Grim Legends: The Forsaken Bride PlayStation 4 Review

If there’s one thing that Artifex Mundi does well, it’s puzzle adventure games. Grim Legends: The Forsaken Bride for the PlayStation 4 brings players back to a familiar mysterious setting. In this adventure, you play as Lilly, a young lady who has traveled across far lands to attend her sister’s home town wedding. Upon arrival, you find out that your sister has been kidnapped by a gigantic bear and you and the would-be husband of your sister set out to discover what has happened to the beautiful bride.

The game is a point-and-click style that has you highlight and select various objects and areas in the on-screen environment. The area is littered with clues, hints and sports beautiful 2D backgrounds. There are some CG cut-scenes throughout the game that are pretty unique, but we aren’t talking Diablo or World of Warcraft quality here.

You quest begins by talking to the townsfolk around the village and the surrounding areas as you sort through hidden objects, navigate puzzles and take down clues to progress further into the game. There were a few predictable plot twists that I picked up on right away, but not once did I stray from the story once puzzles started to pick up.

Puzzles in the game are set up in a few ways. One of the puzzles has you find an item to use on other items in your inventory that pertains to the storyline which unlocks more clues about your sister. I personally was a fan of the image puzzles where you rotate pieces to reveal a completed picture. Gamers will typically find themselves slapping their forehead when they’re stuck looking for something only to find out it’s right in front of them. In case you run into those situations, there is the ability to use the hint system that will help give you clues to figure things out.

The voice actors in the game are spot on. They don’t do too much and it sticks to a formula. Not once did I feel like I was playing a cheap title or felt annoyed by tongue-in-cheek jokes or dialogue that didn’t stick. Grim Legends obviously has taken cues from other successful fairytales and movie plots and includes some paranormal scenarios mixed with a Beauty and the Beast setting. It also includes an original soundtrack that added much depth to each setting.

A cool feature that I feel should be mentioned in the game was having a little fluffy cat to help you out in sticky situations. I’ll admit, this seemed like a thrown-in feature to help gamers forget about how hard and boring some of the puzzles were, but I feel the helpful feline lend more to the storyline, so I felt like it was a missed opportunity overall. Maybe the developers can develop a future title that focuses on the kitty’s origins.

Games like Grim Legends seem to resonate more toward those that own tablets, PC’s and smartphones. Not that I believe it doesn’t belong on consoles, it just seemed like a chore to play with buttons and analog instead of a touch or click option. Hidden objects, puzzles, cool orange cats, decent voice acting and gorgeous backgrounds are all good in my book and Grim Legends: The Forsaken Bride has all of that. However, I felt if the developers invested a little more money and time on the game’s production, it would be a better value. 

Tao Dawkins, NoobFeed

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