Grim Fandango Remastered

Genre: Graphic Adventure

Players: 1

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Review:

Grim Fandango Remastered is a remake of the classic LucasArts Graphic Adventure about afterlife travel agent Manny Calavera trying to uncover the secrets of a conspiracy and earn his ticket to eternal rest.

If you were a fan of the genre and specifically LucasArts way back in its heyday, this game represents something of a holy grail, one of the most celebrated classics polished and gussied up to fit in with modern platforms. The graphics are updated and improved, the score has been re-recorded, and the game now includes extras like developer commentary.

For those who didn’t play this game back in the day, one of the first things you’re bound to notice is how this game absolutely oozes style. The game’s characters are designed to look like stylized Calaca figures with a “Dia de los Muertos” theme, and the writing is whip-sharp, with some really excellent, witty humor with just about every line. Everyone in Grim Fandango seems to have a Master’s degree in sarcasm with a minor in charm, which makes every new character, every new item, every new place a joy as you get to hear Manny’s clever commentary on it.

Also if you’re new to Graphic Adventure games of this era, you will discover how frustrating the puzzles are, often depending on unclear goals or bizarre logic (some fans have dubbed this “Sierra Logic”, after defunct game-maker Sierra, who was infamous for it). In short, many will want to play this game with a walkthrough at hand.

It’s a shame the gameplay is so frustrating, because everything else here is absolutely delightful. A lot of love clearly went into the original, and that’s still on full display in Grim Fandango Remastered, but it’s hard to recommend it when players could arguably get more out of watching a decent walkthrough of the game on YouTube.

tl;dr – Grim Fandango Remastered is a modernized re-release of the classic LucasArts Graphic Adventure. The game is every bit as clever, witty, funny, and inventive as ever, but it’s also every bit as frustrating, and by today’s standards, this sort of puzzle design really shows its age. Fans of the original will be delighted with this version, but everyone else is probably better off watching a playthrough of the game on YouTube.

Grade: C+

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