The Game So Good It Killed Its Own Genre | Grim Fandango (1998) Retrospective

Comments · 504

• RO

  @RonJomero · 7 months ago

  "My scythe.  I like to keep it close to where my heart used to be."

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• RA

  @RaidraMarshall · 7 months ago

  Lucas Arts was so thorough with their art  that they would mail all necessary material to make the Voice actors understand better the characters they are dubbing. The Brazilian localization sounded as good as the original!

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• SC

  @scottschiller · 6 months ago

  Random true story: I put together a decent Manny costume for Halloween 2015, coinciding with the release of the remastered version of the game. I lived in San Francisco at the time, and so I knew some locals would appreciate it. I unexpectedly got spotted by Tim Schafer himself on the street and he complimented me in the middle of an intersection, &quot;Nice Manny!&quot;, and I smiled and nodded - I didn&apos;t realize it was &quot;the&quot; Tim until later.<br><br>I was highly embarrassed but apologized to him on Twitter (he tweeted about it), and he said &quot;No problem. Nice Manny!&quot; - still, I had upset a number of fans who were disappointed that I failed to recognize the creator of my own hallowe&apos;en costume. Fair enough!

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• EN

  @Ennahdee · 7 months ago

  &quot;All day long, Manny, I sort through pure sadness. I find evidence, and I piece together stories. But none of my stories end well - they all end here. And the moral of every story is the same: we may have years, we may have hours, but sooner or later, we push up flowers&quot;

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• ZE

  @ze_rubenator · 6 months ago (edited)

  Tim Schafer talked about the choice of tank controls for Grim Fandango in the recent documentary Psychodyssey. The original rationale was that it placed you in the frame of the character, not the camera, which would be more immersive. Press forward on the keyboard, your character moves forward. Press left, your character turns left. Immersive. Makes sense.<br><br>In the documentary, after decades of reflection, he proposed that this was a prime example of how it&apos;s possible to make a great argument for the wrong thing. Just because an argument sounds good, doesn&apos;t mean it&apos;s correct.

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• SE

  @SeanHill-t3u · 5 months ago

  greatest adventure game ever made. pure gold

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• MU

  @mutopis · 7 months ago

  Grim Fandango, my beloved.

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• RO

  @RoryKenneigh · 7 months ago

  &quot;My name&apos;s Manny Calavera. I&apos;m your new travel agent!&quot; is forever burned into my brain.

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• AY

  @AyyKayy-n3u · 7 months ago

  &quot;You&apos;re not too big.&quot;<br>&quot;Yeah, you&apos;re right! I&apos;m not too big! Everything here is just too small!&quot;

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• MR

  @mrnoknowncure · 7 months ago

  Grim Fandango was literally the first adventure game that I completed entirely independently without any hints or guidance. I was enjoying the whole experience so much I didn’t want to artificially shorten it in any way.<br><br>As a kid, I foolishly burned through loads of LucasArts classics using hints whenever I got stuck, in the mistaken belief that the genre would be eternally healthy and there would always be another amazing Adventure Game just around the corner.

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• PR

  @PrinceLettuce_4 · 7 months ago

  One thing to keep in mind about Telltale, while Telltale these days is known for its success of narrative choose-your-own-adventure style games like The Walking Dead. Before that they made more classic fully 3D point and click adventure games, including the Sam and Max three season trilogy, (which I personally see as the greatest modern point and click game when taken as a whole.) But after the success of The Walking Dead, EVERYTHING had to be that style of game, and the point and click genre died a second death even after Telltale themselves resurrected it. And you can see The Walking Dead&apos;s influence to this day in the recently released Dispatch.

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• WP

  @wp2837 · 7 months ago (edited)

  It&apos;s so nice seeing other people praise the game and saying it is one of their favorite games in the comments, because Grim Fandango really affected me as a child. I had a huge obsession with it and was sad that the fandom was so small and silent. <br><br>I definitely agree about year 3 being the worst year and have thought about it a lot. I think the biggest issue is that it just starts with Manny&apos;s crew being sprouted and you escaping the ship. You don&apos;t get to know the crew before they are killed. Imagine if you first spent some time on the ship doing some puzzles and getting to know the crew and only then they are killed. <br><br>When I played Year 2 Rubacava felt so alive and I got attached to characters like Lupe, Olivia, Lola, Toto, Velasco, Membrillo and Carla. Imagine if you got as attached to the crew in year 3 before they were sprouted. Them all dying would be so sad and would make it feel even better when you get back at Domino and later Hector.

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