There was always something that intrigued me about this game: perhaps it was the ideology that "hey, it's considered one of the greatest games of all time, but yet I feel like I've heard nothing about it," but for some reason, I had some fascination when it came to "Grim Fandango." Now, I'll be the first to admit I'm not intimately familiar with Tim Schafer's games in any way: I tried to play the first "Psychonauts" game but surprisingly, despite my love for platformers, I lost interest and ended up dropping it. That said, my morbid curiosity got the best of me when I found the remaster of "Grim Fandango" at a discounted price on the PlayStation Store, and so I wanted to give it a shot. And I've gotta say that I certainly can see the hype.
"Grim Fandango" is a game I can see having a massive influence on other titles: beyond it being an early 3D game, I can see that this gave way to a lot of point-and-click games and graphic adventures that we hear so much about today. The controls are fluid (especially with the new version's addition of standard controls, as opposed to limiting you to tank controls), and while the game isn't your most interactive (since it's a graphic adventure), it more than makes up for it with smart design and game mechanics that remain intriguing to this day. Graphically, the game still looks great, and while many have criticized the remastered version for not updating the pre-rendered backgrounds, I personally thought they looked so good that I simply wasn't inclined to notice. The soundtrack is also brilliant, and the storytelling is so sharp: I love how the story so brilliantly interweaves its film noir-based style with a great tone of parody, while incorporating themes of Mexican and Aztec mythology so wonderfully. This also wouldn't have been possible without the sharp and funny dialogue and terrific characters.
Now, admittedly, there are some imperfections here that hold things back a bit: for starters, I do think the game has a little bit of a learning curve to some of its puzzles that may turn some gamers off, and I think the game could've benefitted from something of a hint system. Also, I have to dock a point off of the remastered version specifically because...well one, there are a few graphical glitches that can be a bit distracting (at one point, Manny got stuck in his standing animation and I was moving him while he was standing still). But also because while it brings some welcome changes, it disappointingly did not bring an autosave feature along with it, which given that this is a game that has you going back and forth a lot, really could've been a big help.
Regardless, I can absolutely see why "Grim Fandango" is so widely loved and revered by gamers, and while my score may not show it (it probably would've been a 9 if not for some of the problems I had with this remastered version), I definitely buy into said hype. "Grim Fandango" is a wonderful game that's gonna stick with me for a while, and I highly suggest that if you haven't played it, please do yourself a favor. This game deserves more attention, because it's really an amazing experience.
Final rating: 8 out of 10 "Great"