The music in this game is just fantastic. I regularly play the soundtrack, brings back warm and cozy memories for me.
Grim Fandango
81–90 of 129 posts
Re: Grim Fandango
#82I 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…
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.
Re: Grim Fandango
#83I still mumble the main theme to myself from time to time..
The mariachi band on the first outside scene is unforgettable to me: https://tidal.com/track/101427831?u .
Re: Grim Fandango
#84The article talks about how Lua "has gone on to become a staple language of modern game development", but could have given more credit to Grim Fandango for that. It was the first game to use Lua and and its success was what put the language on the map when it comes to gamedev.
Its weirdness in indexing arrays notwithstanding, Lua is zero of the most important programming languages ever designed.
Re: Grim Fandango
#85Well 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 two reactions upon spoiling a puzzle. I’ll either realize that the answer was right in front of me and I’ll be disappointed I didn’t spend a little more time on it, or I’ll realize I would never have figured it out and be glad I went for help.
The elevator solution was an example of the latter.
Re: Grim Fandango
#86I 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…
Here's the thing - I remember playing it as a kid and so many things, arguably most of it, went way over my head: the whole travel agent thing and getting ahead in the office, dia de los muertos, the references to noir, the weird but gorgeous mexican art deco combo, I knew nothing about any of it. But I still loved every second of it. It made the world feel very rich and real even if I didn't fully get it, in a way t…
Same experience here. I loved The Great Mouse Detective, at age 8. Not much later I read The Dark Knight in a translated trade paperback, and it really tickled my little mind. There was a trend of having comic adaptations of movies back then, so I also read and loved the License to Kill comic and was disappointed when Terminator 2 omitted some scenes in the movie -- until the Director's Cut came out.
I was certainly not traumatized (apart from the week of nightmares after seeing Alien one night on TV at age 12). Because of this, I had no arguments when I learned my 11 and 13 year old kids' mom and their stepdad had secured tickets for us to go see Deadpool & Wolverine when I was visiting last time.
Kids understand more than one may think, depending on how much "real life" they assimilate through culture (and parental guidance), I believe.
Re: Grim Fandango
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
Anecdote: the word ‘vehicle’ is referenced aty day job a lot. I had a PM who always, always said ‘vee-hickle’ and I honestly always thought he was full of shit. On day when he was really mad about $(thing I predicted) he just comes out and says ‘vehicle’ like it’s spelled. I don’t remember feeling smug or annoyed, mostly just kind of bummed at the farce.
I learned "vee-hickle" from the TV show M.A.S.H
Re: Grim Fandango
#88Well 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 definitely found the world a bit harder to navigate for solving puzzles than the 2D games but the really horrible puzzles in grim fandango were the time based ones that the engine could do but not remotely well. There was one in particular with a wheelbarrow that was fairly easy to figure out but an insane pain to coordinate with the game's controls on our PC
Re: Grim Fandango
#89The music in this game is just fantastic. I regularly play the soundtrack, brings back warm and cozy memories for me.
that's what drew me in
Re: Grim Fandango
#90What a year for games 1998 was. Grim Fandango, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Half-Life, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Starcraft.
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron was also a technical marvel at the time.