I don't understand all the love for Grim Fandango...
What's so great about it? Somebody please tell me. Why is everyone....EVERYONE*....hyped up on this game so much? I tried a bit of it and while I haven't beaten it yet, I haven't warmed up to it in the least. I actually didn't like it that much at all. Almost everything bugged me. The voice acting, the music (not my style), the graphics, the atmosphere. The idea is kind of neat but not neat enough to revoke all the previous problems I had with it. Yet everyone is so worked up over it all the time wanting sequels and finding ways for a sequel to work since the original game is apparently pretty final.
Why do people want sequels so much? I can see Monkey Island because that series has been begging for redemption since 2000. But I'll take the Tales of Monkey Island chapters as a saga ending. I don't need any more Monkey Island (aside from a Special Edition remake of MI2) as much as I need a new adventure game world with brand new characters, story, humour, altogether adventure-ness. You're always restricted in a sequel. TTG said themselves they were worried about the delivery of TMI and how it would be received saying it was a big responsibility and that they didn't want to screw it up. If you make something new you're creating, innovating, and you're not restricted to as many rules as you are when making a sequel to a well-known game series. I think TTG has made enough reboots now to be able to make something on their own without alienating anybody or not selling much because they aren't known. They've garnered fans from many other franchises, now it's time to make those fans their own with their own games!
Don't get me wrong I'd still like to see more Sam & Max and Strong Bad, but I think there's room for some originality now and I'd honestly be more interested and excited over the latter than the former. We're still waiting on news of that new more serious game that TTG said they would unveil or announce soon. Let's just hope that it's an original game and not yet another borrowed IP.
*Most people
Why do people want sequels so much? I can see Monkey Island because that series has been begging for redemption since 2000. But I'll take the Tales of Monkey Island chapters as a saga ending. I don't need any more Monkey Island (aside from a Special Edition remake of MI2) as much as I need a new adventure game world with brand new characters, story, humour, altogether adventure-ness. You're always restricted in a sequel. TTG said themselves they were worried about the delivery of TMI and how it would be received saying it was a big responsibility and that they didn't want to screw it up. If you make something new you're creating, innovating, and you're not restricted to as many rules as you are when making a sequel to a well-known game series. I think TTG has made enough reboots now to be able to make something on their own without alienating anybody or not selling much because they aren't known. They've garnered fans from many other franchises, now it's time to make those fans their own with their own games!
Don't get me wrong I'd still like to see more Sam & Max and Strong Bad, but I think there's room for some originality now and I'd honestly be more interested and excited over the latter than the former. We're still waiting on news of that new more serious game that TTG said they would unveil or announce soon. Let's just hope that it's an original game and not yet another borrowed IP.
*Most people
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I think you should play the game like you play any other game, and after finishing it, give your opinion.
Neither to say, i loved Grim Fandango. Why? Dont know, original story, great puzzles, great music, and in the spanish version Domino was argentinian wich was great.
Just finish the game (try to unlisten all you heard about it, good or bad) and then come again. Obvioulsy you dont have to like it, and there is nothing wrong with it.
I guess...
(I didnt like episode 4 of ToMI and here its like a sin or something)
thats what i did. i started playing it expecting and hoping to love it. but that just didnt happen.
Just to comment, I really enjoyed GF due to the atmosphere and story, but NO, I don't want a sequel at all.
Ultimately, there will always be those for who a work just doesn't do it for them, regardless of an otherwise widespread approval for it. There will be people who dislike Casablanca, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, the Beatles, Tolkien, etc etc. Likewise, there will be fans of things nearly universally revilled. Its just life, there isn't really a reason why it happens.
And I don't want a sequel to Grim Fandango either; like MusicallyInspired, I'm hoping for a new and exciting IP, not resting on the laurels of the 1990s. Sequels have a tendency to sap away the brilliance of the original, though there are cases to the contray (The Dark Knight, Terminator 2, for instance).
But anyway, I'll be playing it to the finish sooner or later anyway and then I'll make my decision.
dont know of many in the advent field (loving advents) that has heard of grim but doesnt like it.
I have heard the controls are hard to get used to etc.. but not that the game was bad.
MI here... at telltale as well as WG reminds me of this movement.. wasd .. but without needing a button to be held to walk.
is this your issue or are you just finding the game sub par...
idk..
its a great game, but I have others i like more.
I don't need a sequel and I definetley don't want bringing Manny back - the oryginal story is just enough.
as for burton.. wasnt grim green lighted by burton like .. months ago for a future movie? or was this just rumor, or didnt jake help debunk that... such a sham tim and tim... it would rock lol.(but im putting my money on rumor)
again grim isnt my FAV advent, actually stuff like zak mckracken rank higher in terms of originality and zany stuffs, but I just fell in love with the game, its style and its humor (and actually the controls in the end)
story did pull off a bit in the latter half but, its very great.. no clue why people liking dott wouldnt appreciate this game but,.,. cup o tea n all that
PS
torment ROCKS.. can I dress as murray the skull dude? that would be hard
and btw for people that dont know PST was based on DnD!! soo yeaa..
I think its about time for another dark sun game only neo.. vs the old ones (which were .. well.. bad)
Grim would come third place on my favourite LucasArts games. MI2 would rate first, Fate of Atlantis rates second. Sam and Max would probably rate just above The Dig and Maniac Mansion on the bottom of the list. Heck, I'd "even" rate EMI higher.
So, it's simply that people like different things. If you don't like the music, the noir atmosphere and the dark humour and voice actors in Grim - you're missing out on the best parts of it. All these things are highly subjective. There's nothing to "get", really. Either you like it, or you don't. Simple as that. Also, I didn't really care much about the story. It was everything else that dragged me in.
Well, I liked DoTT. It's funny and stuff. If a sequel comes out, I'd probably buy it. But Grim is something much more - it's just epic. It's one of few games that made me care for my character
Don't judge PST as DnD game - it's not a pure fantasy with elven, dwarfs and dragon. It's more like a nightmare in DnD world. I like to think about it as about interactive book.
May I be blunt? Please skip the next paragraph if you'd prefer me not to; I’ll be as polite as I possibly can because I’ve always looked at you as a particularly reasonable poster.
I think you simply saw GF get the highest score on the TTG front page and were taken aback by that. Maybe you'd prefer to see a continuance of one or more of the other listed titles and, rather than voice your outrage you chose to voice how incredulous you find the popularity of the game. It all seems a little passive aggressive to me.
I voted for GF myself but I certainly didn't expect to be in the majority; I was certain that the honour would fall on DOTT, which everybody raves about (I haven't played it, but I intend to as soon as it becomes available through steam... I might be being optimistic but I think the responsible AG fan will try to buy the games before seeking other means as supporting helps ensure the genre's future). I wasn't pleasantly surprised so much as I was happily shocked.
Why I liked it.... There's too much to list. The Aztec/Art Deco style to the decor and architecture appealed to me no end; it seemed the perfect way marry the mythology from which it drew it's inspiration with the contemporary age in which it's set.
I loved the way that the locations all felt like they were part of a bigger, vibrant and living (no puns intended) world. Even though interactions were limited to those of your average AG I was just so immersed...
It was also a unique twist on the tale of Orpheus & Eurydice or Dante's Inferno and very few are drawn from those particular classics (all stories are a retelling of something and half of those in any medium seem to be Romeo & Juliet or Beauty & the Beast and the result is most come off as sheer trite, now).
I enjoyed the characters; both as they were portrayed by the animators and the voice actors, but this comes down to a matter of taste and I would expect nobody to like something just because I do.
The plot twists were rich and varied; an epic quest, the conspiracies, the tragedies (
The suspense and intrigue in this game on top of the directions the plot took and the very nature of that plot made it, for me, a competitor for the best story I have seen in a computer game in my entire life. I can only think of one other game that really competes for my affections in terms of story and dialogue.
The whole packed not only satisfied my intellectual needs (not that I claim to be astoundingly intellectual) in terms of its puzzles but by the story alone. And in terms of my need to take in a good story, now and again, it was a feast for a starving man. I can’t think of a single aspect of the game I didn’t like, with the possible exception of the interface (the directional controls didn’t bother me, but I frequently wrestled with the inventory system the whole way through, although I did like the way Manny would show you the items in his pocket by pulling them part of the way out as you scrolled through them).
But different things suit different tastes for different people. I loved the game and I found myself wanting more soon after. I wouldn’t expect anybody else to love it as much as I do simply because I do, nor would I expect them to enjoy it for all of the same reasons.
Because of that I won't ask you to give it another try or even expect you to enjoy it more should you do so.
Sorry I was so long-winded, I didn't realise I typed so much until I ran it through a spell checker.
No no. I've been asking myself (and periodically on various other forums) this same question since before TTG existed. I may not agree with the results of the poll but obviously there's nothing I can do about that and it in no way played a part in my decision to ask the question again. It was mostly all the threads asking for a Grim sequel or a Grim related title long before the poll even existed that prompted me to ask once again.
I guess the beginnings of my feelings about being condemned for not being a true adventure gamer for not liking GF come from certain members of the Mix 'n Mojo forums. But they're a strange opinionated lot anyway.
I'm not outright saying I dislike GF so much as I'm saying that the first impression it gave me didn't make me want to continue playing it. Maybe it gets more interesting later on I guess I don't know. But everything felt a little dull to me and nothing was reeling me in at all. But as I said, I will play it through to the end one of these days, once I get other adventures out of the way first, and my final opinion will be made then. I was just wondering if it was something I was missing and whether I needed to play through it or not. I still don't see how it could top DOTT or MI2 or some of the other excellent LA adventures (or Sierra for that matter), but I'll find the truth out for myself eventually. I was just so confused and baffled that I didn't share the same opinion on an adventure game as the adventure gamer masses about a particular title because I usually share mostly the same opinions about such things. And considering the community of people who love Grim Fandango as that best LA adventure (maybe adventure title altogether) ever, it seemed like something I'd definitely agree on.
Again, we'll see.
I really, really hate hype but Grim Fandango is one of the best games of all time, let alone the best Lucasarts adventure games.
Its just about perfect (with the exception of hotspots/controls/lifts and the odd glitch). It combines my love of Film Noir with my love of creative adventure games. The story, design, voice acting, structure, puzzles and writing (in my opinion) are genius. Heads and shoulders above anything the company has ever done.
I love Monkey Island. I was brought up on it and its still one of my favourite things but Grim Fandango is even better. Its epic, its tragic, its BOLD, its brilliant.
I'm really shocked that there are a lot of people who don't get it. I played it first in about 2000 and I still love spending too much time playing through the game and taking in the atmosphere.
And I don't think I'd like a sequel. If the same team did it and found a logical way to take the story in new and purposeful directions then you've got me excited. However, the story has a pretty clear end and, while there is room to go into what happens after Manny goes to the afterlife, I'm not sure I want to know.
I do hope you finish the game, though. it is worth it.
Or maybe you feel like you're missing out? Like so many other people who're fans of the genre have found pleasure in something that you couldn't? And when there are so few decent games in said genre it must really seem like everybody else got something nice but you couldn’t have it
On topic; I've felt this way about plenty of games but have always known that if I pressed on just a little further the whole thing might open op for me.
But that's not to say it will happen for you, maybe you'll get past the first few puzzles and still won't like it. I seem to recall still having doubts until the end of the first act, personally, but for all I know you might play the whole thing, start to finish, and regret the entire experience.
But even if you don't like it then that's fair enough. Just remember that very few people will think any less of you for it and, if somebody actually does, it's their problem and not yours.
I think the game really wins most people over at the end of Year One. When the camera meanders away from Manny while he's mopping the floor of the diner, and returns to him a year later, I think it really established itself as a shining example of epic storytelling.
The game is not at its strongest in the first act. Actually, some could argue that it's at its weakest (these are the people who just couldn't get that damn elevator door to work for them, haha).
I guess you must like the film noir setting at least a little to enjoy Grim Fandango. How do you feel about movies like Casablanca or The Maltese Falcon?
At least here we agree. I don't want a sequel to Grim Fandango either. I'd much rather have an original yet equally brilliant piece of work than a well-made sequel to Grim Fandango. But I still think the original game was great (in fact, I'd probably name it as the single best adventure game ever made).
I also didn't enjoy 'fate of Atlantis'. just the fact that you can die really annoyed me
works fine for me. downloaded a launcher for it a while ago and it was still troublesome on vista, but it seems that it runs fine on windows7 64 without it. I havent played more than a few minutes so I cant say for certain
I also haven't seen either Casablanca or The Maltese Falcon.
Technically, PlaneScape can contain Greyhawk, as well as Forgotten Realms, Eberron, and anything you can think of.
...and other way around. If I recall correctly, one of your party members in BG2 is a planewalker from PlaneScape.