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Surprisingly great

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 14 / 16
Date: July 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Who says that the PS2's dwindling release of titles aren't any good these days? Grim Grimoire marks yet another surprisingly great, late in life game for the PS2 that is definitely worth picking up. Combining real time strategy and small RPG elements that make for a unique and fun gaming experience, Grim Grimoire is a blast. You take on missions via maps and unlock pages from the Grimoire (spell books). It sounds complicated, and it is to a point, but once you get the hang of it, Grim Grimoire offers plenty of deep and rewarding gameplay that RTS buffs will not only appreciate, but greatly enjoy as well. The game looks as great as a mostly 2-D rendered game can look, and the colorful characters and quirky moments are more than enough for one to enjoy too. The few flaws of Grim Grimoire is that the story isn't as clever, or nearly as original, as it thinks it is; and many of the maps look too similar to one another, but these are minor gripes at best. The biggest problem with Grim Grimoire is that if you're not into real time strategies, you'll encounter a few problems getting into the game and it's intricate design, but newcomers can get the hang of it in time. That being said, Grim Grimoire is a surprisingly great game that re-affirms the fact that the PS2 is far from dead.

A Nice Diversion

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: July 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is the first Real Time Strategy (RTS) game I've played for a home console system. I've done Warcraft, a little Starcraft, and I wondered how an entire RTS world with the diversity of units and battlescapes could fit onto my aging PS2.

It fits well. The reality repetition scenario, a'la Ground Hog's Day, is the story accompanied by good pacing/characterization. Since story and game play are what I primarily base my evaluations on, GrimGrimorie is a great game.

The downside is that it is a short game -- about 20 hours for the main story, plus whatever additional time you want to spend on the 25 'bonus' levels. (Maybe another 15 hours tops if you unlocked hard mode by beating all levels on normal mode.) The units are generally well balanced, though once you learn how to use one well (for me it was dragons), you'll tend to favor that unit through the whole game. The background graphics are pretty similar, since the entire game takes place in the same setting. Unit animations are detailed and colorful. No complaints about the voice acting or music.

This would be a good game to buy if you enjoy storytelling, and want to play female Harry Potter with devils crossed with Groundhog Day. If you are familiar with RTS games, a one week (or dedicated weekend) rental should show you everything this game has to offer. The designers made sure even people new to RTS games could get through the levels by offering the option of really low difficulties.

Highly Recommended

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: August 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I raced through the main game in under 15 hours. I found the story interesting (up until the epilogue), the voice acting solid and the animation great. The gameplay itself isn't really a traditional rts in the vein of great Blizzard games. And if you go in expecting the same diverse level of structures, advanced troop management and such, you will be disappointed-but also missing the point of this game. It felt a lot closer to a game of chess, where you have a deliberate pace of attack and defenses to pursue. It may not feel deep, but is well balanced and battles move briskly. The only real problem is the game is easy on normal mode, with the ai keeping the same strategy on replay as well as holding its troops until set, timed attacks.
I also hesitate to describe it as Harry Potter or a Bill Murray comedy. The localization gives it a Harry Potter shine, but the similarities end after young wizard in magic school. And the timeshifting elements are more a great device to explain why you are mastering more spells and to properly advance the plot.
This game really has to be experienced as a description does not do it justice.

Twist back the hands of time, until ye find your ultimate fulfillment.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have to start by saying I hate real-time strategy games. I've played WarCraft, and StarCraft, and Command and Conquer. I have never finished any of them, but I keep trying. But I love GrimGrim, even though it is not without its flaws.

The storyline is incredible, with real, deep characters, and an interesting mystery. Lilet is smart and fiesty, though she makes mistakes and has fears. The other characters all have their own strengths and weaknesses and motivations, and their actions are believable and fitting.

The battle system takes place in a side view of the tower, and the floors and walls act as impediments to many units, limiting both you and you opponents. Resource management is limited to mana energy. It must be gathered from mana crystals, and it used to lay down runes, upgrade those runes, and summon new units. Runes can be placed in any open space at least three squares from a mana crystal, allowing you to expand into enemy territory. New upgrades to your runes, either in unit upgrades or new units, are given after each storyline mission.

Your soldiers are divided into four schools, Sorcery (Magic of Demons), Necromancy (Magic of Death), Alchemy (Magic of Creation), and Glamour (Magic of Nature). Each type of magic is strong against one and weak against another. Most battles will have you facing units of one or two types, so you can focus on the runes that will be strongest against a given enemy.

This is where some of the games flaws arise. Each School has one type of unit that can gather mana, and they are supposed to be balanced, but that is not the case. Gatherers from Necromancy can pass through walls (a huge advantage in many instances), while gatherers from Alchemy move more slowly than the other schools. They make up for it with the power to slow enemy units. But this doesn't help as much when your managrows more slowly or you have to devote more units to gather it.

Another drawback is that you can only select one type of unit at a time. This is done beecause each tpye of creature has different power, but it makes mass attacks or movement slightly more tedious.

Unfortunately, the game is fairly short. 25 Story missions and 25 bonus mission can be completed in 25-30 hours.

In spite of these minor flaws, Grim Grimoire is an outstanding game and a lot of fun to play. I wait anxious for the sequel, and have added VanillaWare to my list of developers to watch for.

Unique and Entrancing!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Grimgrimoire is an absolutely amazing game that you will never forget! Now I have to admit that it is the story that you will never forget, not neccessarily the gameplay. While the game is very fun to play, you will most likely play through the levels just to see what happens next in the amazing story. That's not to say that the gameplay isn;t fun, though. It's very fun and full of great tactics and elements that make the game challenging and fun at the same time. As far the story, it is filled with memorable characters and many plot twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat, which is rare for a RTS game. Also the graphics are a thing of beauty, and all of the characters, monsters, and locations are a thing of pure beauty. This is absolutely the best game that nobody played in the year 2007.

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