Top 50 Greatest Things: #10

My top 50 greatest things.

Number 10: Grim Fandango

Grim Fandango is a point and click adventure game released by LucasArts in 1998. In a surreal afterlife inspired by Aztec mythology and film noir, travel agent Manny Calavera uncovers a conspiracy that sends him on a four year odyssey to redeem his soul and help a lost woman find her way to eternal rest. The game's aesthetics hit on a lot I like such as pulp crime noir and retro-futurism, filled with a world of characters who reflect those styles. Its puzzles are impressively creative and thematically rich but can occasionally require a lot of patience, although thanks to the carefully crafted environments I'm never stultified in the world of this game. The score by Peter McConnell also deserves high praise, blending elements of big band swing and jazz with South American folk, all helping elevate the atmosphere.

I absolutely adore this game and doing this list has helped reveal to me that it is in fact my favorite video game of all time. I highly recommend checking out the remastered version that was released a few years ago that contains a touched up but unaltered version of the game and a commentary track featuring some of the game's developers.

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