Okay, so we got Grim Fandango on our hands today. How should I describe this game? Should I say "from the people that will make Psychonauts but when they still worked for Lucas Arts"? That seems much of an interesting way to sum up what you could expect from this game. Unless you don't know what Psychonauts is either... That would leave me wondering.
We're back in 1998 this time, and Lucas Arts made this little jewel that would become one day the number 5 highest rated computer game for a while, and have a small and lasting fan following for a few years. What genre is this game you're asking, a shooter? A RPG? A MMO? Oh you! Lucas Arts is a big producer od Puzzle and Point and click games. This is a game where you have to solve problems by interacting with the people you can, and use and combine items to activate mechanisms. Yes, that kind of game you're always getting stuck in.
Grim Fandango is, according to the game's description, an epic tale about Crime and Corruption in the land of the dead.
You control Manuel "Manny" Calavera, a, well, "travel agent", per say. And he's dead. So you see, people kinda only travel to Heaven from there. And he collects clients in the world of the living. So... yeah, he pretty much IS a Grim Reaper. Don't worry, he can only collect nearly dead, sick or injured people.
Everybody in this world wants to go to heaven, but not everyone is allowed to. Their redemption is working off in this land of the dead till they repay all harm they did alive. Kinda like Prinnies. That's where the corruption part fills in, Manny is the "buttmonkey" who's getting only but moronic clients who were so bad when alive that they have no way to "pay" him to reach heaven faster, and in exchange, other people in the company are getting Nuns. And yes, this isn't just bad luck, he is being unfairly disfavored.
I should stop spoiling the beggining further. Let's just say that somewhere along the plot, he starts running trough the Land of the Dead to save this chick called "Meche" who he seems to have fallen for and put on a lot of trouble with his superiors.
Aesthetically, the game runs on two grounds. The characters are Blocky, but regardless, that makes them better. This is because of the backgrounds. The game runs on a pseudo 3D engine. The characters are in a Layer that overlaps with a 2D background quite well and unnoticedly. And a good choice for Lucas arts was to make the setting of the Land of the dead much similar to a modern-Aztec type of Architecture and Aztec looking Art everywhere. Aztecs drew in blocky kinds of stuff, which then fits the characters quite well. This all blends with a "Film Noir" kind of Style in characterization. All the characters sound like they are from either a modern age, ranging from Hobos to Hyperactive Cheerleaders, or instead from something like this. Might not be your thing, but at least there's lot of development being put on the personality of Manny, the NPC's and the buildings they live in.
The gameply can, and will be, if you ever play it, frustrating. This game ranges from obvious to RAGEQUIT-INDUCING amounts of lunacy. You'll be asking WHY THE HELL WOULD HE DO THAT!? several times.
Just in case, keep a guide handy. There's not much of a need, but in some cases, there's too much possibilities with a single item to just trust that you can try everything with it and hope you do something right. Some places are huge, and you have to think your way very very well. Others are small and will make you go mad with a single thing.
Still, it has a few of the most well developed puzzles of its kind, and provide much fun to solve.
