PlayStation 4

After the release of the Grandia HD Collection on Nintendo Switch and PC in 2019, the collection is now also available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. This version will be compatible with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, respectively.

Grandia HD Collection contains the first Grandia (Grandia HD Remaster) and Grandia II (Grandia II HD Remaster) with several new features listed below.

Grandia follows a young boy named Justin who dreams of becoming a great adventurer and uncovers a grand secret within the ancient Dom Ruins. Justin meets other adventurers who join him throughout his journey, and together they discover what lies beyond the End of the World.

Grandia HD Remaster features:

• Enhanced details to UI, sprites, and texture art
• Original cinematic videos receiving visual enhancements
• Widescreen support and customizable resolutions
• Trophies and Achievements
• Audio: Japanese and English
• Language Support: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (simplified and traditional)

Grandia II occurs eons after the battle of Good & Evil between the gods Granas and Valmar. The young mercenary Ryudo is tasked with protecting the acolyte Elena, a job that turns into a journey to protect the world from never-ending darkness.

Grandia II HD Remaster features:

• Enhanced details to UI, sprites, and texture art
• Original cinematic videos receiving visual enhancements
• Widescreen support and customizable resolutions
• Trophies and Achievements
• Audio: Japanese and English
• Language Support: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (simplified and traditional)

Grandia has been developed by Game Arts (Thexder, Sylpheed, and Lunar) and released on the Sega Saturn back in 1997 in Japan only. In 1999 the game was ported to the PlayStation and was also released in North America by Sony and in Europe by Ubisoft (in 2000). Grandia II was first released on the Dreamcast in 2000 and has been ported to the PlayStation 2 and PC in 2002. In 2015 the Grandia II Anniversary Edition was released on Steam and GOG. That version was renamed to Grandia II HD Remaster in 2019.

Grandia HD Collection is now available for download in the PlayStation Store and Microsoft Store. A physical version is available for pre-order in partnership with Limited Run Games until 14 April 2024.

Star Ocean: The Second Story R, the remake of the 1998 classic RPG, is now available worldwide both physically and digitally on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.

In Star Ocean: The Second Story, the story begins with Claude, a Federation officer, who finds himself transported to an undeveloped planet. While searching for a way home, an encounter with a girl named Rena draws them into a quest to save her people, just as an ancient prophecy foretold. Players will begin their adventure with either Claude or Rena, and depending on their choice, the perspectives and the allies' players recruit will change. Players will get to know party members through the unique ‘Private Actions System’, which will allow them to grow relationships and unlock a variety of different endings.

Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a 2.5 remake developed by Gemdrops featuring a rearranged soundtrack, new difficulty settings, numerous quality-of-life improvements and more.

If you never heard of this game, you can try the demo where you can play the first three hours of the game. You can import your save to the full game. Below you can watch the launch trailer.

During the latest Nintendo Direct Square Enix has announced that Star Ocean: The Second Story will be getting a remake titled Star Ocean: The Second Story R. This will be a 2.5D remake.

Star Ocean: The Second Story was originally released in 1998 on the PlayStation. In 2009 an enhanced remaster titled Star Ocean: Second Evolution was released on the PlayStation Portable. The story begins with Claude, a Federation officer, who finds himself transported to an undeveloped planet. While searching for a way home, an encounter with a girl named Rena draws them into a quest to save her people, just as an ancient prophecy foretold. Players will begin their adventure with either Claude or Rena, and depending on their choice, the perspectives and the allies' players recruit will change. Players will get to know party members through the unique ‘Private Actions System’, which will allow them to grow relationships and unlock a variety of different endings.

The remake will feature new difficulty modes, new battle mechanics, full Japanese and English voice overs, original and re-arranged music and fast-travel.

Star Ocean: The Second Story R will be released on 2 November 2023 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam. You can now pre-order the game and the collector's edition. You can watch the trailer below.

Square Enix has recently announced that Live A Live, that was released on Nintendo Switch last year, will also be released on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam on 27 April 2023.

Live A Live is a RPG in which the player explore eight different stories with eight different characters, each set within different time periods spanning from a pre-historic era to the Wild West, and more. It was originally released in 1994 on the Super Famicom in Japan. In 2022 a remake in HD-2D (the same graphical style from Octopath Traveler) was releaeed worldwide on Nintendo Switch.

A playable demo is available to download from the PlayStation Store and Steam. Players will be able to play the opening sections of three of the eight stories in the game: The Wild West, Twilight of Edo Japan, and The Distant Future. The saved progress can be carried over to the full version.

Below you can watch the announcement trailer.