Grimville: The Gift of Darkness

Grimville: The Gift of Darkness
by Puppet Life - November, 2013

Available at:
Alawar
Big Fish
GameHouse
iWin



Darkness has engulfed the quiet town of Grimville! Use all your cunning and wits to unravel the evil intrigues and save Grimville from the invasion of Darkness in this exciting hidden-object puzzle adventure game! Interact with characters to find more details in your investigation, uncover the old legend of the Magic Tower and the Gift of Darkness, and solve the mystery of the missing mayor. Your choices determine the ending. What will you choose: the path of justice or selfishness?

• You decide: your choices lead to 2 different endings!
  
• Fantastic, chilling storyline with unexpected twists
  
• Mind-blowing mini-games and hidden-object scenes
  
• Chilling storyline with unexpected twists. Darkness is about to destroy the peaceful life in Grimville. Your mission is to seek out the vicious villain and decipher the mystery of the Ancient Amulet.
  
• Two different endings. Your choices in the game determine the ending: good or evil?
  
• Atmospheric graphics. Grimville keeps the style of graphics that our fans have always appreciated in previous games.
  
• Gameplay. 2 game modes, 26 locations, 17 mini-games, 10 hidden object scenes, hours of fun and joy
  

Click images to enlarge
__

Kinda Nutty, But...
  

BASED ON DEMO

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
This not a game I would normally find interesting. The graphics are very cartoony, the story is slow and a bit hokey, and there is way too much dialogue. However, it is unique and warrants special attention because of it.

SIGHTS & SOUNDS
The graphics remind me of the better concept art we get in CE. Roughed out images, thickly applied colours and textures, very dark and noticeable outline. But as that type of art goes, it is pretty good. And the HOPs are more detailed and realistic, with objects clearly defined. The soundtrack is not good. No voiceovers, and there’s lots of dialogue, the music is very repetitive, and ambient sounds are mostly unnoticeable.

WHAT’S HAPPENING
This story is told in the opening scenes, which are too long and too many for most of us impatient to get to the action. We are a member of a society dedicated to curbing misbehaving magical beings. It is our job to track down and identify these individuals wherever suspicions may suggest their existence. When we confirm it, we call in the big guns.

MAKING PROGRESS
Our investigation begins in the train station of Grimville, where a suspicious murder has taken place. In order to move ahead, we must talk to many characters, real conversations, and they give us a quest to do before they will give us what we need. They also help with information and tips. At the beginning, the quests seem so inane I thought I’d wouldn’t be able to hang in for the hour, but it improves somewhat. It is definitely a game of the more adventure-style gaming than HOPs or puzzles. In the hour I came across 2 HOP scenes, each visited 3 times, and 2 (easy) puzzles. The HOPs are interactive word lists, very basic. There are also very few items just ‘lying around’ as we go from location to location.

There is a map, but it is vague and cannot be used for help on the next move or as a jump map. There is a goodish journal. Its notes section is pretty well useless, but the task lists are detailed and very helpful. The hint is interesting. It gives us a suggestion of who we should speak to, and directional arrows to take us to where they are. One thing that was very difficult to adjust to was the directions we moved in. Going ahead is never as easy as just point up, or back. Most of the moves from one location to another are sideways and at different angles.

The unique factor that may make all the difference in this game is that, throughout the game we must make choices that affect the ending of the story and what other characters do. Combine this feature with comic book graphics, lots of dialogue with lots of characters,  and the quest-driven nature of the gameplay, I think it is best to view this as a mini-adventure game.


FAMOUS LAST WORDS
I found the whole game a little childish and I suspect there is an attempt at sending up these characters, but I didn’t find the game actually funny. Not a game for HOP fans, but perhaps for those who enjoy adventures, with a little tongue in cheek?

It’s not too bad a game, particularly for a standalone SE, but in the end, though, it is not a game I’d recommend.

I Don't Recommend This Game!

I just found that Puppet Life made this game, as they are in the forums at BF at the moment.  Games by this team (from my list):

• Between the Worlds
  
• Between the Worlds II:The Pyramid
  
• Between the Worlds III: The Heart of the World
  
• Chronoclasm Chronicles
  
• Grimville: The Gift of Darkness
  
• Kingdom of Seven Seals
  

I haven't played any of these  

So what's this I hear about censoring the game?  Trying to find the info now...

EDIT:  So they said 'bullshit,' big deal.  It's not aimed at kids, right?

PuppetLife_Team at BF forums wrote:Puppet Life team is very sorry for this inconvenience with the wording. We have already fixed this bug and I believe the updated game version comes out soon.
Once again accept our apologies. We very much hope it did not ruin your game experience.

Download quick if you want the original version!

I've added some extra info from the developer to post #1 (look for the bolded stuff,) and here is their promo video:

Ridiculous about the bs. If you wanted to censor everything you see and read to that extent, 90% of tv and movies would be completely out of bounds.

I haven't played these games myself, but I have demo'd most of them. Didn't like any of them. The Between The Worlds series I remember particularly annoying me, although I don't remember why.

This comment made me see red:

This is not supposed to be a slimy, smutty adults-only site.

She also called it "profanity", obviously not really knowing what that word means.

Gah!  So many of those commenters drive me crazy.

Oh good lord... The use of the word bullshit (or even just SHIT!) in one game does not make a whole site slimy and smutty.    and someone who uses these word themselves is not a slimy or smutty person, either!

You have the right, as a consumer, to NOT buy/play these games if they offend you.  More power to ya, but don't force your values on everyone else!

OMG! I just read this over at BF. This game got changed because of bull shit???? Yep you better not turn on the TV then. I agree. There's no piano tied to anyone's ass to play these games. Don't like them don't play them!

I got the game this morning and I hope I got the uncensored version.

I'm not against censorship as long as I have a choice. What gets me is, I never have a choice. Just because something might be offensive to someone else, why should they have the right to make a moral decision for me?
I quit buying music at Walmart when they only sold the "clean" or "edited" CDs, and started ordering my music on-line.

Gosh, I must really be slimy & slutty and I also like D&E games. I probably use a curse word at least once a day, if not more. I'm so bad!!

Okay, I will admit it, I have quite the potty-mouth!

I'm pretty generous with the F-bomb, so seeing "bullshit" wasn't terribly upsetting.  And I agree with you, where does censorship end?  Is this some kind of competition to see who can be more morally offended?  You know what offends me?  Stupidity and mental rigidity.

A resounding Amen!! (from the atheist)  I must admit I often get offended. But as you say, by people who want to inflict their beliefs on others. Drives me nuts. "The only thing I can't tolerate is intolerance"  

What's D&E games? I've heard of D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) but not D&E?

Dark and Eerie - there's a thread here where the chatterboxes chatter about games! So nice to do that. I wish sometimes that I was in the same time zone though, because I'm just hitting the sack when genki and co are eating breakfast! 

OH OK! I didn't even think about dark & eerie! LOL

Oh, I didn't mean to say slutty. It's slimy and smutty!

You know, I can't believe someone actually posted that!

Oh my gosh, I didn't even notice the typo until you pointed it out! Bwahahaha

There's no piano tied to anyone's ass to play these games    

I love this, gives me quite a visual ... 


Oh, I didn't mean to say slutty. It's slimy and smutty!   slimy,  smutty, slutty
and spluttery.....the person on the forum was definitely spluttering!   

I hardly go to the forums,  but I did for  this game  and could not believe  that comment.
I'll be honest,  I do not curse.  (One of my coworkers years ago nicknamed me Mother
Superior.    I embraced it.   MY BF had a different name for me.    )  
 

But even I thought it was an over reaction. She must have over sensitive sensibilities.
This is what I recommend.  

To bad that emoticon is not on BF's forum. Of course if I used it, I would offend someone.  

Oh.... I do like the game.

By the Way....Imagine when that poster sees the new K-Mart Ad with the guys in the
Joe Boxers doing Jingle Bells  

I saw the Joe Boxer ad this morning, along with their other ads. They're hilarious!

Very clever use of words there! Love it!

Oh I did too! I saw this ad! I was watching  TV last night and I guess some people are offended by it. I thought it was hilarious too!

Well, of course. It's probably the same people offended by the use of the word bullshit.

Will somebody post it in the Our Favorite Videos from All Over thread?  I haven't seen it, and I wanna!

djrum wrote:Well, of course. It's probably the same people offended by the use of the word bullshit.

Oh I wouldn't doubt it! Actually that was my first thought!

Video Posted. Enjoy!!