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Grim Fandango

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Re: Grim Fandango

#111

Post by wenc »

mrob wrote: post #82
wenc wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a really interesting perspective. I grew up around when adventure games were popular, and I learned a lot about the grown-up world (and in fact, American world) through adventure games. Sam and Max had so much Americana that, playing as a non-American, got me into the deep cuts of American culture. I think a lot of it was contextual. I didn't get all the references at first (e.g. who's John Muir for instance),…

Day of the Tentacle is also very American, in both style and content. I'm glad I didn't play it as a child because I wouldn't have understood or appreciated it, even though I knew it existed and I played Maniac Mansion. Day of the Tentacle was completely different than what I imagined and much better.

DOTT was great and yes also lots of American references like the George Washington story and the Pony Express.

But in Asia we were immersed enough in American culture through books and Saturday morning cartoons that it didn’t feel that foreign.

Re: Grim Fandango

#112

Post by ChoGGi »

jrmg wrote: post #43
pornel wrote: post #18

The pre-rendered backgrounds were breathtaking in the 90s, but today the old off-line ray tracing looks worse than what modern games can render (same goes for the original Myst). The remastered version has been released before AI upscaling got interesting. I wonder if a re-remastered version could be made look better.

You’re in luck! https://hexagon.codes/grimhd

Thank you!

Re: Grim Fandango

#113

Post by filoleg »

nanna wrote: post #25
wenc wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a really interesting perspective. I grew up around when adventure games were popular, and I learned a lot about the grown-up world (and in fact, American world) through adventure games. Sam and Max had so much Americana that, playing as a non-American, got me into the deep cuts of American culture. I think a lot of it was contextual. I didn't get all the references at first (e.g. who's John Muir for instance),…

I got completely stuck in the Beavis and Butthead adventure game when one of the voice acted characters told me to get a "vee-hickul". As a teenager sitting at my family PC in London, I had no idea what the hell the Texan (?) was saying. Only several years later would I figure it out. The only other thing I remember from that game is the hock-a-loogie minigame, which I mastered. I wonder if my parents had any idea wh…

> As a teenager sitting at my family PC in London, I had no idea what the hell the Texan (?) was saying. Only several years later would I figure it out.

I recommend King of the Hill for more of that. The show aged well, very thick americana that is genuinely funny and somewhat insightful. The more “adult” I became, the more hilarious and somewhat “deep” I started finding all their slice of life premises.

There is even one character who speaks so fast and with such thick texan accent (Boomhauer), it is almost impossible to understand him half the time.

One interestint part about it, the show was created and written by Mike Judge, who (among a few other legendary shows) also did Silicon Valley (from mid 2010s).

Re: Grim Fandango

#115

Post by glimshe »

vvpan wrote: post #57

Well I certainly cannot relate to the criticism. I played the game early on as a teen (and every few years since) and while, at times difficult, I never thought the puzzles were "confusing", it seemed like a pretty organic combination of styles of puzzles built into the game. The head turning dynamics I have also found to be quiet pleasant as it made me relate to the character more. Not that criticism is bad but Grim…

I never liked Grim Fandango despite recognizing its importance. I think it's too weird in a bad way. For me, it lacks the optimistic fantasy of LucasArts previous entries and is just too, well, Grim. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece like, for instance, Monkey Island 2.

Re: Grim Fandango

#116

Post by mikeocool »

The fact that this article is be written almost 25 years after Grim Fandango’s release sort of nullifies the criticism.

How many games are still being talked about and played that long after the fact?

Re: Grim Fandango

#117

Post by astrostl »

jamal-kumar wrote: post #16
dale_glass wrote: post #3

I think one understated problem Grim Fandango had is that it's too adult. Today "adult" often means "there's sex and/or gore", but the content is still simple and juvenile. But Grim Fandango isn't like that, it's just full of themes that probably confused the heck out of almost every kid that tried to play it. Like the very first chapter throws you right into office politics. You deal with stealing a job from another…

I thought this game was up there in my favorites as a kid, don't think me or my younger sibling noticed personally, but the puzzles were really hard for sure. Either way we beat it between each other taking turns I remember. Oh yeah, the tank controls were a little less shit with a gamepad - back when there was a dedicated port for those no less I also remember these games easier to beat before the internet was so pe…

I punted on it almost immediately because I hated the controls.

Re: Grim Fandango

#118

Post by giamma »

cainxinth wrote: post #85
vvpan wrote: post #57

Well I certainly cannot relate to the criticism. I played the game early on as a teen (and every few years since) and while, at times difficult, I never thought the puzzles were "confusing", it seemed like a pretty organic combination of styles of puzzles built into the game. The head turning dynamics I have also found to be quiet pleasant as it made me relate to the character more. Not that criticism is bad but Grim…

There was one particular puzzle involving an elevator that stumped me as a kid. I played the remaster years later and still couldn’t figure it out so I looked up the answer. Cheating in multiplayer games is obviously indefensible, but I’ve never been above cheating in a single player game. Games are a relaxing outlet for me and if I get frustrated long enough I’ll look up the solution. That said, I will have one of t…

Do you know Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders [0]? A Lucas Games video game published in 1988 on C64 and several other platforms.

Puzzles were very difficult at that time in games, possibly intentionally because Lucas Games was selling hint books.

Throughout the whole game you take planes to fly from one location to another, and this eventually depletes your credit card.

At some point you have so little money that the only plane ticket you can afford is a rusty world-war-era biplane that will fly you to some destination through the famous Bermuda Triangle [1]. It's the only option you have so you will eventually take it. But why that? Because when in flight, a tractor beam pulls you up and you find yourself, the biplane and the pilot in an alien space ship, which is how the game justifies the myth of the Bermuda Triangle.

Now if I remember correctly, you will be stuck there and will have to reload a saved game, unless you have a guitar with you. In fact, in the space ship you meet the alien captain who is wearing the classic white Elvis dress. If you earlier purchased a guitar in the shop close to your apartment and now give the guitar as a gift to the alien captain, you will then become friends, and the alien captain will allow you to leave the spaceship with the biplane. Even more, on the ship there is a machine named "lotto-o-matic" or similar, that will predict lotto numbers. So you have to use the machine and collect the receipt. Back to USA, you can use those lotto numbers and win an incredible amount of money that will allow you to take all the planes you need for the remaining of the game.

I remember this particular puzzle as I was stuck for weeks in this limbo without money trying countless useless solutions. I leave in Italy those hint books did not exist and there was no internet. Luckily at some point a local game magazine (Zzap! [2]) answered a letter from another gamer who was asking for a clue.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zak_McKracken_and_the_Alien_Mi... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda_Triangle [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zzap!64

Re: Grim Fandango

#119

Post by wishinghand »

glimshe wrote: post #115
vvpan wrote: post #57

Well I certainly cannot relate to the criticism. I played the game early on as a teen (and every few years since) and while, at times difficult, I never thought the puzzles were "confusing", it seemed like a pretty organic combination of styles of puzzles built into the game. The head turning dynamics I have also found to be quiet pleasant as it made me relate to the character more. Not that criticism is bad but Grim…

I never liked Grim Fandango despite recognizing its importance. I think it's too weird in a bad way. For me, it lacks the optimistic fantasy of LucasArts previous entries and is just too, well, Grim. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece like, for instance, Monkey Island 2.

It’s a film noir coded game. It does nail that dark aspect in many scenes and does it masterfully. I recently replayed it and it was remarkable how great it still is after decades of gameplay evolution.

Re: Grim Fandango

#120

Post by account42 »

acomjean wrote: post #94
cainxinth wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was one particular puzzle involving an elevator that stumped me as a kid. I played the remaster years later and still couldn’t figure it out so I looked up the answer. Cheating in multiplayer games is obviously indefensible, but I’ve never been above cheating in a single player game. Games are a relaxing outlet for me and if I get frustrated long enough I’ll look up the solution. That said, I will have one of t…

Whenever I think of adventure games, it the being stuck aspect of it. When these were released the lack internet help made it frustrating. Old man Murray (site is still up, though over 20 year since an update) had a good post about adventure game puzzles. Page 2 and 3 sum up the frustration. https://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/78.html Adventure games have gotten better..

> Adventure games have gotten better..

Care to provide examples of which modern adventure games are better?

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