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The Metroidvania genre has seen a resurgence in recent years, inspiring countless developers to create captivating experiences. Titles like Ori and the Blind Forest, ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights, and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night exemplify the genre’s potential on platforms like Steam. However, achieving true greatness is a challenging feat, and GRIME stands as a prime example of a game that comes tantalizingly close, yet ultimately falls short of its full potential. While recognizing a good game is easy, crafting one is an entirely different matter. This review explores the captivating elements of GRIME while also highlighting its perplexing design choices that ultimately hinder its greatness.

GRIME’s surreal landscapes are visually stunning.

A Journey to the Top of the World

GRIME presents players with an enigmatic journey through a surreal world rich in symbolic imagery. The game begins with the evocative scene of two celestial beings exchanging the breath of life, leading to the birth of your character within a desolate cave. As a stone-like warrior crowned with a bottomless black hole, you embark on a journey through this desolate landscape, battling grotesque creatures and ascending through progressively more refined and powerful beings. The ultimate goal, however, remains shrouded in mystery: what is the purpose of your existence? This isn’t a quest to save the world, nor is it a tale of personal revenge. Your character, a walking black hole, seems destined to fulfill a higher purpose, an inevitable event for this world. But the path to this destiny remains twisted and unclear, leaving players to ponder the meaning behind it all.

Beyond its cryptic narrative, GRIME boasts diverse environments, each with its own distinctive visual style and soundscape. From caves and deserts to otherworldly cities, every location exudes a unique atmosphere. The soundtrack further enhances the experience, blending evocative melodies with ambient sounds specific to each area, creating a truly immersive experience. While artistic tastes may vary, GRIME‘s chosen aesthetic, combined with its enigmatic storytelling, crafts a compelling atmosphere.

The unique parry and absorb mechanic is a core gameplay element.

Demanding Skill

Your character’s defining feature, the black hole head, grants the ability to absorb defeated enemies. This expands upon the familiar parry mechanic found in many action games, allowing you to not only deflect attacks but also absorb enemies, gaining their Traits and boosting your stats. This absorption mechanic also applies to projectiles, which can be absorbed and hurled back at foes. Even some bosses expose vulnerabilities that can be exploited with well-timed absorptions, dealing significant damage.

Beyond parrying and absorbing, mastering the dash and pull mechanics is essential for survival. Dashing allows you to evade unavoidable attacks, while pulling lets you manipulate enemies and the environment. Effective use of these mechanics becomes crucial when facing challenging foes and bosses. Adding another layer of complexity, all actions, including attacking, jumping, and dashing, consume Force. This resource regenerates passively, but aggressive playstyles require careful management to avoid being caught off guard.

GRIME also encourages exploration through its use of Beacons. Each area features a Beacon that must be activated to reveal the map, adding a layer of challenge and intrigue to the exploration process. The Ardor system further incentivizes engagement. Ardor increases experience gained from combat and can boost damage when combined with Traits. Gaining Ardor by defeating enemies and losing it upon taking damage or dying encourages calculated risks and rewards skillful play.

Combat is challenging and requires strategic use of abilities.

The boss battles in GRIME offer a satisfying level of challenge. Each boss possesses a distinct set of attacks with clear tells, making them predictable and manageable. While initially challenging, mastering the combat mechanics allows players to overcome these formidable foes. Overall, GRIME presents a compelling experience with its unique mechanics, captivating atmosphere, and rewarding gameplay loop.

Questionable Design Choices

Despite its strengths, GRIME suffers from perplexing design decisions, primarily concerning itemization and progression. Most equippable items, including arm and chest armor and leggings, are purely cosmetic, serving no practical purpose. Only weapons have a tangible impact on gameplay, making the majority of equipment feel superfluous.

The leveling system further exacerbates this issue. Leveling grants points to allocate to five stats: HP, Force, Strength, Dexterity, and Resonance. While HP and Force are self-explanatory, the three attack stats determine the effectiveness of different weapons. However, the inability to respec these stats limits build flexibility. Players who spread their points evenly struggle to wield specialized weapons, while those who specialize miss out on experimenting with different playstyles.

The limited usefulness of many items hinders the overall experience.

The upgrade system for Traits is equally flawed. Traits are upgraded using Crimson Ichor, a finite resource. However, the high cost of upgrading Traits, especially in the later stages, discourages players from fully investing in them. Similarly, consumable items are limited and primarily found through exploration or purchase, making their use a risky proposition due to the autosave system.

Finally, the distribution of new abilities throughout the game feels counterintuitive. Late-game abilities like Self-Pull and Double-Jump are primarily useful in the areas where they are acquired, rendering them less impactful for backtracking and exploration. This, coupled with the late-game acquisition of fast travel, undermines the sense of progression and discovery.

Exploration is a key component of the Metroidvania genre.

Conclusion

Despite its flaws, GRIME offers a unique and engaging Metroidvania experience. However, its questionable design choices prevent it from reaching its full potential. With some rebalancing and refinement, GRIME could truly shine. While the developer’s active engagement with the community and receptiveness to feedback are commendable, these issues leave GRIME feeling more like an Early Access title than a polished, complete product.