If I have to pick one reason I don’t generally enjoy souls-like games, it’s all because of the harsh and unrelenting punishments they dish out. I enjoy playing games, but I’m not very good regardless of the many hours I dedicate to them. Dying isn’t something unexpected that happens to me from time to time; instead, it’s a constant I can rely on at least once every 5 minutes. Constantly dying is a frustration all on its own, but add to that the souls-like punishment of losing all of your points/exp/money every time you die, and it’s a rage-induced heart attack waiting to happen.
That is why I love Grime as much as I do. Grime is, at its core, a 2D souls-like take on a Metroidvania. Instead of you losing everything you’ve collected when you die, Grime is there to catch you when you fall, and lets you keep everything you had on you. This simple change to a familiar formula creates a feeling of encouragement that made me want to continue playing no matter how many times I had to repeat an area.
By letting me keep everything when I die, every repeat run of Grime had me feeling slightly stronger and more prepared for the coming battle, and instead of trying to shy away from combat or exploration, I felt like the game was encouraging me to. Usually, when playing any souls-like game, I will find the easiest path from A to Z and then stick to that, but with Grime, I spent hours upon hours just exploring their dense network or chambers and secret tunnels finding everything the map was hiding.
Don’t get me wrong, the combat in Grime, as well as the platforming, can be ridiculously tough, and if you’re planning on playing it, be prepared to die a lot. But nothing in Grime ever feels unfair. When you die while platforming, it’s never the games fault; instead, it’s that you jumped too early or didn’t pay attention, and when you die during combat, it’s because you either haven’t learnt the pattern or didn’t read the enemy. There are multiple abilities for you to use, upgrade and acquire during Grime. Each of which has a primary function the game will explain to you and a secondary secret function for you to discover on your own.
