly thereafter. Then it migrated to the PS3 in Japan on the PS Network. PC and Switch owners will now get a piece of the action later in 2018. Switch players will also get Grandia II, which aims for a more grown-up storyline compared to the original game. It tells the tale of Ryudo, a blade mercenary who’s tasked with protecting a songstress from the church which has been leading humanity to prosperity and peace for many centuries.

Steam players will get a remaster of the Dreamcast version with upgraded visuals and audio.

Grandia II was originally released on the Dreamcast to which then was ported poorly onto the PS2 and PC. Similar to the original game, it got some pretty positive reviews. The game expands on the positional-based battle mechanics and had a more difficult gameplay style.

The game will be available for demo at PAX West and also packaged for the Switch later this year.