i should be clear about two things when writing about this game, the first is that i am not someone that dabbles heavily in the click adventure puzzle type of games in fact this is my first, the second being this is the first time i have played the game. now with that out of the way ill break the review from chapter to chapter. after ill talk on the artistic style. a few tips:

1. if you have trouble spotting items they look slightly out of place due to the lighting they often have a different texture than the environment its place within.
2. when Manuel tilts his head you can interact with said image, use this to your advantage.
3. most items only have 1 use. so a pack of cards you pick up in chapter 1 is used in chapter 1. the only item that carries is the scythe

chapter 1 this chapter was a really great way into bringing you in to the grim fandango universe, all the characters are so interesting and all have their own stories and very unique personality, the writing in this first chapter was phenomenal. The world building is just insane. everything feels lively despite some big empty spaces in the games design. i loved this chapter so much! they balanced the puzzles out quite well and i also enjoyed the choices of dialect i could pick from, all with well adjusted response's that still hold up with time. the charm and humor is so well written, its by far the best written game i have every played, by a long shot.the only complaint i have about this chapter is the lack of direction after going to the poisoning. it wasn't too hard to figure out but once i figured it out i was on a roll with the puzzles i made it to the forest and completed that entirety of chapter 1. a 10/10 in all respects.

chapter 2 now this is where the game took somewhat of a nose dive for me, in a change of paste the developers decided to give the player a huge sprawling map with lots of charters all with their own issues. now for me when heading into this, it first seemed like these were all very separate from each other, allowing you to complete them in any order you wish.God i was wrong. NOTHING about this chapter is welcoming or that fun. in my opinion this took away from the games pacing a lot. it felt like it was linear and to just change like that made the game more confusing than i wanted to admit. the game never gave me clear direction and even then the clue were beyond subtle. things like holding the bottle through the metal scanner, using the scythe at the perfect frame over the kitty litter, the fact that Manny's casino was pretty well hidden into the background and the memos left by the characters met in the last chapter were just so absurdly placed. i get the whole "old games don't hold your hand" saying but i don't think this applies. its not about holding the players hand but its about not placing stupid objects that are practically hidden within the background.if you made it through this whole chapter without the internet then you deserve to work at Tesla.

chapter 3 i got off onto a good start with this level, i managed to rip the ship into two and sped my way out of there.now the next bit that completely stumped me was the bit with Chepito. he was walking around signing about his lamp, one of the phrases he says is "this little lamp of mine i'm gonna let it shine!, hide it under some seaweed? NO i'm gonna let it shine" now call me a fool but you'd think there's some seaweed near by that he might have hidden another lamp.. but no. it felt like i tried everything tugged his lamp, spoke to him not tugging his lamp. that's all i thought i could do. but still nothing. turned out when it plays the animation you have to press him again, and then press Glotis. how on earth am i supposed to get that? why would i of thought of that? this puzzle is nonsensical. nothing at all gave me a hint i could do that, the animation would just play. why would i go clicking random characters when this animation plays? the game really likes to give the player 0 direction and misleading clues as to what your meant to do. its not smart its pretty stupid.another few moments i don't like about this chapter is the fact a lot of things just blend into the background, how was i supposed to know there's a way to Chapeto when all Manny says is "its too dangerous to go into the dark" or the fact you could climb the fencing next to the lever, both of these just seem like really poor game design.along with that why would i give him a pair of stocking? that makes no sense.After this i felt compelled to just use a walk through, my patience has gone thin with the puzzles, ill try wrap up any thoughts i have in the next paragraph.

while using a guide i realized that there was no way in hell i would be able to do this without one.

chapter 4 this chapter starts of strongly, its story is just amazing. but while looking throughout the guide things like using the rag on the oil canister, then the toaster? that didn't make sense, or the fact there's a room on the background of stairs.after being caught by the revolutionists you pick up a coffee pot, for some reason another issue with the background is presented. the hidden ladder.the order of the alligator puzzle feel dysfunctional.

summary: i really enjoyed this game, i definitely haven't praised the writing as much as i should have but this is my first and maybe my last puzzle game.the theme of death is creatively well done and there are several times i felt emotional towards specific characters. with that out of the way i feel the game has several issues with its puzzles, its either the objects blend to much into the background or objects you can interact with are the background, the puzzles are convoluted, and the game practically gives you zero direction, it just expects you to already know the answers.so the biggest downside to me is that the puzzles feel very poor in the way they are translated to the player. without a doubt the game has excellent writing but i wouldn't recommend it to a person that hasn't already played the game.i can see myself playing it again and having fun because i know the answers and can just take in the story aspect. and if i was to do that the game would be a solid 5. but i don't think you should have to play a game twice to have fun with it. overall i'm giving the game a 3/5, its great but frustrating a lot of the time.

"You know, sweetheart, if there's one thing I've learned, it's this: nobody knows what's gonna happen at the end of the line, so you might as well enjoy the trip." -Manuel Calavera

I wanted to play Grim Fandango for years. I liked the looks of it when I was a kid, but never had the opportunity or a PC good enough to play it back then. I snagged Grim Fandango Remastered on PS4 as part of their free games a few months ago.

My favorite part of the game is that it's very imaginative. You play as Manuel Calavera, a travel agent in the Ninth Underworld, whose job it is to help people reach their final destination in the afterlife. He is in this position until he can work off the sins of his life. So it's kind of like a purgatory situation.

The story unfolds when Manuel steals a client, Mercedes Colomar, from a co-worker. Mercedes is the most saintly of individuals who should receive a Double-N ticket to quickly go to the afterlife for her good life without having to work off any misdeeds. However, Manuel's computer says she doesn't deserve anything at all. Investigating the conflict turns into a journey that spans 4 years across very different environments in the Underworld.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey from beginning to end. It's well worth at least one playthrough in your life because the story and characters are very well done.

Pros:

- Great story and environments

- Characters are interesting, and distinct from each other

- Witty dialogue

- PS4 version does have a platinum trophy

- Game length is just about perfect

Cons:

- The solutions to puzzles or how to progress the game can seem very random or non-intuitive.

- Tank controls are required for one of the trophies. Ugh.

This late 90's adventure classic is by no means perfect. It has its share of kinda ridiculous puzzles whose logic is anything but intuitive and whose mechanics can be frustrating to execute, some clunkiness in using items and interacting with the world, parts of the story that don't entirely make sense in the moment or that feel a bit unnecessary... etc. But not one of the game's issues held me back from having an overall amazing time in this odd underworld adventure.

I was drawn in quickly by the unique premise and often-hilarious dialogue, including cutscenes and conversations that you drive yourself. It's one of the funniest games I've ever played, and beyond the laughs is a surprisingly compelling story covering a few days spread across 4 years. These episodes are each memorable in their own way, and I was really impressed by the variety between them. A couple of the best moments were just seeing what ridiculousness these characters had gotten up to after each time skip.

Not to take too much from the rest of the game, but the first two years are the best for sure, particularly the 2nd. That 2nd part of the game achieves such a fantastic atmosphere, tone, roster of characters, and harmony between the puzzles and the story that's being told. The location you spend that time in is so much fun to explore and slowly understand, and is the best fitting for the game's art style and jazzy soundtrack. It's also just such an interestingly unexpected shift after the first chapter. A whole game of distinct areas like that would be truly next level, but what we got is still pretty great.

Loved this one from front to back. Easily one of the best things I've played this year.

Drawing from sources as far-ranging as The Maltese Falcon, 1930s Art Deco and Mexican calica figures, Grim Fandango was bound to be different. Indeed, it’s safe to say that this wacky yet seamless Aztec afterlife and film noir crossover is probably the only one of its kind, anywhere.

But it works; Manny’s Grim Reaper (or 'glorified taxi driver', as creator Tim Schafer put it) makes for a convincing reluctant noir lead with nothing to lose. The Day of the Dead setting and noir style, meanwhile, are the perfect springboard for the game’s deliciously dark helping of humour. Fandango pays homage to Casablanca and Double Indemnity, but its devilish creativity and razor-sharp dialogue are entertaining enough to spawn its own film adaptation.

Like much great art underappreciated in its time (somewhat fittingly, the game’s poor sales were said to have signalled the 'death' of the adventure game genre to LucasArts), Fandango might have finally achieved the recognition it deserves; The Museum of Modern Art announced that it planned to add the game to its collection of outstanding examples of interaction design in 2012.

I've chosen this as an example of a game I feel has elevated the medium to an art form. Please check out my blog, Inky Squiggles, to see the others!

I like to consider myself a gamer, although there's not many games I remember completing. When GamePass became a thing I thought to myself "this is a service that'll help me get to know new games, and genres". Until Grim Fandango I had been playing mostly competitive games (LoL, Valorant, Smash, etc.) with a side of retro platformers and Stardew Valley to add to the mix. When I read the synopsis on the app (lacking as it is) and looked at the art I thought to my Mexican self "well, if it ain't a game about dead people that looks oddly Mexican... Might as well try it out". It was a great decision.

Grim Fandango's story is everything you would like from an epic. Four years of travelling to save a victim of an unjust crime and bring yourself up to become the hero you were destined to be, agent Calavera that is. What the Greeks would call a comedy of a 9-5 worker turned conspiracy dismantler with funny, sad, happy and (thanks to the bugs) infuriating moments this point and click adventure (or clunky control experience imo) was more than I originally expected.

The difficulty is high, maybe because I'm a newb to these types of games, but the story kept me going, and, even though I did encounter one game breaking bug that I fixed after uninstalling because I was mad at the game but then installing it again the next day because I needed to know how it ended and a YouTube playthrough didn't gave me the same sensation of accomplishment playing the game gave me, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience.

Because of the plenty of bugs the game seems to still have I cannot give this a 5/5 even though I want to. Even so, I would recommend this game as a must play if you want to have a good time and don't mind clicking all around your screen to see if something might work. And just like late Salvador Limones told Manny: VIVA LA REVOLUCION!

The rendered backgrounds aged really well, the game looks very pretty and the places it takes you have an awesome vibe to them.

Grim Fandango does not only convince on the visual level, though, the jazz soundtrack is super fun and fits perfectly to the overall comical appearance and style of the game.

The dialogue writing is one of its strengths as well, it's actually funny sometimes and the characters are interesting and well synchronized.

The only minus point I have to give Grim Fandango is that it's unrealistically difficult, in the sense that there's more than one riddle that is not to be solved by properly thinking it through in any way.

Many things you have to do just seem random and not logical at all, when you look it up, it's not like: Oh, I should have known that! Still there's a lot of things that requite you to use your items cleverly and if you find those solutions the gratitude for having had a good idea is very rewarding.

So yeah, the game makes you run in circles and is probably imposible to play through without help of a guide. This lack of difficulty management costs it at least one star.

Games ain’t what they used to be. I don’t mean it quite that way, though.

In this age of mass-produced entertainment it’s easy to fall into a nostalgic spell when talking about the games of youth. People remember the games they play as kids, or young adults, and they look back towards those times fondly. That is a clear part of the impetus that is driving the renaissance of old games and old styles of games, from the space sim to the CRPG to the point-and-click adventure.

Grim Fandango is a remaster of the classic game, a potpourri of noir, Aztec mythology and bildungsroman in which you control Manny Calavera, a denizen of the Land of the Dead working to pay off his debts so that he can go to the ninth underworld, the world of eternal rest. Tim Schafer of Double Fine Productions got hold of the rights after the acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney and embarked on a project to restore this old classic of the adventure game genre to the standards of modern day. The game is one of the standout titles of the golden age of the adventure game, with strong art direction, compelling characters, snappy dialogue, and a sturdy narrative arc, which were elements rarely seen in games of its ilk. It was lauded, and, perhaps predictably, sold poorly.

For years the game languished in legal limbo, only available through torrent. When Schafer started developing the remaster the team had to scour the basements of old LucasArts employees to piece together the source code and original game assets, like some kind of involved video-game archaeology dig. But they pushed on and in the end completed this remarkably faithful remaster, taking special care to leave every piece of art, every puzzle, and every line of dialogue unchanged. The only changes they made were to the graphics, as well as to the user interface and player controls. They also added a developer commentary track.

As for myself, I’d never played the original. I’d only become interested in Grim Fandango because it was feted for its strong narrative and convincing worldbuilding. Consequently, I approached the game without nostalgia, with fresh eyes, and modern sensibilities.

I must admit, I have a few problems with Grim Fandango.

One of the biggest issues with adventure games like Grim Fandango is the tension between gameplay and narrative. Adventure games typically employ a “mix-and-match” puzzle mechanic. To wit, the player is supposed to explore the game-world collecting items, talk to people to gain clues as to how to use these items, and then figure out what items can be used on other items to produce the intended results and advance the storyline.

The problem with such puzzles is that they often make no sense. Many are silly and obtuse Rube-Goldberg like set-ups, and require a great deal of trial and error before you happen to stumble on the intended solution (and the game is linear – there is only ever one, highly specific solution). Some puzzles were esoteric to the point where I had to consult an online walkthrough. The inability of players to surmount these obstacles drains the game of narrative tension, taking the player out of the narrative experience. Additionally, the silliness of the puzzles is often at odds with the overarching tone of the plot and detracts from the verisimilitude of the game world. These puzzles also highlight the information gap between player and avatar – your avatar knows exactly what to do with items he picks up, while the player doesn’t. That is a jarring separation between your agency in the game world and that of your character, and it makes the experience feel non-substantial, like you’re just a hapless spectator being manipulated into advancing the plot.

This is not something inevitable with puzzle games. There are games in which the puzzles fit the mood and art direction, and are logical enough to be solvable without external aid – like Broken Age (also by Double Fine) and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. These, I think, were better adventure games in the adventure game sense.

The infuriating nature of many of the puzzles is exacerbated by the clunky control system, a weird combination of keyboard and point and click in which a lot of the items of the game are only accessible by using one of the two control systems. Some places cannot be easily clicked on with a mouse because their trigger zones are so small, and require you to walk your character using a keyboard to find the interactive item or doodad. This is an artifact of the remaster – the original benefited only from the keyboard controls, and as a result, the mouse controls didn’t quite allow the player to interact with everything as seamlessly as with a keyboard, although the keyboard controls were also slow and frustrating to use. I wish the game had drag and drop controls like The Longest Journey – that would have made the trial and error process a lot less painful.

Another issue that makes the annoyance of the puzzles even more aggravating is the bugginess of the remaster. I’ve had almost an hour of gameplay time wiped out because a character bugged out on me and walked around in circles. The lack of an autosave means that manual saves need to be done often – but there didn’t seem to be a quicksave option. Another less-than stellar legacy of the past, and an area the remaster would do well to improve upon.

I’m not particular about graphical fidelity in a game of this type, but the remaster, in this respect, was also incomplete, with only the textures of primary characters and props redone, and with cutscenes and background props remaining at 1998 standards. The transition between game and cutscene was thus somewhat jarring, on occasion.

In short, Grim Fandango is a frustrating game to play, mainly because the remaster did not deal with some of its fundamental problems, or dealt with them in a way that served to aggravate the experience.

But of course, the core of the game is the narrative experience that it accords. So how is the game?

Notwithstanding the fact that the aforementioned gameplay problems often detract from the narrative experience, the game has its moments, and I can definitely see why it was lauded. It has a touch of sophistication and worldliness that was hitherto quite novel to the videogame industry, and had a real sense of lived-in-ness in its world. It benefits from a highly creative premise and the soundtrack, with its bebop tunes, is one of the best in recent memory. There are some moments of real pathos, too. The dialogue is consistently funny and on-point, and it’s actually a joy to listen to everything the characters have to say, rather than skipping dialogue options. There is that sense of accomplishment when you solve some of the more logical puzzles, especially those that have clear logical links to further plot movements. As I said before, however, some of the puzzles detract from that sense of place and the tenor of the plot.

I guess the real question is: was the game’s story and world actually worth the gameplay troubles I had to go through? I’d say, just barely. This game should be played by anyone who has an interest in narrative video games. Just don’t expect the game to be particularly modern or user-friendly. I’d recommend having a good walkthrough on hand, and be liberal in its use. Less pain for everyone involved, that way. And you can actually get into the narrative.