Grim Fandango
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Grim Fandango
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Re: Grim Fandango
#2Without a doubt, one of the greatest games of all times!
Re: Grim Fandango
#3I 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 salesman, sabotage a pneumatic tube messaging system, and sneak into your boss' office.
It all makes perfect sense for adults familiar with office work and all the movies it references. But I recall I tried it when I was maybe 14 and I couldn't make head nor tails of it. I didn't even realize the pneumatic tubes were actually a thing.
Things like Monkey Island and even Full Throttle are far more accessible.
Re: Grim Fandango
#4İncredible game, matched with an equally amazing soundtrack !
Re: Grim Fandango
#5An excellent game for its time. The remaster is well worth it.
One unfortunate aspect of classic games is how dated mechanics can get. It’s a problem that music or movies don’t really have, besides maybe feeling a bit cliché.
In the case of Grim Fandango, the tank controls are a bit awkward, some puzzles are actually quite difficult and require logic that would only make sense to a point and click adventure gamer from the 90s.
It deserves to be enjoyed and remembered, just because of its sheer style and creativity.
Re: Grim Fandango
#6What a time that was for gaming. Everything felt special. I am afraid to revisit these old greats though, in case seeing them today ruins the illusion of the past.
Re: Grim Fandango
#7I 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), but the context made it possible for me to figure it out.
Re: Grim Fandango
#8I 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 agree about the accessibility, but Full Throttle is by far my least favorite lucasarts graphical adventure. It's really quite depressing and I deeply dislike the main character.
Re: Grim Fandango
#9Jimmy is right about Grim Fandango's gameplay failings, and it's unfortunate, because the game has enough narrative content that they could have just trimmed away a lot of the adventure game puzzles. But visual novels weren't really a thing in the west yet, and in that era there was a lot of emphasis on playtime as a metric that reviews would focus on.
Ironically, one of the most forward-looking approaches to extending playtime without relying on obtuse puzzles had been already pioneered (in a flawed way, certainly) by Sierra, the company which often served as the contrast to LucasArts' reputation for innovation. I'm talking about The Colonel's Bequest, which elaborated the classic adventure game score system into a kind of scavenger hunt, a precursor to achievements in today's games. Grim Fandango would both aesthetically and thematically have been a great fit for that kind of "find the secret scenes" style of replayability.
Re: Grim Fandango
#10I 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…
This is a great assessment that I never realized until you said it. There are so many games from that era that I played that fit that mold. I was playing Leisure Suit Larry as a 10 year old! I can’t imagine parents these days letting their kids play that at all!