Morally upstanding types qualify for a trip on the “Number Nine” train. He sells travel packages to the skeletal dead, providing them with a mode of transport across the four year journey of the soul, commensurate to their behaviour in life. Manny, or Manuel Calavera, for those who don’t know, is the travel agent protagonist of this noir-flavoured tale. Sometimes the original source is a little … strange. The majority of additions are external, while the game remains resolutely faithful to the original source. No in-game hints, no object hot-spot highlighting toggle, and no changes to the (slightly clunky, let’s be honest) inventory system of shuffling through Manny’s jacket. There are changes and improvements, which we’ll come to later, but it’s notable that this re-release gives no ground to contemporary adventure game conventions. This pride is reflected in how much of Remastered stays true to the original source.
The 120-some minutes (I didn’t count, but that’s what’s advertised) discussing the various guises of late-90s game design offer glimpses of how Grim Fandango came to be, and how fiercely proud its creators are of the finished version. Of fights to buy more time, and concessions over cut features. There are tales of late nights and even earlier mornings. They’re the regrets of perfectionists animators lamenting that the systems used couldn’t prevent sleeves clipping through character’s hands, and coders who wanted to shoot for techniques and effects that the run-of-the-mill PCs of the age wouldn’t be able to handle.
Several of the former LucasArts staff who contribute to the optional commentary soundbites that accompany almost every scene express regrets. If you’re going to be the best, you may as well borrow liberally from Casablanca.
0 kommentar(er)
