If you like fantasy stuff or you're an RTS fan, Grimgrimoire is a game that should be considered as a rental

User Rating: 8.5 | Grim Grimoire (First Print Limited Edition) PS2
Positive
- Brilliant developing story and characters
- Gameplay is fun and varied
- Good music and voice acting
- Accessible for beginners and those outside the RTS zone

Negative
- Objectives are all the same
- Battle areas feel and look the same
- Might seem complicated at first

Grimgrimoire is a beautiful, strange but very well done Real-Time Strategy. The gameplay offers a ton of possibilities and variety, even if it sounds complicated for those who never tried an RTS, this game is accessible, addictive and a lot of fun to play.

The story is strange but well told. Might feel familiar to Harry Potter in some way since it takes place in a magical castle which is a school. The story follows Lillet Blan, a young magician who came to learn, like many do. Unpredictable story, because it repeats the first 5 days in various chapters. Might sound a bad thing, but the way the story progresses and many characters which might not be as they look, simply great.

Since it's an RTS, you won't see Lillet when you fight. The gameplay is basically 2D, but the maps are large but for some reason they look and feel like each other. After the first chapter of instructions, you are left alone to play as you like and one stage can easily take more than half an hour. All you need to do in the game is summon familiars, which are the magical creatures that can help you and repeat the same objective over and over again. All you need to do after the first few days is destroy enemy runes. It's not as easy as it sounds since you can't track them unless you send familiars to scout for them; sending one is a suicide, since these runes are protected by enemy familiars.

But how to summon? Gather familiars you can't fight such as elves, imps etc. Send them to gather mana at a crystal and they will put it back at the rune. Pretty simply. From there if it's a fairy ring you can summon fairies at your aid. If it's a chaos nest you can summon a dragon, which is the most trustable familiar. There are many kinds of runes, but familiars you don't belong to that rune can put mana in. Plus, if the rune is destroyed you have to create another. Ally familiar are marked with a green health bar and enemies with red. Enemies hide in the darkness so best to summon a dragon and let him scout since he almost destroys every enemy. Enemy familiar can still be fairies, dragons, phantoms, all of those you can summon, so don't be surprised. You might have to level up to get new familiars that can attack. If you don't have enough mana you can't summon. Gameplay offers a lot of possibilities so fans of RTS or fantasy will like Grimgrimoire's gameplay. It's difficult to keep up with everything on the map since it's easy to lose sight and track of allies who you send.

Grimgrimoire, a name which is hard to say. A grimoire is a magical book which you will get a lot in the game to be able to summon other creatures. After missions you are awarded and Lillet learns new skills. Basically one can summon any type of rune when playing, there is no rule preventing that.

There are 3 difficulties; Easy, Normal and Sweet. This makes Grimgrimoire accessible to all players. It isn't a hard game on any difficulties, but those who never played a Real-Time Strategy before will find this game to be very complicated and tough, but once one get used to the game, it's a fun game.

For some reason the maps look the same which makes it repetitive and made even more repetitive since all the objectives are to destroy enemy runes. But the graphics are good and familiars look really impressive. Music gets repetitive as well but the voice acting is superb. Cutscenes take place in 2D as well but they aren't comic-like since characters move their mouths when they talk and react.

This RTS is both unique and fun to play. There is nothing like it which is better on the PS2. Even though the PS2 era will end any time, but this is 2007's best released RTS. It's not a great technical achievement and nothing special to look at, but an addictive gameplay and a memorable story makes this an RTS to remember.



Graphics = 8.2
Nothing special really and the maps are almost the same. But the familiars look so good and they are varied that it almost makes you forget the repetitive environments.

Music = 7.7
Repetitive but the voice acting is great.

Gameplay = 9.2
A ton a variety, runes and familiars. The objectives are all to destroy enemy runes and they are hard to track because they hide in the darkness. But the gameplay is fun and there is a big quantity of freedom since you can summon any kind of familiar you like. The strategy is simply once you get used to it.

Presentation = 8.4
Load times aren't a problem. Cutscenes are 2D but characters move and react. AI is great and rarely shows any weaknesses since they attack anything you send at them. Runes don't attack

Camera = 7.6
Takes place in 2D. Everything from cutscenes to battle. But is that necessarily a bad thing? In this game's case it's not.

Story = 8.8
Lengthy, deep, immersive story with a great cast of characters. The story repeats the same days with a different approach and atmosphere and the game keeps you guessing what coming next.

Difficulty = 3 to choose from
Easy, Normal and Sweet. Not sure what Sweet is but the game is accessible to those who want a great RTS which doesn't involve war.


OVERALL SCORE = 8.4 / 10
If you like fantasy stuff or you're an RTS fan, Grimgrimoire is a game that should be considered at least as a rental.