GrimGrimoire was originally released in 2007 on the PS2. It is one of Vanillaware's more unique games as it is an RTS instead of an action RPG like most of their catalog. Players will inhabit the body of Lillet Blan, a witch in training who has come to the mystical Silver Star tower to learn from great magicians.
Along the way, mischief starts to brew up and Lillet is tasked with not only saving the Silver Star, but all of humanity. That's the setup to the original plot, and this remaster, GrimGrimoire OnceMore, does not deviate from it. For those that missed this game years ago, here are some fresh tips.
8 The Difficulty Levels
Players can’t choose their difficulty levels right away, but they are in the game. After a brief story setup and some tutorials, the difficulty settings will be unlocked. Players can play with the Easy, Normal, and Hard settings, and they can be changed on the fly.
As this is an RTS game, it can be overwhelming at first, especially for those not used to the genre. That’s why Easy is recommended until all the mechanics start to sink in with GrimGrimoire OnceMore.
7 Replaying Days
Players will soon start to realize that GrimGrimoire OnceMore is a time loop scenario. Lillet will go back in time after a bunch of deaths occur. She must then find new ways to traverse matters so as to change the fate of the future.
The nice thing about this idea is that players can relive story beats and battles as many times as they want. It is recommended to replay some of the earlier stages to get a hang of all the mechanics in the game. Perhaps it might be a good idea to beat these levels on all difficulties too.
6 Knowing Your Elements
Players start by being able to summon Fairies to fight their battles. They will soon realize that there are other summonable creatures in GrimGrimoire OnceMore such as the ghost-like Phantoms. All of these soldier-type units have corresponding strengths.
Certain enemies respond differently to these units kind of like the weapon wheel system in the Fire Emblem series, or how elements work in the Pokemon games. It’s not a bad idea to write down notes manually to memorize these properties for battle.
5 Building Up Your Defenses
This is an easy strategy to follow for RTS games like GrimGrimoire OnceMore: Build up units. This goes for the gatherer-type units that bring in Mana as well as the attack units. Before sending anyone out to do business, a strong army must be assembled.
Also, it’s not a bad idea to create two attack units. One should venture off to destroy enemy units while the other should guard the base. Once a Mana node is down, that’s it, so never leave the base unattended.
4 Gathering Minions
GrimGrimoire OnceMore adds a lot of great new stuff to this PS2 hidden gem beyond updated visuals. However, it’s still a bit clumsy to navigate on consoles, and it’s a real shame the game wasn’t ported to PC where RTS titles really shine. It can be hard to select individual units when the screen gets cluttered quickly.
There are shortcuts to highlight specific units and there are ways to offset the “gather all” commands as well. Again, there are a lot of mechanics to learn, and getting used to the shortcuts will be good for achieving victory.
3 Fast-Forwarding Through Battles
One of the remaster's best new additions is the fast-forwarding feature. Fast-forwarding through battles has become a standard addition to RPG remasters like Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age. Even new RPGs like Octopath Traveler 2 has the fast-forwarding ability.
The inclusion in GrimGrimoire OnceMore might be the fastest in a while. However, abusing it in the wrong timeframe can lead to a quick defeat. So, pay attention to what the enemies are doing before using this mechanic.
2 Keep It Zoomed Out
As cramped as the screen can get, it is nowhere near as bad as the RTS games that launched on the DS. Playing games like Final Fantasy 12: Revenant Wings on that tiny screen was almost impossible at times. In GrimGrimoire OnceMore, players have three screen settings for zooming in and out.
As attractive as it might be to zoom in all the way, players should always zoom out to the furthest setting. Seeing is half the battle, which is a twist on the knowledge is power saying. Knowing where enemy units are stationed and where they are going on the map will be key to winning the battle.
1 Save Often
There are three save slots in the game that players can use at their leisure. The fourth slot is reserved for autosave, which is always nice to have as a backup. Players can save outside of battle as well as during which is a huge plus. Be sure to save every few minutes or so during a battle to sort of checkpoint the whole process.
Be sure to also rotate between at least two save slots as well. If things are going poorly, don’t bother though. It might be better to restart the whole battle or to revert to an older save.
GrimGrimoire OnceMore was released on April 4, 2023, and is available on PS5, PS4, and Switch.