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2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44
After death, life is just beginning.;)
The fashion for the re-release of classic game hits - both for Macs and iOS devices - continues to gain momentum. The collection of updated rarities has been replenished with the famous quest "Grim Fandango". A perky mix of detective comedy with the myths of the ancient Aztecs in an ageless noir style will not only warm the harsh heart of an oldfag, but also give a lot of pleasure to fans of the genre who have not yet had a chance to go beyond the world of the living.
I remember that at the end of the last century among students (especially technical universities) the question was very popular: "What are you doing, haven't played Grim Fandango yet ?!" At the same time, the intonation with which this question was pronounced was a murderous mixture of loud surprise, boundless pride in his involvement in the great and complete freaking out of the closeness and worthlessness of that individual who, a second ago, imprudently blurted out: "And what is Grim Fandango?" The disgraced and extremely interested noob in the shortest possible time went to the nearest radio market, and in the evening, having inserted a freshly bought pirate disc into his self-assembled "basin", plunged into the humorous world of the dead …
"Double-headed eagle" studio Double Fine, which was engaged in the renovation of "Grim Fandango"
The title shot of the game's introductory video.
This compass is the only thing that the "travel agency" of the Department of Death gives to those who have lived worthless lives.
Yes, granddaughter, when your grandfather was young, there were no checkpoints, and games had to be saved manually … And don't say it's bad, shket!
In the corridors of the Department of Death, the atmosphere of the United States of the 30s reigns.
Elevator to the main exit of the Department building. On the left is the elevator to the garage.
The plot of the game
Manuel Calavera works as a travel agent in the Department of Death, arranging trips for freshly departed citizens to the Ninth Underworld - the Land of Eternal Peace. According to the rules, the righteous are entitled to a ticket for the "Ninth Number" express, which will be delivered to the destination in just four minutes. But the more sins the client has, the less comfortable and longer his journey will be. Complete losers have to hit the road on foot, and if in four years of wandering they manage to limp to eternal rest - consider yourself very lucky.
However, most of all Manny sympathizes with himself. He does not even remember what he did this during his lifetime, if he is forced to hang out between the worlds, working as a regular death on call. Over time, the desire to find peace has become so burning that Manny decides to forgery and, in fact, appropriates someone else's client with an excellent track record. But here's the bad luck: the computer, out of some fright, assigns the lady a four-year walking cruise. The righteous woman resignedly accepts her unenviable fate, and Manuel, not having time to stop the unfortunate one, goes after her in the hope of saving her from certain death, now quite real.
On the left is the updated game, on the right is the original rendering. Switching between modes - by pressing the backspace key.
In the foyer of the Department of Death.
The main entrance to the Department of Death is striking in its otherworldly monumentality
Giant Pinata means a festival celebrating the Mexican Day of the Dead.
The sullen clown is an important part of the quest.
The rope of multi-colored ties hangs here for a reason.
Spoiler alert!
Gameplay
The controls in Grim Fandango are traditional for quests: moving from screen to screen and interacting with the world around them and other characters, the main character either collects information or performs actions that can ultimately lead to further development of the plot. The game does not provide special markers for active objects, so you need to watch the turns of Manny's head. Well, or move the mouse across the screen: the star-shaped cursor will unambiguously point to the "hot spot".
Manny collects the necessary items in the inner pocket of his jacket - this is your inventory. The collected things are not combined with each other in any way, take this feature into account so as not to complicate the proposed solutions.
For the passage, not only the correct actions are important, but also the correct phrases chosen during Manny's conversations with other characters. Hence another tip: watch the dialogs carefully. Although even just listening to this chatter (and there is quite a lot of it in the game) is also funny: after all, it is a comedic detective story, so there are plenty of jokes and jokes in the game.
The giant garage of the Department of Death.
The main among the minor characters is the huge demon mechanic Glottis. A very colorful personality.
The ideal parking mechanism …
Manny goes to work: in the world of the living - mass poisoning of gazpacho.
At the wheel, Glottis is overjoyed.
So, as conceived by the authors, the dead see the living.;)
Another spoiler: chat with the living at the bar.;)
Updated edition
Contrary to the official description of the game, I think the most important feature of Grim Fandango Remastered is its compatibility with Macs.;) Well, and then, of course, it is worth noting the new 3D engine with more natural light and shade and musical accompaniment recorded from scratch with a live orchestra.
The game really looks and sounds fresh and quite modern even on a large widescreen. True, for 16: 9 the game was adapted very simply - by adding decorative stripes on the sides in the style of the Department of Death. Well … I have nothing against it.:)
In the office of his beloved colleague Manny
In this workshop, those who narrowly escaped the walking tour to the Ninth World are packed in coffins-parcels.
Hint: at some point, you need to mess up the pneumatic mail server.
Manuel Calavera in his professional duties
More likely to the long-awaited client!
Unofficial Russifier
As for the disadvantages of the game, we can name one and very significant - the lack of Russian localization and plans for its implementation in the near future. Although, I remember, the original version was even dubbed …;)
But it's good that there are enthusiasts! The Enpy.net community has uploaded an unofficial translation of the subtitles for download. Something already. I will explain how to install them for the Steam version of the game (although the translation description indicates that the subtitles are compatible with any version of Grim Fandango Remastered).
Go to the Enpy.net page, click the Download button and select the zip archive to download. Unzip it and copy the FontsHD folder and grim.en.tab file.
Now go to the directory ~ / Library / Application Support / Steam / steamapps / common / Grim Fandango Remastered / GrimFandango.app / Contents / Resources / and select here the folder and file with the same names: FontsHD and grim.en.tab - by pressing the keys ⌃⌘N, group these two objects into a new folder that you can name for example Originals. Now press the ⌘V keys to paste the previously copied Russifier objects in place of the original data - and you can start the game, the Russian language will appear automatically.
Verdict - must be taken
No, seriously, if you love good quests - play Grim Fandango Remastered, whether you played the original or not. Of course, the lack of Russian dubbing makes you tense a little, switching from picture to subtitle and back, but the powerful positive charge (and for some nostalgia) is worth it. The developers are great fellows, they did a really good job, giving the old hit a new life. No matter how pretentious it may sound.