Between crowdfunding and the increasing number of companies that are giving older games makeovers and re-releasing them on Steam, there has never been a better time for fans of older games to revisit them. And things just keep getting better, as yet another classic RPG is set to return on Steam.
GungHo Online Entertainment, perhaps best known for mobile money-factory Puzzle & Dragons, is set to bring the Dreamcast classic Grandia II to Steam, according to GameSpot. More than just a straight port, the game will get an HD visual update as well as Steam achievements and trading cards.
In addition to the visual refresh, the Steam release of Grandia II will support both mouse and keyboard control and the more traditional gamepad controls that fans of the game are likely used to.
Grandia II was developed by GameArts for the Sega Dreamcast and released in 2002. The game was very well received and to this day remains the high point of the series for many fans. It holds a 90 out of 100 aggregate score on Metacritic.
While the game saw ports to the PlayStation 2 and PC, neither these was up to par with the Dreamcast version. Both were marred by glitches and bugs, and the PlayStation 2 version was often less detailed than the Dreamcast version.
Last month GungHo ran a survey that asked fans about various Game Arts projects as well as players’ interest in PC games. The company thereafter reported that the desire for a remaster of Grandia II was “overwhelming.”
“With the rise of digital downloads, it is especially important that classic games continue to remain available to play in some form,” GungHo America president Jun Iwasaki said. “Grandia II was chosen for a PC re-release because it represents both a hallmark of the Grandia series and an example of how great JRPGs can be.”
GungHo has not mentioned a possible release date, but given that a prior PC version of the game does exist, it’s at least possible that the new update could be developed fairly quickly.
And given that the survey asked about other Game Arts games like Lunar, it’s possible that if this remaster sells well, the company will bring more classic RPGs to Steam.
