Review: GrimGrimoire (PS2)

Almost every release Gamestyle reviews these days must be a living and breathing world complete with cutting edge graphics.  So it comes as a relief to discover GrimGrimoire shuns such trappings in favour of the overlooked straightforward approach, backed up by rewarding game play and strong artistic flair.  The whole presentation comes as no surprise due to the involvement of Vanillaware and Nippon Ichi, the latter being a staunch practitioner of 'retro' visuals and strategy titles.

For those not practising devil worship, a grimoire is a magical book that provides instructions for invoking demons.  Throughout history these texts were hidden away, as practitioners feared being burned at the stake.   In the world of GrimGrimoire you take the role of Lillet Blan, a female trainee magician arriving on her first day at the Tower of the Silver Star, magic school.   The storyline is delivered through static backdrops, complete with detailed characters and text.  Again shunning what we expect a cut scene to comprise of today, these fit in well with the rest of the game and allow for some dramatic voice acting.

Initially it is hard to dismiss the undercurrent of a wannabe Harry Potter adventure, with a motley cast of teachers and students.   All emphasise the feeling that not every is as it seems within in the school.   The first few days serve as an induction to many of the characters and the basics of the magic battle system, which you learn through various lectures.   The twist comes on the fifth day, where your newly acquired skills are put to the test when everyone else in the school is supposedly dead.   

Thankfully Vanillaware have avoided the predicted path of allowing Lillet Blan to escape and subsequently return with an army, intent on revenge.   Instead you are (by some unknown force) immediately transported to your first day at the school, and while your powers remain intact, your former teachers and classmates are oblivious to this loop in time.   Although Gamestyle suspects such a move was also prompted by development restraints (being confined within a school is far more cost effective) it remains a refreshing twist.

Titles involving time travel historically have never gone down well at Gamestyle Towers, with Majora's mask prompting bouts of self doubt as progress seemed rather unforthcoming despite our best efforts.   The upshot is that pulling off this looping challenge is difficult to accomplish in a fully interactive, almost real-time world.   With the staggered structure of lectures and battles within Grimgrimoire, it feels more logical and beneficial, as plot developments are easily communicated and your range of skills grow visibly after each lecture.

The key to battle in Grimgrimoire is preparation.  By unlocking your portals, harvesting the power of mana and organising your forces, victory is always possible, but quite often with huge loses, great difficulty and several failed attempts.  With various types at your disposal, it is possible to summon a huge variety of spirits, fairies and other magical creatures to do battle.   Annoyingly they may only say one thing when being selected, but the missions and encounters are far more varied.  While events unfold in real time, by selecting a character onscreen everything stops until you’ve completed that command.  This allows you time to gauge your current levels and reappraise your strategy once again.

Grimgrimoire is far from perfect as the detailed battlegrounds that are split across various floors can be confusing.   A small map icon helps matters, but vital seconds are wasted crisscrossing environments in search of targets and friendly units.   Selecting these incarnations can be difficult depending on where you leave them; as against a selectable backdrop (portal, icon) any commands can go unanswered.   

The depth of the battle system will disappoint fans of Nippon Ichi releases.   Unquestionably the connotations for combat and tactics are not as expansive as previously seen in the Disgaea series for instance.   By ditching the turn-based approach it is an understandable sacrifice and what remains is still thoroughly engaging, and of course challenging.   The inclusion of trial stages (bonus missions in another name) ups the difficulty stakes by laying down strict conditions for winning.   These offer a break from the storyline and can be tackled whenever suits the player.

GrimGrimoire is one of those releases that restores your faith in video games and Gamestyle is thankful it has reached Europe.  For those interested in strategy releases, it is an ideal starting point before moving onto the more overwhelming Nippon Ichi releases in the genre.   PlayStation 3 owners will be pleased to note that it works perfectly well on the machine, which isn’t a common occurance as Gamestyle can vouch for. If you have migrated onto the newer consoles in the market, then this is a great reason to head back to the PlayStation 2 one last time.

Rating: 8 / 10

Words by Jason Julier