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Grim Fandango Remastered reviewed. Yes, on time, can you believe it? 27 Jan, 2015 / 12 comments

We had to pay Jennifer double for working the graveyard shift, and I'll be damned -- she got the review up on time.

Is the remastered version of Grim Fandango a classic or a turd? You already know the answer, but go read the review anyway.

¡Viva la yada yada yada!

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12 Comments

  • Avatar
    Kolzig on 29 Jan, 2015, 11:09…
    Bought the game immediately two days ago for PC through GOG.

    Then I caved in yesterday and bought the PS Vita version from PSN Europe. Damn it really brings tears to my eyes to see this great game back in the spotlight.

    It really is a damn good game, and now with the added point'n click options, which by the way work really well, this game has just become perfection.

    There are some bugs though, for example when pressing the examine button on Vita, the game stops for a second every time, like it hangs up. Í hope that has been reported to Doublefine and if not, I will have to visit their forums.
  • Avatar
    jp-30 on 28 Jan, 2015, 01:03…
    Having issues as my laptop's intel HD graphics won't support openGL 3.3. Ahh well, looks like I'll have to commandeer the kids' PC for this game...
  • Avatar
    Huz on 28 Jan, 2015, 00:12…
    Ooh, I'm definitely switching over to Italian Manny as soon as I get back to the game tomorrow.

    It's great so far - I'm just up to the beginning of Year 2. The remastering is really quite subtle, but then I played through the 'original' at a high resolution in ResidualVM quite recently, and a step up in quality is always less noticeable than a step down. I'm sure if I went back to the original engine - and the original soundtrack, as this review suggests - I'd spot the difference immediately.

    The best thing for me has been the director's commentary. There's been some gold in there already, Tim's anecdotes in particular. There have also been lots of little facts I'd never heard before, not all of them even related to the game (somehow I had no idea an automat - the place Manny starts working at before he turns it into a casino - was even a thing).

    All in all, great stuff!
  • Avatar
    Jennifer on 27 Jan, 2015, 22:42…

    Threepwood4life

    Did anyone encounter the bug with Juan Brennis. In Year 1 when you disable the server, I walk in and get Manny to pick up the fire extingusher before talking to Brennis and as soon as he picks it up hes suddenly transported to the front of the server door and right in the middle of the conversation with Juan warning him not to use the extingusher near the server when he gets set on fire, it just cut a whole sequence and a conversation, it never did that before???

    That's a weird bug. When I played it, it played through that scene as usual.

    There's a bug forum for the game over at the Double Fine forum if you want to report it. They are being pretty fast for bugfixes on this one. They sent GOG a bugfix build mere hours after it went live on their storefront.
  • Avatar
    Threepwood4life on 27 Jan, 2015, 22:33…
    Did anyone encounter the bug with Juan Brennis. In Year 1 when you disable the server, I walk in and get Manny to pick up the fire extingusher before talking to Brennis and as soon as he picks it up hes suddenly transported to the front of the server door and right in the middle of the conversation with Juan warning him not to use the extingusher near the server when he gets set on fire, it just cut a whole sequence and a conversation, it never did that before???
  • Avatar
    manny_c44 on 27 Jan, 2015, 21:43…
    Playing the remaster now (for just a few minutes really), I think tank controls are much better as you don't have to constantly reorient yourself as the cameras switch. The orchestral score is very noticeable-- boosts the 1940's 'filmic' atmosphere I'd say.
  • Avatar
    AlfredJ on 27 Jan, 2015, 16:27…
    Oh yeah, I accidentally made the same character/camera mix up. Weird how camera relative controls were already in the original game, I guess Tim going on about the tank controls in the marketing for the remaster messed with my memory of the game.

    It's also surprising to me how much I forgot about this game. The last time I played it must have been at least 3 or 4 years ago - but I played it countless times before then. Still, the only puzzles I really remember are the notoriously difficult ones. I remember all the characters and the general plot just fine, but a lot of the smaller puzzles and dialogues feel new to me.

    Manny looks really good btw.
  • Avatar
    Jennifer on 27 Jan, 2015, 14:55…

    Jason

    Jennifer

    I'm pretty sure camera relative movement was only added in EMI though. Especially since Tim states in the commentary that he fought hard with management to have the original game have movement that is character relative instead of camera relative so that the player would feel like they are Manny instead of feeling like they are moving him around the screen (but he's softened his position now, hence why both character and camera related movement are available in the remastered version, plus point and click controls).



    Camera-relative as an option is right there in Grim's original manual. Perhaps making character-relative the default option was what Tim had to fight for?

    Ah, yes. You're right. I just loaded up the original game, and it is right there in the options. I guess my mind's playing tricks on me too. You're probably right - it probably was the default control mode that Tim had to fight with management for.
  • Avatar
    Jason on 27 Jan, 2015, 14:39…

    Jennifer

    I'm pretty sure camera relative movement was only added in EMI though. Especially since Tim states in the commentary that he fought hard with management to have the original game have movement that is character relative instead of camera relative so that the player would feel like they are Manny instead of feeling like they are moving him around the screen (but he's softened his position now, hence why both character and camera related movement are available in the remastered version, plus point and click controls).



    Camera-relative as an option is right there in Grim's original manual. Perhaps making character-relative the default option was what Tim had to fight for?
  • Avatar
    Jennifer on 27 Jan, 2015, 14:33…

    Jason

    AlfredJ

    Oh, and good review. Was character relative movement really added for Escape though?



    I think we've got this backwards. Character relative would be the original tank controls, where forward is Manny's forward. Camera relative would be the gamepad friendly version. That was actually always available as an option for both Grim and EMI. What's new is the point 'n click.


    Oops, yeah. I got character and camera movement switched in my review. o_o If anyone has write access to reviews on Mojo, feel free to change it.

    I'm pretty sure camera relative movement was only added in EMI though. Especially since Tim states in the commentary that he fought hard with management to have the original game have movement that is character relative instead of camera relative so that the player would feel like they are Manny instead of feeling like they are moving him around the screen (but he's softened his position now, hence why both character and camera related movement are available in the remastered version, plus point and click controls).
  • Avatar
    Jason on 27 Jan, 2015, 14:26…

    AlfredJ

    Oh, and good review. Was character relative movement really added for Escape though?



    I think we've got this backwards. Character relative would be the original tank controls, where forward is Manny's forward. Camera relative would be the gamepad friendly version. That was actually always available as an option for both Grim and EMI. What's new is the point 'n click. May wanna adjust that, Jen. ;

    What was new for EMI was the double-tap to run option, which was an alternative to holding shift. Interestingly, this was actually listed in Grim's manual as a feature but for whatever reason it's not in the final game. (Can't speak for the remastered version though...give me a few hours.)
  • Avatar
    AlfredJ on 27 Jan, 2015, 14:16…
    Jeez that was fast. What's up with Mojo these days.

    Everyone who visits this site is buying Grim. It's too good.

    Oh, and good review. Was character relative movement really added for Escape though? I thought that was only added to those games by fans later on, but I'm old and my memory is fading.

    Right, back to Grim. Good game.

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