RTTP: Grim Fandango: Remastered

[Cecil]

I first played this game back at it's original release in 1997, beat it then, and despite having bought it numerous times since it's remaster re-release, I still haven't played through it again. I did beat both the Day of the Tentacle Remaster and the Full Throttle remaster, but this one had been put in my backlog because of other games.
But now during my vacation, it's a perfect time to revisit it, and yesterday I reached year 2 in it. And it feels like it's where it's really starting to shine again.

It felt like the game in general lost some of the general enthusiam the game had, with it's remaster, when a lot of people got a chance to revisit it again. And I can somewhat see that. The controls are bit clunky, some puzzles are a bit tough after the initial ones, and the Petrified Forest section really doesn't hold up.

But when you enter

Spoiler

Rubacava

then it's again apparent what an absolute gem this game really is. The locations are great, the characters are great, and the puzzle structure is again better. Giving the player several objectives at once really is important for a game in this genre to be truly enjoyable. Something that Tim Schafer really took to heart for Broken Age, and that all adventure game developers should take note off.

I'm still only 4h into this, so I have a lot left, so maybe it will dip again in quality later on. But right now, it does feel like the highlight of the genre that it's been known for.
If anyone are stumped by this in the first chapter, and feel it's too difficult and/or doesn't hold up, use a walkthrough to make it to year two. That's my recommendation,

Oh, and two things Double Fine deserves cred for with this remaster:

1. Making old concept art available through the Steam Cards.
2. Making the achievements focused on dialog.[/spoiler]

 

[Jintor]

with boney hands i hold my partner
on soulless feet we cross the floor
the music stops as if to answer
an empty knocking at the door
It seems his skin was soft as mango
when last i held him to my breast
but now we dance this grim fandango
and will four years until we rest

 

[sir_crocodile]

I actually quit playing the remaster after the forest section because the puzzles were so bad and clunky beyond belief. The one with the beavers or whatever at the dam where you have to be in the right position as well is one of the worst P&C puzzles ever. I'd forgotten quite how bad they were.

Like I'd rather play through the whole of discworld 1 with my knowledge of the solutions wiped then play that act of GF again.

I think in future when I feel an urge to replay this I'll just watch a longplay. All the good stuff is the writing, music & va

 

[DIE BART DIE]

Best adventure game of all time.

 

[Cecil]

I actually quit playing the remaster after the forest section because the puzzles were so bad and clunky beyond belief. The one with the beavers or whatever at the dam where you have to be in the right position as well is one of the worst P&C puzzles ever. I'd forgotten quite how bad they were.

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The forest section is bad, but right after that you're back with traditional puzzles again.

 

[UltimusXI]

I had never played these games when they first came out, but I've recently (past 4 years or so) played Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango and while I loved the first two, I quit Grim Fandango in the forrest. I had to look up too much already and the setting / story just didn't do it for me either to compensate for the puzzles.

 

[Necronomicon]

I think the forest part is the worst part I've ever met in adventure games. But the game is very beautifil when it's about characters and it's still enjoyable

 

[AncientReptileBrain]

...inside a dream inside a dream

WANTINGNESS

does he hear? does he HERE

i am SICK of being the only HONEST one

Loneliness.

confuse yourselves

WANTINGNESS

...and tomorrow?


heh heh he I am not laughing out of joy


Ha!

I crave disappointment.

I am your disappointment.

The end.

 

[Cecil]

The achievements I'm getting now are down to 25-20% now, for how many players who have gotten them on Steam, from about 50% for those in the first chapter. So you can say that it seems like many players quit around the forest part. But those percentages are of course distorted quite a bit with the game being bundled so many times. I think I've had 3 or 4 extra keys for this game.

 

[endlessflood]

Eyyyyyyyyyyyy!
Velasco!

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Year 2 is the peak of the game, easily.

Still just a wonderful game and story all around, even with a fair number of head scratching puzzles.

 

[GurrenSwagann]

I'm actually on my first playthrough now, enjoying it very much. Some clunky bits though.

 

[Tedmilk]

I really don't understand the praise Grim Fandango gets. The puzzles are AWFUL - this is coming from someone who has played all the other Lucasarts adventures.

I didn't even finish it, I'm slightly ashamed to say.

 

[SlipperyMoose]

I remember playing this on PC as a child for a brief moment but I didn't actually play through the game. I'm excited to check it out on the Xbox though as I love these type of games.

 

[nrtn]

I really don't understand the praise Grim Fandango gets. The puzzles are AWFUL - this is coming from someone who has played all the other Lucasarts adventures.

I didn't even finish it, I'm slightly ashamed to say.

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World building, characters, story, dialogs.

Yeah the puzzles are bad at times, but everything else is unique and memorable.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

I only played it for the first time a few years ago, and besides the excellent style and humour I really didn't get along with it. Some of the puzzles felt really stupid and I gave up in a woods where I had to drive through portals in a certain order, or something like that. Not a fan of the genre in general really but I'd hoped this might rope me in.

 

[Rabalder.]

One of the best written games ever.

 

[Titanpaul]

Bought it on PSN a few years back. Absolutely loved the world and character design but could not get past some of the puzzles. I believe I stopped in the woods.

 

[Cheezus H Rice]

Tim Schafer's best writing and his magnum opus. It's stayed with me since I finished it as a teen

 

[Cecil]

I really don't understand the praise Grim Fandango gets. The puzzles are AWFUL - this is coming from someone who has played all the other Lucasarts adventures.

I didn't even finish it, I'm slightly ashamed to say.

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Well, my take, also being someone who has played all older LucasArts games, since The Secret of Monkey Island back on the Amiga 500.

First and foremost, most of the praise, almost all of it, that the game gets is for other things then the puzzles.

Second, some parts where the controls becomes focus, like the Petrified Forest, are bad. Few people disagree there.

Third. The puzzles are challenging, absolutely. But they're really not that awful. And I base that on three factors.

1. You're objectives are for the most of the time very clear. That's definitely the feeling I have so far in my replay now.
2. The game avoids red herrings in your inventory. Your inventory is kept to a minimum, and is regularly cleared out of old redudant items when you reach certain goals.
3. As said in OP, the game in Year 2 starts giving you several objectives and puzzles at once, to avoid having you just go through a linear sequence, and gives you reason to explore. This is something so many modern adventure games misses.

 

[Madison]

If the entire game was as good as Year 2 then it would be a GOAT Contender

 

[Cecil]

Bought it on PSN a few years back. Absolutely loved the world and character design but could not get past some of the puzzles. I believe I stopped in the woods.

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I only played it for the first time a few years ago, and besides the excellent style and humour I really didn't get along with it. Some of the puzzles felt really stupid and I gave up in a woods where I had to drive through portals in a certain order, or something like that. Not a fan of the genre in general really but I'd hoped this might rope me in.

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Just use a walkthrough, or look up the solutions for that part on youtube. The game becomes much much better right after that part.

 

[Nabbit]

I don't have a ton of PnC experience but I loved Broken Age (and more recently Tangle Tower) so I tried GF sometime in the past year, and unfortunately had a really tough time getting into it. I liked the humor a lot but I got stuck a bunch in the early goings. I wish the game was all 2D like Broken Age because I felt like I was fighting the controls/environment at times. But I got completely stuck in the forest with the directional sign part and even looking at a walkthrough I was still confused. So I decided to shelve it for the moment. It sounds like I should go back to it though and just push through the first part with a video walkthrough or something for the parts I get stuck at. I really would like to see what the rest of this game is like.

 

[AncientReptileBrain]

I don't have a ton of PnC experience but I loved Broken Age (and more recently Tangle Tower) so I tried GF sometime in the past year, and unfortunately had a really tough time getting into it. I liked the humor a lot but I got stuck a bunch in the early goings. I wish the game was all 2D like Broken Age because I felt like I was fighting the controls/environment at times. But I got completely stuck in the forest with the directional sign part and even looking at a walkthrough I was still confused. So I decided to shelve it for the moment. It sounds like I should go back to it though and just push through the first part with a video walkthrough or something for the parts I get stuck at. I really would like to see what the rest of this game is like.

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i highly recommend uhs hints: http://www.uhs-hints.com/uhsweb/grimfand.php

slowly gives hints for some puzzles without totally giving them away (before eventually spelling it out entirely if needed)

 

[unicornKnight]

Year 2 is the peak of the game, easily.

Still just a wonderful game and story all around, even with a fair number of head scratching puzzles.

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It's also tough as fuck, year 2 is probably where most people drop it.

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

I don't have a ton of PnC experience but I loved Broken Age (and more recently Tangle Tower) so I tried GF sometime in the past year, and unfortunately had a really tough time getting into it. I liked the humor a lot but I got stuck a bunch in the early goings. I wish the game was all 2D like Broken Age because I felt like I was fighting the controls/environment at times. But I got completely stuck in the forest with the directional sign part and even looking at a walkthrough I was still confused. So I decided to shelve it for the moment. It sounds like I should go back to it though and just push through the first part with a video walkthrough or something for the parts I get stuck at. I really would like to see what the rest of this game is like.

Click to shrink...

Dont be ashamed of using a walkthrough or hints when you need it for this. The 3D did the puzzle-solving no favors and the original didn't even have a PnC option.

I think the venerable Universal Hint System guide for this is still online.

Grim Fandango Hints. Not your ordinary walkthrough. Hints. Not your ordinary walkthrough.

 

[Kromeo]

I actually quit playing the remaster after the forest section because the puzzles were so bad and clunky beyond belief. The one with the beavers or whatever at the dam where you have to be in the right position as well is one of the worst P&C puzzles ever. I'd forgotten quite how bad they were.

Like I'd rather play through the whole of discworld 1 with my knowledge of the solutions wiped then play that act of GF again.

I think in future when I feel an urge to replay this I'll just watch a longplay. All the good stuff is the writing, music & va

Click to shrink...

The whole second town area with the casino is so good though, I think that's right after the forest?

 

[sir_crocodile]

The whole second town area with the casino is so good though, I think that's right after the forest?

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yep. was too annoyed to continue though as the forest had pissed me off so much. and that was with me vaguely remembering the solutions from when I first played it in the 90s!

I'd defo recommend anyone playing for the first time to use a walkthrough liberally up till the end of the forest.

 

[Lihwem]

Best game ever to me, as you can guess by my avatar. This is the game that, when I played it (or rather its demo) back in 98/99, made me realise the potential of games as a narrative media.

As others pointed out, the settings are incredible, the characters are well-written, and so are the dialogues. And don't even get me started on the music. Peter McConnell instantly became one of my favorite composers with this game, and playing other games he worked on only reinforced that feeling.

And yes, some puzzles are unfair, some are even almost nonsensicals but... it's fine. There's so much more in this game to balance that out that I don't mind too much.

I really hope no one ever makes a sequel to that. It's perfect as it is - remake it, remaster it, but please please please, no sequel!

 

[Zodzilla]

A great game hampered by a couple of fidgety puzzles (looking at you betting stubs) and technology that wasn't quite there yet.

Then again...


the characters, the plot and the writing are all so damn good.

 

[Nabbit]

Thanks Rez Joe Shlabotnik I'll be sure to use that site!

 

[Jintor]

It's a really evocative game for me, but I have no real desire to ever play it again. I've come to realise I don't particularly like Adventure Games, but this one is still special to me

 

[ScOULaris]

The jump in quality from the forest area to Rubacava is one of the biggest in gaming history, IMO. Rubacava is when the game instantly shoots up into the stratosphere alongside the other best PnC Adventure games of all time.

I played it for the first time when the remaster came out years ago, and I was kind of lukewarm on it until Rubacava. From then on the game is just perfection, and it is now my favorite adventure game of all time.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

I am in the process of redoing the mancave into a totally gaming centric one. Anyways, some of the stuff that I've purchased is starting to arrive. I've taken on making custom things for some of my favorite franchises/games/characters. I got this in the mail today. A custom waste basket made with Grim Fandango art that I selected. I spent more on this than I did on the game way back when. However, for all this time, it's left that much of a mark on me.

 

[Deleted member 18407]

I love LucasArts adventure games. I love adventure games in general. I love the world and storyline in Grim Fandango. I love the art direction. The humor is fantastic. The game itself is so god damn unfun to play though. I wish I liked it but I just can't enjoy it and don't see what the hype is about.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

I just started playing this for the first time. Is Remastered graphics the way to go? Or do you guys recommend Original graphics?

 

[Shevek]

I just started playing this for the first time. Is Remastered graphics the way to go? Or do you guys recommend Original graphics?

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Remastered 100%. It adds higher res character textures, as well as better lighting than the original.




Edit: I hope you savor every moment from this game. It's story, setting, characters, and soundtrack are still some the very best out there to this day. I wish I could experience it again for the first time.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Remastered 100%. It adds higher res character textures, as well as better lighting than the original.




Edit: I hope you savor every moment from this game. It's story, setting, characters, and soundtrack are still some the very best out there to this day. I wish I could experience it again for the first time.

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Thanks for the reply!

 

[Love Machine]

Played the remaster on Vita back when it released and got the Platinum. Such an absolute classic. I still find myself humming songs from the soundtrack occasionally.

I just started playing this for the first time. Is Remastered graphics the way to go? Or do you guys recommend Original graphics?

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Enjoy! Would love to experience this game for the first time again.

 

[Fadewise]

There are certainly some peaks and valleys, and questionable adventure game design in the later chapters, but for my money, Year 2/Rubacava is in contention for my favorite video game segment of all time.

 

[Deleted member 4494]

It's a great game. A shame that a sequel will (probably) never happen.

 

[Alek]

It's the only P&C I've ever really enjoyed. The thing is I don't really appreciate the puzzles in these games, and Grim Fandango I also found quite obtuse a good portion of the time.

I cheated to get through the game, and used a guide whenever I found myself stuck. I'd try and figure stuff out on my own, but I wouldn't beat my head against a wall if I couldn't figure something out after 5 or 10 minutes.

I got satisfaction from the puzzles I solved, and even those I didn't, I tended to find the solutions interesting. Often I felt like 'man, I'd have never figured that one out'.

I don't remember the specifics of every puzzle so I might be mistaken on some details, but I remember one example where you had to get into some place at the docks. Unfortunately, some blue collar worker bees are blocking your path. How would you assume you get a group of blue collar workers to let you past? Well, you have to go speak to the angsty goth looking people in a bar a few screens away, trade them something so that they give you what is effectively the communist manifesto, and then you can give that to the bees, which starts a labour revolution and causes them to move.

It's a leap I would have never logically made, but even though I had to use a guide seeing the solution play out was quite creative and amusing. I didn't feel annoyed that it wasn't clear to me.

 

[Shevek]

It's a great game. A shame that a sequel will (probably) never happen.

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Do you say this because Disney now own the IP and a modern day PnC isn't feasible?

A sequel in the same universe with different characters would be really cool and I think a Life Is Strange-esque TPP could be a good direction to go in. Schafer imagined a sequel being an open world game back in 2014:

Spoiler: ENDGAME SPOILERS

I recently interviewed Tim Schafer at Double Fine's "Day of the Devs" event in San Francisco. Curious about what the future holds for his newly resurrected land of the dead, I asked Schafer if success for the remaster could lead to a full-blown Grim Fandango sequel. Here's what he told me:

"Never say never. Grim is something [special], but storywise it's hard because [main character] Manny went to the land of eternal rest at the end. We'd have to drag him back from there or make a game about another character. It's tough to imagine a satisfying story about that."

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However, if he were to do it (and that's a big "if"), it sounds like it'd be a pretty interesting game. Think classic point-and-click adventure mixed with Grand Theft Auto-style open world:

"I've had this urge to make a fully 3D version of El Marrow, where it's more like an open world game. You're running around the city and stuff. Games like Grand Theft Auto have a lot of the elements of adventure games, and if there was just an inventory that wasn't guns, you could probably do a full adventure game in one. That's something I've thought about since the '90s."

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Tim Schafer Dreams Of An Open-World Grim Fandango Sequel

A sequel to Tim Schafer and co's classic skeleton noir LucasArts adventure, Grim Fandango? Be still, my non-beating heart. This is only an idea that's been kicking around in Schafer's skull for a while, but it's an exciting one nonetheless. And it's inspired by Grand Theft Auto, of all things.

kotaku.com

An open world El Marrow would be the most hype thing ever