Admittedly, I was not even aware of GRIME’s existence a few days ago. Nevertheless, it immediately caught my interest once I browsed through its screenshots, as its dark yet beautiful visuals and the premise of delivering a surrealistic environment filled with bones and entrails was captivating enough for me. Plus, I have not played a good Metroidvania in a while, so this one seemed like the right title to satisfy my hunger for it. Surprisingly, it was way better than I expected.

Let us start from the beginning, though, or rather even earlier than that, this time. By that, I mean the main menu itself. What is so interesting there? Its music reminded me of some of the orchestral compositions from the Dark Souls series, to which I listen at times to this very day. That is a great first impression, I would say; luckily, it manages to keep that quality for the whole playthrough, and I have nothing but praise for the soundtrack.

When you actually start the game, a confusing intro awaits and leaves you with the impression that you are just a weakling in a cave whose goal is to kill other creatures, absorb them and grow. You do not even have a weapon at the start, so you have to rely on the parry system, which happens to be one of the most crucial mechanics. Why? It replenishes your so-called Breath bar that is present instead of healing potions. Once filled up, you can use it to slowly heal yourself; this forces you to be more aggressive during the combat, and that is right up my alley.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2564131187
Do not be afraid, though! You will get your weapon soon enough. There is a sheer variety of those, from light, fast swords to heavy hammers, but all of them are melee-based. Sure, they have their combos and special moves, making them useful for different situations. Also, they seem to be of biological origin, as their form mutates at times. However, there are no other combat styles, such as magic. Even the role-playing mechanics and statistics are simplistic, so you will not find yourself creating distinctive builds. That is my only gripe with this title, as it does not offer enough replayability.

Even though it lacks in that area, it makes up for it with its beautifully crafted interconnected environment, gripping lore and diverse enemies and bosses, which create an unforgettable experience. I cared less about the abovementioned shortcomings the more I played, and I became fully immersed in this world.

GRIME does not focus much on the narrative at first but prefers to unveil its secrets slowly, so you only get tiny bits of a story at the start. Nevertheless, it works brilliantly, and I was left in awe once I witnessed how this universe actually works. The great thing is that its simple premise stays that way without getting too complicated for its own good. It is a bit difficult to describe its premise without spoiling it, so all I will say is that it revolves around the possible end of the world and how its inhabitants react to it. That might not sound original, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

What I adored even more was the overall design of the whole map. It might seem linear at the beginning, but at the end, you will witness how interconnected it is and that there are several shortcuts to find, which are crucial, as there are only a few checkpoints. Apart from that, its overall visuals make galavanting through it intriguing and even creepy at times. There might be a biological mass observing your every movement, and you might even hear it breathing at times. These surreal and anatomical aspects are not just used visually but also gameplay-wise. Due to that, it is important to pay attention to your surroundings, as those large teeth might be a deadly trap that will crush you within seconds. Or perhaps some of those lovely flowers hide an enemy within them, hoping to lure you in. I loved that, as it gave me the feeling of being in constant danger.

There are also secrets lying around. Thus, exploring the environment is worth it for finding consumable items, such as boosts for your weapons’ damage or beacons that reveal your progress on the map. Apart from that, there are optional stronger foes scattered around; defeating them grants you with so-called Hunt points. You can use those for unlocking helpful bonuses, such as dealing more damage while having lower health or leaving an echo behind you after dashing, damaging the enemies who touch it. Beware that you cannot activate all of those at once, so you have to think about which ones are suitable for your playstyle. Oh, and some of those monsters even influence the environment a bit. For example, one of the creatures puts its tail into the ground, which proceeds to emerge at your latest location, forcing you to be in constant movement until you kill it.

The platforming sections happen to be a significant part, as well. While they are pretty simple at first, once you get access to dash, double jump and porting at orbs, the environmental obstacles will become much harder to deal with; plus, it allows you to get to before unreachable parts and obtain those sweet rewards. Moreover, it changes the gameplay’s pace drastically, as you will suddenly become very agile, and the game will force you to deal with several traps and aggressive foes while you are trying to pull a platform towards you; also, if you are smart enough, you can use those traps to your advantage in combat. Luckily, the movement and controls are responsive and smooth, and I have never felt that I would die unfairly but rather because of my own mistakes.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2564126584
Due to all that I mentioned, the combat is enjoyable despite being simple. Its varied enemies and bosses will always try to surprise you, and I must especially praise the boss fights, as some of them are truly great and incredibly creative, both visual and gameplay-wise. Several of them even have the abovementioned platforming sections that spice these encounters a lot. And I must admit that I had difficulties with beating a few bosses here and there, especially with the last one, who almost pushed me to my limits. That is a positive thing to say, though, as it felt like a combination of the obstacles I had dealt with throughout my playthrough, making my frustration entertaining.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2564128659
All in all, I can safely recommend GRIME to fans of Metroidvanias, as well as to those who lust for a challenging title. Even though I would prefer a bit more complex combat system, every other aspect makes up for it, creating a thrilling fourteenth-hour long adventure to overcome. Honestly, I did not expect that I would be surprised that much, but here I stand corrected.

PC Specs, Performance and Issues

I played it with an i5 8300H, GTX 1060 6GB, and 16GB RAM, at the highest settings, at stable 60 frames per second, at 1920x1080 resolution. I have not noticed any drops during my playthrough, so the optimization seems to be top-notch.

However, due to playing the pre-release version, my achievements are all over the place. So, here’s proof showing my whole playtime.

Acknowledgement

This game was provided for review purposes by the developers through DitD. Thank you!

Curator link

Remember that Blue Lips Never Lie! Thus, follow my curator, Blue Lips and their Quips, to find more honest yet humorous reviews!

[h1][b]An incredible surprise![/b][/h1] Admittedly, I was not even aware of [i]GRIME’s[/i] existence a few days ago. Nevertheless, it immediately caught my interest once I browsed through its screenshots, as its dark yet beautiful visuals and the premise of delivering a surrealistic environment filled with bones and entrails was captivating enough for me. Plus, I have not played a good Metroidvania in a while, so this one seemed like the right title to satisfy my hunger for it. Surprisingly, it was way better than I expected. Let us start from the beginning, though, or rather even earlier than that, this time. By that, I mean the main menu itself. What is so interesting there? Its music reminded me of some of the orchestral compositions from the [i]Dark Souls[/i] series, to which I listen at times to this very day. That is a great first impression, I would say; luckily, it manages to keep that quality for the whole playthrough, and I have nothing but praise for the soundtrack. When you actually start the game, a confusing intro awaits and leaves you with the impression that you are just a weakling in a cave whose goal is to kill other creatures, absorb them and grow. You do not even have a weapon at the start, so you have to rely on the parry system, which happens to be one of the most crucial mechanics. Why? It replenishes your so-called Breath bar that is present instead of healing potions. Once filled up, you can use it to slowly heal yourself; this forces you to be more aggressive during the combat, and that is right up my alley. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2564131187 Do not be afraid, though! You will get your weapon soon enough. There is a sheer variety of those, from light, fast swords to heavy hammers, but all of them are melee-based. Sure, they have their combos and special moves, making them useful for different situations. Also, they seem to be of biological origin, as their form mutates at times. However, there are no other combat styles, such as magic. Even the role-playing mechanics and statistics are simplistic, so you will not find yourself creating distinctive builds. That is my only gripe with this title, as it does not offer enough replayability. Even though it lacks in that area, it makes up for it with its beautifully crafted interconnected environment, gripping lore and diverse enemies and bosses, which create an unforgettable experience. I cared less about the abovementioned shortcomings the more I played, and I became fully immersed in this world. [i]GRIME[/i] does not focus much on the narrative at first but prefers to unveil its secrets slowly, so you only get tiny bits of a story at the start. Nevertheless, it works brilliantly, and I was left in awe once I witnessed how this universe actually works. The great thing is that its simple premise stays that way without getting too complicated for its own good. It is a bit difficult to describe its premise without spoiling it, so all I will say is that it revolves around the possible end of the world and how its inhabitants react to it. That might not sound original, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. What I adored even more was the overall design of the whole map. It might seem linear at the beginning, but at the end, you will witness how interconnected it is and that there are several shortcuts to find, which are crucial, as there are only a few checkpoints. Apart from that, its overall visuals make galavanting through it intriguing and even creepy at times. There might be a biological mass observing your every movement, and you might even hear it breathing at times. These surreal and anatomical aspects are not just used visually but also gameplay-wise. Due to that, it is important to pay attention to your surroundings, as those large teeth might be a deadly trap that will crush you within seconds. Or perhaps some of those lovely flowers hide an enemy within them, hoping to lure you in. I loved that, as it gave me the feeling of being in constant danger. There are also secrets lying around. Thus, exploring the environment is worth it for finding consumable items, such as boosts for your weapons’ damage or beacons that reveal your progress on the map. Apart from that, there are optional stronger foes scattered around; defeating them grants you with so-called Hunt points. You can use those for unlocking helpful bonuses, such as dealing more damage while having lower health or leaving an echo behind you after dashing, damaging the enemies who touch it. Beware that you cannot activate all of those at once, so you have to think about which ones are suitable for your playstyle. Oh, and some of those monsters even influence the environment a bit. For example, one of the creatures puts its tail into the ground, which proceeds to emerge at your latest location, forcing you to be in constant movement until you kill it. The platforming sections happen to be a significant part, as well. While they are pretty simple at first, once you get access to dash, double jump and porting at orbs, the environmental obstacles will become much harder to deal with; plus, it allows you to get to before unreachable parts and obtain those sweet rewards. Moreover, it changes the gameplay’s pace drastically, as you will suddenly become very agile, and the game will force you to deal with several traps and aggressive foes while you are trying to pull a platform towards you; also, if you are smart enough, you can use those traps to your advantage in combat. Luckily, the movement and controls are responsive and smooth, and I have never felt that I would die unfairly but rather because of my own mistakes. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2564126584 Due to all that I mentioned, the combat is enjoyable despite being simple. Its varied enemies and bosses will always try to surprise you, and I must especially praise the boss fights, as some of them are truly great and incredibly creative, both visual and gameplay-wise. Several of them even have the abovementioned platforming sections that spice these encounters a lot. And I must admit that I had difficulties with beating a few bosses here and there, especially with the last one, who almost pushed me to my limits. That is a positive thing to say, though, as it felt like a combination of the obstacles I had dealt with throughout my playthrough, making my frustration entertaining. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2564128659 All in all, I can safely recommend [i]GRIME[/i] to fans of Metroidvanias, as well as to those who lust for a challenging title. Even though I would prefer a bit more complex combat system, every other aspect makes up for it, creating a thrilling fourteenth-hour long adventure to overcome. Honestly, I did not expect that I would be surprised that much, but here I stand corrected. [b]PC Specs, Performance and Issues[/b] [quote]I played it with an [b]i5 8300H[/b], [b]GTX 1060 6GB[/b], and [b]16GB RAM[/b], at the highest settings, at stable [b]60[/b] frames per second, at [b]1920x1080[/b] resolution. I have not noticed any drops during my playthrough, so the optimization seems to be top-notch. However, due to playing the pre-release version, my achievements are all over the place. So, here’s [url= https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2564226895][b]proof[/b][/url] showing my whole playtime.[/quote] [b]Acknowledgement[/b] [quote]This game was provided for review purposes by the developers through [b]DitD[/b]. Thank you![/quote] [b]Curator link[/b] [url=https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/curator/41545671][quote]Remember that Blue Lips Never Lie! Thus, follow my curator, [b]Blue Lips and their Quips[/b], to find more honest yet humorous reviews!