Everything you need to know about Grimm (including 'Is It Worth It?')

[Bruh]

Okay, just so we can get the TL;DR out of the way:
This is American McGee's Grimm, previously seen on GameTap's service and released episodically. The complete pack, available for $10, contains all the episodes and all of the available content. Yes, it's worth the $10 if you missed it on GameTap. If it's currently on sale, that last sentence should read "Yes, it's worth the $[insert sale price] if you missed it on GameTap".
For a more in-depth review and compatibility information, read on.

ATTENTION: As of 1/6/14, the store page lists a ton of DLC, please disregard it for now. Spicy Horse has posted on at least one other thread stating that the DLC was not listed the way they wanted. The intent was to have one free episode, purchaseable seasons, and a complete package. The $9.99 complete pack currently includes all 23 episodes of the game. The DLC section currently lists the same 23 episodes for individual purchase. I recommend buying ONLY the complete package, or not at all. That is the pack I bought, that is the product that I am reviewing. There is no "base game", there is the complete pack of all episodes, and the individual episodes listed in the DLC section. At this time I would advise against purchasing any of the episodes piecemeal, as I cannot confirm that you will be able to play it. The Steam store says that the DLC requires the base game, presumably referring to the complete pack, so for now I would assume that this makes all the listed DLC redundant. Spicy Horse has reached out to Valve to get this all sorted out, until then I advise simply buying the complete pack (it is cheaper than buying separate, includes all the episodes, and I can confirm that everything works properly).

Now that all of that nonsense is taken care of, lets start with initial setup. I'm going to walk you through it all, and it might be a bit patronizing, but it will show you exactly what to expect, with pictures. Again, this is for the complete pack ONLY. I have no idea what to expect if you try to purchase the episodes piecemeal, and I do not advise it (it's cheaper to buy the complete pack anyway).

When you press "PLAY" in Steam, a launcher will pop up.
It looks like this.[i.imgur.com]
From there, you click on the episode you want to play, then click PLAY.

After that, the screen will default to 1024 x 768, you will see the title cards, and then there is a short intro cutscene.
All title cards and the intro cutscene are skippable.

The game is controller compatible, tested with a wireless Xbox 360 controller. It is possible to skip the title cards and the intro cutscene by pressing 'A'. The launcher does not take controller input, but as soon as you launch an episode your controller is automatically detected. By default, left stick will control movement, right stick controls camera movement, A is bound to Jump (and Select in menus), and B is used to go back in menus. In the options screen, left stick is used to highlight various settings and will cycle through the available Resolutions, A will toggle checkboxes, and right stick is used to adjust highlighted settings such as volume or brightness.

For a list of keyboard controls and a description of the game mechanics, select "Instructions" from the main menu. These instructions and controls are the same for every episode.

Now, for the options menu.
It looks like this.[i.imgur.com]
The options menu will save your settings on a per-episode basis.
This means that every new episode will have the default settings and resolution of 1024x768. However, once you change the settings to say, 1920x1080, every time you launch that specific episode in the future it should launch in 1920x1080. If you toggle the unchecked boxes in the Sound settings, you will get a prompt stating that the game must restart. Proceeding to restart the game will undo all other settings in the options menu. The game will again be 1024x768, but the game will launch with that sound setting toggled. If you change the resolution in Episode 1, it does not carry over into Episode 2. When you launch Episode 2 it will have the default settings, and you will need to set them to your preferred settings again.

Running Windows 7 64-bit at 1920x1080, the only changes I needed to make were to bump up the resolution. I did not notice any outstanding issues. There are no "black bars" around the edges of the screen. There weren't any clipping issues to my knowledge. The UI was readable and did not seem to be negatively affected by my resolution. The camera angle placed Grimm at the very bottom of my screen, and he was a bit small, but that is likely a design decision from before 1920x1080 screens existed. It seems that as the screen resolution gets larger, the camera expands up and away from Grimm. That isn't much of a problem, as much of the game is built around exploring the environment. Having a large screen almost entirely unobstructed by Grimm allows the player to see a lot more of the environment. For gameplay purposes, when aiming jumps, do not point the camera down. Point the camera up as far as it will go, and you will jump much farther despite the angle making it look like the same distance. I do not know if this is due to my resolution messing with the intended camera angle, or if it is a product of the camera angle itself.

When you select "Play", the game will give you a level select screen. Most of the options will be grayed out when you first start. Start the first scene. You will see the "Light Theater" cutscene, where Grimm will tell you a fairy tale and criticize it as he goes. The game proper begins after this cutscene.

The objective is to run throughout the level, using your sphere of influence to change nearby ground and objects into "dark" versions of themselves. Shovels become axes, water becomes lava, eventually even people and buildings will be turned. As more ground/objects become dark, your influence will increase and you can affect larger areas and larger objects. It's kind of like Katamari Damaci in that way. As a general rule, most animate people/animals/objects will wander around and will clean up your dark patches in much the same way that you spread them. In order to stop them temporarily, you can "buttslam" by jumping, then jumping again in midair. It is often advisable to run around the area like a madman rather than addressing the friendly cleaners right away, because they will clean much more slowly than you can corrupt. At a specified point, you will have a high enough corruption to turn a specific object and proceed to the next area. You do this by achieving the specified rank and either catching/converting the object or performing a buttslam next to it. It is generally possible to reach a high enough rank to convert all cleaners in the first area before performing the action to proceed to the next area. Almost all objects, cleaners and scenery can be corrupted before proceeding, though it is usually impossible to affect everything until almost the end of the level. It is possible to backtrack in order to convert the entire level (if you're a crazy completionist like I am). Once the main centerpiece of the level has been converted via buttslam, the scene ends and you proceed to the next one. When all the scenes of an episode have been completed, you watch the "Dark Theater" cutscene. Completing the episode will unlock the Gallery, where you can inspect all the game objects and toggle between the light and dark versions at will. You can replay any completed scene, as well as the Light/Dark Theater cutscenes, at will once the episode is completed. There are collectible secrets and Best Times to replay levels for, though they exist for their own sake.

Each episode should take anywhere from a half hour to an hour to complete, generally being finished within one sitting. Deaths simply re-spawn the player back on solid ground with no penalty, and the enemies will only clean the corruption, they pose no direct threat. Despite the twisted and dangerous look of dark items, neither light nor dark items pose a threat to Grimm, only bottomless pits and water/lava kill the player. This game is a relaxed platformer that contains some wit, lowbrow humor and interesting art/level design. I would definitely recommend this game at it's current price, even more so if it's on sale in the future. I had a good time, seeing what your corruption will do to the various objects you encounter is a fun little distraction, and each episode is just the right length that you can pop in, explore the levels, and be done before it outstays it's welcome. It may not be wise to binge-play all the episodes back to back, but each one makes for a nice little shot of gameplay.

[76561198002927080]

That's an awesome write-up Fixer.
I'm putting you on my Christmas card list ;)

- Community Manager
@Spicy Horse

[Sidd]

thxs for the write up. The game is good, just played.

[mrjvoorhees]

This was a really helpful summary - thanks so much for taking the time to post.

Apart from reviews, it's almost impossible to find any solid info on this game, despite its age. For instance, I wasn't sure what light theatre and dark theatre were. And I still can't find anywhere which demonstrates how to find secrets - not necessarily their exact locations, but the mechanic behind them (and therefore how I know whereabouts to look).

[Bruh]

Thank you all for the positive feedback!
Many times I write out long rants or reviews only to delete them before posting. I'm glad to see that you appreciated what I had to say, that makes me feel better about actually posting it.

@gregularity: There isn't a mechanic behind the secrets, as far as I can tell. I believe there are two in each scene, though I'm not 100% certain of the exact amount in each scene. The ones that I find most often are hidden in little pockets around the edges of a map. For example, a secret in Scene 1 of Episode 1 is hidden behind one of the walls lining the outer edge of the map. The wall is low enough that you can jump over it, but there's no indication that a secret is nearby and it's not visible otherwise. The secrets look like floating blue coins with Grimm's face on them. They don't spin or bob. They tend to be hidden out of direct line of sight, usually behind objects, around out-of-the-way corners, or in hidden pockets at the edges of the map. I tend to find them by accident because I go out of my way to corrupt as much of the map as possible. On most levels, the terrain extends beyond walls or trees, and it is possible to corrupt that terrain by walking along the edge, buttstomping every so often. If you've covered the majority of the map already and are still shy of the next rank, this method can get you the last little bit of surface area you need. As a bonus, the cleaners can't reach that corruption, so it is always safe. Usually while spreading your influence along the edges of the map you'll spot the coins behind a wall or object. Aside from that, there's no surefire way to track them down. It may help to ask yourself where you'd hide the coins if you were the developer, but it's guesswork at best. Good luck finding them all!

[DogMeat]

In the later seasons (episodes after 8) the secrets shave off 10 seconds of your time. Handy if you know where they are. Back when the game was released on GameTap I managed to play the first season but forgot about and missed the later episodes. I'm glad I got a chance to pick this up now as the episodes improve quite a bit after 8. More power-ups, neater levels and more gimmicks like getting to ride a boar in one level.

Also agree, great write up. Should be on the store page!

[Spicy Horse Games]

@DogMeat Yeah, the later episodes are definitely better than the earlier ones. During development, we had 24 months total in which to deliver all the episodes, with the first batch of episodes being due at the 12-month mark. As a result, the earlier episodes were "rushed" while later episodes benefited from a growing base of development tools and design ideas. The further you play into the episodes, the richer and more interesting they (should) become. Kinda interesting to play through them all and watch the progressive improvement.

[*s*t*a*r*s*]

Originally posted by Spicy Horse Games:

@DogMeat Yeah, the later episodes are definitely better than the earlier ones. During development, we had 24 months total in which to deliver all the episodes, with the first batch of episodes being due at the 12-month mark. As a result, the earlier episodes were "rushed" while later episodes benefited from a growing base of development tools and design ideas. The further you play into the episodes, the richer and more interesting they (should) become. Kinda interesting to play through them all and watch the progressive improvement.

Coming to mac on steam?

[Spicy Horse Games]

Originally posted by *s*t*a*r*s*:

Coming to mac on steam? :tgrin:

Unfortunately, no. We no longer have the source code or the team members to create a port.

SHG

[meldme]

A quick question for the devs. Does the Grimm Complete Pack list all the episodes separately in the Steam game library, like Sam and Max etc? Or are the individual episodes added to the dlc count?

[DogMeat]

Originally posted by meldme:

A quick question for the devs. Does the Grimm Complete Pack list all the episodes separately in the Steam game library, like Sam and Max etc? Or are the individual episodes added to the dlc count?

Its just one item in the games list. After starting it you get a screen that lists all the episodes, 8 per page. I believe each page represents a season as the first page is definitely all the episodes of the first season. Pages 2-3 contained episodes unfamiliar to me.

[meldme]

Thanks. So does that mean the Complete Pack doesn't add 23 dlcs to your dlc count then? Bit of a letdown if not. ;)

[Bruh]

Originally posted by meldme:

Thanks. So does that mean the Complete Pack doesn't add 23 dlcs to your dlc count then? Bit of a letdown if not. ;)

It doesn't add 23 DLCs to your account. If you want to roll the dice, you could pick up the 23 separate DLCs and hope that Steam gives you a library entry to launch those from. Otherwise, the Complete Pack is one item, by itself. Think of it as one game, with 23 levels, broken up into five stages each.

[cobaltdragon9332]

well, I finally found where I should have asked my question.....don't have the strength to ask again and, besides, this was great so almost all the questions I had were answered here. The rest I can probably figure out. Congratulations on a stunning description and for starting the best thread I've seen in this long long list. I love Grimm already and am happy to have found this older game that is new to me. I'm into retro right now anyway! Wow..this SHOULD be on the store page!