Grandia II "HD"

[DaMadFiddler]

...what an improvement!

They even renamed it from "HD Edition" to "Anniversary Edition" so that people wouldn't be too disappointed when they saw that it looks exactly the same (though hopefully without the glitches of the original PC port).

[BlueCrab]

Apparently, you can take your save files from the Dreamcast version and use it on the new one directly (and vice-versa), amusingly enough.

[DaMadFiddler]

It sounds like the save-game feature was born mostly from laziness. They started with the Dreamcast code base for this port, and just kept the .vms save format because why fix what ain't broke?

[BlueCrab]

Potentially, but why bother slapping the header on top of the file to make it a valid VMS file? I'd assume that Sega's libraries back in the day would've done that for you when saving (although, I don't know that for a fact, as I've never looked, to be honest), so why bother recreating it on a PC port unless you wanted to throw an amusing bone to those who played it back in the day on the Dreamcast?

[Juan]

Might just be another somewhat emulated release.

[Jeeba Jabba]

Technically, it is an HD Edition. No new textures, but still.

[DaMadFiddler]

By that token, running any game that has hooks back to the OS for available resolution settings is an "HD edition." I've got Neverwinter Nights set up in a Wine wrapper to run at 5120x2880 on my Mac; you can't read a damn thing at that size because it doesn't scale text or HUD elements, but the picture is impressively crisp

...But in this case, I think I read that they actually did upgrade some of the textures... just not very much, because then they'd look out of place with the woefully outdated models (which they *didn't* touch). They also added a few minor things, such as a "hard mode."

[Jeeba Jabba]

By that token, running any game that has hooks back to the OS for available resolution settings is an "HD edition." I've got Neverwinter Nights set up in a Wine wrapper to run at 5120x2880 on my Mac; you can't read a damn thing at that size because it doesn't scale text or HUD elements, but the picture is impressively crisp

Basically, yeah. As long as it's being rendered at an HD resolution, and menus are re-done, I think that any "HD" designation is warranted. But I understand your position and why you were let down. They could have at least done HD textures without having to remodel anything.

[Jeeba Jabba]

Also, this video and topic are a perfect example of why I haven't pulled the trigger on 4K gaming yet.

[cube_b3]

I really hope this game does well.
I truly enjoyed Grandia on the Dreamcast is packed more of an emotional punch than Arcadia and the battle system was better.

Also the creator of the game has passed away:
http://www.dreamcast-scene.com/news/gam ... sses-away/

Excuse my terrible writing did the news post 4 years ago.

[DaMadFiddler]

Grandia II is the game you play if you're new to JRPGs and want to understand the genre with all of its tropes and genre conventions at once.