Thus far, the games I’ve recommended have all been of a very recent vintage so how about we look at one of the canon classics?

Grim Fandango is an adventure game written by Tim Schafer, originally released in 1998, presumably for the Ediphone. Since then it’s been remastered and released on virtually every console you can imagine.

The game takes place in the Aztec underworld, reimagined in 1950s Art Deco style, and follows Manny Calavera, a travel agent whose job is to sell travel packages for newly dead souls beginning their four year journey across the Land of the Dead. Frustrated by the poor quality of his clients, he poaches the case of the beautiful, virtuous Mercedes Colomar and ends up inadvertently exposing a corrupt conspiracy at the heart of the afterlife.

And while I definitely recommend playing it, I do have a couple caveats.

First thing to get out of the way, this game and I have a lot in common. We talk a lot, and we’re old as fuck. Grim Fandango was made at a time when the transition from 2D to 3D gameplay was becoming inevitable, even for genres (like point and click adventure games) where 3D added nothing or was even an active detriment. Now, most early 3D games were fugly as hell but Grim Fandango largely avoids this with absolutely top tier visual design. Yes, there’s definitely some janky models here and there but by and large this looks pretty smurges and the remaster looks even better.

No, where the game shows its age is in the controls which can be awkward as hell. You can be pressing forward, only for Manny to enter a new area where he is now facing in the opposite direction and “forward” now means “backwards” so Manny turns around and exits as if he just walked in on a couple making love and didn’t wish to cause any embarrassment.

As for the gameplay, LucasArts adventure games were notoriously tough in their puzzles but they also had a reputation for mostly playing fair and avoiding “moon logic”.

By and large Grim Fandango has fantastic puzzles, genuinely some of the best in the genre, but there are definitely times when it indulges in some rank bullshit, especially in a time before internet walkthroughs were ubiquitous.

While the Land of the Dead is certainly evocative, there’s also some weirdly janky world building. The game contradicts itself multiple times as to whether getting a ticket on the Number Nine train to the final afterlife requires having money, being good, both or neither. Crucial dialogue can be easy to miss and can leave you deeply befuddled. And some of the choices are just…odd. Why do they race giant cats instead of horses in the Land of the Dead? I’m genuinely asking.

And, as a final criticism, the game peaks in its second act and never really comes close to it again.

Well, that was quite a lot negativity wasn’t it? Yes, now forget all about it. More than anything, Grim Fandango is a vibe. It’s all about the atmosphere, the visuals, the music, the fantastically witty dialogue and sublime performances including Tony Plana as Manny Calavera, one of the all-time greatest video game protagonists.

Unlike your typical dweebish LucasArts protagonist like Guybrush Threepwood or Bernard Bernoulli, Manny Calavera is a straight up pimp.

He’s charming, seductive, effortlessly cool and hyper-competent. A running gag during the game has Manny ending a chapter by sweeping a floor as he starts a new job, only for a one year timeskip to show him now running the joint.

The dialogue is also top tier. I think the greatest testament to this game’s writing is that, twenty years after we first played it, my family still quote lines to each other from this game like it’s a classic movie. All I need to do to make my Dad crack up is say “Yeah we wanna…check yer bags.”

But ultimately, I think the real reason I want you to play Grim Fandango is that it is one of the only games I’ve ever played where I want to live (well “live”) in its world.

I want you to experience what it’s like to stroll around Rubacava in a white tuxedo under a cloudless starry night sky with cool jazz gently wafting over the sea breeze…

Pure magic.