GrimGrimoire OnceMore Critic Reviews

From the very start, GrimGrimoire was a strong game, and with GrimGrimoire OnceMore VanillaWare made a once niche title even more appealing to a wider audience. With visual novels more appreciated, I feel the story of Lillet and the loops she jumps through at Tower of Silver Star will be better appreciated. Not to mention the solid strategic elements feel like they flow better with the latest adjustments. Combine that with VanillaWare’s always stunning presentation, and GrimGrimoire OnceMore feels like a mandatory inclusion in the libraries of both strong story lovers and strategy enthusiasts.

A solid real time strategy game back in 2007, the OnceMore edition packs new features for Grimgrimoire, boosting its quality-of-life factor and delivering a game that still shines today.

GrimGrimoire OnceMore (with feeling) is a textbook example of how to retain an enjoyable experience and modernize it for a contemporary audience. The whimsical characters and art shine in HD, and the RTS gameplay holds up well on Switch. The stages do get a little repetitive as you make your way through the main story, but there’s more than enough meat on these bones to justify a purchase for fans of Vanillaware’s previous works or anyone looking for a satisfying RTS with a fantasy coat of paint.

GrimGrimoire OnceMore is a visually gorgeous title with tight real time strategy gameplay, come for the strategy and a stay for the clever story.

The original GrimGrimoire was envisioned as the first in a franchise before poor sales put the kibosh on that idea. I don’t know if Vanillaware and NIS America will be more successful this time around with GrimGrimoire OnceMore, but I hope they are because this game is a top to bottom delight and I would love to see what lies beyond the halls of Silver Star Tower.

Some RTS fans are going to find GrimGrimoire a little too tedious at times even with the great new features, while those looking to enjoy the excellent visuals and solid time loop yarn will have to come to grips with the strategic elements. Still, I think there’s a lot here worth digging into. I like to think the audience is more receptive to things like this than it was in the late 00s, and that perhaps GrimGrimoire will get its due at long last.

Unlike other Vanillaware games, GrimGrimoire Once More is not a game for everyone. If you connect with it and don't get frustrated by the "death, learn and try again" loop, you'll have a great time with a careful mix of role-playing, tactics, real-time strategy and tower defense. All topped with beautiful art and a very interesting plot.

Trading tanks for talismans and infantry for imps, GrimGrimoire provides a painterly style to the real-time strategy genre. With an intriguing plotline that tweaks expectations and a remaster that fixes some (but not all) of the game’s faults, OnceMore is worth revisiting or tackling for the first time.

If you have already played the sacred monsters of the genre previously released and you are , like us, great admirers of the splendid artistic direction of Kaminari and company, here you will still find bread for your teeth for at least fifteen hours.

GrimGrimoire OnceMore takes one of the most under-appreciated RTS games of its generation and fixes some of its biggest problems, making this a worthwhile game for both new fans and those who have played the original. While the repetitive maps mean that most levels feel too similar to each other, the story is fun and the visuals have had a solid upgrade for the Switch. There is just enough depth to the strategy to keep you guessing without overwhelming new players.

GrimGrimoire OnceMore is an engaging experience. The battle system is its strongest feature, and is extremely satisfying to play around with. Developing your own personal strategies and comparing them with other players is one of those joyous moments you won’t forget in a hurry. Despite the mediocre storyline and all the repetition you’re forced to endure, the game is well worth checking out if you’re a fan of quirky and unique RTS games.

GrimGrimoire OnceMore offers tower defense and RTS fans a level of learning and resource management that engages without ever hitting overload. It’s not my favorite tower defense game, but the quality artwork, interesting story, and solid gameplay should have genre fans (and fans of the original version) pleased with its Switch release.

If you love experimental genres, tower defence games, high-quality Japanese 2D art and are into weird, tangled stories – congratulations! You are one of the selected few to this game can be easily recommended to. For the rest of you, it’s a gamble. Either you will love it or simply detest it.