Grime (2021)

Out of all the souls-like metroidvanias I've played, this one is the most souls-like to me. Because I had to look up what just happened after I finished the story.

That being said - even though I didn't quite understand the specifics of what was happening at first, much like the souls games I've played, the themes and grand picture shine through regardless. The sheer weight of continued existence... the inherent body-horror of knowing you were once part of something greater and are now independent but... wrong, somehow, in a way you can't quite place... really, really well done.

There are cons, however, which hold this game back a bit for me. Some visual clutter in a few key fights, a few annoying platforming sections where you have to wait for platforms to respawn, etc, etc. My biggest complaint, I'd say, is the backtracking system. The game has several gateways that can be fast-traveled between --- yes, between, not to --- but they are often in areas that are inconvenient to get to in the first place, and it's not until about halfway through the game where you get the ability to """sprint.""" Apparently there's an optional hidden boss fight that lets you unlock the ability to travel between checkpoints, but I wish that was just something I'd gotten by progressing through the main story. Going back to previous areas felt like a drag because of it, especially when having to redo certain platforming sections. And also, I played this game on mouse and keyboard, and to whoever decided that middle-mouse click should be a really important button and CAN'T BE REBOUND: I do not like you.

Tons of stunning visuals and interesting environments, a great (albeit sometimes bordering on repetitive) soundtrack, fun and challenging platforming sections, a very unique and satisfying upgrade system... Overall, SUPER great game, would recommend. Now excited for the sequel I didn't even know about until I was looking at this game's store page.

tl;dr oh yeah. im griming it

Seriously, what’s with 2D platformers with analogue stick only direction controls? Come on people, we are moving on a 2D plane, give me D-pad movement support.

Plus this is another 2.5D Metroidvania. It looks fine but there seems to be a minor correlation between analogue only movement controls and 2.5D platformers. I don’t think I’m in the mood for this coming straight off Hollow Knight and Blasphemous back-to-back.

This is, quite simply, an amazing game. It delivers on all fronts. It's an incredibly solid metroidvania, but it's also, imo, the most successful merger of 2D metroidvania and souls. Every other attempt I've seen leans much harder into metroidvania than it does souls, but Grime has everything you could ask for as a Souls fan (other than, perhaps, difficulty, as it's a rather easy game). The combat is chunky and weighty, with a good selection of very different feeling weapons to choose from, stamina management is a huge consideration, and the world/lore is abstruse but weird and interesting enough to make you care about piecing it together.

Grime has, perhaps, the most satisfying parry I've ever seen in a video game. Not only are you "parrying" with the black hole that is your head, but it goes into slow mo and the camera zooms in as you slowly pull the enemy apart and absorb the pieces. How. Fucking. Cool. Is. That.

For those that hated Sekiro, know that this is a similar situation. The parry is a key gameplay mechanic that you will be using constantly. However, the timing window is ridiculously generous.

There are also some very fun and somewhat challenging platforming sections that reminded me heavily of Guacamelee.

I can't imagine anybody who is a fan of metroidvanias and/or soulslikes not enjoying this game.

Grime is... SUBLIME.

Just in case you need more (but why would you?), here we go...

I was more a fan of Baby Groot to be honest.

Am I wild about 2D soulslike games? No. Blasphemous is the odd exception based on its presentation alone. Am I wild about labelling every other action role-playing game and metroidvania a soulslike? Yes.

Grime is distinctly ungrimy. As it admits itself, it's more surreal, otherworldly, and unearthly. Stone and sand spring forth with anatomical features of faces, eyes, mouths, and hands. They make up the background, your platforms, and your enemies. In contrast, the protagonist has a black hole where their head should be. I can sympathise. That feels like my head most days.

So why do I like Grime and not it's contemporaries? It's a complete testament to its world and how it's presented that what could be considered flirting with boilerplate metroidvania and soulslike design is completely muscle-upped.

The world and its worldbuilding are certainly unique and never did I expect from the outset to be invested in the plot. This is a game genre for which plot is usually left as environmental frills. Thanks to some really standout moments accenting said story, however, Grime really sets itself aside from the usual Dark Souls copycats. I'd take an actual 3D Souls game based on this world any day.

Reaching for the morning coffee is always dramatic.

So the biggest crime Grime commits - a Grime crime - is that it inherits its soulslike and metroidvania pointers fairly conservatively. I'd argue that undersells the experience, though. It really is greater than the sum of its parts.

Both aesthetically and in its level design, Grime is just expertly built. The platforming is as deep and well-executed as its combat. The maps are large, but never labyrinthian and just packed with hidden paths and nooks. Grime is a delight to explore and it truly is huge! This is the paragraph I just effuse over random I liked apparently, but my point is that it's the sheer quality of everything on show that means when the music swells you can't help but smile and reflect on how great a time it's all been.

If it departs from said influences in any meaningful way other than plot/aesthetics, there are still some obvious go-tos. The absorb-parry wherein a timed block sees you damage/absorb an enemy's health has plenty of strategic nuance to it. Different enemies have segments of health bar vulnerable to absorbing, you can absorb sequential hits to build up your attack damage, and absorbing both fills a meter to regain health and increases up to a max figure of 100+ the proportional 'souls-like' currency you gain per enemy and from the environment. It's really solid stuff mechanically and this is echoed in everything combat-wise.

You have a generous dash that lets you phase though objects, enemies and through small environmental gaps. You have a backstep and those oh so familiar 'learn the window of opportunity of these' light and strong attacks - all of which drain from stamina (force). Most interestingly, a telekinesis ability you can use on platforms and enemies alike. Much like the Guacamelee games, there's a wonderful duality in these abilities with both platforming and offensive dimensions fulfilled.

The result is that platforming sections feel just as prominent as bosses and combat. Just as challenging and interesting, particularly as the manipulation of platforms is married with portal-esque momentum, double jumps, and double dashes. The one thing I can say is that Grime withholds something as fundamental as a double jump for much MUCH too long. If anything is symptomatic of the inherited formula here, this is by far my least favourite element.

The lack of a nose is a little unusual.

And the soulslike combat framework of 'challenge-die-collect your corpse' 'sees a solid recapitulation here for sure. With, however, the very solid change of never seeing you lose your 'souls' with death, but only your souls-multiplier value. I very much appreciate this small change and how it prevents you getting caught in that desperate retrieval death loop. Here the incentive is still there, only you can quite happily completely ignore it if you fancy going a different path and you won't see hours of progress derailed.

And oh my combat is solid as can be, helped along by a varied ensemble of standard aggressors, mini bosses, and mega bosses. As ever, the latter two are the stars of the show here, but I think what makes fighting such a good time here is not only the very varied (but always manageable) enemy and attack variety, but the absolute mass of weapons you find with which to show them your variety with. What makes exploration an absolute joy is that every corner seems peppered with surprise weapons with dramatically different playstyles and special attacks.

You're caught in this veritable cycle of engagement. You're constantly invested in something, be it increasing some stat to use that next weapon, absorbing a number of that new enemy to unlock their red gem passive ability, finding this area's map-granting crystal, and where does this odd passage lead - a whole secret area no less! If the 'Grime crime' of too closely aping Dark Souls clubbed down with any point, the fact that nothing here is a half-execution whilst new ideas are peppered in feels more than sufficient enough a beatdown.

Maybe if the map creators had been a little less invested in this tourist destination on the right, we'd not be lost.

Grime may commit the crime of being a soulslike metroidvania through and through, but it also gets a ticket straight to heaven by being utterly SUBLIME in both execution and world-building. It sold me on 2D soulslikes in 2021 no less. The genre is certainly not the black hole I once thought it to be.