[veryjammy]

I'm new here so maybe this isn't the best way to endear myself to everybody - after reading the sites top 20 adventure games it seems there is much love for Grim Fandango on here - but here goes. There'll be spoilers in here as well if you havent played it before.

I will admit I'm only at the beginning of the Second year and I know there is a looong way to go, heck I feel spolit for choice trying to decide where to go right now. And there are many aspects of it which I have loved so far - the dialogue, the voice acting, the graphics, the overall atmosphere and storyline, the characters. I don't think the interface is particularly bad, it's certainly better than Broken Sword 3's five years later. Notice I haven't mentioned the puzzles yet?

I know I shouldn't judge when I'm so early in the game but the Petrified forest really annoyed me. The puzzles before then were neatly logical such as the putting the balloon in with the bread to scare the birds away. But that forest....

I still have no idea what the one with running the wheelbarrow over the pumps was about. All I know is that I resorted to a walkthrough which told me to keep running over the pumps til it started rocking. Now what on earth is that about? I could have sat there for hours and not figured that out. The sign really annoyed me as well - where was there any indication it could be picked up? Maybe I should just try picking up everything in future but in so many adventure games the characters refuse to pick up large things so I assumed the same here. And then the beavers.....they're on fire and the tar doesn't catch fire. So if you put the fire out while they're in the tar they'll die? Erm....right....obviously?....erm why?

I had to look at a walkthrough for each of those puzzles, and I certainly wouldn't consider myself a novice at adventure games. But to me there is just no logic to them. And while I really want to enjoy the game I haven't touched it for a while because if that is the standard of puzzles throughout the game I don't know if I have the patience.

Anyone want to jump to its defence?

[fov]

Welcome to the forum.

I'm not the right person to comment about Grim (still in Year 2 myself...) so I'll leave that to the experts.

[Fop]

The wheelbarrow one is actually completely logical (although I had to consult a walk-through too). The idea is to get the pumps out of sync so they rock the tree enough. IMO the petrified forest was the worst part of Grim Fandango.

[Jazhara7]

I think the beavers swam in water...Tar is much too thick.

Not a lot more logical though - why didn't they go out?


Well, I guess it's because they were Demonic Beavers.


-

[Elessar]

I think you 're right, the wheelbarrow thing was a tricky puzzle.
Don't give up on this game though, it's absolutely brilliant. A True Classic, in other words

[Jake]

I always felt like the petrified forest was a chunk of "puzzle padding" which didn't really help advance the plot, but was there just to have some extra puzzle solving. This happens a little bit again in year 3, in my opinion, but years 2 and 4 are almost entirely more in line with the earlier year 1 puzzles - as in, they're actually derived from and help advance the game's story.

[Manhunter71]

Originally Posted by Jake

I always felt like the petrified forest was a chunk of "puzzle padding" which didn't really help advance the plot, but was there just to have some extra puzzle solving.

I totally agree with you on this point, and the puzzle with the beavers was extremely annoying and illogical;

but veryjammy - keep on playing this game because I promise you, once you get past these annoying bits this will turn out to be a very very good game!!

[JoeX111]

Originally Posted by Jazhara7

I think the beavers swam in water...Tar is much too thick.

Not a lot more logical though - why didn't they go out?

You play a walking talking skeleton in the game that somehow manages to hold itself together and are complaining about one of the most insignificant parts of the game as being illogical?

[SoccerDude28]

I agree with everyone. The petrified forest has some weird puzzles and it is a lame section of the game. But move on to Rubbacava and the noir atmosphere of the game kicks in. From there on, you will never look back. Just stick with it

[JoeX111]

The best thing about the forest is the Bone Wagon theme. Easily one of the best tracks in the game.

[samIamsad]

Originally Posted by SoccerDude28

I But move on to Rubbacava and the noir atmosphere of the game kicks in.

The cutscene at the end of year one is the best cutscene in any game ever made. Oups, I hope I didn't spoil the whole fun here..

[Scoville]

What's illogical about the beaver puzzle? They are made of fire, so a fire extinguisher beats them. They like bones, so bones lure them into your trap. It makes sense to me.

[Stu]

Waitaminute...

You think the interface in Grim Fandango is better than the one in BS3?



I agree on the Petrified Forest comments though, one of the lowest points in the whole game. The puzzles made sense to me, I just didn't enjoy that bit. Thankfully it kicks back into gear after that bit.

[Mimus]

tbh, I didn't even remember the puzzles in the petrified forest, but I still consider Grim to be one of the, if not the, best adventure game ever. The game really opens up after the petrified forest.

[Coop]

The PF is teh worst part of the game. After it the game gets so much better...just thinking of Grim Fandango makes me want to go back and play it.

BTW, this is my 69 post

[100ja a.k.a. mr_mitja]

Even with Petrified Forest Grim is still one of the best games ever. So just bare with it and you're in for a treat!

[Ninth]

I loved Grim Fandango, but the puzzles seemed out of place to me. I can't just nail down why, but to me this game it'd fall short of perfection because of this nagging feeling about the puzzles.

[dazsin]

there are more complex puzzles to come my friend!

But on the whole the game is absolutely superb.

[plattyaj]

It looks like I'm in the minority but I actually liked the PF puzzles. I'm one of those who enjoys more "enclosed" puzzles. You have a very limited number of places to go, a limited number of inventory items and you have to use them effectively.

When you move on from the PF you spend a lot of time in visit-and-revisit-lots-of-places mode hoping that something's changed or you find something you missed earlier. That's what I don't like about adventure games.

Andy.

[Trunkyo]

Yep, GF is on my all-time fave list too...

About that signpost: Well, the signpost is always supposed to point towards Rubacava, but obviously Manny can't pick it up when he first arrives in the Petrified Forest (since it's firmly in the ground). It's possible only after the Bone Wagon backs into the signpost accidentally, loosening it (some people miss this bit).

(Actually, when I first played, it didn't occur to me at first to use the signpost... instead, I thought that the Bone Wagon was supposed to go through the maze of tunnels in a specific order, and tried to map all the "enter here, exit there" possibilities! Eeks, I can't believe I made things so hard for myself!!! )

And one of the most evil (and hilarious) things I did in the PF was repeatedly turn on the rotating pump mechanism after Glottis climbed the tree (but before getting the pumps in correct sync)! "MAAAAAAANNNY! YOOOOOOU PROOOMIIIIIISED!!!!!" Bwahaha!

Finally, in Year 2:

Spoiler:

Watch for Manny's priceless response when you try to make him sift through the giant kitty litter pit with his bare hands!!!