GrimGrimoire OnceAgain Adds Plenty of Charm to a 15 Year Old Gem

One of the most interesting releases to come at the end of the PlayStation 2 lifecycle was a niche little gem known as GrimGrimoire. Crafted by the folks at Vanillaware, their first outing as an independent studio brought forth a colorful collection of characters and painted artwork atop the unique decision to make a real time strategy game specifically for consoles. At the time, it was an unusual affair, as the RTS space was mostly reserved for PC gaming.

Vanillaware persisted, however, and GrimGrimoire was released to great acclaim. That was back in 2007 and since then it laid dormant, passed up for the porting treatment for other works by the same company. Until now that is. Earlier this year, a PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch remaster of GrimGrimoire, under the title GrimGrimoire OnceMore, was announced in Japan and subsequently released a couple of months ago in July. It’s heading west care of NIS America early next year on those aforementioned platforms and the addition of a PlayStation 5 port.

During a presentation at their Fall press event, NIS America shared an in-development build featuring the Japanese version. We had a chance to go eyes-on and see what this remaster was all about.

More Than Just A Simple Port

Billed as the marriage of “Harry Potter meets Starcraft,” GrimGrimoire OnceMore is still very much the core real time strategy experience fans might remember from the original PlayStation 2 version. The remastered visuals are bright and colorful and really bring out the fantasy elements in both the hand-drawn character sprites and backgrounds.

GrimGrimoire OnceMore isn’t just a simple remaster, however. The development team has added a new skill tree option, an improved user interface, an art gallery, and other quality-of-life features such as a mid-battle fast-forward option.

During the demonstration, we were shown some of the gameplay, which allowed for a lot of different units on screen at once while still maintaining visual and performance quality. Similar to Starcraft (and this is used as the example here specifically by the publisher) and other RTS games, GrimGrimoire OnceMore lets you take control of said units with simplified controls tailored to using a controller rather than a keyboard and mouse. It was designed that way back in the original version to allow fast paced movements whilst you select your units and send them out to attack whichever enemy may be on the screen.

Rather than a 3D space, the RTS mechanics take place on a 2D side-scrolling plane. You’ll move your characters about and direct them to attack enemies – it’s the usual fair with little health bars on screen attached to your units along with indicators on the menu to tell you how many you have deployed. Should you fail in taking out an enemy, you’re encouraged to try again with perhaps a different strategy in mind.

An RTS For The Console Player

In keeping with the theme of ease of control for console players, the menu options appear as a hot bar of sorts toward the bottom middle part of the screen. Here you’ll command your characters to move and attack with a traditional pointer available to move around as well.

Once you’re outside of battle, there’s plenty to do with the protagonist Lillet Blan, as she goes on adventures during her magical schooling in a situation where she must relive the first five days of her time there all over again. In typical Vanillaware fashion, these story elements are played out with 2D portraits and dialogue boxes which is a particular style helmed by the lead artist George Kamitani. It’s especially noteworthy to see how his art and character designs have been renewed for the new generation of consoles in high-definition after having been created originally for the PS2. Looking at them now, you wouldn’t really know GrimGrimoire was something that came out 15 years ago.

As someone who dabbled with the original GrimGrimoire back at release, I’m keen on seeing what the remaster has further in store. The modern amenities such as the skill tree and fast forward options sound like just the thing it needed to further flesh out the original RTS experience. Whilst GrimGrimoire isn’t your usual RTS, it’s the unique framing of the gameplay tooled for consoles that make it seem very accessible. That is, after observing for a while and recalling the original version, GrimGrimoire OnceMore feels like a good gateway for those looking to get into the genre. Certainly, the painted visuals, and Vanillaware’s style help along with another piece of media that delves into the ever-popular magical school concept, and it’s good to see Vanillaware get more recognition and hopefully a wider audience after the stunning 13 Sentinels.

TechRaptor was invited to see GrimGrimoire OnceMore at the Virtual Press Tour hosted by NIS America.