GRIME

 

Release: 2021

Developer: Clover Bite

Publisher: Akupara Games

Gameplay Stats: 24 hours. 42/42 achievements

Aesthetics: Man, playing this game made me uncomfortable. The aesthetics are weird kind of body horror amalgams that I found really unsettling. There wasn't any blood that I remember seeing, but pulling molars out of a wall to make yourself a platform was just as weird the first time as the 50th. My impression of the game was hard to tease apart from this feeling of unease. There were two categories of enemies in my mind, the body horror ones that moved unpredictably and required study, and the more normal human enemies that were easy to predict/read. It seemed like there were two people who designed these enemies and only the one with humanoid enemies knew how they would move beforehand. I preferred the body horror enemies because they were so unlike anything I'd seen before. Before I move on I should mention the sound. I thought the music was a little uninspired and the enemy noises are worse. Just generic grunts and groans. The game has a stone/rough aesthetic but it didn't really sound like it based on the sound effects I remember. When enemies aggro for the most part they are silent, exceptions for ranged enemies thankfully. I did read a review where others liked the music, it just wasn't my cup of tea seemingly.

Plot: You got a black hole for a head, so naturally you gotta destroy the world! That's oversimplifying things a bit but metroidvanias aren't really known for their plot usually. You could tell that the writers were inspired probably in equal parts by Dark Souls because you are setting out to end a cycle and Lovecraft because there are references to things unknowable/unfathomable. I liked the mashup here as well as in Bloodborne, but I was more interested in Bloodborne. Probably because of the increased exposition? Not sure. Maybe Bloodborne framed better having a silent protagonist. In GRIME NPCs will talk to you directly but your character can't speak but in Bloodborne the NPCs are kind of circumspect. It was interesting to see the NPCs that reveled in their own destruction, I think that area will stay with me.

Gameplay: The game is definitely influenced by Dead Cells and I think that really shows in the platforming and combat, but GRIME plays quite a bit slower than Dead Cells. Maybe they were going for Dead Cells meets Dark Souls with the deliberate attacks? But the combat in those games is very different, diametrically opposed even. I don't know, but attacking felt more like an afterthought on the majority of enemies, I found myself parrying way more than outright attacking. The platforming felt okay at the end of the game with all the upgrades, but there were so many bland jumps or instances where the foreground elements hid enemies on purpose. Like you have to enter an opening for the foreground to disappear so you can see. Several instances of enemies hitting you before that was achieved or platforms being too small so if you try to dodge a potential enemy you fall down again and have to platform back up. I found it kind of annoying. The density of secrets was definitely good though, there was a lot to explore. I missed several optional bosses until I was doing my final exploration before the end.

Overall I didn't think this game was that remarkable outside of the visuals. I don't think it was bad necessarily, but I think this was from some game developers early in their careers. There are so many extremely polished metroidvanias that I think it's a tough genre to start in, but the game was definitely competent. I'm interested to see where the devs go next, especially if they keep their "grimy" aesthetics.