Grim Fandango, one of all the time great adventure games from LucasArts, is returning soon. Naturally, we're all excited. But what of the future beyond the re-release?
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Kotaku's Nathan Grayson chatted with legendary game designer Tim Schafer, formerly of LucasArts and now working at Double Fine, about any possible sequels to everyone's favorite skeleton detective.
"Never say never," Schafer said, "Grim is something [special], but storywise it's hard because [main character] Manny went to the land of eternal rest at the end. We'd have to drag him back from there or make a game about another character. It's tough to imagine a satisfying story about that."
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Schafer has had some experience with sequels, having crafted Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge and the successor to Maniac Mansion. But he is a gifted talent, not necessarily a prolific one. Schafer produced only two titles in the first decade of the new millennium, the still amazing Psychonauts and the poorly received Brutal Legend. His latest, this year's adventure title Broken Age Part 1, is GotY material. So, he's not churning these things out left and right.
So a sequel to Grim is only ever in the realm of hypothetical, for both those of us who want it, and Schafer, who may be the only man who can ever make it. But hypothetical talk is fun. What would a Grim sequel be like? Schafer would want to the feel of a noir adventure game, with the open world exploration of Grand Theft Auto, which would replace the numerous weapons with various objective items.
Schafer has thought about that idea since the 90s, well before the technology for open world adventure fully matured.
Frankly, I still don't think Grim is even getting its rerelease. I can't believe it's real until it is in my hands and even then, I will be wary, assuming it is some grand cosmic joke designed to build my hopes up, then dash them onto the ground.
But a Grim Fandango sequel? Let it only ever be a dream. In dreams, it is perfect.
