Gamers often contemplate which of their favourite gaming titles they’d like to see remade, unsurprisingly, Grim Fandango is an answer that many gamers gave before Grim Fandango Remastered was announced. Originally released in 1998 for the PC, Grim Fandango is a classic point and click adventure game with a captivating plot and mesmerizing mash-up of film noir and Day of the Dead. Grim Fandango Remastered has had a Glottis upgrade, with updated visuals, a re-recorded soundtrack, and new features.

Don’t fear the reaper

Whatever possessed Tim Schafer to combine film noir and Mexican folk-lore I will never know, but it was a stroke of pure genius. Two things that you wouldn’t think of being compatible blend incredibly well within Grim Fandango, making you wonder why it was never done before.

The plot within Grim Fandango is one of its most endearing qualities. The game is set in the Land of the Dead and the players take control of protagonist, Manny Calavera, a travel agent in the Department of the Dead. Manny’s job is to try to sell as many premium travel packages to souls as he can, if they lived a good life they can get a ticket on the Number Nine train, which takes them straight to the ninth underworld in four minutes. Those not so fortunate? Well, they get a cool compass walking stick and a long four-year hike. Reaching the ninth underworld is the goal for most souls within the Land of the Dead, as it is the land of eternal rest.

Manny’s problems begin to escalate when he realises that all is not right within the Department of the Dead. It’s then up to our favourite grim reaper to unravel the conspiracy around his employer and save not only himself, but the woman he loves and many others from being cheated out of their true fate.

The characters within Grim Fandango are believable, as believable as a walking skeleton can be, but believable none the less. The characters are unforgettable and hilarious, and the depth of their personalities is perfectly accentuated by the brilliant voice actors.

There are a few small bits that niggle at me about the premise of Grim Fandango, such as Manny falling in love with Mercedes after a simple car ride and conversation. Having said that, Disney get away with that love at first sight thing all the time. Not to mention, there’s odder goings on in the Land of the Dead, such as wrapping your head around the idea that baby pigeons can hatch in a world where everything is dead. The storyline is cleverly detailed, you have to applaud the thought that went into the world of Grim Fandango to make it conceivable. After all, how can you be afraid of anything when you’re already dead? Well, other than the whole salvation of the soul thing, the idea of sprouting works pretty damn well. I also loved how as a result of sprouting, anyone who was a florist whilst alive is left with conflicting emotions about flowers.

The definition of insanity

When playing Grim Fandango Remastered, I couldn’t help but hear Vaas from Far Cry 3 in my head, telling me what the definition of insanity is. Explaining to me that insanity is doing the exact same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Of course, Vaas puts it far more eloquently than I do. What I’m referring to is the thing I love the most about classic point and click games, it’s also the thing I hate the most about point and click games - puzzles. What can I say, it’s a love-hate relationship.

You see, with most players, it won’t take them long before they get to a certain point of Grim and a particular puzzle will stump them. They will know roughly what they have to do to progress, but they haven’t figured out exactly how to do it. So you end up trying the same items over and over, the same combinations and the same conversations. It gets crazy because you know you’re almost right, what you are doing makes sense, but you don’t know what you’re missing. You keep trying it over and over thinking that any minute Manny will suddenly pat you on the back. The harsh truth is, if it didn’t work the first time, you’re missing something. The problem is finding that certain something that you need, and each missing piece of the puzzle you desire won’t necessarily be obvious when you first find it.

As much as I love the various Telltale Games point and click series, there is no challenge in them whatsoever, they are point and click games diluted down. You can’t really go wrong, there are no real challenges (unless you fail miserably at quick time events), but they’ve evolved into a different breed of interactive storytelling point and click game. I love those too, but classic point and click games that challenge the player with their painstaking puzzles, such as Grim Fandango, will always be my first true love. Sorry, Telltale.

Because of the difficult nature of a lot of the puzzles, especially when you are in Rubicava in your second year, the longevity of Grim is pretty decent. Of course, if you know all of the puzzle solutions, then you could speed through the game as if you had a ticket on the Number Nine, but even then it will take you longer than four minutes. I was fortunate enough to remember some of the solutions from the original Grim Fandango, yet it wasn’t enough to curb my play time by a considerable amount.

However, getting lost in Grim Fandango is far from a punishment. When you’re stuck on a puzzle and you end up speaking to every NPC, or using bizarre and unthinkable item combinations, you’re often rewarded with hilarious consequences or added narrative that deepens the lore of the game. You can easily while away your time in the Land of the Dead by having fun with Manny; you don’t need to make him stand up and read poetry in The Blue Casket to progress, but it sure is funny to watch. My personal favourite is attempting to make Manny pick up the faeces from the kitty litter, his reaction is priceless.

Most digital puzzle titles that launch these days are easily completed within about six hours, give or take. Assuming you haven’t played Grim Fandango before and will be facing the puzzles within the game for the first time, you’ll easily spend far more time than that playing it. Just how quickly you complete it will come down to just how good you are at solving the strange and curious problems that Manny encounters.

There are new control options for the PlayStation 4 game pad, touch controls for the PlayStation Vita, and even new controls for the PC, which really are a god send. I much preferred using the mouse than the arrow keys and the double-click run was easier than holding shift. The new controls really streamline the game and make it feel less clunky than its first incarnation.

LIKE EAGLES… ON… POGO STICKS

Grim Fandango Remastered features updated visuals, with advanced lighting and higher resolution textures on all of the characters. If you want to see just how improved the game is visually, you are able to switch between the original and remastered graphics. The character models have really been vastly improved, they look pretty perfect for the style of Grim Fandango. I thought it was a shame that the backgrounds weren’t also up-scaled to the same standards, but then part of me appreciates that the game retains some of its older charm. You can see a comparison of the original Grim Fandango and the remastered version just below:

Although I’m willing to see the charm in some of the older sections of the game, after all it’s “re-mastered” not “re-made”, there were points where a bit of extra polish would have gone a long way. Not necessarily in the cut scenes, but in parts of the game where there are animations, the game could be quite sketchy in quality. For example, the animation of Glottis getting in and out of his office at the Department of the Dead looked less than desirable, and I don’t mean because you had to watch an overly large demon squeeze in and out of a small door. The crowd at the cat races has the same grainy quality too. I understand that Double Fine didn’t overhaul the entire game, but it would have been a nice touch if those animated sequences were tidied up a bit.

The visual style of Grim Fandango is unique, as I’ve said before, the film noir and Mexican folklore combination really does work wonders. That aside, the quirky humour of Tim Schafer shines through in moments, such as when Manny visits the Land of the Living. If you think the Land of the Dead is odd and abnormal, and assume that the Land of the Living would be as you would expect, well, you thought wrong. The visual portrayal of the living world is creepy and hilarious. Although completely different to the rest of the game, it works really well in juxtaposing the two realities and causing the player to empathise with Manny and his disconnection from the living world.

I love that Grim Fandango Remastered has some really interesting extra features, such as the director’s commentary that contains over two hours of audio with 14 members of the original team. There’s also a concept art browser that exhibits Peter Chan’s beautiful artwork for Grim Fandango.

Verdict

Grim Fandango Remastered is a treat for players new to the game and veteran Grim players alike. It is still one of the highest calibre point and click games that puzzle fanatics can experience; if you love this genre of game, you’re really missing out by not playing Grim Fandango. I think it’s a brilliant balance of a puzzle game that you will find challenging, and which equally manages to keep you entertained with hilarious comedy at every turn. I only hope that the Day of the Tentacle remake is half as good as this one.

Meg Pelliccio

Editor at Geeks Don't Lie

Meg appreciates gaming on all formats, but primarily spends her time achievement hunting to the extreme. Her passion for gaming began as a child, when first introduced to the Amstrad. A collector of gaming consoles past and present, Meg spends as much of her time rediscovering old classics as she does playing the latest releases.