Ever since the original Demon's Souls and Dark Souls games came out, they have been a great source of inspiration for many other developers looking to make punishing games that don't hold their players' hands. Yesterday was the launch day for Grime, which has been around for some time but finally released with its 1.0 patch. Over time, Grime has been garnering positive reviews both because it is a well-done metroidvania and because of its difficulty, which can skyrocket for players who are not veterans with Souls-like games.
Still, Grime is getting praise because it is a unique Souls-like compared to other games in the genre, one that takes its best elements and makes them more interesting in terms of lore and gameplay. Dark Souls and games like it always feature a stamina bar and two defensive mechanics: dodge rolling and parrying attacks. Both of these features can be found in Grime as well, and while the first is more like a dash that destroys and recreates the player character, vessel, at the target location, parrying is its own thing aptly called "Absorb."
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In Grime, players start with no weapons or any similar means to deal damage, apart from a few Nails they can find along the way that act as throwable knives of sorts and deal little-to-no damage. However, what players can use to damage enemies is the parry function, which sucks the creature whose hit was blocked into the vessel's black hole of a head. Repeating this action charges up a meter that can be fully depleted to heal, fundamentally working as a substitute for herbs and flasks commonly employed in Souls-like games.
This incentivizes players to use their parry as often as possible, rather than straight-up bashing enemies with big, creepy weapons. It should be noted that the Absorb mechanic is not always triggered on any blocked attack; only when the damage it deals is enough to actually kill the creature. This is very important because absorbing enemies is a key aspect of gameplay, and players have to be careful of how much damage they deal with their attacks prior to trying to parry and absorb one of the beings that populate the world of Grime.
Timing the parry is also very important because some creatures can only be properly absorbed when they perform specific attacks, which generally tend to be more basic ones. Parrying special attacks can result in the enemy dying without being absorbed. That's not all though, as Grime also features Prey monsters – meaning, foes that are tougher than their regular counterparts who can fall victim to the players' Absorb and grant a new ability for the next time they spawn at a Surrogate. This makes parrying even more crucial in terms of gameplay, and it also enhances the typical Souls-like experience.
With Grime having plenty of RPG elements to allow players to build their character the way they want, having a unique parry ability creates fun new interactions. What makes it even more peculiar is that bosses, too, can be absorbed with a timed parry. This sort of mechanic rewards players for their skill and how much time and attention they dedicate to playing, but it doesn't end up being too punishing on others who take time to learn the ropes.
Grime is available now on PC and Stadia.
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