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+++
title = "Grim Fandango (1998, 2020)"
author = ["Michał Sapka"]
date = 2024-07-21T22:03:00+02:00
categories = ["reviews"]
draft = false
weight = 2004
reviewSection = ["Games"]
image_dir = "reviews/screenshots"
image_max_width = 765
abstract = "My review of the prequel"
image = "reviews/covers/grim-fandango.jpg"
rating = 5
aliases = ["brain-rot/golden-age-games/grim-fandango/"]
+++
Content warning: I am extremely biased.
Expect orgasmic sentences.
There was no game company like LucasArts in their prime.
Between shovelling Star Wars games, they were the kings of adventure gamers.
They hired the best people, and they made the best games out there.
And _Grim Fandango_ is the finest example.
It is also my favourite game of all time.
Manny Calavera is a salesman in a dead-end job.
He has no chance for promotion, unless he scores big.
And the odds are stacked up against him, as his boss despises him.
All good clients go to Domino!
Manny decides to play it all out and _steal_ a great client from Domino.
The trick here is that Manny is a travel agent at the Department of Death, selling travel accommodation to recently deceased souls.
The list of negatives is very short: two puzzles (cat races and bone grinder) are very challenging to deduct, but they match the setting.
A lot of adventure games fall into puzzles where the only way to solve them is by sheer luck, but it's not the case.
It will take some time to piece things together, but after that, it all makes sense.
I first played _Grim_ in 1999.
The demo of the game, covering the first chapter, was added to a cover disc.
I played it on a loop, and up to this day I can recite all the puzzles and their solutions in order which they need to be solved.
_Grim Fandango_ is a 2,5D game, so the backgrounds are pre-rendered, but all characters are real-time 3D.
And how glorious each of those dimensions is!
The art style of the characters is inspired by Mexican day of the Dead puppets, called Calaveras (like the main character!).
Since the hardware of the day was not ready for spheres, so the models are simplified.
The backgrounds, on the other hand, are full of details.
But above all, it is extremely atmospheric.
Land of the Dead takes a lot from Noir cinematography, but makes all the scenes uniquely _Fandango_.
And the music!
The Mexican-jazz blend is fused with my soul.
Often I simply listen to it, even close to 30 years after release.
It hasn't aged a day, and it complements perfectly what we see.
{{< image class="centered" alt="A skeleton looking down from a balcony at racing stadium" file="grim-fandango-1.png" >}}
Cat Racing becomes a problem
{{< /image >}}
The voice acting is _perfect_.
Everyone did an astonishing job - be it Tony Plana as Manny ("Glottis, are you loco?"), Alan Blumenfeld as the demon driver ("Well, actually, it's mostly stock, with a few mods here and there...") to each passing characters in the smallest roles, like Milton James as a coroner ("We may have years, we may have hours, but sooner or later, we push up flowers").
Having a great script surely didn't make the job any more difficult, but they seem so real!
It all comes the high point of the game, the second chapter.
Here we spend some time in a port city, and oh what a city it is.
Up to this day, I have not visited a virtual place I'd love to visit more than Rubacava.
All the backgrounds, all the characters, all the puzzles.
They blend perfectly in a Casablanca-esque story, like no other.
Luckily, this is the longest chapter.
After we leave the city, it never reaches the same level - but no other game did.
Saying that "sorry, your other 3 chapters are not as good as the greatest part of a game I've ever witnesses" is something all other games can only dream off.
They are still great, full of great locations and characters - just not _as_ great.
And let's not forget the humour.
It's a LucasArts game, after all!
The game is hilarious, but in a way not many games tread.
It treats the characters and the setting seriously!
_Monkey Island_ is comical, but it never treats itself with any respect.
_Grim_ is different, as it's full of love towards the inhabitants of Land of the Dead.
{{< image class="centered" alt="A morgue with deceased covered in flowers" file="grim-fandango-2.png" >}}
How to kill a dead person?
Cover with flowers!
{{< /image >}}
I have yet to encounter any game that has _this_ exact combination of atmosphere, lovable and respected characters, and this much humour.
_Syberia 1_ is close - we visit desolated places inhabited by colourful characters, but it's treated with respect.
You learn about then, like them, and want to help them.
But it's not quite there.
What Tim Shafer achieved with _Grim Fandango_ is nothing short of a miracle.
It is a perfect game - at least in my book.
So, of course, it flopped.
It was too ambitious to fit a sensible budget, and it was released when adventure games fell out of fashion.
Sort of like _Chinatown_ perfected Noir when Noir was a thing of the past.
But, after the success of _Monkey Island_ remakes, _Grim Fandango_ got a chance to shine again in 2020.
A remastered version with better shading and 3D models (but the same backgrounds) was released on every platform.
It **is** a better version, so if it's still supported on your platform (screw you Apple), you can simply buy it and enjoy.
And even though I prefer the original tank controls, this version can be even played with a point&click interface.
Ending this review, where I simply say that _Grim Fandango_ is the greatest game I've ever played, I need to say that it's a game that does not need a sequel.
Mind you, I'd buy anything that would allow me to spend even a minute longer with the characters, the story is finished.
We get a _perfect_ ending when I always shed a tear.
Adding anything to it, would only lessen it.
Just like we don't need a _Casablanca 2_, we don't need a _Grim Fandango 2_.
You don't reach such heights multiple times - everything needs to align.
We are lucky to even have such a marvel, as _Grim_.
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