The game is composed of story and mission sections, each of which offers its own unique appeal. The story is one of the game's strongest points, with a cast of colorful and interesting characters who all are revealed to be more and more complex as the story goes on. There is a serpentine devil, a studious man-lion, a dominatrix instructor, an alchemical homunculus, and a girl who carries a frog on her head, just for fun. The protagonist, Lillet Blan, is a young girl who decides to attend the Magic Academy at Silver Star Tower, where students learn to use grimoires - the various tomes of magic. On the fifth day of her schooling, things go horribly wrong at the school, and she is somehow thrust back in time to relive those five days once again. This happens a handful of times throughout the course of the game, and with each run-through Lillet retains all of the knowledge and talents that she acquired the previous time. On paper this design sounds intriguing, but in practice...well...it actually is.
When it comes to the mission sections, GrimGrimoire takes the traditional RTS formula of gathering resources (mana) in order to build base units (runes), which in turn pump out troops (familiars) to do the player's bidding. Most of the units have a few levels of upgrades that increase their functionality and afford the player more options in carrying out their strategies. The difference is that in GrimGrimoire, the basic RTS has literally been turned on its side, and into a visual feast. Everything is laid out vertically, and viewed from the side, with fog of war covering the areas that have yet to be explored. Using the 12 grimoires in four categories of magic, Lillet will control a whole horde of familiars who all have different abilities, strengths, and weaknesses, and use them to complete various mission objectives. Destroying all of the enemy's runes or outlasting an assault are the most usual of these goals.
Making a console RTS always poses an immediate problem to any developer. Controls for the genre are usually cumbersome and unwieldy with traditional dual-analog pads. Being so unique in it's presentation - 2D side-scrolling - GrimGrimoire manages to quell a bit of the angst that normally plagues the genre. Yes, the controls are difficult at first, but they become more manageable as time goes on. The square button is used for selection of units - either one at a time, or by dragging over many of the same unit type. Commands for each unit are cycled with the R1 and L1 buttons, and then executed with the X button. The default action is always "move." While the left analog stick moves the on-screen pointer, the right stick is used to scroll the entire viewable area more quickly, which will become most players' primary method of navigation. There is also a mini map that can be called up with the circle button, so players can click on any point and instantly focus on that area. One last touch that greatly helps to reduce the aforementioned console RTS effect is that upon selection of any unit, the game pauses. This allows players to set up a plan, or simply to stop and gather their wits in the midst of an onslaught.
Graphically, the game takes all but a few pages out of Odin Sphere's book, resulting in a visual treat throughout the game. Character art in particular was obviously created with much care. Although the portraits aren't quite as awe-inspiring as Odin Sphere's highly caricatured drawings, they are still very detailed and add a great deal of character to the game. These works of art even breathe, blink, change expression, and move dynamically as their dialog is delivered. What's more is that the backgrounds they perform on are always moving and changing in one way or another. Glowing particles are often found floating through the scene, and there are smoke and cloud effects, too. My personal favorite ADD-invokers are the constellations, whose stars are connected and then outlined and animated, all as the characters exchange words. Altogether, the combination of effects is greatly effective at drawing the player into the game.
Within the mission sections of the game, there are strong and not-so-strong points. The sprites for the familiars are all beautifully animated, and they display the same dynamic characteristics of the illustrations in the story section. Additionally, the runes that are scattered across the halls of the academy are especially attractive. Each one gives off a glow that is like a sheer veil of light emanating from the floor. Within these glowing spaces are small animations that are displayed constantly throughout the battle. For example, the Hades Gate rune depicts a group of tortured souls, half engulfed by the ground, flailing about with arms outstretched. Each is unique and each is awesome. On the other hand, the stages themselves are very attractive, but almost all identical. Being set in the magic academy, the game has an excuse, but it is still unfortunate that there weren't more creative backdrops for the battles.
The music of GrimGrimoire is very good. Although it is not as epic as a game like Odin Sphere, all of the music is orchestrated and aurally appealing. The tone is generally more lighthearted, but is never turned into a joke. It matches the art style very well. The voice-overs for Lillet's familiars are not only good, but stay in memory long after putting the game down. If you still recite, "Yes, me'lord," from Warcraft, "I swear by my soul" may become your new tagline after playing GrimGrimoire - not to mention that the voices of the fairies are just downright adorable. The game's full-fledged voice acting is top-notch, as well. The dialog and its dramatic delivery further animate the already appealing characters. The cast becomes more authentic with every line.
GrimGrimoire is a refreshingly original take on a genre whose games have historically been primarily cookie-cutter offerings. Of course, a 2D, side-scrolling, vertically-oriented console RTS may take a moment to wrap one's head around, but Vanillaware has made it work. The game features a bright cast of characters that drive its Groundhog's Day -esque plot, and presents them in an attractive and inviting artistic style, with the audio to match. While the gameplay is not as seamless as the PC would allow, GrimGrimoire certainly does the best with what it has, and is worthy of recommendation to most gamers. The most glaring issue this game has is that it comes to an end rather quickly, clocking in at around 10 hours. If that bars it from a purchase, do yourself a favor and give it a rent, you won't be disappointed.
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