Grim Fandango originally released in 1998 as a graphic adventure game from LucasArts. It was an emblematic page in the history of the game that marked an era of tank-type controls, puzzles, and well-written stories. The original game was critically beloved, but was a commercial bomb, not selling very well, and causing interrupt production LucasArts adventure games. Despite this - or perhaps because of it - Grim Fandango became a cult classic and has always found its way into the conversation as one of the games that define the best ever. But that is all the information that anyone could have found on the internet, so why am I talking about the adventures of Manny Calavera on Eighth Underworld now? Double Fine Productions have taken the initiative to remaster Grim Fandango, bringing the aptly titled Grim Fandango Remastered. This remastering saw Tim Schafer and crew original track dispersed assets of a game that was out of print to bring a clean version with all the original features intact. We recently posted a video comparing the original graphics of the new remastered version (which is something that can be changed in the game by clicking R3). You may notice that the only big difference is the characters and interactive objects, such as pre-rendered backgrounds are faithful to the original. The remastering softens the characters and objects, clean textures, and provides lighting.Despite world's most dynamic apparently limited objects that were remastered, the game looks pretty good for a title 17 years of age, and the fact that static backgrounds are unchanged for this remastering is a testament to how ahead of its time Grim Fandango was really at the time of its original release. But enough recalling the days of old. We are talking about the release in 2015 of Grim Fandango Remastered. The good news? If you missed the original version and want to get the full experience of this classic graphic adventure puzzle game, you can now in its PS4 and Vita. The bad? Well, there really is not much wrong to revive a classic.
The most notable missing Grim Fandango Remastered part in the game is not holding his hand at all. Some of the puzzles can be difficult to understand, and items that can interact with are not always obvious, especially when they are remastered, and that can be mixed with the funds. If you are used to the modern way that games tend to give tutorials and hold your hand, this can be a huge negative. For those who crave the classic days of difficult puzzles without tracks, Grim Fandango offers in spades. There is nothing that can not be completed when you actually apply some brain cells to the thought of the solution, but there is no doubt you will have to pull your hair. Luckily the game has a set of guides online, so you can if you really need to find a solution. But you will not get that help in the game. For me, this kind of games is what I grew up, so I love the difficulty and lack of hand-holding.The dark noir narrative keeps well for nearly two decades, as Manuel "Manny" Calavera seeks to unravel a conspiracy behind your employer the Department of Death, which helps travelers make their way deceased to the Ninth Underworld. Gameplay and narrative are deeply intertwined and that should pay attention to history in order to find solutions to many of the puzzles. If it comes to finding ways to gum up the "server" or get a work order signed for a trip to the Land of the Living, everything is just another step on the road to Manny. The voice acting is important, and conversations with characters branching providing a ton of backstory and information about the world err Manny is living well, you get what I mean.
Additions to the remastering actually add much value, both as watching a classic movie remastered Blu-ray special features. There's the aforesaid characteristic to switch between the original and remastered, 16: 9, extending the relationship of the original 4: 3 (which honestly looks terrible extended), concept art, and my personal favorite, further comprising: a developer extensive comment. Enabling this option in the menu of special functions have a L1 symbol appears in the upper left corner of the screen for several moments in the game. Hitting L1 begin a comment including creators Tim Schafer, Kevin Bruner (may know him as the head of Telltale Games now), and many others. This review gives an interesting and often hilarious behind the scenes in a variety of aspects of the development of Grim Fandango, and I wish more games would offer this kind of insight from the creators directly in the game.