Customer Reviews
Tim Schafer delivers a delightfully macabre tale of the beyond. 
2008-07-17
One of the last great examples of the dwindling graphic adventure genre of video games, Grim Fandango combines a compelling plot, lovable characters, razor-wit dialogue, and head-scratching puzzles to create an enjoyable adventure for anyone who can poke a bit of fun at death.
The player steps into the shoes of Manny Calavera, a travel agent for the Land of the Dead. Manny's job is to find recently dead clients and send them on the way to their eternal rest. Bemoaning of poor clients that prevent him from gaining enough good karma to find his own rest, Manny sets out to improve his lot, which runs him across Mercedes "Meche" Colomar, a veritable saint who for some reason doesn't earn her deserved passage on the vaunted "Number Nine", an express train that shortens the normally four year journey to four minutes. What follows is a trip across the Land of the Dead, finding lots of interesting characters to interact with as Manny unravels the conspiracy surrounding his woes.
Created by noted game designer Tim Schafer (Full Throttle, Psychonauts), this game is presented as a graphic adventure of the classic variety, where Manny wanders around areas, finds items to use elsewhere, and converses with characters to forward the plot. Action is secondary to the relaxed feel of being able to take your time, explore, and think on how to solve all the myriad puzzles you encounter. The graphics and sound are a little dated, the game having been released in 1998, but still retain a stylistic charm, from the vivid and varied environments, to the deceased characters themselves, who take on the form of Mexican "calaca" figures. Only two complaints come to mind. The first is common with most graphic adventures: that there will be times when the puzzles just seem to wacky or esoteric, and you find yourself more trying to follow the designer's train of thought than logical conclusions. The second is that the control scheme is based around the keyboard (or joysticks/gamepads), so the usual mouse control is sacrificed.
Despite these minor failings, I'd recommend this to anyone who loves witty dialogue and solving puzzles.
Amazing narrative, characters, settings, and dialogues...and it's smart! 
2008-04-19
An exemplary adventure game, this story of Manny Calavera and his quest through a Mexican limbo (in the afterlife sense) for a beautiful woman cheated from the afterlife she deserves takes us through a vivid world of politics, corruption, and heroism. This is no shallow game, but that doesn't mean it doesn't offer the thrills and fun of one. The script, music, and performances are of the highest quality, and the effect is both fun and moving. Play this!!
A different kind of game 2008-03-14
I like these kinds of games. Unfortunately I got stuck and got fed up and bored. Maybe if I had tried harder, I would have had more fun with it. But I really liked the look, animation and feel of it.
Great little game, good mystery 2007-11-05
great game for a 1 time play. the story line is wonderful, along with the voices and humor. Wonderful for a 1 time play. Not replayable in my opinion, but worth the buy, old game, so don't expect current graphics etc.
Genius 2006-01-04
I purchased Grim Fandango towards the end of November 2005. The game wouldn't play on my Pentium 4, 3.2 Ghz processor laden with XP and the dreaded Sp2.
I was able to limp along with the compatibility mode...which is terrible. If active gameplay was possible then the subsequent cutscenes played with an echo and out of focus and out of perspective, and when active gameplay was achieved ... it wasn't the greatest.
I was able to solve the beginning of the game all by myself...not knowing there was a spoiler walkthrough on the PDF manual from installation.
The game started to give me a headache. Between the lousy controls, the annoying echoing cutscenes, and the increasingly difficult gameplay, I was hoping the Grim Reaper would come and rescue me.
With all of those problems, I couldn't put it down. I suffered through with the lame comaptibilty mode. I eventually had to resort to walkthroughs, and found it tough with the walkthroughs!
I finally completed the game, uninstalled it and to my surprise, re-installed it, and played it again. This was really a surprise because I received Myst, Indigo Prophecy, The Longest Journey, and Runaway for Christmas 2005, and all were XP compatible. The game on my hard drive ...this very moment(January 2006)... is Grim Fandango.
I found that the cutscenes played beautifully without the compatibility mode on, and since I had completed the game, I had access to play them all without enagaing any game play (that wouldn't happen anyway with the mode turned off), one scene after the other, all from the game's general menu...
I played the cutscenes for my cousin, he was amazed and totally enthralled. This is a game made eight years ago, made to run on computers made eight years ago, that is in fact better than any game developed today.
Tim Schafer's follow-up, Psychonauts, is almost as good, but its really not a PC game and plays much better on XBOX or PS2.
The quirky, unusual little Grim Fandango, is more addicting, and much harder to shake then any of its contemporary competitors.
I finally came out of the closet with my Grim Fandango addiction and found several wonderful fan sites with a solution to the cumbersome compatibility mode play. Two of those sites are grimfandango.net and Tim Fandango's ninthworld.com both are Lucas webring sites and are brilliant in helping the player with a multitude of challenges the game presents within and out of gameplay. Both of the aforementioned sites along with Lucas Arts also contain a very necessary patch for the game, that should be installed before the game is installed.
As far as the gameplay itself goes...very difficult. It is not trial and error. There is a thread of logic connecting the solution to the challenges presented.
While many times far fetched, Grim Fandangos puzzle solutions all have a purpose, and are often hinted at through dialogue and gestures the animated characters make leading up to the challenge.
I don't know what happened between Lucas and Tim Schafer. But for Lucas to sit on this game and not produce an updated XP version, and basically not produce any versions at all is one of the biggest trajedies in computing history, much less gaming history.
The wonderful Mexican graphics as well as the unsinkable, never say "die" spirit of Manny Calavera are delightful and encouraging. The humor is smart and sophisticated. The music, I can't get out of my head...superb soundtrack and still regarded as one of the best, if not the best. Our culture should not be denied this game. Believe me, we need this game.
mjh
miss this game! 2005-12-14
Meet Manny Calavera, travel agent at the Department of Death. He sells luxury packages to souls on their four year journey to eternal rest. But there's trouble in paradise. Help Manny untangle himself from a conspiracy that threatens his very salvation.
Soar like eagles on pogo sticks! 2005-05-28
In the vein of Monkey Island and Space Quest, we have Grim Fandango, one of the funniest yet emotionally poignant video games ever released.
Manny Calavera is a Grim Reaper/travel agent who guides the recently deceased to the town of El Marrow to begin their four year journey of the soul in the Land of the Dead. He sells them packages to aid in their journey that vary depending on how well the "clients" has lived their lives. At the top of the line for the most righteous, they can qualify for a ticket on the "Number Nine express", a speedy train that will take them to paradise in four minutes rather than four years. If they've been somewhat less that good, they qualify for little more than a walking stick (though the compass in the handle will surely come in handy!) or being packed in a crate with foam. For reasons unxplained, Manny is forced to work in his dead-end sales job for a certain amount of time before he can even begin his own four year journey. In an act of desperation, he steals a competitors saintly client, Mercedes Colomar, to boost his sales and is shocked to find he can't qualify for anything more than the lowliest packages. Devastated, Mercedes runs away in tears leaving Manny wondering if someone is defrauding the system...
The game that follows is filled with great characters, a wonderful plot that pays homage to classic film noirs like Casablanca, the Maltese Falcon, and the Fat Man, and logical environmental puzzles that make sense to the context of the game. Though the game didn't sell well and we will most likely never see a sequel, own a piece of gaming history that you will treasure and quote with your friends for many years to come.
With bony hands I hold my partner
On soulless feet we cross the floor
The music stops as if to answer
An empty knocking at the door
It seems his skin was sweet as mango
When last I held him to my breast
But now we dance this grim fandango
And will four years until we rest.
Casablanca With An Art Deco Aztec Twist 2005-03-24
Grim Fandango has a very retro feel, sort of like Casablanca with an Art Deco Aztec twist. The game centers around Manny Calavera who is attempting to stay honest and make sense out of a Hispanic day of the dead afterlife which has been corrupted by those who control that afterlife for their own gain. All while Manny pursues the love of his afterlife! Confused? Trust me, it will all make sense once you start playing and the dialog and graphics will impress you and keep you hooked. I've tried a lot of the adventure games and they all have their flaws. But Grim Fandango comes as close to perfect as any game ever will. The controls are a little irritating but not as much as some newer games. This is the best adventure game out there and I strongly recommend that you try it.
I Must Be Missing Something 
2004-12-31
I picked this up in a bargain bin because I had heard great things about Grim Fandango, now an admittedly older title. I had also played a demo of one of the Monkey Island games and found it hilarious. I greedily slapped down my ten bucks and looked forward to some fun.
The game is fun to listen to and watch. Filled with yucks aplenty, Grim Fandango is like participating directly in a wacky animated film. For this alone, Fandango earns high praise. As with the Monkey Island games, the voice acting and humor is top notch.
Sadly, gameplay suffers. If you read through enough reviews here at Amazon, you'll find that people like Fandango simply for its humor and style; most customers admit that they needed walkthroughts to get past the game's frustrating puzzles. I'm a puzzle fan, and I like a challenge, but there were simply too many moments in Fandango where the puzzles felt arbitrary. Logic rarely led to a solution; only trial and error did! For me, this weighed heavily--and I mean heavily--against the game. Humor and style, huge plusses no doubt, should still be secondary to gameplay (or at least equal). With Fandango, gameplay seems to be a less important means towards creative and hilarious ends. You'll need to decide if this is okay with you. For me, it wasn't.
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WARNING!!! 2004-11-22
This is one of the greatest PC adventure games ever released. It has a strong mix of puzzles, humor and moving storyline that have made it a classic. While point-and-click fanatics may not like the fact that movement is accomplished by using the arrow keys instead of the mouse, it is well worth your time to familiarize yourself with the controls, as the gameplay is unparalleled adventure game fun. HOWEVER...
DO NOT PURCHASE THIS GAME FROM MOST OF THOSE SELLERS OFFERING "NEW" COPIES HERE AT AMAZON!!!
You will find the jewel-case (no box) release of this game advertised new and factory sealed for from $22-50 by Amazon retailers. You can purchase this same version of Grim Fandango directly from the publisher (LucasArts) for a mere $15. Don't let yourself get ripped off in your excitement to purchase this classic game!
