Would that Freud could have played Grime II. One of the gorgeous alien locales in Clover Bite’s sequel to 2021’s Grime is dotted with stone-wrought fingers that droop and twitch in the background of the frame. At times, spermatoid wisps drift through the air, lighting the path to points of interest on the map. The most vigorous phallus of all is the protagonist: a muscular, sleek, and hooded shapeshifter, referred to as “White,” whose preternatural powers manifest in explosions of milky paint.
Grime II’s theming is icky but not juvenile—a potent vehicle, in fact, for a tale about the violence inherent to both creation and consumption, of art as well as life. Though the game’s sparse dialogue tends to drag, the opening cutscene depicts White’s formation with compelling brevity. “The world beyond is yours,” says a cosmic entity. “A buffet, to satiate your hunger.”
White’s death drive proves voracious—and Grime II offers an exceedingly filling meal. The main course is combat, which entails a kinetic calculus of risk and reward. While the game doesn’t quite force the use of White’s parry, the ability is so snappy and satisfying as to motivate trial, error, and mastery. White can also conjure previously felled enemies to replicate their offensive and defensive moves; the variety of summons available, alongside the delightful array of weapons White can equip, stokes a fierce appetite to give new builds a vicious whirl.
Grime II suffers from intermittent glitches on the PS5, occasionally janky controls, and a few design choices that have become endemic to mechanically rigorous Metroidvanias. It places checkpoints close to bosses, but runbacks are often broken up by boring hazards—a meager pit of spikes, a series of simple jumps across chasms—that interrupt the flow with tedium. Meanwhile, the last act stiffens the difficulty with irritations familiar to many a Soulslike: poisonous terrain, excessive visual noise, and a paucity of save spots.
But these misfires are overshadowed by the beguiling erraticism of Grime II’s world. In a memorable highlight, I baited a zombie-like monster, standing still as it ambled over. When it got within reach, I thwomped it with a tooth-lined maul that literally chews on opponents, a ravenous instrument fit for its insatiable wielder. Surprise: The slam caused the ground below to cave in, so down White went, plummeting into a hidden chamber. What a climax.
This game was reviewed with a code provided by Kwalee.
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