Grim Fandango

jayteecork

Have had this in my collection for years now and have never got around to playing it.

Decided to boot it up on a whim and it ran no problem in Vista(switched to Windows 95 compatibility mode).

My thoughts - looks absolutely incredible, for a game released 10 years ago it holds up extremely well today. Amazing voice acting too.
Gameplay wise, it's ok, I'm not used to the puzzle solving methods(not a big point and click man) so I'm gone to the FAQs already

Still, it's an incredible looking world and I'll persavere. I'll have to resist going to gamefaqs. i'm sure I'll get better as the puzzles as my mind adjusts to the style.

Anyone else play it? opinions? Retr0gamer?

quarryman

I was going to post but see this is only directed at Retrogamer.....

I have this too and went to install it last night but went for The Longest Journey instead, purely because I had played GF a bit before.

The Longest Journey is a similar style of point and click puzzle game but its amazing how crap at it I am. I've been brain-washed by FPSs and strategy games that put everything in front of you. Pretty early on I had to go to gamefaqs. I just got frustrated at not figuring out what I needed to do instantly. Once I get around that mental block I'd say I'll enjoy it!

ps. what resolution are you running Grim Fandango at? The Longest Journey seems to be stuck at 640x480.

Retr0gamer

I haven't played this one yet but I have been bold and not played nearly enough Lucas Arts adventure games. It's a game I would love to play since I've heard nothing but great things about it and I adored Monkey Island 1 and 2.

Malice

I haven't played it in a few years but I do remember the graphics and sound being very high-quality for the time. It's the kind of game that doesn't require eye candy so it ages well unlike say Quake 1 or Quake 2 which came out around the same time if I remember correctly.
Regarding the story it's funny, engaging and original. In my opinion it's not the best of those Lucasarts point and click adventures but that's not really a bad thing given the strength of the competition . It's still a game well worth playing if you like that sort of thing.

JCDenton

"Year 2" of Grim Fandango is possibly one of my most favourite gaming experiences ever.

I'd gladly fund Pixar every cent that I have to see it made into a film.









(*May or may not be an exaggeration*)

FruitLover

ohhh..

wohhhh..

BONEWAGON!

FruitLover

By the way, if you like p'n'c adventures with serious eye candy, check out Syberia. Not as much fun as GF, but it's full of very nice pre-rendered backgrounds and character animation.

Chumpski

quarryman wrote: »

I was going to post but see this is only directed at Retrogamer.....

I have this too and went to install it last night but went for The Longest Journey instead, purely because I had played GF a bit before.

The Longest Journey is a similar style of point and click puzzle game but its amazing how crap at it I am. I've been brain-washed by FPSs and strategy games that put everything in front of you. Pretty early on I had to go to gamefaqs. I just got frustrated at not figuring out what I needed to do instantly. Once I get around that mental block I'd say I'll enjoy it!

ps. what resolution are you running Grim Fandango at? The Longest Journey seems to be stuck at 640x480.

I'm playing the sequel to TLJ at the moment, Dreamfall TLJ. It has quite a good story although i feel i'm missing some of the enjoyment by not having played the first in the series. The gameplay is just ok. Puzzles are very simple really. The fighting sections in it are very badly done and i wish they left them out. They don't need to put in combat into these games. Its about the storyline and the puzzles. But since theres not much else around recently on the point and click scene its worth playing as well.

OP: Never played GF. I have heard good things about it though. I played the two Indy Jones lucas arts games years ago but thats it.

Shryke

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I haven't played this one yet but I have been bold and not played nearly enough Lucas Arts adventure games. It's a game I would love to play since I've heard nothing but great things about it and I adored Monkey Island 1 and 2.

For shame if you haven't played Monkey Island 3. :eek:
I played Grim Fandango years ago and thought it was great but I remember getting stuck a lot. A lot. Still a great game, enjoy!

Stephen

Yeah, I had Grim Fandango when it was a new release and found it damn hard but I was only a spotty teenager back then I actually still have it here, I'm quite tempted to install it again!

Creamy Goodness

there wasn't a single bad lucasarts game in the 90's, and grim fandango was no exception.

Stephen

What a pity they turned into a bunch of star wars franchise whores in the naughties

Stephen

Bugger. It won't install on Vista 64 bit, even in Windows 98 compatibility mode.

Edit: Ah, good old Uncle Google http://quick.mixnmojo.com/grim-fandango-setup

The LucasArts games were and still is my favourite games ever made. From Day of the Tentacle to Monkey Island (owned and completed 1through4, though 2 and 3 were my favourites!) and Grim Fandango was my favourite of them all.

I've never awwed at the end of a game before, when the 2 of them were on the train, heading to the next life

As weird as it sounds, I've never felt as empty before when I completed a game.

Naikon

Deleted User wrote: »

The LucasArts games were and still is my favourite games ever made. From Day of the Tentacle to Monkey Island (owned and completed 1through4, though 2 and 3 were my favourites!) and Grim Fandango was my favourite of them all.

I've never awwed at the end of a game before, when the 2 of them were on the train, heading to the next life

As weird as it sounds, I've never felt as empty before when I completed a game.

I agree, Grim Fandango left me "empty" with that ending.
Speechless game even to this day.
Might re-visit it 10 years on:pac:

Tusky

I started playing it recently for the first time. Its great! Im on year 2 at the moment.

Its very very hard though.

Creamy Goodness

anyone know where i might be able to pick up a copy, i assume it's not being pressed anymore?

Stephen

Can't think of anywhere besides ebay.

Star Lord

Yeah Ebay would probably be the best bet.

Went to dig my copy out a few weeks ago to play it again, but my disk 1 has gone missing

JCDenton

I definitely remember seeing a copy in HMV on Grafton Street a few weeks ago.

Plus, there's the possibility that some bargain bins somewhere might have it.



*As a side note, flicking through t.v. a while back I recognised the voice of the character of Ugly Betty's dad in the show. It's Manuel Calavera!*

Earthhorse

I have to say I thought nearly all the other LucasArts point and clickers were better games in terms of how they played. Day of the Tentacle, The Dig, Sam and Max, Monkey Island, that motorbike one that I can't remember the name of right now.

It is a well realised world with some charming moments but as a game...let's just say it left me wanting.

Malice

JCDenton wrote: »

As a side note, flicking through t.v. a while back I recognised the voice of the character of Ugly Betty's dad in the show. It's Manuel Calavera!*

I might actually have to watch an episode of that to see if I recognise the voice too!

Cremo wrote: »

anyone know where i might be able to pick up a copy, i assume it's not being pressed anymore?

It's available on Amazon so maybe it's not completely out of print yet.

Earthhorse wrote: »

I have to say I thought nearly all the other LucasArts point and clickers were better games in terms of how they played. Day of the Tentacle, The Dig, Sam and Max, Monkey Island, that motorbike one that I can't remember the name of right now.

That'd be Full Throttle. I have to say I preferred the games you mentioned too but that doesn't make Grim Fandango a bad game. For me it scores something like 80/100 instead of 90/100 like Monkey Island, Day of The Tentacle and Sam and Max.

0ubliette

Lucasarts could do no wrong in the 90's.

The pirate song in monkey island 3 is just ****ing GOLD.

*pirates are singing and rhyming away*
Guybrush: "we'll surely avoid scurvy if we all eat an..ORANGE"
*pitates mumble something about a door hinge*



Ive gotten as far as year 4 in GF but never finished it. I really should someday.
Lucasarts adventures ive palyed, id rank thusly

Monkey Island 1
Monkey Island 3
Grim Fandango
Indiana Jones and the last crusade
DOTT
Monkey Island 4

kaimera

bigup to Steven for the x64 installer :pac:

Thanks to all this GF talk I'm on the look for it.

JCDenton

Earthhorse wrote: »

I have to say I thought nearly all the other LucasArts point and clickers were better games in terms of how they played. Day of the Tentacle, The Dig, Sam and Max, Monkey Island, that motorbike one that I can't remember the name of right now.

It is a well realised world with some charming moments but as a game...let's just say it left me wanting.

Those early point-and-click Lucasarts games had some mind-meltingly difficult puzzles. There is genuinely no way I could have gotten though Day of the Tentacle without getting help with some of that abstract weirdness.

Grim Fandango is far more accesable, and stands the test of time better than the others (yes yes, I know it's also a lot newer than Sam & Max, DotT etc.), and, I thought it had a more cohesive and interesting story.

I cared more about the characters in G.F. than their previous games, and, pardon the pun, but I thought they were a lot more "3-dimensional".

JCDenton

0ubliette wrote: »

Lucasarts could do no wrong in the 90's.

The pirate song in monkey island 3 is just ****ing GOLD.

*pirates are singing and rhyming away*
Guybrush: "we'll surely avoid scurvy if we all eat an..ORANGE"
*pitates mumble something about a door hinge*

I have no idea why, but I went looking for this myself last week...

http://www.scummbar.com/mi2/MI3-CD2/04%20-%20A%20Pirate%20I%20Was%20Meant%20to%20Be.mp3

Earthhorse

malice_ wrote: »

That'd be Full Throttle. I have to say I preferred the games you mentioned too but that doesn't make Grim Fandango a bad game. For me it scores something like 80/100 instead of 90/100 like Monkey Island, Day of The Tentacle and Sam and Max.

Yeah, Full Throttle. I'm not saying it's bad, just not as mind blowingly good as a lot of people would have you believe.

JCDenton wrote: »

Those early point-and-click Lucasarts games had some mind-meltingly difficult puzzles. There is genuinely no way I could have gotten though Day of the Tentacle without getting help with some of that abstract weirdness.

Yeah, I know; I finished the original Monkey Island without access to the interent. It's actually a lot more rewarding play games that way. But Grim Fandango is far from free of these little doozies; there were two or three times I found myself reaching for a guide to get me through.

JCDenton wrote: »

Grim Fandango is far more accesable, and stands the test of time better than the others (yes yes, I know it's also a lot newer than Sam & Max, DotT etc.), and, I thought it had a more cohesive and interesting story.

Objectively, it probably is a better story but my criticism is of how it plays.

JCDenton wrote: »

I cared more about the characters in G.F. than their previous games, and, pardon the pun, but I thought they were a lot more "3-dimensional".

I personally found characters in everything bar The Dig more sympathetic. Something about his plight in GF never really clicked with me. I think this was as much to do with weight of expectations as anything (Grim Fandango comes with a lot of hype).

Star Lord

JCDenton wrote: »

I cared more about the characters in G.F. than their previous games, and, pardon the pun, but I thought they were a lot more "3-dimensional".

I know exactly what you mean, I really wanted 'Mannie', Glottis to win through in the end et al to win through in the end, like I was genuinely going to be effected by the outcome!

And I'd rank the games:

Monkey Island 1,
Grim Fandango,
Monkey Island 2,
Sam and Max Hit The Road,
Monkey Island 3,
Day of the Tentacle,
Monkey Island 4

JCDenton

Earthhorse wrote: »

Objectively, it probably is a better story but my criticism is of how it plays.

What's wrong with how it plays?

Earthhorse wrote: »

I think this was as much to do with weight of expectations as anything (Grim Fandango comes with a lot of hype).

What hype?

Malice

From what I remember, it plays differently because you need to physically move the main character around the screen, navigating obstacles as you go whereas in Monkey Island etc. you simply point and click and the character walks to that point themselves.

With regard to the hype comment, I don't remember it getting any undeserved hype. Certainly it was highly-anticipated but I don't think it disappointed anyone when it arrived.

jayteecork

The control system in Grim Fandango is awful.
It uses a "tank" system like the original Resident Evil.
I plugged in a controller but it made things worse. Back on keyboard now.

BTW, I absolutely suck at the game. I can't resist the temptation to go to gamefaqs every single new task.

Tusky

jayteecork wrote: »

The control system in Grim Fandango is awful.
It uses a "tank" system like the original Resident Evil.
I plugged in a controller but it made things worse. Back on keyboard now.

BTW, I absolutely suck at the game. I can't resist the temptation to go to gamefaqs every single new task.

You can change the control system from perspective of the character to your prospective. I prefer the default controls though.

Thats my problem with the game as well. Some parts are so hard that I tend to just go to GAMEFAQs.

What bit are you stuck on ?

Earthhorse

JCDenton wrote: »

What's wrong with how it plays?

Someone else mentioned the control system though I wouldn't mark that as a major point against it. I guess the puzzles just didn't appeal to me; I found them either too obvious or too obscure. That's just me; your milage may vary. Also found there was a higher dialogue to puzzle solving ratio in this game.

JCDenton wrote: »

What hype?

By the time I bought it it was recognised by many as a dyed in the wool classic. I'm talking about gamers talking it up rather than industry hype here.

GhostInTheRuins

One of my absolute favourite games ever. I finished it for the third time not long ago and I'll probably play it again sometime soon. I love nearly all of those 90's lucasarts games, the only one's I never bothered to finish were Monkey Island 4 and The Dig.

Anyone that likes point n click games I highly recommend "A tale of Two Kingdoms" I can't believe I only discoverd this game last week, it's excellent so far, and best of all it's free.

Cremo wrote: »

anyone know where i might be able to pick up a copy, i assume it's not being pressed anymore?

Believe it or not I saw a few copies of it in Navan just before christmas, they also had The Dig and a couple of others.

mawk

oh man, that was a good game. and damn stylish. (really really hard!!)

I havent played it since it first came out but ive fond memories.
I could definitely go for some pan de la muerte!

Stephen

kaimera wrote: »

bigup to Steven for the x64 installer :pac:

Thanks to all this GF talk I'm on the look for it.

It installs it alright but its not very playable

In my case it seems to randomly freeze and crash. If its not doing that the sound will randomly stop working. I have another cunning solution up my sleeve though

I've got Windows 98 running in a virtual machine using MS VirtualPC 2007 and it seems to work fine on that. 3D hardware acceleration obviously doesn't work in that environment but a modern PC has way more than enough horsepower to run it in software.

kaimera

Stephen wrote: »

It installs it alright but its not very playable

In my case it seems to randomly freeze and crash. If its not doing that the sound will randomly stop working. I have another cunning solution up my sleeve though

I've got Windows 98 running in a virtual machine using MS VirtualPC 2007 and it seems to work fine on that. 3D hardware acceleration obviously doesn't work in that environment but a modern PC has way more than enough horsepower to run it in software.

Arse.

I'll try it this evening and get back to ya.

Tho I have a win2k work lappy that it should run on!

jayteecork

Try installing the patch. It should be somewhere on http://www.grim-fandango.com

I have a Vista laptop only a few months old and Grim. works perfectly when I installed the patch and ran it on Windows 95 compatibility mode.

SirLemonhead

Big fan of the lucasarts adventure games ( I could write walkthroughs for the first two monkey island games from memory) but never really got into Grim Fandango because of the controls. Seemed likes such a step backwards going from mouse control to keyboard control.

Monkey Island 4 was complete crap. Never even bothered finishing it.

Weses

Oh I sure do remember my brother playing this game while I was watching. I was just a little kid... He was angry if he saw me playing because I might have saved over his saves. The game brings back great memories. I'd loved to get the CD again. If only I could find it.

seraphimvc

now now i have always admiring the Monkey island series and this Grim Fandango...defo trying to get them!
but can anyone tell how hard is the puzzle in them??like compare to old zelda games?that may 'motivate' me to dig them on ebay...tough work i guess..

Stephen

Some of the puzzles can be ridiculously hard (the end of Monkey Island 2 drove me mental). Full Throttle I think would be the easiest of them.

Not with my box of bunnies.

OK-Cancel-Apply

I love Grim Fandango! I play it when it first came out, so I don't remember too many of the puzzles (must play it again!)

I'm a BIG fan of the Lucasarts adventures, and I think I've played all of them!)

corblimey

I played GF when it first came out, but got hopelessly stuck quite early on and left it. I bought it again about 5 years ago and finally finished it about a year after that. I'd put it above Sam n Max for playability and the maturity of the title (love Sam n Max but it was soooo silly)

JCDenton :
Those early point-and-click Lucasarts games had some mind-meltingly difficult puzzles. There is genuinely no way I could have gotten though Day of the Tentacle without getting help with some of that abstract weirdness.

Oh man, did anyone send away for the tip booklet Lucasarts gave out for DOTT? I think a stamped address envelope to some address in the UK would get you this booklet of solutions. I got it when I was completely stuck on the whole "wake up Dr Fred" shenanigans. Ah the days before gamefaqs.com

ironictoaster

GF is my favourite ever, I must have completed it 20 times by now.

quarryman

So i've started playing this again properly (thanks for the reminder OP!) and enjoying it thoroughly.

Minor quibbles:

Invisible walls, since you need to direct the main character yourself with the keyboard it can be frustrating moving around since you are doing all the path-finding yourself.

Getting stuck. I haven't used a walkthrough yet but at a brick wall at the moment at the gate near the tar pit. There is nothing i can interact with that seems to get me progress. I've tried everything in my inventory, no joy.

Not looking for hints! Just annoying getting stuck

ProjectColossus

Woo! GF appreciation thread!
One of my favorite games ever, fantastic story and voice acting, characters, not to mention the soundtrack... defining childhood memories right there, struggling with some of those hard as nails puzzles.

Stephen

Quarryman - i got stuck there too. The solution is so off the wall I reckon you'll need to take some mind-altering drugs to figure it out without using a FAQ

kaimera

on Vista x64 if I enable HW Acceleration I get graphic corruption.

Seems to be fine without it. Haven't played much.

Stephen

Me too. But it keeps freezing/crashing on me on Vista x64 so I'm currently going with the Win98 virtual machine.

Tusky

quarryman wrote: »

So i've started playing this again properly (thanks for the reminder OP!) and enjoying it thoroughly.

Minor quibbles:

Invisible walls, since you need to direct the main character yourself with the keyboard it can be frustrating moving around since you are doing all the path-finding yourself.

Getting stuck. I haven't used a walkthrough yet but at a brick wall at the moment at the gate near the tar pit. There is nothing i can interact with that seems to get me progress. I've tried everything in my inventory, no joy.

Not looking for hints! Just annoying getting stuck

Very very slight hint. In fact, I'd barely call it a hint but I'll spoiler it anyway.

Nothing that have in your inventory previously will help you. Theres is an item to pick up in the nearby area that will help you.

Damn hard game.