GRIME

GRIME
81
Metacritic
86
Steam
86.517
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$24.99
Release date
2 August 2021
Developers
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
86 (3 409 votes)
Recent
84 (46 votes)

Destroy... Absorb... Grow... GRIME is a fast and unforgiving Action-Adventure RPG in which you crush your foes with living weapons that mutate form and function, and then consume their remains with a black hole to strengthen your vessel as you break apart a world of anatomical horror and intrigue.

Show detailed description

GRIME system requirements

Minimum:

  • OS: Windows 7
  • Processor: Intel i5 3470 or AMD equivelent
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: nVidia GeForce 960 or AMD equivelent
  • DirectX: Version 10
  • Storage: 10 GB available space

Recommended:

Recommended requirements are not yet specified.
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FerrumAnimus
FerrumAnimus

First game I finished in the last 6 years, and I have almost 400 games. A masterpiece, very recommended. Can’t wait for more content.

The Tooketh King
The Tooketh King

Two very sore thumbs up.
Overall a challenging metroidvania with a cool aesthetic and obscure abstract storyline.

D00mnoodle
D00mnoodle

Grime is a unique and interesting concept of a game that could've been a masterpiece but falls short in the end due to a lack of polish, strange design choices and very poor balance. It's not all bad as the concept & setting, visuals, world & character designs and the audio + soundtrack are all wonderfully made, especially for a team of only 5 devs (+2 sound guys). This is also the reason why i'm giving it a thumbs up, because what's there is still pretty impressive for such a small team. It's just a shame that it wasn't better, because it could've been one of the best games in the genre, because it's so unique.

So first of the game is pretty buggy, nothing game breaking (those have been patched after the rocky start) but still very obvious. There's a ton of animation glitches, places you can get stuck and clipping of characters (both the player and npc's). The controls also feel clunky at times and sometimes even refuse to react to your inputs, especially the grapple which sometimes screws you over during tricky sections. This lack of polish makes the game a slog to play and really hampers the experience. Luckily performance is pretty good, i had no lag or framedrops whatsoever during my 24 hours with the game.

The design choices & balance are probably my biggest gripes with the game. It's a sidescroller action rpg metroidvania but the metroidvania element is sorely lacking. Yes there's ability gating and backtracking, but it's still mostly linear and all the backtracking is for collectibles. These collectibles are 9/10 times consumables (and not very good ones at that) which REALLY SUCKS! Finding a consumable as the reward for a difficult platforming sequence or a well hidden secret wall just sucks... It doesn't feel rewarding and made me not want to 100% the map (which i normally do for all my metroidvania's). There's also nothing to help you 100% the map, as there's no indication of collectibles or clues where to find them. There's also beacons that block the map until reassembled which makes it quite the chore at times to explore new areas, and feels like a needless extra hurdle to overcome. The RPG elements also really hamper the experience imo, as they lead to very poor balance.

This poor balance is due to a multitude of reasons, but mainly due to the RPG attributes system. This system allows you to put points into health, stamina and one of 3 damage categories. The big issue here is that without stamina you cannot attack or dodge, so you NEED to invest about 40% or more of your points into stamina. This leaves the remainig 60% to be divided among health or damage. Which would be fine if the game didn't have such a large variety of weapons. You find these while exploring but you can't even use half of them due to the stat requirements lest you go for a hybrid build (which barely does any damage). This is a MAYOR letdown, because this makes it so you can't use the cool new weapons you found due to not having the requirements.

This can be alleviated by respeccing which also uses (you guessed it) consumable items... You can only respec about 3-4 times in the WHOLE game (that is, if you explored most of the map). What this means in the end is that the variety in weapons conflicts with the restrictions in stats which makes it so that no matter what you choose you still feel like you choose poorly. Add to this the fact that certain bosses are nigh impossible without the proper build (in a game where you can only respec a few times) and you're left with a very frustrating experience. The game is STUPIDLY hard as well because of this. I played blasphemous, dark devotion, ender lillies, death's gambit & death's door, both ori's, vigil the longest night, tunic and titan & eldest souls and NONE of them frustrated me like this one when i died, because i felt that i could've played better in those games. In this game i die because i specced into the wrong stats...

This game is also harder than those games combined due to poorly telegraphed attacks, miniscule parry windows and HARD hitting enemies that can and will one or two shot you with their combos (especially since you'll most likely spec into damage which leaves you with 0 health upgrades). And it's not just the (mini)bosses. Even regular enemies can screw you up, especially if they team up, staggering you as they take turns beating the crap out of you. Add to this that the checkpoint distribution is so sparse that dying sends you back minutes at a time and you'll spend half of the time playing this respawning and making your way back. Luckily the game doesn't really punish death (no loss of currency or anything like that) so atleast it has that going for it.

Despite all these flaws though the game is worth experiencing due to the concept. A truly alien and surreal setting for a metroidvania is something that to my knowledge didn't really exist before grime came along. The game does a superb job at conveying it's atmosphere through the gorgeous visuals and stellar designs for both the areas themselves as well as everything that lives within it. The sound design and soundtrack really tie up the package as an immersive experience into one of the most freaky but at the same time unique and intruiging worlds found in gaming. I think based on that alone that it's a game worth experiencing if you're good at these difficult games. Recommended but beware it will push your skills to their limits!

ReddKnight
ReddKnight

One of the best metroidvania games i have ever played and a very good souls like. it is unfortunate though that the game doesn't have a new game plus feature which means i currently have no reason to keep playing it but i hope clover bite will add a new game plus feature in future updates. with that said this game is incredible very good level design, enemies, boss battles, platforming this game has EVERYTHING so buy this game right now to support these amazing developers.

Besný Pes
Besný Pes

Good game. Recommended. But...

Runs VERY BAD on Steamdeck. Major let down. "Verified" badge should not be there. I believe some optimizations may fix this issue completelly. Hello devs?

alecronious
alecronious

an incredibly weird game that checks my two favorite genres: metroidvania and soulslike. a game i bought and loved, but fell off because i did not quite understand the mechanics, only to come back to and adore even more. i love all the risks this game took with such an obscure story and strange art and biomes. the combat is crisp and this game has my all-time favorite parry mechanic, with being able to absorb enemies and turn them into traits you can later invest in.

well, what are you waiting for? get grimey, baby

Edorian
Edorian

A truly wonderful experience that can maybe be summarized by "What if Hollow Knight had more Souls-like combat". Which is selling the whole experience a bit short but still accurate enough, I'd say.

The world exploration is a joy to behold; the secrets are, for the most part, very findable, the Metroidvania parts are telegraphed well enough, and the devs clearly cared a lot about people that want to explore every nook and cranny of the world — even going so far as to allow you to teleport to every bonfire/bench at the end to easily pick up what you might have missed.

Storytelling is approached very differently from other games, and the atmosphere is excellent.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing more from these folks.

Gribouillette
Gribouillette

tl;dr: If you've enjoyed Hollow Knight, Ori, Blasphemous or even Salt and Sanctuary, you can't go wrong with this game. While it doesn't add anything new to the souls-like metroidvania genre, it does a sufficient amount of things right to be considered a very good game

Grime is one of those game I added on my wishlist during my quest to finish every Hollow Knight-like on steam. I've first heard about it because I follow the composer of the soundtrack, and the style appealed to me. I played the demo (by the way, props to the developer for including a demo, I feel like not enough games allow users to try out a demo before purchasing, but that’s another rant) which I greatly enjoyed. The main theme and mechanic of the game is absorbing, you can absorb attacks, items, creatures and bosses to grow your character, with a currency adequately named “mass”.

The gameplay is very similar to other metroidvanias with a stamina bar, you have your classic light and heavy attacks, jump and “roll” with the ability to heal by collecting the “breath” of enemies, which you obtain by parrying them. While it has been seen before, I enjoyed the active side of the healing system, that requires you to take risks in order to fill your healthbar back up. And I think this sentence is my overall opinion of the game; it’s nothing new and doesn’t take risks (in fact, it takes LESS risks than other souls like by removing the loss of experience on death, even if you don’t recover it afterwards), but what it does is good and enjoyable. I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t have a good time from start to finish.

Grime will test you on 4 fronts: exploration, combat against regular enemies, combat against elites/bosses, and platforming. Sadly, only the last two felt like they were pushed to the max, with some bossfights being visually good and well-designed and precise attack patterns, and the later platforming sections putting you in a trance-like state when overcoming an array of obstacles without hitting the ground for sometimes up to 15 seconds. It’s a shame the exploration didn’t get pushed as far, as there was no “aaah!” moment when finding a secret, usually being upgrade material, armor, or a weapon if you’re lucky. And while the later areas can be tough to progress with them being filled with enemies, there AI was easily manipulated to play it safe.

I’ll finish this reviewing by stating that I didn’t run into any major glitches, the only bothering things I ran into was a drop in frames in a later area, some floors that took too long to load when I exited an elevator (which caused me to fall, but not die), likely due to the pop-in, and finally the white lines between the “blocks” make an area, it took me a little bit out of the experience.

Bonus: Some nitpicks I have with the animations. The “walk” animation has the feet of the character dragging for a couple of frames, and you wouldn’t notice it at first, except there are multiple instances of platforming where you HAVE to walk. Also, one of the minibosses was clearly lacking an animation for one of its attack; it looked like a goddamn submarine with its periscope out.

THE GOOD:
-Fast-paced combat with a wide arsenal of gruesome weapons, against a decent roster of foes and fun bosses
-Tight controls with fast responsiveness, overall a pretty good gamefeel
-Gloomy and dark ambiance with some truly wonderful backgrounds and neat character designs.
-Really good score and sound design

THE OKAY:
-Unlike some souls-like, a comprehensive upgrade and levelup tree that allows for minor differences in playstyle
-A not-so punitive death system that allows you to keep your precious experience even after respawning.
-An decent story, with a bit of an enjoyable fourth-wall breaking.
-Some "break or make" visuals, while they could be rough at times, I personally enjoyed them
-There is, to my knowledge, no value or need for a second playthrough, as there is no NG+, and you can still explore the world to find all the items/bosses even after beating the game.

THE BAD:
-Nothing terrible, really. The worst I could say is that the game lacked a final layer of polish, some animations felt unfinished (or even inexistent).

Overall score 7.5/10, I enjoyed being a handsome ravenous blackhole and mocking weirdly-shaped rockpeople.

Toto
Toto

If you like 2D souls likes this game is a very good buy. It is challenging but very rewarding. Once you master the combat mechanics the game becomes much more manageable. That being said the last few bosses in the game posed quite a challenge for me on my first playthrough but on my second playthrough only 1 took multiple attempts.

Overall the progression and RPG mechanics of this game provide a lot of possible variation in gameplay styles. That with the very satisfy combat mechanics makes this game really stand out for me.

Lagg
Lagg

Another one of those hybrid gameplays of metroidvania and weirdly-soulsy mechanics mixed in with expected lore-via-item-and-boss-and-world stuff otherwise. The core mechanic here is parrying, or Absorbing as it's called. Which builds up your estus gauge, sucks the soul/lifeforce out of enemies and does other cool things depending on build.

Weapons are of the "cool lore with weird specials especially if you go with the INT skilled ones" variety. Skills are classic STR/DEX/INT (with INT called Resonance here which is badass for lore reasons I only just recognized) with items having A-E scaling grades and basic threshold requirements.

I wasn't going to make a review for this because beyond being exceptionally awesome-album-cover-in-every-frame it doesn't initially seem like it's doing much beyond the usual grimdarkness - you know, given it's kinda in the name.

About midway through the game though I started noticing something that'll make sense for people that want to look at the achievement icons for this and understand why I made note of the icon for the "Unwrapping the Gift" one. Certain exposition basically confirmed what I was thinking.

Now that I'm 99% sure I understand what's going on though I have to make the review out of a feeling of respect for the art / devs because hot dayum. Also I'm not saying anything else about the world to anyone in my list here or otherwise anymore. Because people know there's about 3 genres I'm a huge mark for, and this leaves just enough ambiguity for it to be spoiler-free still. So yo welcome.

yesnomu
yesnomu

Strange and morbid metroidvania about living rocks that were never meant to exist. The world feels hostile and dismal, but this is a more intentional choice than most similar games, and it has some philosophy to it that adds depth. Combat is solid and the platforming is good, but watch out--it falls prey to Required Platforming Hell Near the End Syndrome, just like Hollow Knight.

Orphan Martian
Orphan Martian

My god this game is boring. Three hours in, finally beat the mothers, and I am already fed up. Tedious combat, cramped boss arenas, cheap ambushes, constant backtracking, wondering where the heck I am in this giant black void. It's just so annoying and frustrating in all the wrong ways. I honestly love the art style and concepts of the plot, but the gameplay is too frustrating to be enjoyable. Wish I could still get my money back.

As a fan of Dark Souls, Hollow Knight, Salt and Sanctuary, Ori, etc, I would say skip this one.

Pilk Addict
Pilk Addict

I came into this game looking for something to numb the Silksong Brainrot, but was surprised to see how good the game actually was!

fragrence
fragrence

Very surprised with how good turned out. If you're waiting for Dark Souls 3 to go on sale, this is the game to play in the mean time. Very souls like, but unique in its on way and game play. Beautiful graphics and pretty good sound track. Give it a try!

MechMinion
MechMinion

I loved this metroidvania! combat feels rewarding and the powers are interesting. The art style is beautiful and dark! Took me around 12 hours to complete on my first run. If you'd like to see a ton of game play footage you can check out my play through on: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyeI2ySvSX8dE5FG3GcMDkqWHTTUowGG5

Avocado
Avocado

Highly recommend this game to anyone interested in Metroidvanias with a Souls-like theme.

Pros:
- Bosses are difficult but fair
- Engaging combat
- Decent enemy variety
- Different builds with tons of weapons and armor and traits
- Cool setting with variety of biomes
- Traversal is fun

Cons:
- Your starting weapon seems to be the best in game besides maybe Rawblade. The other weapons could use a buff.
- Steam Deck performance could be better optimized, however it is definitly playable, just a bit choppy.
- it would be great if you could warp between monoliths soon after starting
- some visual bugs, but nothing game breaking

Monorea
Monorea

I love the aesthetics of this game, interesting story and you really feel like a force of nature as the character in this game. Had just a lovely time the whole game, in any case it was great fun.

taxSyn
taxSyn

Grime does the most important thing a "metroidvania" can do, which is to differentiate itself with new mechanics, and implementing existing mechanics with a deeper quality.

There's already plenty of reviews praising the game, so I will go in depth about the combat mechanics, and the objective improvements that Grime makes on the soulslike combat formula.

I've seen some negative reviews that complain about stamina regenerating too slowly. This is not true.
It is important to understand that Grime combat mechanics are more complex that what you've come to expect from "soulslike" combat.

Soulslike combat devolves into invulnerability frame spam, where the challenge of the combat is merely to dodge at the right moment. And any restriction on the availability of stamina can just be alleviated by leveling.

Grime improves on this formula by elevating the functionality of another staple mechanic, the parry.

The parry is an integral aspect of the Grime combat mechanics. In regular soulslike combat, the parry is optional, but here you will need to use it strategically. While it is technically possible to dodge everything, the fights in Grime are cleverly designed to make it obvious to you that dodging everything is a bad strategy. (This is where people think there is an issue with the stamina bar)

Since stamina is less abundantly available, parrying is an alternative way of avoiding damage that does not cost stamina. Not only that. Successfully parrying will open up different movesets in some bosses, that can be punished more severely.

Which brings me to the next innovative mechanic: The pull.
Grime lets you yank enemies off balance, but you can only do so at specific time windows. These are well telegraphed, and learning how to set up bosses for a good pull is part of the dance. Not only does this open up bosses to being damaged, it also gives you precious seconds to recover.

I think you might be getting the picture now, with regards to stamina. Grime gives you way more tools to fight with compared to other soulslike games. If you don't use these tools then you'll have a hard time.

And I haven't even gotten into all the character upgrades yet. Which allow you to enhance different aspects of your toolkit to suit the playstyle you most enjoy. Do you really like using the pull mechanic? Then you can make it so that each successful pull slightly heals you. Do you prefer to dodge as often as possible? Then you can choose from a variety of ways to regenerate your stamina. Do you like parrying? You can make it higher risk/reward, or you can level up safeguards that protect you from the punishment of a mistimed parry.

Some of you may find that the bosses are huge difficulty spikes. This is also by design. Since the game follows the philosophy of no-handholding, the bosses serve as a gatekeeper who makes sure that you have begun to understand the game mechanics.

The boss will show you which part of the mechanics you struggle with. And the experience of your attempts to fight it will inform your choices of which skills to level. There are many optimal ways to play, and each player will choose a slightly different strategy.

Another way to explain the combat of Grime is that it reverses what you know about parrying. In other soulslike games, parrying is the hard way to fight, and dodging everything is easier. That's not the case in Grime. Trying to fight a boss without parrying is the hard mode. But I think that this is precisely what people get frustrated with.

Parrying is also your main source of health regeneration. Are you seeing a theme here? Parry EVERYTHING, except if it's red. Red = don't parry, but find the blind spots. The red attack looks big and scary, but if you look calmly you'll see there are some spots that you can calmly stroll towards and avoid the attack entirely.

lukehampton04
lukehampton04

Absolutely wonderful metroidvania. The first game I've actually wanted to achieve 100% in a long time. I'd love to see some DLC!

Silverk1ll
Silverk1ll

9/10
Brutal. Hardcore. Oldschool.

Amnesicturtles
Amnesicturtles

Great game. Really well thought, well implemented combat and plataforming. Unique art style and a cool story that compares various societies. The map is fun to explore with a lot of secrets and the enemies and bosses are fun to fight thanks to the combat mechanics being always present.

tommyflavio
tommyflavio

GRIME is definitely one of my favorite modern, souls-like, action, RPG (metroidvania) games. Very familiar and intuitive, but genuinely challenging and rewarding gameplay. The art grim style is beautifully dark. The parry/absorb combat feature is extremely responsive and fun. It gets addicting coming across new emenies and learning their attack plans to ultimately absorb their benefits. Boss, so far, have not been too painful.

Grime is up there among the likes of Ender LIlies, FIST, Luna Nights, and HunterX for my favorite recent titles in the metroidvania/action-rpg genre. Extremely recommend this game for all action-platformer/action-rpg/metroidvania fans!

MasterZalm
MasterZalm

Jump puzzles in this game are severely broken. And for a souls like to have THIS many jump puzzles, its not really a souls like, more of a platformer.

If you like Souls games, do not buy this, ever.

Also, who puts a side scrolling platformer double jump at the end of the game? Double jump is a core mechanic in ANY side scroller if its available. What a bad idea.

TheNakash
TheNakash

A little weird and has challenging boss fights. Had fun.

SuViSaK
SuViSaK

This game is well worth the money.

sethkane
sethkane

Grime is pretty good and I would recommend you try it.

Exploration doesn't always feel rewarding, especially when one mistake can send you back to the checkpoints.

There are fast travel options and save points near bosses (unless you miss them then screw you i suppose) but because movement is quite sluggish this still isn't adequate. I'd prefer a system where you either fast travel from checkpoints or move faster in general.

Bosses are good and rely on learning patterns over being fast.

The world-building and aesthetic is excellent and the lore is interesting too.

The weapons are fun and varied but the meat of the game is the parry mechanic.

It feels like the same idea to Blasphemous but without the catholic god bothering and more lovecraftian elder god bothering.

It's hard at times.

Edit: I wouldn't call the game 'fun'...but It is really rewarding once you master the mechanics and get to the end.

baldbab
baldbab

This game is difficult and will test your reflexes as well as platforming knowledge. However, I would lovingly recommend others this gem of a game. Not only does it provide exploration of a metroidvania game, it also has the combat of a souls-like. This combination of play styles works together wonderfully (most of the time) and sports one of the most unique and different/weird fantasy worlds I have ever seen in a game. Bravo to all that made this game!

spartanberdi
spartanberdi

Very good game. Works well on steam deck.
Performance dips in some heavy areas.

jjbruch
jjbruch

Decent souls game ruined by shitty platforming sections.

Update: Reluctant Thumbs Up. It is clear the developer is passionate about making a good product and there are many positives to Grime. The souls-like gameplay is good. The learning curve on most of the bosses is fun and well tuned and has good feedback on learning the patterns. The atmosphere, music, world setup and story are interesting.

However, the platforming and grapple moves are imprecise and frustrating. There are quality of life issues that waste the players time. It is mind boggling that a key travel feature is only introduced when you finish the game. What were they thinking???

Anyways, there is a good game in there if you are patient and can overlook some of the flaws. I look forward to seeing what the developer does next.

McNutt, WY
McNutt, WY

Like all metroidvanias (for some ungodly reason), respawn points are few and far inbetween - highly annoying. Gameplay feels nice once you get into it. movement is wonky but not a big deal. The game looks very unique. Recommend so far!

BumPlung3r
BumPlung3r

Not only does the gameplay evolve smoothly and keep you interested, the story is gripping and engaging as well. The combat style of repelling and absorbing is unique (to my experience, at least) and challenging while also being rewarding.

Great game, great story. Would recommend.

Anonymous
Anonymous

I like this game! It's a bit hard but i don't care if it's hard or not because the concept is fun and original. Litterally ANYTHING in this game is made out of stone and it's satisfying to see the prey getting destroyed! I only don't like it's very hard to get a refund when i grew the vessel. What if you want that mass back? Well, whatever... i like it!

design:
Never seen a masterpiece like this!

Platforming:
A bit tricky but OK.

Combat:
You Gonna Die A Lot!

Difficulty:
Dark Souls

Co-Op:
NOPE!

Gameplay:
Very Fun!

Jokes:
Not that funny...

Price:
It's payable.

Grade:
8,5/10
"A Litterally Smashing Experience!"

Zuldim
Zuldim

One of the best Metroidvanias in years, the best game in the genre since Hollow Knight. Should not be missed by any fans of the genre.

Nabla
Nabla

Some pluses, some minuses. Overall, decent. Get it on sale.

Maxfresh
Maxfresh

Excellent platformer game. Soul like, you have a lot of options to make your build. I'm 8h in and really enjoy it. I will edit the post after I finish the game.

Edgewalker
Edgewalker

Poorly calibrated difficulty combined with too much running, slog survival fights, and not enough interesting enemies. The game was pretty reasonable up to the first boss, which I got bored with. Grime rewards dedication to rote memorization over general skills or reflexes. No skills you gain fighting one enemy count for fighting another. You just have to recall exactly when to hit that counter button. And if you don't, I hope you like a 50% XP penalty.

darkquiescent
darkquiescent

as a whole this game was way better than i ever anticipated it being. The beginning is a little rough as it doesn't hold your hand that much and you gotta learn how to Counter since you won't get a weapon at the start. Definitely teaches you the most important things at the beginning, and learning the timing on that can save you alot of trouble on bosses and enemies alike. i'd definitely give a 10/10

Dew Adept
Dew Adept

Hard to believe such an impressive game was developed by a team of 5 developers that started working on the game in college as a first project. GRIME is a metroidvania-soulslike 2D platformer that offers a variety of asthetic combat challenge and an intriguing story in a surreal world. A game worth playing when looking to have some action fun and optional, yet satisfying and recommended, exploration. Although many games of this genre have been released in recent years and a handful seem insurmountable in quality and entertainment but GRIME stands on that pedestal along with the other great names of the genre. Highly recommended.

Mango
Mango

Few times have I ever enjoyed a game with such delight such as that I've had playing GRIME.
A perfect mix of challenging enemies, difficult bosses, rewarding mechanics, a very peculiar system of countering, metroidvania, souls-like, perfectly wrapped up with it's "leveling" system.
The art is just sublime, making me simply stop and breathlessly admire the scenery around a dozen times.

Albeit this is probably not a game for everyone, it certainly is a game that deserves much more recognition than that it usually gets. Giving it a try is something everyone should do sometimes in their lives.
Some of the best hours of my life, comparable to my first playthrough of Hollow Knight.

tl;dr Beautiful game, just delightful to play through, even if the difficulty curve can sometimes kick your ass.

Twitch_Kr4zyKraken
Twitch_Kr4zyKraken

great game, awesome aesthetics ans scenery. There should be a pop-up tutorial when u need to pull(jump) the platforms across the gaps when ascending Carven Palace. I literally went back to find and fight everything, thinking i would get a new ability. Then I googled it, and realized to progress I needed to stay in Carven Palace. After that I went back to the platforms with electricity, and tried some thing just to see if it worked, and it did. Thank god. I was about to go insane. So yes this game is really good, but man that part made me want to punch a whole in a wall, which I kinda got to do shortly after(in game).

Merim
Merim

Challenging platformer game with some nice level up system, as well as some weapons and gears you get in the game along with some abilities. A Souls-like game mixed with Metroidvania. Similar to Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, any other games like that. Though this game has similar feeling to 3000th duel in my personal opinion, which is great because I think that game is amazing too. You get to play as a humanoid figure with a black hole on its head. Nice exploration in this game as well with hidden stuff that will help you through your gameplay.

But yeah, I definitely recommend this. Amazing game.

sethhed
sethhed

The game I nEver knew i NEEDED!

Jake the dog
Jake the dog

This game is pretty good and worth to be played. The devs is also reading the player feedback and working to improve the game to get even better. (thank you dev for your response =)

I'm almost finishing the game and for me, after I got the air dash and grappling the gameplay changed completly and became super fun. I think you guys could enable those upgrades earlier.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm really enjoying this game, but there is only one reason I would not recommend it... backtracking!!!!!! This is such a commom flaw in most sidescrolling plataforms, and I don't understand why devs let this happen.

Look guys, backtracking in a sidescrolling ins't as fun as in a Dark Souls game where you have a really vast and beautifull 3D scenario to explore. It's just tedious button mash and constant map peaking.

Devs, you have a great game, but please put a fucking teleport into this checkpoint stones.

The Koro
The Koro

Clunky character + Hollow Knight plataforming = Hell

27 hours on this game and I already hate it.
I swear to God I tried.

Double Joker
Double Joker

Pretty but not entertaining. Skip. Unless you like absolutely aggravating jumping puzzles, then by all means knock yourself out. If you're an actual human being who doesn't play games to get frustrated to the point of rage, then absolutely don't get this game. 1000% hateful.

le9ale7
le9ale7

great metrovenia game include leveling, skills and weapons collecting and smith

Conductor of the Poop Train!
Conductor of t…

Honestly one of the best metroidvanias I have every played

Шыша добрый кот
Шыша добрый кот

I stumbled upon this game when browsing the Akupara releases after first learning about Akupara through other game of theirs, Rain World.

Played the demo (which is rich and really absorbs you into the game), bought the full game.

Quality. Solid game with lots of care put into it, and it shows.

Love the souls mechanic, hollow knight-like complex metroidvania maps, and LOTS of secrets!!!
The ambient sounds add to the atmosphere.
The menus are also made with care.

Udreif
Udreif

This game has an amazing atmosphere, action, secret-seeking, and a great soundtrack that's very reminiscent of Bloodborne's which is probably one of the biggest compliments one can give to a soundtrack

The mechanic of gaining traits from new enemies is fun, and so is getting hunt points from minibosses. It always feels like exploring a bit is rewarded and the build variety is great enough to last for a while.

Definitely recommended, I think it's a must play honestly

Abu Kazem
Abu Kazem

challenging , creative and fun

it's one of the best games i ever play

Mark
Mark

One of the best metroidvanias I've played please make a sequel.

cen_27
cen_27

Very nice game for play hours. just enjoy :)

Alefwynn
Alefwynn

Super fun albeit super hard completely worth buying!

Brunohes
Brunohes

Very good metroidvania, solid combat, loved the parry mechanics, had a lot of fun.

xelcis24
xelcis24

incredible platforming experience

eitan13m
eitan13m

one of the best metroidvanias i played in the last few years.

blazeq8y
blazeq8y

one of the best 2d games i ever play , i love it

DeathArrow
DeathArrow

My most favorite metroidvania Souls game

Brainy Veddy
Brainy Veddy

Played the demo on stream and absolutely loved it, then immediately bought the full game. I subsequently started playing that on stream and ragequit, but came back and started playing it again off stream because I didn't want my money to go to waste, and miraculously I am now LOVING it and started actively following its updates. Don't know what changed in me; I know the game didn't update in that time, but I do for sure recommend the game. Moral of the story: it's okay to bounce off of something and give it a second chance later. None of us want to waste our money. And speaking of updates, sounds like it's come a long way in the way of quality of life updates since it came out too. So if you heard plus ungood things about it, like how it used to bar off fast travel until near the end of the game, don't worry - it's changed for the better now. There are some awkward design decisions here and there, but I certainly recommend this game. Also, if it helps to know, I bought it on sale.

Boris
Boris

This is a good and challenging Metroidvania. About 12 or so hours for a full playthrough. Plenty of completionist work to be done if you want to pursue that road. Not bad at full price, better on sale, but worth the play. Some call this a souls-like but there's no real "loss" for dying which eases that substantially. I had two bosses that were a struggle but otherwise pretty smooth.

tim.laursen
tim.laursen

After a couple of hours of playtime I have come to realize that I am never going to finish this game. The art style is cool, but the story didn't stir any emotions in me. At the first boss battle I had already experienced some frustration with the distance between check points, which makes the game a rather boring grind, and I felt that this was the point where I had to decide if I wanted a refund or not. Since the story still hadn't established any reason for me to care about the character I am playing, like AT ALL, and my tolerance for frustration is maybe a bit on the low side, I decided that this game isn't for me.

Although I know from reviews that there IS a story in there that gets revealed eventually, the game sure takes its sweet time to get around to explaining to the player why they should care about what happens in the world and to the character. What is my motivation to fight that monster in front of me besides the fact that it is in my way? Since I have been given no reason, not even a bad one, I decided that I could win the game by not playing (yes, I'm old enough to have watched War Games), get my refund, and leave the poor thing that hadn't done anything to me alone.

So, here's an important lesson for game developers on Steam: Players have about four hours to decide if they want a refund or not. If by that time you have not managed to get them hooked into the story and the world, then you will lose customers, as is the case here.

Maybe I will spend my time playing through the Ori games again instead. Now, THERE is a master class in getting the player emotionally invested from the very beginning!

elwook
elwook

As a big Metroidvania fan, I try to look for ones that stand out from the crowd. And boy does Grime stand out! The art style is as enthralling as the first time I played Hollow Knight. Plus the fact that, since things are stone based, you really feel the weight of movements and combat. Also a great Steam Deck game! It runs wonderfully on ultra settings. If I were to make any critique, it would be that it eats the Deck's battery pretty quickly with ultra settings, but that's me TRYING to come up with a negative. Really haven't found anything else that hasn't impressed me with Grime so far. Highly recommended, especially since there's a very generous demo already provided.

BBWolfe
BBWolfe

Grime is an excellent merger of the soulsy and Metroid slyled games. Combat is fluid and challenging only in a handful of places in the game, and the bosses are challenging without being cheap and overpowered. one place where is does differ from others of this style is needing to find a beacon in each area in order to see the map. The dark graphics and the moody music all add to uniqueness of this title. Definitely a recommend.

nodawg
nodawg

Every important aspect of a metroidvania is nailed head on. Exploration is rewarding and fun. The Map is very dense with lots of shortcuts and loops back to older areas. Atmosphere is superb.
Build variety is also massive, giving Grime lots of replay value.
Finally, the combat in Grime is fast, methodical, and fair. Destroying a enemy or boss after learning their move set feels great.

AcidVisuals
AcidVisuals

Strange. Disgusting. Beautiful. Repulsive. Worth every penny.
If you enjoy Escher-esqué world, monster and level design, enjoyable parry mechanics, and getting your black hole of a head smashed in by a wide variety of screaming, terrifying weirdos and monstrosities from the beyond, then this game is for you. Worthy of its full price, a steal on sale,

spruce
spruce

Unless you have a computer that has thousands of dollars sunk into it, don't buy this game. Anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes of play time results in either the game crashing or the computer crashing with zero indication as to why and nothing among the forums / support pages have any viable solutions. The art and style are bizarre and beautiful; but when the game itself refuses to even function, that's functionally irrelevant.

Sir Fox
Sir Fox

Oh boy. Is this as good as Hollow Knight? No. But is it going to have you comparing the experience to Hollow Knight the entire game, in a good way? Hell to the yes. While not perfect, while convoluted at times and a bit janky, this is a Metroidvania with exploration and RPG goodness galore. I feel a little guilty that I chose to use only two of the 30+ weapons at your disposal the game.

Where this game really hits hard is atmosphere. In that it absolutely rivals if not exceeds all other Metroidvanias.

The wildcard factor is for you OCD completion whores. Going through the forums I found the devs specifically paying attention to requests for continuity fixes and 'Missables'. This allowed me to enjoy the game comfortably, knowing I wouldn't have to play it again. Lets face it, most metroidvanias do not have good replay factor. Once you've explored the map and conquered the world, there's little reason to go back. They made sure you wouldn't have to. I sincerely respect that.

gattabe
gattabe

Loving the atmosphere and souls-like gameplay.

itiliehl
itiliehl

I decided to play Grime being tired of Shadow of War chore of gameplay.
It was quite an addictive experience!

First and foremost I love parry-focused combat with quite forgiving parry timing (more Bloodborne-like than Souls-like).

Also Grime doesn't require you to be super-fast at reactions if you can memorize the rhythmic patterns. It also rarely clutters your screen with "avoid everything in split second" type of attacks. So it felt better for not-so-fast person as me, who has troubles with Hollow Knight. I'm actually OK with "wipe ten times or more on boss until you learn every attack" pattern.

While I definitely had troubles with some bosses, I cannot label the fights as unfair ones.

I also found platforming less demanding than Hollow Knight, as safe zones for landing are larger and you don't need to be that precise with jumps. Adding regeneration to main platforming areas was really nice.

Art and visuals are very good. I love that developers didn't join retro pixel trend, it's quite refreshing to see that kind of game in full 3D.

Lore is present and written in pleasant language, but I have a feeling that art style was born first and then lore was attached to it as a vague explanation. Both opening and ending feel more like an art project than an actual world building.

Achievements are achievable even for not hardcore players (I would never bother with no-bonfire run in DS2 for getting all the rings, for example)/

Also developer actively reading players' posts and giving explanations and hints is more than we usually get in any other game.

There are few things I didn't enjoy:

Dark areas, both in Gloomnest and that "Time-Your-Dash-As-You-Fall" one.
Every place you need to fall at least once to understand what you have to do beyond screen border (there is a platform/grapple point down there, but you cannot see it even looking down).
Binding walking on left thumbstick press without an ability to rebind. It was OK with Cavity walk, it was OK with Desert walk, but Servant's Path walk got on my nerves very quickly and made my left thumb numb. Sure, if you want to torture players, there are more cruel ways to bind controls, like using gamepad gyro, but that was bad enough. I really hope that binding is reconsidered, holding L2 to walk ("Use" key that you never need in combat or while moving) would be perfect for me.

Delaying warp ability to post-game feels like very opinionated choice. I know some people praise first Dark Souls bonfires, and I remember that when TES Oblivion was released one of first player mods was removal of fast travel (as they liked Morrowing style of travelling more). But you revisit old zones in this game only to explore areas that were unreachable before you got new ability, why insist on manual backtracking that much? I still don't think that Hollow Knight would be any way worse if you could warp between the benches. Nerveroot is nice but still way too sparse.

Also item like "Levolam shard" with unlimited use in later game (like coiled sword instead of homeward bone) would be good to have.

Having more reconfigurable traits (like runes in Bloodbourne or charms in Hollow Knight) would be welcome, as knowing that pearls are rare and limited discourages experimentation. I grew Piercer trait only after reading patch notes and discovering that developer consider it essential. And it was a real game changer! If I knew I'm not bound by pearls, I would experiment with traits way more.

I really hope that game gets its DLCs, I'm totally OK with paying developer few more times. It's a really nice game and it deserves to be rewarded.

Totally recommend, buy it and enjoy it.
Also get that piercer trait as soon as you consume it. Less problems with flowers and lightning blobs, more happiness.

ngso
ngso

Clover Bite team on their way to create the worst Souls-Like/Hollow-Knight-wanna-be possible

Sough
Sough

one of the best metroid from my game experience

Zenith
Zenith

Hollow Knight is to Bloodborne as Grime is to Dark Souls 2.

The T-Guy 404
The T-Guy 404

This is definitely one of the most unique games i've ever played. The grim setting (pun intended) of the world that you explore, really helps emphasizing how downtrodden everything in it truly is. Most areas are very unique and interesting, and the same goes for the bosses, which are all really fun to fight, despite how frustrating it might be to do so as well.

Aside from a few bugs that make the playing experience a little weird at times, my main problem with the game is that i just wish there was more stuff to do (at least things that aren't just collecting stuff that i don't need after a certain point in the game). That especially goes for the bosses, since the one's that are in the game are so engaging, that i just wish that there were more of them to fight. Some areas especially, i think, could've used some form of boss to make it more worth while to actually explore them, but we'll see what happens in the upcoming DLC, i suppose. Even still, saying that i wish there was more is probably more so a compliment rather than a complaint. And despite that, the game does have a lot of replay value, thanks to the great variety of weapons to use, as well as whatever sort of self-made challenge runs you can potentially think of doing if you feel like it.

Either way, if you're into Metroidvanias or Souls-likes (or both), that have very gloomy but interesting worlds to explore, i would very much recommend the game, since there aren't really any things i'd consider wrong about it

sad
sad

meow meow meow is meow i need meow for meow

Deidan
Deidan

Absolutely stunning design, gameplay and atmosphere. Lacks replayability, but hopefully that'll get added in the future.

xenotheone168
xenotheone168

A challenging, clunky, weird, and fun game. its worth a play if your a huge fan of the metroidvania genre.

Primstav
Primstav

Extremely well done puzzle platformer with soulslike traits.

One negative note is that the main questline is from time to time a bit hard to follow.

But oh boy, im having a blast playing it ;)

zeroclassification
zeroclassification

great game,a little frustrating at times but over all very fun

Smaul
Smaul

Solid 8/10. Good boss fights, interesting (but rather odd) world to explore. There are a some issues I had with the game (mostly nitpicking, nothing game-breaking):

1. There are infrequent occasions where you dodge through an attack but the attack sucks you back to where the hit box will be and you get hit anyway.

2. Some of the platforming sections are really awkward from a controls standpoint. And if you mess up, they send you waaaaaaay back to the start of the platforming section (forced to do it all in one go).

3. Stingy with the checkpoints. Could've had 1 or 2 more in a couple of areas.

4. The fall damage is ridiculous sometimes. There are a lot of times where it feels like you can't even drop 2 inches without taking damage/your vessel breaking (I'm exaggerating but they could've been a little more lenient on that one).

thomas
thomas

Summary
Grime is an amazing game! Even after the credits role it's fun to backtrack and explore the world. 10/10 would play again

Movement
The movement is perfect, it feels really good to simply navigate around the world. The abilities are fun and well executed. Everything feels right! This is something that a lot of platformers get wrong but they nailed it.

Combat
The combat is challenging and rewarding to master. Every enemy is deadly. The bosses are creative and a big highlight of the game. I was worried about parry being the main mechanic after failing to grasp it in other games. I shouldn't have worried, as it is very forgiving and fun!

Exploration
The movement mechanics, map, and level design make the exploration loop extremely rewarding. The tension is just right when exploring a new area with low health and praying for a save point! The save points feel far apart when you are first exploring but after a couple of respawns you realize they are generally close together on the critical path. This means backtracking after dying is quick and painless for the most part, which just encourages you to keep filling that map in! Some games make exploration a chore by punishing death too much or feeling like you have to backtrack really far after dying but that's not the case for Grime.

World
The world is gruesomely awesome! From screenshots alone, I thought the art style was only ok. After playing the game, I love the atmosphere it creates. Everything is cohesive and helps pull you into the world. You want to know what's going on and how the story will progress.

Performance
You need a pretty beasty machine to run this game well. 99% of the time I was at a solid 60 fps. However, the game starts to chug a lot around the fast travel locations. Luckily there are rarely enemies nearby. If you have a laptop or an older machine, I would definitely test the demo out first for performance.

Annoying Respawns
There are a couple of times were the game can respawn you (after dying to environmental hazards) in unfavorable locations. This mostly happened in a single later game area but caused me to die a handful of times. I would definitely still recommend the game and am surfacing this mostly for visibility to the developers. If I die inside a spike trap, I will often respawn inside of it. Also, if I die by falling though a dissolving floor, I will respawn on top of it and it can dissolve again before I can move off it.

Devs
The game developers are really active with the community and want to polish the game as much as possible. They've made a lot of improvements already and I'm sure they are still working hard behind the scenes!

Ash
Ash

What an absolute blast this game was!
I highly recommend for any metroidvania fans.

JellyJER
JellyJER

very beautiful art design and gameplay also very responsive . Very good

ape
ape

How can you make such an ugly 2d platformer and make it so unperformant? It lags like hell every once in a while. Also for an action game the attack button is absolutely worthless - press the button and your entire stamina bar is gone. You're supposed to use the parry button exclusively to kill things because:
1. Turns you invulnerable
2. Deals like twice the damage of a great hammer on hit
3. Can hit many enemies from full screen away
4. It costs no stamina
5. It recharges your healing
For such an ugly and unrewarding game of exploration you'd think they'd put more efforts in the combat, but nope it's just press the parry button until the enemy dies. And no, this isn't Sekiro where you have to chain parry, your parry button just blows shit up.
I've only played it for 3 hours but there doesn't seem to be any high point in the game at all. It just feel amateurishly done.

Chaiji
Chaiji

If you think that you want to dip your toes into soulslike games, this is the perfect game to start you!
The simple fact that you don't lose your currency (mass) on death means you don't have to worry about losing it when you get a risky distance away from your respawn point!

The game also extremely heavily encourages (and at the start actually forces) you to learn how to parry, which in other similar games is either an entirely optional mechanic, or in fact something only the very best players can even manage to do.

While the visuals might be strange, they all do make sense, and if you take the time, the story does explain these things somewhat.

Normally when I play these kinds of games, I feel compelled to overlevel or farm excessively, so my personal playthrough of GRIME, where I also picked up every achievement in the game whilst doing, I limited myself to ONLY ONE level up OR allowing myself to spend ONE hunt point (alternate currency in game that you spend on skills rather than stats), per time I died. Since currency isn't lost on death, this was perfectly safe. By doing so, I always had Hunt Points to spare for a specific skill if it was particularly helpful on a boss, or if I pass by a merchant, I have the mass to purchase anything and everything I want from them - since i didn't spend much mass since I levelled up less often.

This is a really roundabout way to say that this game is excellent, the difficulty is perfect. The puzzles make sense and at least I personally didn't need to look up anything to beat any encounter in the game (although secrets were difficult to find at times!)

FerociousBunny
FerociousBunny

Gorgeous metroidvania game, with smooth gameplay mechanics, and super fun monsters and bosses. The ending is vague, but if you enjoy the storytelling styles of Hollow Knight, it's still worth a play!

Cheez Chumbles
Cheez Chumbles

every bad review is like a terrible kotaku article, this is a master display of game design. Do yourself a favor and get it.

Anonymous
Anonymous

This is a fun game in the style of Dead Souls meets Hollow Knight. The fun metroidvania aspects (both interesting platforming and interesting fights) that made Hollow Knight great are present and the tough but fair bosses where you feel like you're growing as a player that made Dark Souls great are present. On top of all this, you aren't punished as much for dying because you don't lose your "souls" when you die here.

Lightningbones1000
Lightningbones1000

It's definitely strange. I feel uncomfortable if I look at things too long. But the gameplay is fun and the way leveling up is handled encourages you to explore and fight things until you die.

b o o g l e
b o o g l e

The parry mechanics, simple but perfect execution of the metroidvania genre, and tasty world building make grime with the pickup. The way that you absorb creatures to unlock new traits makes discovering new enemies always fun, and only losing ur currency multiplier makes death increase your power in a deadcells like way.

10/10 would recommend.

Drasynia
Drasynia

Really enjoyed this game. Bosses are challenging whilst you learn their patterns but largely fair, and the length of the game feels rights. The combat is fun despite being slower paced than some other games in the genre and encourages you to use all your abilities. Levelling system is logical and interesting. Enemy and level design is fascinating and surreal.

I encountered a few minor bugs (glitching into walls, getting stuck in place on ladders) but nothing game breaking. The platforming is a little clunky at times which can be frustrating but as the game isn't too heavy on this element it's bearable. I'd welcome some of the visual cues being made a bit more obvious, or at least have this as an accessibility option you can turn on - stronger or brighter/different colours could make it clearer when to use a certain ability in combat (which if you don't use makes bosses significantly more difficult). My eyesight isn't the best and sometimes it was more difficult than I think intended to see these cues or keep track of my character amongst all the animations.

Overall a solid game and one I will definitely be replaying in the future.

Mr_sneaky-feet
Mr_sneaky-feet

The pictures and videos chosen to show off the game/art in no way do it justice. The environment is beautiful and well crafted. The creators didn't leave you with a lifeless backdrop like they seem to depict. The game play is challenging but fair, and new dynamics are constantly introduced that keep things fresh and fun. I won't spoil the story for you, but its held my attention. For the life of me I can't understand why this doesn't have more positive reviews.

The people saying that the game play is clunky are just bad at the game.

Surtnull
Surtnull

Another souls game making you feel like a tiny gladiator fighting a god. Love the consume system, makes you return to nature's rule, were the weak are eaten by the strong.

Magazawa
Magazawa

One of soul like game, need to play, not too hard but not that easy.

GreeN.青春的
GreeN.青春的

Game has really good mechanics like absorbing enemies to unlock traits for yourself but is slow and a bit clunky. Map is only discovered thru certain spots rather exploration making it annoying when you die trying to remember the way back adding to it that it's slow

Pig
Pig

A solid metroidvania with a unique style. With a parry focused combat system and a really interesting world, Grime does enough to stand out and be worthy of your time.

Check out https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41559946 for more recommendations!

Abra'zil
Abra'zil

ROCK solid experience. Very enjoyable pacing and level design, artistically and mechanically.

Highly recommended.

Zedon
Zedon

A challenging combat-focused metroidvania that kept me engaged throughout. I died to many of the bosses... a lot, but the fights feel fair - it's all about reading the moves and reacting accordingly, and moves are telegraphed very clearly. Like Blasphemous, the parry is equally as important as the dodge - perhaps even more so, as finishing an enemy off with a parry is what gives you the juice to heal, and is what allows you to learn new things.

Longer than some MVs, shorter than others - I completed my 100% achievement save in around 18-19 hours. Not that that's all I did - the game doesn't have an NG+ (not yet anyhow), but having different builds (most weapons require investment in 1 or 2 of the 3 damage statistics to equip) gives the game some replayability.

galin54
galin54

Solid 2D souls-like metroidvania

Anderson
Anderson

Very solid game. Worth your time if you enjoyed Hollow Knight.

Beautiful aesthetic, lovely soundtrack, and good game mechanics. It does rely on parry a lot, so if you dislike that, you might not enjoy the game as much.

Ghasterop
Ghasterop

Honestly very good game and very fun to do big SUCK

inismona23
inismona23

great story great graphics but only few bosses. but it's great game highly recommended

BloodyCaine
BloodyCaine

This is a masterpiece.
Highly recommended.

Fyrebawl
Fyrebawl

Great game, the difficulty is well scaled and balanced and the developer is very active and helpful in the community, only thing I can think of to improve it is NG+ which I've heard its coming with a future DLC

Massachusetts
Massachusetts

Another 2D "Dark Souls but" from a team that wishes it made Dark Souls but doesn't understand why they can't. It has style but no polish, interesting ideas with no depth, and the best thing I can say is that it seems to be glitch free.

DEV
DEV

H-I-G-H-L-Y UNDERRATED. Don't give a f about the negative reviews and just play this absolute masterpiece!

Kirlian Nexx
Kirlian Nexx

Fantastic metroidvania , but it will make you swear like a sailor quite a bit. Worth it!

Krabbo #SaveTF2
Krabbo #SaveTF2

Really good, but too weird and soulsy for me.

Ruggustus
Ruggustus

very solid 2d soulslike platformer action game, incredible art style

SPEC
SPEC

Havnt been playing it long enough for my usual opinion formation, but i can already tell. Its smooth gameplay, style, dark aesthetic, versatile gear selection, non convoluted but detailed leveling system, and souls like boss encounters; make this game so far and i assume continues to be a fantastic souls like 2d platformer.

It's got mild humor , pretty and unfamiliar feeling graphical choices, and a reaction/ reposte system that makes the games combat very rewarding. If you like souls like games/ dead cells.. play this its quite awesome.

つもも
つもも

I played ENDER LILIES before this Metroidvania style game. I found it a bit harder but still enjoyable. Fair warning, the last part of the game turns into one of those precision jumping platformers. The kind where you have to jump and grab and slide and jump and grab etc. One mistake and back you go to the last checkpoint, to try it all again. Got annoyed with it but eventually I finished the game. If you don't mind a game that almost seems like a rage quit game or are up to the challange then this game is for you.

xAlisterx
xAlisterx

Haven´t play any of the game, but want to address a big problem for PC players, you have the bottoms in control only and can´t change or map the keys on the keyboard, thats a huge problem if you are playing with mouse and keyboard. I´ll change the review and write a real one when this problem is fix. I play the demo and loved the game, but this is a big problem.

LÆVITΛS
LÆVITΛS

GADDAMN. I am SO stoked i picked up this game on a whim, (loved the cover art) at first i wasn't sure what i was getting in to, or if i loved the graphics, but as the game progressed and I unravelled some of the story, read some of the lore on the weapons and such, it all made sense, and now i can't say enough how beautiful this game is. Very thoughtfully put together and hella challenging, I am not even finished and a bit nervous for how much more it escalates but also incredibly excited to see how much more i can amass ;);););););)
I'm not terribly great at describing gameplay, but i cannot recommend this game enough if you enjoy a solo platform game of endless onslaught of frustration and victory. It was really entertaining to also share with my partner, you certainly die often enough and there is enough difficulty as far as some of the gymnastics you have to do to progress that it can be played with two players. The weapons are unique enough but i definitely feel youll find something that just suits how YOU want to play and build on it. And just when you think you're quick and strong enough.... haha.. I love the creativity in the enemies, the art design is just gorgeous. If you're on the fence about this game, get the demo, and be convinced. Worth it even at full price, I think :)

MattBeHard
MattBeHard

releasing dlc before fixing bugs, nice.......so promising this game was and greed fucked it all up

A Buttery Noodle
A Buttery Noodle

Excellent. Art design is phenomenal and music is astounding

Flare The Folf
Flare The Folf

Very good, unique take on the souls-like genre, I like its parry mechanic

Rocksolid
Rocksolid

Game is fantastic and I know for a fact whoever created it enjoys psychedelics. LOL when you know you know. It was honestly a religious experience being inside the body and working your way up. The soundtrack is epic I throw it on at night before I go to sleep sometimes to help me relax. Great game don't hesitate to buy it if you on the fence. This is a absolute gem. Great Job!

Optilux
Optilux

I just finished the game. took me around 30 hours to finish. I died a lot to certain bosses. All in all, I must say this is a solid Soulsvania with a one of a kind flair. Graphics and music are top notch and I have encountered very few bugs. My only critic would be about the weapons. The average, slow and very slow weapons are not strong enough to compensate the lack of speed. Some weapons also hit several times while in the air while others don't, which makes them way more useful against certain bosses.
I recommend this game and can't wait for the DLC.

OneOf99
OneOf99

This game made me go "wtf" several times which is pretty good for a metroidvania. This game definitely leans more toward the "vania" side of things with its focus on combat and skill customization. The world is beautifully laid out; despite being themed on various grotesque representations of anatomy it is very believable and has many cool surprises hidden throughout.

The main two mechanics of parrying with your head and pulling ledges/enemies works flawlessly and makes for a unique experience. Combat is fluid and bosses have many different ways of dealing with them, allowing for lots of customization and weapon choices.

Music is incredible, ranging from moody atmospheric pieces to epic boss themes (and that one theme in that one city, if you know you know). Very captivating, could not put down once I started.

Idrutt
Idrutt

This was a really good game, I love the artstyle and the story, it all feelt very unique
The mechanics are very satisfying, its challenging but fun and the sense of progression is great.
I also wanna add that the developer team seem amazing, catering and really listening to the community!
I strongly recommend!

DapperDile
DapperDile

Just finished this game and wow, what an experience.

I played my share of metroidvanias, and also quite a few with souls-like elements. As far as those games goes, they will always have a different balance between combat and platforming. Like Salt and Sanctuary with more focus on combat, with weapon variety and stats, and Blasphemous with a bit more on platforming, while not many customization options and only your default weapon. Still I really enjoyed both games.

Grime is different tho as it seems to strike the perfect balance. Combat and Platforming. We have weapons we can choose, not a great number of em, but they have very unique designs and movesets. A few stats to distribute and make builds. And the platforming can get absolutely insane, with parts that could rival the Path of Pain from Hollow Knight, had they only been just as long.

What I really liked it hows with this great balance, the game also allows you to use many of the transversal tools you learn in combat, and in boss fights, making it way more dynamic.

The world design is also amazing, very unique and alien, from levels to enemies everything is just so bizarre, in a good way. The story is even weirder and honestly I'm not sure I understand it completely, but it all has a very nice gritty feeling to it. And to complement it all the soundtrack by Alex Roe is simply superb.

Overall a 9/10 game in my book.

gnx
gnx

I beat this game with keyboard only for the most part, except Pale Sky. Using mouse to aim grab point is a stupid design that force players to use keyboard+mouse, the worse thing is that you can't customize mouse buttons in control configuration.

Overall it's a solid metroidvania game.

Salaryman
Salaryman

Fun, challenging metroidvania. The parry to absorb enemies is a nice mechanic.

Zen Pipe
Zen Pipe

I had a lot of fun playing Grime till the very end. This game is all about timing and learning enemy attack patterns. You will die, a lot. But as the game progresses, you will become more adept at it and it stops being as unforgiving as it once was. I'm not saying it gets easier, but YOU will get better, acquire better gear and unlock better talents.

adamak.deb
adamak.deb

Easy recommendation, if you like souls like and metroidvania, you are going to love it for sure!

Kingflippynips
Kingflippynips

Enemies are few in diversity and you end-up running for long periods of time trying to get around. very annoying to get fast travel at the end of the game too making it not rewarding to go back and explore

JBecks
JBecks

Despite my obsession with Souls-like games, I am usually not a fan of 2D Souls-likes. I think GRIME absolutely nails it though. The combat is weighty but the dodge move is fast. But dodging too much will drain your stamina and leave you vulnerable. Enemy attacks hit hard but are well-telegraphed, so you always have a chance to parry or dodge. Taking damage does not cause your character to be knocked back/ragdoll. The traversal/combat unlocks are fleshed out and are unlocked at a decent pace.

There is some decently tough but satisfying platforming here as well. The story is typical Souls-fare (formerly great kingdom is now broken and going through Armageddon/plague/Ragnarok/no more free coffee in the break room, etc.)

I highly recommend this game to fans of Metroidvanias/Souls-like games.

bmod
bmod

Really good stuff. Style is original and solid. Music is atmospheric and sets a very strong mood. Definitely one of the better metroidvanias. It's not an easy game and has some serious difficulty spikes, but dying never really felt unfair, which is a testament to the skills of the designers.
Worth it, for sure!

zzFuzzy
zzFuzzy

Ugh! They should have picked a name that doesn't make me think of some big gross slimy slug covered in guts and viscera. I think Metroid Slime would have been a better name.

Deyvson
Deyvson

Great game, very well done. It’s a mixture of Souls Like with metroidvania, giving more importance to platforming that it would be normally done in a game like this. Bosses are hard and have patterns that go beyond simply dodging at the right time. You will have to jump and parry as well. Parrying is an important mechanic in this game, you will depend on it to defeat some bosses, but it’s not that hard to perform it.

As most soulslike it has a cryptic story, it’s hard to know what the game is about. Everything looks very surreal, and I don’t know why everything is rock themed, maybe a youtuber might help me. But that didn’t stop my enjoyment. The art style is quite unique, and many songs in the game are very good.

Deja Vu
Deja Vu

This is a borderline recommend for me unfortunately due to a few design choices and a number of technical problems. Overall, the game is really well made - cool level designs, some variety of characters (though I felt like there could've been a little more), and good combat. You're provided a variety of weapons and abilities (learned over time) and can build up your characters stats to your play style...at least that was the idea it seems.

My first and largest gripe with the game is I had trouble building the character I wanted. I generally prefer fast moving, lower damage weapons for quick attacks and moving out of the way. You are given 4 (at least that I found) weapons that are fast attack, low damage - the issue though is stamina. By the end of the game, I had dumped most of my points into stamina (called force in Grime) and stamina recovery with my stamina bar exceeding my health bar by a decent amount. However, I found myself still unable to attack in a number of boss fights due to having exhausted my stamina and having to wait for it to recover - it's not like I was sitting there constantly attacking either. I'd attack, dodge, and wait for recovery as needed, but to me it felt like there a lot of waiting, especially with the points I'd dumped into stamina. You can also "absorb"/block a number of enemy attacks that can help with recovery, but in the later boss fights those are few and far between.

My second large issue is a few of the platforming sections. It seems like the designers wanted to focus more of platforming than fighting which ok, but don't make it annoying for everyone who doesn't adore those sections. I'm all for a difficult sections of a game, but there are certain parts that are beyond frustrating - like when you're performing through a large section, fall or hit something you shouldn't and are reset way back to the beginning and have to do the entire thing all over. Then you've got other sections where you're expected to perform the platforming nearly perfectly with little to no room for error. That's not fun.

The last issues with the game are more minor and technical. There are parts where the enemies would be off screen and I couldn't see what actions they were doing and would end up getting hit. I also felt the last 2 levels were just annoying platforming and would've preferred some combat (other than the bosses) thrown in - especially the very last "level" which I think should've been scrapped entirely and made into a cut scene. I also feel like there should've been more hunt points given/available as I felt a little limited with my builds and would've liked the option to become more powerful.

Overall, it's a good game that was nearly killed for me by the issues mentioned above. If you can get over those issues I think you'll enjoy the game, but I nearly stopped playing a number of times due to them - and to me that shouldn't happen in a fun/good game.

FistOfHit
FistOfHit

Lack of fast travel kills all the fun of the game. Just becomes a slog of doing the same stuff over and over pointlessly.

Ganimedes
Ganimedes

VISUALS
☑ A feast for the retina
☐ Great
☐ Good
☐ Mediocre
☐ Bad
☐ Terrible
☐ Will haunt your dreams

Beautiful, creative world with great animation tells for combat, and designs for enviromental (or character) storytelling. Looks are important here ;)

STORY
☐ No real story
☐ Background flavour and not much else
☑ Lore but you’ll have to work for it
☐ Weak story
☐ Interesting story
☐ Good story
☐ Amazing story

Love the themes and characters presented, still have no fucking idea what any of the endings mean. Bonus points for making me cry while fighting a boss, that's a first :D

GAMEPLAY/MECHANICS
☐ Awesome mechanics and gameplay
☑ Great
☐ Good
☐ Mediocre
☐ Bad
☐ Terrible
☐ Destroys your love of gaming

Heavy reliance on parrying in combat which may be a turn off for people with bad reflexes (like me). Thankfully, the hunt systems gives plenty of customization, so that issue, along with many others I encountered, can be alleviated. There are abilities which reward you for consistently not dying/getting hit, there are some that reduce damage after a failed parry, some that just increase stats and some that unlock new ways of damaging enemies. Really good flexibility of playstyles.

Bosses always seemed way too everpowerd at first, but after I learned to use every ability the game offered I found myself to be having a much easier time. It's a joy to go from barely surving the first phase to wiping the floor with the enemy through a nice combo and swiftly going to the second one. (Though giving an already challenging boss a THIRD phase was bit much to me)

I feel really satisfied with platforming, it was just the right amount of challenge for me. Still, I have two complaints. One, already mentioned a lot - the stickiness of the "ladders", it makes jumping off them awfully clunky. And two, the falling challenges - awfully annoying and hard to nail. Spamming a button mid air and hoping you can connect to self pull was just infuriating. The sensitivity of ledge grabbing was also just a tinyyy bit too much, which is a first - in other games I usually think it's too little.

AUDIO
☐ Ear massage
☑ Great
☐ Good
☐ Mediocre
☐ Bad
☐ Terrible
☐ Ear punch

Sound effects, music, even the voices of the characters work together to create a great sense of atmosphere.

DEMOGRAPHIC
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ All

DIFFICULTY
☐ Basically plays itself
☐ Adjustable
☐ Easy
☐ Medium
☐ Hard
☑ Very Hard / Depends on your reflexes
☐ Battletoads

BUGS
☐ None
☑ Not in my playthrough but have heard reports elsewhere
☐ Some minor bugs & glitches
☐ Enjoyment eroding bugs
☐ Game breaking bugs
☐ Pre-Alpha

GRIND
☐ No grind
☐ Optional grind
☑ Some grind
☐ Average grind
☐ End game grind
☐ “GRIND” the game

Currency from dead enemies can be grinded to level up the character - I didn't need to do it in my playthrough to have a good challenge. However, I did lack stats for late game weapons, so if you want to unlock them some grind may be required.

DURATION
☐ Shorter than this sentence
☐ Short
☐ Medium
☑ Medium/Long depending on %completion & achievements
☐ Long
☐ Life consuming

Completing most of the achievements took me around 30 hours.

FriendlyGoblin
FriendlyGoblin

I 100% recommend this game if you enjoy cooking or/and eating gourmet!

Bill Giantdad
Bill Giantdad

I did just beat this game and I'm gushing but right now I really think I can say that this is one of the best games I've ever played. Or at the very least one of if not the most beautiful games I have ever played. Originally I was drawn to this game because I saw Alex Roe's name attached to it and I ended up staying for so much more.
The gameplay is interesting, though not entirely special. It definitely works for the game it was made for, and I don't really have any complaints about it. My favorite part of the gameplay was the platforming, which at first is quite simple and honestly boring, but a lot like Hollow Knight as you get further and acquire more abilities, the depth and speed of platforming increases a lot and I think that it almost ends up rivalling Hollow Knight in the way that it uses its platforming abilities, despite its simplicity.
The music is amazing as is usual to expect from Alex Roe, and perfectly sets the tone for not only boss fights, but also some environments.
Next, world design. Mechanically the world is not that deep, though it does connect on itself a couple times it's no Dark Souls 1. The individual levels on the other hand are quite interesting in how it connects in on itself with (usually) frequent shortcuts more akin to Dark Souls 2.
Last, and my favorite part of the entire game, the environments and backdrops. Every environment is uniquely twisted and foreboding, even when you don't quite know why. I have no god damn idea what the actual story is in this game yet I could probably make my own entirely from the environmental storytelling and it may not be very far off the actual lore. They are SO intriguing and I really just want to learn more about all of them, and this is aside from how they look. The pretty unique 3d style allows for such a feeling of depth in the backdrops that I've never really seen in any other platformer game, 3d or not. I can't really describe how they look while giving them the justice of their true beauty and not at least slightly spoiling it for the nice folks who will buy this game (right?), so get it.

TLDR; Get the game :)

n7225488
n7225488

I don't even know what kind of story happened during these gaming hours but I'm sure that I really enjoyed it.

Noonu
Noonu

Like a 2d metroidvania + darksouls. Great gameplay and amazing atmosphere. Would definitely buy again.

This game is not easy. Expect to spend hours figuring out the later bosses, and challenge your platforming skills finding secrets throughout the game. But the challenges are the good kind and deaths are never unfair. When you finally git gud at a boss, the engagement is like a dance, literally at one point. And when you finally get through a challenging section of terrain, you're rewarded with cool gear and useful items.

The beautiful environments undergo changes as the game progresses. This really contributes a lot to the atmosphere.

knayda06
knayda06

only a few hours in but absolutely loving it the combat feels good and the parry system is solid as a rock bravo devs metroidvanias have never been my pefered game but so far its a rock solid 4.5 out of 5

Baby_Cookie[WOLF]
Baby_Cookie[WOLF]

No pros vs. cons here. Just some general info. Wether this info seems like a pro or a con is for anyone to decide.

First off, it appears that at release the game had some major flaws and QoL mishaps.
However a lot of those seem to have been taken care off making the experience more then acceptable.

- Potential flaws I encountered.
- The game may forget to load the UI for no reason ( rest at a surrogate and it get's restored )
- You may lose your hitbox making you invuln. ( I mean, is that really that bad :3 ) °° this might also be intended near end game, not sure...

The gest of it all :

You are a black hole that for some reason finds itself at the bottom of the world. Make your way to the top of the world by any means available. Luckily as a black hole you kinda "suck".... how convenient !

Gameplay:

It looks like a metroid vania, it plays like one, it must be one :)
This also means :

- Sneaky hidden rooms ( and some of them are very well hidden )
- Missable items
- Backtracking
- You name it

°° Important note °°
Even though the bait tags reffer to this as soul-like... it isn't, it's not even souls-liTe...
Sure it has a dodge and a parry and it has all the basics in place. These are universal concepts though, Fromsoft didn't invent them nor owns them.

The main reason i won't put it in that category is "SPEED" and "GAMEFLOW".

This game is rather SLOW paced. It forces you to read the telegrpahed move and act accordingly with one of a couple of available mechanics. Parrying being the main mechanic. Experience may vary, but I stood still for a lot of things just waiting to propperly react to the next big thing.

Yes ! You can brute force your way trough it not using the mechanics given or performing the correct action on the telegrpahed prompt. Allthough I wouldn't recommend it. They really REALLY want you to react to ongoing situations contrary to mindless attacking.

°° I know, this all still sound very souls-like... untill you are in it and you'll come to the conclusion it kinda isn't. Just don't overexpect the wrong things, It doesn't need to be a Souls to be good after all !!

- The mechanics themselves:

- Press a button to attack, press another button to heavy attack ( or charge an attack if available ). Attacking mid air gives a jump attack.
- Dodge to evade all damage if need be
- A pull move to be used on specific situations based on telegraphing
- A backstep ( hardly ever used it )

- A parry / deflect.

I want to say that this last one is your main move. When timed correctly it WILL negate all damage ( excluding non blockable moves ofc ) and stagger the enemy.
Along side some more unique features.

The unique brilliance

More on this wonderfull parry system.
As a black hole you obv suck all gravity and matter towards you. Or in other words, you "absorb" the enemy itself once a treshold on their hp bar is breached.

This absorption opens the game to a plethora of playstyles. Whever you absorb an enemy enough times you "inheret" an ability. This ability ( mostly passives ) come in a wide variety ranging from extra damage to better survivability, whatever suits you best.

Furthermore certain enemies are concidered mini bosses, they come with a specific set of unique moves that require a more sophisticated approach. when defeating these you earn a "hunt point".

Thse hunt points will allow you to adapt the unique abilities ( traits ) to your character
°° Respecs are in place if need be

All of this ofc is mainly a reward for thorough exploration and can be missed !!

Put alongside that a decent amount of weapons with different playstyles to themselves and combine it with a specific trait build and you can get stuff done.

Difficulty

........... YES .............
Yet never ever unfair ( excluding jumping bits... that's just annoying at times for no good reason :p )

I get why some say it's "hard". Early on ( and for most of the game ) you pretty much get 2 shot accros the board. ( Assuming you missdodge, misspary etc ofc )

On top of that the healing is tricky. Healing is tied into your absorb ( or later on specific traits that will allow some other means ). This howeve means you need to take a risk to get the reward of a heal.

No risk taking might avoid damage, but when damage is taken you WILL HAVE NO HEAL, "sucks" to be you !
If however you take the risk to deflect or absorb what would be instant death, you will end up with a heal you might need later on.

The risk-reward is heavy in this game and it certainly starts out as such. Expect your first 5 ish hours to be " I have no heals, I don't want to die ! Scared to take the parry, i'm so far away from my checkpoint ! AAAgh ! "

Rest assured, if you make it passed that point where the game gives options.... you'll be doing better, you just need to get there first and this might be offputting early on.

AND YES IT HAS FAST TRAVEL... it is however also locked away behind that first 4-5 hour mark !!!

Should you buy it ?

You should, it's a small team project that clearly shows their love and care for it. The game ( excluding some minor misshaps ) plays smoothly and is never unfair ( even though sometimes it might feel like it ).

If unsure, get it on a sale and I don't think you can go wrong with this.

Just don't overexpect it as a souls-like... that sadly won't do!

pajano
pajano

Great maps, very fun platforming, engaging boss fights, and Alex Roe's soundtrack

Padre
Padre

Great game for people who like decent platforming experience in metroidvania games.
Pros:
- Graphic design. Game provides really cool design everything, from enemies and items to locations.
- weird but cool storytelling reminding of dark souls style of narration
- combat experience. Combat system is well balanced with tweaks like skills that may enhance some of the hero abilities
Cons:
-weapon system. Despite the fact that there is about 20 different weapons in game, most likely you'll use 2 of them from start till the end of game. This happens because weapons don't have much difference in damage/timetohit. You simply got fast, medium and slow type of weapons which don't have much difference inside their class except for look.
Overall I highly recommend this game to people who have some experience in platformer metroidvanias. Newcomers may face some problems with optional bosses.

EzGforever
EzGforever

Grime actually surprised me, at first, it looks like a cheap rip off of the Metroidvania-style games. However, it's actually really fun exploring, the combat is unique, you have to time blocks just right in order for you to successfully bank this stuff that is used to let you refill your health. There are various armor pieces to find and various weapons. A skill tree at checkpoints allows you to become stronger. The graphics are okay. The engine could use an upgrade. But there is def. some fun to be had here for all the Metroidvania gamers!!!

SlippyDeSnake
SlippyDeSnake

Very good game made by a small Dev team, and props to them for making such an interesting game with some very fun mechanics, its got interesting combat and characters. Its a little short but thats perfectly understandable under the circumstances. Very good, Very fun, I Recommend you buy this, both for the support to the amazing devs and for a good game to play.

Lex
Lex

Goood, a very nice metroidvania-soulslike

Connor #1
Connor #1

Cool game about rocks. Also super helpful devs

Altair Flame
Altair Flame

I hope you practice patience, because this game demands it. Both in reading patterns, not overextending and generally making you regret making mistakes because of the time it to get back to the last mistake you made.

Brosydin
Brosydin

Enjoyed this game very much, if you enjoyed Vigil Longest night or salt and sanctuary this is right up your alley.

gabrielcozzella
gabrielcozzella

This game is really good. The gameplay loop is addcting and the parry/absorb mechanic is bit unique. The setting is really unique, although I missed a more explicit story presentation.

Overall a 8/10. Minus one for the lack of lore exposition and minus one for the lack of fast travel before near the end of the game. Keeping my hopes up for a sequel.

Trumpo
Trumpo

If you liked Hollow Knight you'll probably like Grime. This game can be very frustrating because you will encounter minor bugs and its dimly lit a lot of the time, you cant travel between checkpoints (until the very end) and the end boss is crazy OP. It took me 15 hours to beat, hard game but overall the story and characters are unique and i enjoyed it.