Video Game Preview: GrimGrimoire
By: Eric M. Martin |
Thursday May 24, 2007 |
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Fairy tale come true |
| Coming in June of 2007, be on the lookout for NIS America's latest project, GrimGrimoire. Much more than just a Harry Potter hopeful, this is set to be a fairytale story of Lillet Blan, one charming and talented musician, who ends up in one mishmash of a mishap when she is teleported back five days before a terrible disaster wipes out those at the Silver Star Tower, which is the home of the Magic Academy led by Gammel Dore. Gammel's reason for the Academy is to provide a safe haven in an attempt to save the lives of both master magicians and soon-to-be spellcasters who are being persecuted because of their abilities. I've never seen, nor heard of, a 2D real-time strategy system, but that's what the fundamental game makeup of GrimGrimoire is all about. Much like other games of the genre, the player will be engaged in setting up home bases, gathering resources from various locations and using those resources to make other units. The player will attempt to use all at his or her disposal in order to clear the level's objectives. Instead of gold or methane, resources take the form of mana crystals. Instead of peasants or grunts, you have elves. Instead of Overminds, you have dragons and demons. Basically, it's an RTS with a Saturday morning cartoon for a wrapper. But what a shiny, candylike wrapper it is. NIS has always made maximum use of their color schemes and designs to create visually appealing graphic displays, both in characters and stages alike. GrimGrimoire proves to be no different. Even if everything is two-dimensional, it aims to achieve the look of an incredibly stylized children's storybook. What you will be seeing is an animation quality that rivals some of the best work that Disney has ever put on the silver screen. I know what you're thinking: "That's a pretty tall order." Well, it's a pretty tall project. At the NISA Press Release back in March, where GrimGrimoire was showcased, they announced their intention to attract younger gamers with its look and play while attempting to do something different with the mechanical layout of games such as Warcraft III. I never attempted the playable demo offered, but I got plenty of chance to see it in action. It's hard to say if the challenge will be there for veteran RPG lovers at this time. That tale won't be told until the game becomes available and someone manages to get through it all. But from what I've seen, it's an understandable interface that can be conquered with the right amount of practice and it might be just the thing to catch the attention of the younger generation of gamers. I didn't get into RPGs until I played the American SNES release of Final Fantasy IV. Face it; RPGs are not designed for kids in mind. I think the creative minds behind this project understand that and are making their move. If Nippon Ichi Software wants to continue building a market on what they do best, they need to start catching the new wave. Quite frankly, this game is the best way to do it. This isn't a "Kids Only" clubhouse though. Everyone loves a good story, regardless of their age, and NIS is in the habit of providing such. To learn more about GrimGrimoire, visit their website. The site itself is constantly under development and probably will be up until the release of the title, which is planned for July. Go and scope the trailer that was shown at the Press Release and catch a glimpse of what is to come. And stay tuned to that NIS America website, for Dragoneer's Aria is soon to make its appearance onto the PSP and the highly-anticipated Soul Nomad and the World Eaters will explode onto the PS2 in a few short months. |
