Line #80 VideoGame/GrimGrimoire


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/GrimGrimoire_2144.jpg]]
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3	''[=GrimGrimoire=]'' is a 2007 RealTimeStrategy game for Platform/PS2, brought to you by Creator/{{Vanillaware}} and Creator/NipponIchi.
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5	It tells the tale of a magically-gifted child called Lillet Blan, who gains admission to a renowned WizardingSchool called the Tower of Silver Star. There she meets an eclectic ensemble of students and teachers- the mysterious and bearded old headmaster, the sarcastic and ObviouslyEvil Sorcery teacher, and the cold but perceptive honour student, to name a few- and learns about the four schools of Glamour, Necromancy, Sorcery and Alchemy.
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7	Everything is going swimmingly until the fifth day, when Lillet awakens to find that [[EverybodysDeadDave everyone is dead]] and that [[SealedEvilInACan a sinister evil has been unleashed from within the school]]. Lillet is soon killed as well, but suddenly finds herself in a GroundhogDayLoop, thrust back to her very first day in school but [[RippleEffectProofMemory retaining all the knowledge she learned in the meantime]].
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9	After taking the sensible approach of alerting her teachers, [[AdultsAreUseless only for it to result in spectacular failure]], Lillet realizes that her only chance of averting her fate and escaping the time loop [[ItsUpToYou is to do it all herself]]. Along the way, she'll delve into the history of the school and discover dark secrets about practically every member of the facility, including herself.
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11	''[=GrimGrimoire=]'' draws very obviously from the gameplay of the ''VideoGame/AtelierSeries'' and the premise and aesthetics of ''Literature/HarryPotter''. The major draw is the school full of weird characters who need the player's help in both the running of the school and their love lives.
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13	On April 2022, Vanillaware and Nippon Ichi announced ''[=GrimGrimoire OnceMore=]'', a HD remake containing new mechanics, rebalanced difficulty, a skill tree, high definition graphics, the option to fast forward battle sequences and cutscenes and a new Japanese voice cast. It was released on July 28, 2022 in Japan for Platform/PlayStation4 and Platform/NintendoSwitch. It came out internationally in April 2023, also for Platform/PlayStation5.
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15	!!This game provides examples of:
16	%%* AdultsAreUseless: As Lillet learns ''repeatedly''.
17	* AffablyEvil: Advocat, whose goal is ultimately to get people to sign away their souls in a DealWithTheDevil, but who still genuinely seems to enjoy his friendship with Gammel Dore and the others at the school. [[spoiler:He's actually on your side in every iteration, but he admits himself that it's purely because he can't get anyone's soul if they die first.]]
18	* TheArchmage: Calvaros and eventually Lillet who graduates after the time loop ends as she's learnt everything that her teachers know.
19	* ArtificialHuman / EmotionlessGirl: Amoretta the Homuculus. She's ''much'' [[YoungerThanTheyLook younger than she looks]].
20	* BeastAndBeauty: Subverted, in that the Beast does ''not'' love Beauty (even though this would break the spell), is somewhat of a nerd, and doesn't care what he looks like.
21	* BodyHorror: The chimeras.
22	* CaptainErsatz: Half the cast look like they might have been stolen from ''Literature/HarryPotter''. Played up in the localization, where many names were changed to make the inspirations blatant, such as Gammel Drask to Gammel Dore.
23	* CloseRangeCombatant: Of the super units, there's the Dragon and Chimera though these two units actually have significant reach with their attacks and can easily wipe out hordes of weak enemy units with their rapid-fire, area of effect attacks. On the mook side of things, there are the Phantoms, upgraded Imps and the mighty Demons who all need to navigate around the levels before taking it to the enemy up close.
24	* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: Opalneria's punishment for Margarita, when the latter is caught trying to sneak into the former's chambers. Exactly what Opalneria does is never fully explained, but given that she's a necromancer (and that it reduces Margarita to a blubbering wreck), it's evidently terrifying.
25	* CripplingOverSpecialisation: Affects the Skullmage, whose role as chief killer of ethereal units is easily taken by other more versatile creatures.
26	* CuteWitch: Lillet, of course!
27	** [[spoiler:...who then becomes a HotWitch in the epilogue.]]
28	* DevilInPlainSight: Done literally with Advocat, subverted in that he's not one of the villains.
29	* DealWithTheDevil: Literally, many times. Hell is going to have to update its rules to avoid falling for Lillet's [[{{Wishplosion}} last deal.]]
30	** Unless Hell is run by individuals like Advocat; in that case, they'll have a field day at every poor schmuck demon that actually falls for the trick.
31	** Advocat's deal with Gammel is that he will "teach and assist" at the school for no pay; but should Gammel ''ask'' for a DealWithTheDevil for his soul; he'll get it. Gammel never succumbed, even in timelines where [[spoiler:he's about to be possessed by Grimlet.]]
32	* DidYouJustScamCthulhu: [[spoiler:Lillet successfully pulls this off in the end with Grimlet, making contract with him where her request is for him to embrace god, which devils can't do, and since neither of them can change the contract (Lillet made it a blank check offer), he gets sent back to hell for breaking it.]]
33	* DubNameChange: Gammel Drask (an alcoholic beverage in keeping with the themed names) became Gammel Dore ([[Literature/HarryPotter which should be obvious]]), and Margarita Frozen became Margarita Surprise.
34	* EccentricMentor: Gammel Dore, a CaptainErsatz of the former TropeNamer. Subverted in that he's surprisingly incompetent for a supposed mentor figure. AdultsAreUseless, after all.
35	* ElementalRockPaperScissors: Glamour → Necromancy → Sorcery → Alchemy → Glamour. This overlaps with TacticalRockPaperScissors somewhat.
36	* EliteMook: Demons are pure footsoldier units, but they are VERY POWERFUL. They have the 3rd highest health rating in the game, being able to take more hits than the Morning Star and Charon (the super units for Glamour and Necromancy). While they can't deal nearly as much damage as the 4 super units, they can lay down a lot of punishment with their special abilities of double claw attack and a poisonous touch.
37	%%* EvilOverlord[=/=]SorcerousOverlord: Calvaros.
38	%%* EvilSorcerer: Advocat.
39	* ExiledToTheCouch: Inverted. Lillet threatens to sleep on the couch to keep Amoretta in line.
40	* {{Foreshadowing}}: On the fourth Day 1, Advocat, while listing things that a high level demon could do for a contract, he mentions [[spoiler:praying in a church as something they couldn't do]].
41	* FourPhilosophyEnsemble: The Instructors:
42	** '''The Optimist:''' Gammel Dore. By far the most friendly of the instructors, but seems remarkably naïve about most of the goings-on in the tower.
43	** '''The Cynic:''' Advocat, to the point where he won't lift a finger to help anyone, even if their life is in danger, unless they make a literal DealWithTheDevil with him.
44	** '''The Realist:''' Opalneria Rain. Definitely the most disciplined and straightforward of the instructors.
45	** '''The Apathetic:''' Chartreuse Grande. Utterly engrossed in his alchemy experiments, to the exclusion of almost everything else.
46	* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The instructors again.
47	** '''Sanguine''': Advocat. Is outgoing, but other than that, embodies most of the negative aspects of this temperament. Most notably self-indulgent, lustful (to an extent), and also has a bit of a quick temper if you press the right buttons.
48	** '''Choleric''': Opalneria Rain. Ambitious, tactical, proud, easily angered, obsessive and passionate.
49	** '''Phlegmatic''': Gammel Dore. Patient, kind, forgiving, and a touch on the docile side.
50	** '''Melancholic''': Chartreuse Grande. Independent, organized, hardworking, and brooding.
51	* FullNameBasis: Advocat just...''tastes'' Lillet Blan's full name every time he says it.
52	%%* FunctionalMagic
53	* GambitPileup: There's a ''tonne'' of people and organizations all invested in what goes on at the Tower of the Silver Star, with spying, treachery, and secret pacts abound, and each trip the player makes around the GroundhogDayLoop adds at least one more gambit to the mix. They are all finally outgambitted by ''Lillet'', of all people.
54	* GroundhogDayLoop: Lillet seems to be cursed into repeating the same five days over and over again until she gets it right.
55	* GuileHero: Lillet
56	* HalfHumanHybrid: Alchemy professor Chartreuse Grande, although it should be noted he's actually a normal human cursed into a half-beast form.
57	* HeadPet: Surely, Margarita's familiar.
58	* HeroicSacrifice: Made by several characters over the course of the game. [[spoiler:Lillet's ultimate goal is to find a way to win without anyone having to do this.]]
59	* HideYourLesbians: Technically, [[spoiler:Lillet and Amoretta]] don't ''do'' anything like kissing; but they do live together in the end. Snuggling in bed together is compared to one being "like a baby." Declarations of love can still be argued to be "sisterly." They never cross that ever so fine line of plausible deniability on the part of the writers.
60	** Or perhaps not. After all, Lillet blushes furiously when making her ''first'' love declaration, and [[http://imgur.com/rrRuZSn this]] journal entry makes it clear that her strong desire to protect Amoretta is a form of her love. Then there's the fact that she threatens to sleep on the couch if Amoretta doesn't do what she says, which is something people really only say to their lovers. Hmm.
61	* HoldTheLine: Mission five.
62	* HotForStudent: Opalneria's relationship with Hiram.
63	* [[CuteGhostGirl Hot Ghost Girl]]: Lujei
64	* InstantWinCondition: Destroying enemy runes is the generic win condition, but you can also force an early win in the HoldTheLine mission(s).
65	* ItsUpToYou: Of course it is. You're the protagonist! (Hilariously, in subsequent loops, Lillet will blow off helping certain people because she's got bigger priorities.)
66	* JustifiedTutorial: Lillet's a new student, and it's her first day of school. Of course, on repeat sessions everyone expresses considerable surprise at how much Lillet already knows.
67	* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:All the bad guys, thanks to some particular cleverness on the part of Lillet.]]
68	* KnightOfCerebus: Both Calvaros and Grimmlet. They show up, the cycle is going to get much more serious.
69	* LargeHam: Advocat. And how.
70	* LightningBruiser: Chimeras are massively destructive (and can actually out damage dragons since they have a higher attack rate) and move alarmingly fast, and ignore obstacles, but their HP gradually decreases. Also, while the game lists them as having close to the same HP as dragon, their defense is nowhere nearly as high so they die much more easily. Finally as alchemical creatures, chimeras get curb-stomped by dragons in a clash of the titans.
71	* LogicBomb: In a non-AI example, [[spoiler:this is how Lillet wins against the villain. Turns out that wishing for the Devil you just sold your soul to to "Embrace God" is a great way to get rid of them and get your soul back.]]
72	* LongRangeFighter: The Morning Star and a fully upgraded Charon are unlike their fellow super units, the Dragon and Chimera, in that they're great at long range (capable of dealing amazing amounts of damage) but rather weak up close (their health is quite good so they can take a bit of punishment, but the Charon and Morning Star use limited amounts of ammunition so they can't keep rapid-fire their foes - especially with the Charon which uses passengers it's transporting as fuel for an EnergyBall).
73	** For the mooks, the long-range specialists are the Fairies and Golems - Fairies are too frail to take hits until they get Astralize while Golems have a minimum range.
74	* MageTower: The Tower of the Silver Star, again, which is stated to be the principal WizardingSchool of the kingdom. It was originally the lair of [[EvilOverlord Calvaros]], making it a one-time EvilTowerOfOminousness as well.
75	* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler:You cannot help but suspect Margarita ''Surprise'' from the beginning.]]
76	** It's less obvious in the Japanese version, where her last name is 'Frozen'.
77	* MightyGlacier: Dragons. By far the slowest units in the game- but by FAR the strongest (most units die in one or two attacks, unless they're astrals, but using the skull mage's astalize on the dragon can solve this) and by far the most durable; they also have a type advantage against Chimeras, the only unit who would otherwise be remotely in their class. It takes an ARMY to bring down even one. Or a well placed [[NotCompletelyUseless sleep spell]] from a Grimalkin.
78	* TheMole: Two of them, in [[spoiler:Margarita and Bartido]].
79	* MyFutureSelfAndMe: Lillet gets to meet herself, it turns out it was her future self that stuck her in the time loop to correct all the disasters happening.
80	* {{Necromancer}}: Opalneria. Also Lujei when she was alive. Also, Hiram is Opalneria's student which makes him an apprentice necromancer.
81	* NotPlayingFairWithResources: Your opponents aren't restricted by silly things such as resource levels or build times--in fact, you can even catch them in the act of directly teleporting in more {{Mooks}} for them to use.
82	* OlderThanTheyLook: Opalneria. Gets even worse when she changes her appearance to a schoolgirl's to make things more "suitable" for her HotForStudent role.
83	* OutOfTimeOutOfMind
84	* PlayingWithFire: Sorcery units all have fire themes to them.
85	* PoorPredictableRock: Almost everyone except Lillet, especially the instructors, specializes in just one or two of the four types of magic, even though the ElementalRockPaperScissors means this makes them easy to defeat. Some stages limit your access to books of magic, forcing ''you'' into this role on occasion as well.
86	* QueerFlowers: Amoretta's first meeting with Lillet seems to show her developing a "girl crush" on the heroine, even saying "I like your smile. Can I touch it?" with Lillet nervously letting her do so. It's explicitly established that Amoretta, her name meaning "little love," only lives because [[ThePowerOfLove Lillet's love sustains her]]. Near the end game, [[spoiler:they sort of wind up together, and they actually live together in the post-game epilogue.]]
87	* RobeAndWizardHat: Mostly Lillet and Gammel.
88	* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: Over and over and over...
89	* ShoutOut
90	-->'''[[spoiler:[[TalkingAnimal Surely]]]]:''' Miss... surely you don't expect to make it out alive, do you?
91	-->'''Lillet:''' Of course I do, [[Film/{{Airplane}} and don't call me Shirley.]]
92	** Gammel Drask's name was changed to Gammel Dore in the English translation as a homage to [[Franchise/HarryPotter a certain other bearded wizard]].
93	* SpannerInTheWorks: Nobody, not even the highest ranked Demon or the Archmage, counted on one humble transfer student blowing all of their plans to hell.
94	** Crossover Example: [[spoiler:Lujei Piche ends up sending the demon Sulfur, villain of ''VideoGame/PhantomBrave'' back to his world despite the sacrifices involved in banishing him, as revealed in her Cameo in ''VideoGame/SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters''.]]
95	* StableTimeLoop: [[spoiler:Lillet learns after all her efforts that she will be trapped in the room with the stone like the other, older Lillet unless the stone is destroyed. She also mentions that when she arrived the Lillet she met was an old woman so it's pretty obvious that it's an unbroken cycle.]]
96	* StealthPun: The sorcery teacher is a devil. His name is Mr. Advocat. And he's constantly flip-flopping his allegiance based on his mood. Put the pieces together. [[spoiler:He's a devil's advocate.]]
97	* SummonBiggerFish: The only way to defeat Calvaros is [[spoiler:to summon the arch-devil Grimlet, who takes his soul to hell]]. Of course, [[spoiler:then you have to deal with Grimlet]] which is where things get difficult.
98	* SupernaturallyDeliciousAndNutritious: Amoretta, to devils
99	* TalkingAnimal: Margarita's frog familiar, Surely; and Amoretta's familiar, a Grimalkin.
100	* TallDarkAndSnarky: Advocat, who takes the Snape role with relish.
101	* TheDarkArts: In this world, there's only one and that's sorcery which taps into the powers of Hell. Necromancy is actually a holy magic as is Glamour, with Alchemy being neutral in alignment.
102	* ThemeNaming: With three exceptions, every character is, for no apparent reason, named after an alcoholic beverage. Two in the Japanese version (Gammel Dore is Gammel Drask in Japan.)
103	* TomeOfEldritchLore: Lillet keeps getting more powerful versions of these, and they stay with her each reset.
104	* {{Tsundere}}: Opalneria has been described as... passionate.
105	* TheUsualAdversaries: Sorcery is used as an opposing force more often than any of the other branches of magic during the main story.
106	* VainSorceress: Opalneria is ''[[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld way]]'' OlderThanTheyLook, but she keeps using magic to look younger. By the end [[spoiler:she loses her OldMaid status and ends up looking like a schoolgirl, to the disappointment of [[LikesOlderWomen some]]. Although this is InformedAttractiveness since we never see her after she does it.]]
107	* WeaksauceWeakness: [[MightyGlacier Dragons]] and [[LightningBruiser Chimeras]] are all but unstoppable- unless you get a Grimalkin to cast Sleep on them. Oh dear.
108	* WildCard: Advocat. He ''is'' a devil who could exploit the situation to his benefit if he wanted to, but he knows he has very little to gain personally from the conflict and is content with simply observing the events. [[spoiler:In the ending however, he's so impressed with Lillet's outsmarting of Grimlet that he personally backs her deal with him.]]
109	* {{Wishplosion}}: Lillet [[spoiler:summons a massively powerful devil, which fulfils the {{Big Bad}}'s contract with him, which gets rid of said BigBad - and then Lillet drops a LogicBomb on the demon, making a contract and then wishing for it to ''embrace God''. The demon refuses and therefore suffers the consequences.]]
110	* WizardingSchool: The Tower of the Silver Star.
111	* TheWorfEffect: The teachers seem to serve one purpose, to have the unholy crap beaten out of them. Repeatedly.
112	* WorkerUnit: Elves/ghosts/imps/blobs.
113	* {{Yandere}}: Lujei, Lujei, Lujei.
114	* YouRequireMoreVespeneGas: Mana, harvested from crystals.
115	* ZergRush - On the first couple of days, you can just mass-manufacture your unit of choice and march them to the objective. Not so much on the later days, where your opponents tend to have a mix of unit types. Phantom swarms, for instance, go from awesome (when the AI tends to have little to counter them) to short-lived (when the AI gains Homunculi and alchemy area-of-effect attacks) to awesome again (when you figure out the subtle nuances of using other units to take out said Homunculi and area-of-effect defenses before sending in the crazy sword-swinging avenging ghosts soldiers).
116	** Because the AI is NotPlayingFairWithResources, it LOVES to throw hordes of Imps to harass your base. You'll almost never do that back because by the time you get Imps you not only have better units to use en masse, you also have to contend with the aforementioned area-of-effect attacks. The exception can be seen in one of the Bonus Missions, [[spoiler:specifically Video 28, The Queen and the Red Hood]] [[https://archive.org/details/LP_Grim_Grimoire in this LP.]]

Context VideoGame / GrimGrimoire