Grime (video game)

Grime
Developer(s)	Clover Bite
Publisher(s)	Akupara Games
Director(s)	Yarden Weissbrot
Producer(s)	Yarden Weissbrot
Designer(s)	Yarden Weissbrot Yonatan Tepperberg
Programmer(s)	Theodore Kovalev
Artist(s)	Nick Pochtariov Adva Shamo Yarden Weissbrot
Writer(s)	Yarden Weissbrot
Composer(s)	Alex Roe Sean Secca
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows Google Stadia Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Xbox One Xbox Series X/S
Release	August 2, 2021 Windows, Google Stadia August 2, 2021 Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S TBA
Genre(s)	Metroidvania, Soulslike, platform-adventure
Mode(s)	Single player

Grime (stylized as GRIME) is a 2021 Soulsvania game developed by Israeli game studio Clover Bite, and published by Akupara Games. The game was released on August 2, 2021 on Windows via Epic Games Store, Steam and GOG, and Google Stadia as part of Stadia Pro. Ports for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, are in development. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

On August 25th, 2023, Clover Bite officially announced that a sequel to Grime, simply entitled Grime II, is scheduled for release in 2024..

Plot

The player is set to explore a world set on perfect proportions and anatomy. During progression the player learns the history behind the world they are exploring and the reason why they are addressed by its inhabitants as "the chiseled one." The player is formed by Breath, which drains in the process of creating a form, causing many of the shapes (Heads, hands etc...) scattered in the world to be incomplete. The game's setting is grim, dark, and creepy, and filled with grotesque anatomical features, rocks, and brutality.

Gameplay

Grime has been described as a Soulsvania, or a Soulslike-influenced Metroidvania. In the game, the player controls "The Vessel," which is an incredibly strong being born of "levolam," the world's concept of earth, and who has what appears to be a black hole for a head. It is a sidescrolling platformer designed to be difficult through "tough combat" and "rigorous platforming." Unlike most other soulslike games, in Grime, the player does not lose progress upon death; the game however, does the retain the bonfire concept, except the bonfire itself is replaced with an obelisk made out of levolam called a "surrogate." At each surrogate, The Vessel is able to increase its stats and learn new abilities using "mass," the game's currency and experience point system.

The Vessel landing a hit on one of the game's bosses for 66 damage - The Vessel's four essential metrics are located in the top left of the image and its mass in the bottom right.

File:Grime Game Absorb Mechanic Screenshot.png

The Vessel absorbing an enemy during a parry.

Grime's world is filled with "tunnels, chambers, and nooks and crannies," in which some NPCs use mysterious riddles and metaphors to tell the game's cryptic story, while others "mutter away" incoherehently. Due to the seeming lack of a coherent story at first, the game encourages and rewards exploration and experimentation. After defeating bosses, The Vessel learns new "Metroid-style" abilities that are required to progress further. As is typical in a Metroidvania game, platforming and backtracking are core elements of the game.

The Vessel has a healthbar, a stamina bar known as "Force," a breath bar, and an "Ardor" meter, all four of which are essential metrics in the game. As The Vessel is attacked, the healthbar depletes and, as is typical for a Soulslike, enemy attacks are strong and deal powerful attacks that quickly depletes it. Once it reaches 0, The Vessel is destroyed and respawns at the latest accessed surrogate. The stamina bar, which determines how many actions The Vessel can perform, depletes rapidly, leaving The Vessel vulnerable. Enemy attacks, however, are predictable, and can be easily avoided by jumping, dashing, pulling an enemy, or parrying if correctly timed.

Grime's unique feature is the "absorb" mechanic, the game's parry action, during which The Vessel sucks in an enemy or an enemy's attack using its black-hole-esque head, which often times kills the enemy. Enemies, however, may be killed using conventional weapons such as swords, axes, and clubs, which range from hitting light and fast (using less stamina) to hitting hard and slow (using more stamina). Grime emphasizes parrying, and is a critical component of gameplay and greatly rewards the play, when done correctly. Absorbing an enemy's attack will reflect the attack back at them (or other nearby enemies), and may partially refill The Vessel's health, while absorbing a weak enemy will destroy it and absorbing a large enemy will greatly damage it, and refill a portion The Vessel's breath meter. The Vessel may restore a large portion of its health using breath when the breath meter is filled, and is the main way of health regeneration in the game, and may also be used to unlock performance boosting traits. Some enemies need to be absorbed before they may be attacked with conventional weapons. An incorrectly timed parry, however, may leave The Vessel vulnerable.

Ardor is an index that displays how much mass The Vessel will gain when defeating enemies. When attacked the number decreases, and when destroying enemies the number increases. Absorbing enemies increases ardor by a larger amount than using traditional weapons.

Development

Clover Bite is the internal studio of Tiltan School of Design, based in Haifa, Israel. The studio collaborated to develop the game, with Akupara Games publishing the title.

The director Yarden Weissbrot, stated he wanted to create "something Israeli gamers could be proud of".

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	PC: 81/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
Hardcore Gamer	4/5
IGN	9/10
Shacknews	8/10

The game received an aggregate score of 81/100 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

David Wildgoose of IGN rated the game 9/10 points, calling it "an accomplished Souls-like action RPG". James Cunningham of Hardcore Gamer rated it 4/5 points, saying it was a "classic and fantastically designed Metroidvania".