![]() ![]() You do not swipe a cursor around, hunting for interactive objects. ![]() Playing Grim Fandango Remastered, however, might make you wonder why point-and-click adventures didn’t more frequently crib from its pages. Ske-bee bop, bop! Ske-bee bop, bop! Woman? The phone is for you.”) What happens in Rubacava stays in Rubacava.īut what about the play? Returning to an old game can make you appreciate advancements that have since come. Manny’s surname itself refers both to actual skulls as well as to humorous poems that honor the dead, which makes a scene in which he attempts a bit of beat poetry particularly wonderful. It’s a fitting tone, considering how Dia de Muertos invites us to celebrate those that have passed by remembering how they made us laugh. I'm a mechanic,” it’s hard not to be moved. Glottis may be good for some lighthearted comedy, but he’s not the butt of the joke when he tells Manny, “I don't want to be a pianist any more. ![]() The game is both funny and gentle: even the most mercurial residents of this world are allowed their dignity, and the adventure is better for it. Every situation is steeped in humor, but the chuckles rarely come at anyone’s expense. You needn’t know about Grim Fandango’s cultural significance to grow attached to its characters. It’s as if Manny and his skeletal friends have leapt from a José Guadalupe Posada drawing, or perhaps just escaped a particularly joyous Day of the Dead celebration. In its illustrations, the holy Codex Borgia depicts Mictlan as teeming with surreal wildlife and grotesque deities Grim Fandango looks to Mexican celebration Dia de Muertos for its primary artistic inspiration, however. Manny encounters obstacles (this is a puzzle-adventure, after all), but few are quite as deadly as knife-wind, though there are dangerous flaming beavers to contend with. This is Mictlan, the afterlife through the eyes of the Aztecs, who envisioned that path as being filled with deadly obstacles like winds made of razor-sharp blades. Glottis is Manny’s closest friend, but there’s room in his life for other demons-and more than a few souls who have wandered off the four-year path to the ninth underworld. “But they can’t get in the high roller’s lounge, now can they?” Underworld noir. “The doctors made me promise I wouldn't do it any more,” he says, when Manny confronts him. As Manny flees his job in pursuit of the beautiful and skinless client who has captured his heart, he surrounds himself with an eclectic array of kooks, including the obese and naive Glottis, a demon mechanic prone to betting on cat races. They’re all skeletons-most dead people are, of course-but they’re more human than most video game characters. Manny is a travel agent in the land of the dead, where he suffers the arrogance of a cocksure co-worker and the disrespectful gaze of a corrupt boss. You can thank Manny Calavera for that warmth, which may come as a surprise given that he’s cold and buried. Grim Fandango has always stood tall as one of the PC adventure greats, and the deft storytelling and warm humor that made it so inviting remain evergreen. Language and culture may change, but empathetic characters and great stories never fade from fashion. Some elements of art are timeless, however. In video games, some trends go out of style, and old stand-bys are cast aside when better alternatives are discovered. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |