Grim Fandango Remastered

[VideoGameCritic]

Being a video game historian, Grim Fandango is a name I hear mentioned a lot. Apparently it was a PC released in 1988. There was never a console version, until now. Limited Run is taking pre-orders. I think this may be my golden opportunity to see what all the fuss it about. Don't know much about it, but from the cover it looks right up my alley. Kind of whimsical Halloweenish??

Anybody have experience with this game??

[Matchstick]

There was never a console version, until now.

Actually...

The Remastered edition of the game has already gotten a physical release before now, from iam8bit. I see plenty for PS4 and Switch on eBay if you'd rather not wait for the LRG pressing. It's also still available for PS4 on Shopville for $34.99, brand new. Comes with some extra "feelies" not present in the LRG set:



https://www.myshopville.com/products/grim-fandango-remastered-playstation-4?_pos=1&_sid=88fa66cf6&_ss=r

I've bought from Shopville before, and they're legit. I'd recommend this one over waiting for LRG, myself.

And the game originally came out in 1998, Critic. It's not that much of a blast from the past

Anyhoo...

It's my wife's favorite game. And she typically hates adventure titles. Take that for what you will.

The game isn't so much Halloween as it is Dia de los Muertos. The more you know about the holiday, the more you'll get some of the jokes and nods in the game, especially at the beginning. And if you don't know much about Day of the Dead, honestly, the game can be surprisingly educational.

Highly, highly recommended. I have the original on PC and the Remaster on Switch. It's surprisingly easy for the type of game that it is. Not that it isn't a challenge, but it's nearly impossible to get stuck or be forced into a game over. The game provides plenty of hints through dialogue and camera work, and the gameplay translates to a gamepad smoothly, with the Remastered edition featuring controls where you move your character directly with the joystick. No more dragging a cursor around the screen!

The voice acting and dialogue are top-notch, too. I was recently playing Return to Monkey Island, and while my wife was enjoying watching me play, she found the nonstop irreverent humor to be exhausting. Grim is much more clever in its writing - plenty of plays on words and witty retorts. We repeat jokes from the game, often.

All right, rant's over. Hopefully it's been of some help!

[VideoGameCritic]

Matchstick, as usual you are a fountain of information! Thanks - you've convinced me to preorder this.

[Retro STrife]

Good to see you're getting this, VGC! Grim Fandango was PC-only in 1998... I still remember GameSpot.com giving it Game of the Year in 1998 and feeling pretty left out as a console-only gamer. Then they really rubbed it in during 2002, doing a "Best Games Ever" write-up on it!

As Windows 95 & 98 phased out, it became very hard to play the old discs on PCs, and no new versions were made for years. Around 2007, I wanted to try the PC game, and even bought an old copy, but it was a giant hassle to figure out on a Windows XP computer-- I eventually gave up. Well, Grim Fandango Remastered came along in 2015, changing all that and bringing it to consoles. I played it in 2017 and posted my thoughts on the forums here (see post #2):

https://videogamecritic.com/forums/view ... 12&t=15772

If you like LucasArts adventure games of the 90's or Tim Schafer games (Psychonauts, Day of the Tentacle, Secret of Monkey Island, etc.), this should be right up your alley. It's a better game than Secret of Monkey Island, in my opinion. I agree with Matchstick's take. It does show its age though, so maybe it's not quite the masterpiece it might have been in 1998, but I still had a good time with it. It even got me pulling Casablanca off the shelf to watch again, which is always a good thing. With the physical disc finally happening, it sounds like a good time for you to jump on the bandwagon and review this PC classic.

[Matchstick]

...I wanted to try the PC game... but it was a giant hassle to figure out on a Windows XP computer..

I had a similar experience with the PC release of Resident Evil, as well as Vampire The Masquerade: Redemption. Both ran fine on my Windows 98 machine of the time, but hated running on XP later.

The workaround I use for Grim these days is a bit excessive - I run it on my G3 iMac, using Virtual PC 4 and its built-in copy of Windows 98. Thankfully, the game does not need a 3D accelerator, as that older version of VPC doesn't support them. It runs well, but kinda grainy. Same for others, like Jedi Knight. But hey, they work!

Matchstick, as usual you are a fountain of information! Thanks - you've convinced me to preorder this.

Dawwwwwww. Thanks, Critic. That's nicer than anything my wife's said to me, all week.

(I wish I were kidding...)

If I may ask, though - why pre-order it, when it is already currently available elsewhere at the same price?

More power to you if you want to buy from Limited Run, but given how long they tend to take to start production, if you go with them, I'll look forward to your Grim Fandango review sometime in 2026 or so...

[VideoGameCritic]

Yeah you're right I may just buy it outright.

[Retro STrife]

Critic, if Grim Fandango is inspiring you to revisit some classic 90's PC adventure games, I see that Limited Run also Day of the Tentacle available for PS4. That's another Tim Schafer adventure game, but more light-hearted humor and cartoony, about time traveling to stop a tentacle from taking over the world. It's the sequel to Maniac Mansion. Another classic, also better than Secret of Monkey Island in my book.

[ActRaiser]

I played it on the PS4 a few years ago. The voice acting by itself makes it a must buy. It's a phenomenal game.