Info about GRIME II:

Official game description:
Become a stealer of forms in GRIME II, the sequel to 2021's acclaimed action-adventure metroidvania. You are a Formless - an art mimic, absorbing creatures and summoning molds in their shape.
Venture into a new and mysterious land in the GRIME universe, where danger and wonder await around every corner. Use your surroundings in tandem with your summoned molds to overcome deadly enemies and epic bosses, all the while exploring a deep world full of diverse cultures and characters.
Create your own playstyle by choosing from a variety of abilities, weapons, and mold summons. Learn the makings of your enemies as you summon their form to both aid you in combat, as well as in exploring the various secrets paths of the world.
*   **Molds** \- Absorb defeated enemies, shaping them into molds which can then be used for special attacks.  
    Use molds to throw enemies, fire projectiles, stun, and even turn into summons.
*   **Environmental Combat** - Wherever you go, the environment provides ample opportunities to damage enemies nearby or from a distance. Be wary, for they can do the same to you!
*   **Parry and Grasp** - Send hand-tendrils to either parry enemy attacks or grasp and absorb them, drawing you closer to learning their shape.
*   **A Lived-in World** - Discover incredible locations made of painted nails and giant vases, each with its own unique civilization, culture, and deep characters to converse with.
*   Customise your playstyle with over 30 weapons, 60 armours and 12 abilities.

Release date: Mar 31, 2026

Categories: Metroidvania, Soulslike Combat, Character Progression, Environmental Combat, Action Adventure, Character Customization, Boss Fights, Exploration

Feature scans:
- Steam Deck: score 50; verdict: Tinkering Required; summary: The game has notable issues with stability, performance, and control configuration. While it runs well on certain setups, frequent problems like disappearing health bars, unopenable maps, and frame drops detract from the overall experience. Control configuration also needs enhancement for better handset adaptation.

- Hardware Profile:
  - Summary: Performance varies significantly across different hardware cohorts, with higher VRAM configurations experiencing stability issues despite recommendations, while lower VRAM setups show mixed results.
  - Sample size: 31 (17% coverage)
  - Audience skew: Review sample is heavily weighted toward Windows PCs with 10GB+ VRAM.
  - Windows 8-11GB VRAM (positive, 10 reports): Performance is acceptable but could be better with optimization.
  - Windows <8GB VRAM (mixed, 7 reports): Performance ranges from stable at 80 FPS to poor, depending on specific hardware.
  - Windows 16GB+ VRAM (negative, 5 reports): Frequent crashes and stuttering issues reported despite high VRAM.
  - Caveats: 31 of 187 reviews expose hardware metadata.; Review sample is heavily weighted toward Windows PCs with 10GB+ VRAM.
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 21.5h
  - Story completion: 5.0h
  - Session length: 5.0h
  - Endgame: 30.0h
  - Reasoning: The evidence provides direct and indirect mentions of playtime for GRIME II. The first quote explicitly states a playtime of 13-30 hours, which can be interpreted as the range for game completion. The second quote mentions being 14 hours into the game, indicating a significant playtime but not necessarily completion. The third quote mentions over 30 hours of playtime, which could be interpreted as endgame content or thorough exploration. The fourth quote mentions a 5-hour playtime, which could be indicative of a session length or early story completion.
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes:
  - Metroidvania Veteran (buy)
    - Motivation: Mastery and improvement in gameplay mechanics.
    - Playstyle: Long-term engagement with a focus on exploring and mastering game mechanics.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: hardcore metroidvania fan; big fan of the 1st game; massive fan
    - Reference games: Hollow Knight; Grime
  - Casual Explorer (sale)
    - Motivation: Enjoyment of a relaxed and accessible gaming experience.
    - Playstyle: Casual play with a focus on enjoying the game world without excessive challenge.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: casual players
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Mechanics-First Wanderer (sale)
    - Motivation: Engagement with gameplay mechanics and world design.
    - Playstyle: Focus on exploring and mastering game mechanics rather than following the story.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: Dark Souls


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Sequel surpasses the original (weight 0.84): The game is widely praised as a significant improvement over its predecessor, enhancing gameplay mechanics, visuals, and overall experience.
- Unique and captivating art style (weight 0.64): The game's artistic direction is highly praised for its uniqueness, immersive qualities, and stunning visuals.
- Enjoyable and challenging combat (weight 0.43): The combat system is noted for being enjoyable, challenging, and well-implemented, contributing to the overall fun of the game.
- Smooth and fluid gameplay (weight 0.37): The gameplay is described as smooth, fluid, and addictive, with well-crafted animations and responsive controls.
- Engaging and well-designed bosses (weight 0.31): Players appreciate the challenging and well-crafted boss fights, which are engaging and add depth to the gameplay.
- Impressive music and atmosphere (weight 0.21): The game's music is highlighted for its excellence and ability to create a pleasant and immersive atmosphere.
- Variety in skills and weapons (weight 0.16): Players appreciate the variety of skills, weapons, and customization options available in the game.

Common complaints:
- Frustrating platforming mechanics (weight 0.58): Players find the platforming sections frustrating and poorly controlled, with excessive and difficult jumping puzzles.
- Performance optimization needed (weight 0.45): The game has performance issues, including frame drops, stuttering, and slow motion, which need optimization.
- Controller B button map bug (weight 0.43): Players report that the B button on the controller does not work to return from the map interface, making navigation frustrating.
- Subpar map design (weight 0.37): The map design is criticized for being poorly designed, confusing, and inconvenient, with long and unnecessary paths.
- Minor bugs present (weight 0.3): There are several minor bugs and technical issues reported by players, affecting the overall experience.
- Marker placement lacks crosshair (weight 0.21): The marking function on the map lacks a crosshair, making it difficult to place markers accurately.
- Slow start and high difficulty (weight 0.2): The game has a slow start and is initially too easy, but the difficulty spikes later on.
- Less polished than the first game (weight 0.2): The game feels less polished and more uninteresting compared to the first game in the series.
- Lack of save points (weight 0.2): There is a lack of save points in critical areas, leading to frustration with backtracking and mild runbacks after dying.
- Lack of ability explanations (weight 0.16): There is a lack of in-game explanations for certain abilities, such as the green orb ability.
- Bloated narrative pacing (weight 0.16): The narrative pacing is criticized for being bloated and tiring, with excessive dialogue.
- Unfair enemy behaviors (weight 0.16): Enemies have unfair behaviors, including excessive spawning and pushing players into unfavorable positions.
- Crashes and technical issues (weight 0.16): The game has several technical issues, including crashes, screen freezing, and stuttering.
- Bosses weaker than minor enemies (weight 0.15): Bosses are criticized for being weaker and less interesting than minor enemies.
- Demanding and unsatisfying mechanics (weight 0.15): Some mechanics are too demanding and unsatisfying to use, affecting the overall gameplay experience.
- System interface and navigation issues (weight 0.14): There are issues with the system interface and navigation, including disappearing health bars and unopenable maps.
- Healing mechanics and stinginess (weight 0.11): The healing mechanics are criticized for being poor and overly stingy on healing resources.
- Frustration with backtracking (weight 0.11): Backtracking is frustrating due to unclear map design and the inability to freely return to strengthen equipment.
- Weak guidance and clarity (weight 0.11): The game lacks clear guidance and explanations, making certain parts confusing and difficult to navigate.
- Character stats issues (weight 0.11): There are issues with character stats, including unbalanced stats and weak character performance.
- Visual and translation issues (weight 0.11): There are several visual bugs in the scenarios and translation issues affecting the game.
- Camera and combat polish issues (weight 0.11): There are minor polish issues with the camera and combat responses, affecting the overall gameplay experience.
- Issues with character models and dynamics (weight 0.11): Character models and dynamics need improvement, affecting the visual and gameplay experience.
- Sound effects and cursor issues (weight 0.09): Hitting sound effects are lacking, and there is no cursor on the map, affecting the overall gameplay experience.
- Artificially extended playtime (weight 0.07): The game design feels like it artificially extends playtime, which can be frustrating for players.
- Long traversal times (weight 0.07): Players report long traversal times between points of interest, which can be tedious.
- Frustrating one-way passages (weight 0.07): One-way passages are frustrating and can lead to unnecessary backtracking.
- Uninteresting world and story (weight 0.07): The world and story are criticized for being uninteresting and less engaging compared to the previous game.
- Focus on stats over gameplay (weight 0.06): The game focuses too much on stats rather than improving jumping puzzles and minor enemies.
- Bug with storyteller NPC (weight 0.06): A bug makes the storyteller NPC, Kisa, inaccessible, affecting the narrative experience.
- Forced into dialogue (weight 0.06): Players are sometimes forced into dialogue, which can be disruptive to the gameplay flow.
- Insufficient map zoom (weight 0.06): The map zoom level is insufficient, making it difficult to navigate and see details.
- Lack of automatic marking for collectibles (weight 0.06): There is no automatic marking for collectibles on the map, making it difficult to track them.
- Frustration with exploration (weight 0.06): Exploration can be frustrating due to unclear map design and confusing paths.
- Demo progress not carried over (weight 0.06): Progress made in the demo version of the game does not carry over to the full release.
- No more vessels (weight 0.06): Players miss the vessel mechanics from the previous game, which are absent in this installment.
- No environmental interactions for money (weight 0.06): The ability to hit environmental objects for money is missing, which some players found enjoyable.
- Slow break-away platforms (weight 0.06): Break-away platforms are criticized for being too slow, affecting platforming sections.
- Obnoxious vignette with no toggle (weight 0.06): There is an obnoxious vignette effect with no proper toggle, which can be visually distracting.

Gameplay feedback:
- Platforming gameplay (weight 0.41): Platforming is a major component of the gameplay, with various sections dedicated to it. Players note the inclusion of jumping puzzles and the need for traversal abilities like grappling and wall jumping.
- Enhanced combat mechanics (weight 0.35): The combat mechanics have seen significant improvements and changes from the previous game, offering more complexity and fluidity. Players appreciate the dynamic and precise nature of the combat.
- Metroidvania with Soulslike elements (weight 0.31): The game blends Metroidvania-style exploration with Soulslike combat and mechanics. This combination includes challenging combat and precision platforming.
- Soulslike combat mechanics (weight 0.31): The game features Soulslike combat mechanics, including parrying and dodge rolling. These mechanics are well-received and add depth to the combat system.
- Variety in enemies and skills (weight 0.3): The game offers a diverse range of enemies and a variety of skills and weapons. This variety enhances the gameplay experience and provides multiple playstyle options.
- Exploration and backtracking (weight 0.26): Exploration is a key aspect of the gameplay, with players needing to find seals and checkpoints for map navigation and teleportation. Backtracking is also emphasized.
- Difficulty options available (weight 0.25): Players can choose from multiple difficulty modes, including adjustable settings. This allows for a customized gaming experience based on player preference.
- Boss fights are key (weight 0.13): Boss fights are a significant and well-received part of the gameplay. They provide challenging and engaging encounters for players.
- Unique world design (weight 0.12): The game features a surrealist and creative world design, which stands out to players. The unique aesthetic adds to the overall appeal of the game.
- Customization options (weight 0.12): Players have access to various customization options for their characters, allowing for different builds and playstyles. This adds depth and replayability to the game.
- Death mechanics (weight 0.12): The game includes death mechanics that are considered rewarding. These mechanics add a layer of strategy and consequence to the gameplay.
- Character progression (weight 0.12): The game features a system for character progression, including the design and development of the protagonist. This allows players to grow and evolve their characters throughout the game.
- Map interface and marking (weight 0.11): The game includes a map interface with marking functionality. This helps players navigate and keep track of important locations and objectives.
- Stamina system removed (weight 0.11): The stamina system has been removed from the game. This change affects the combat and exploration mechanics, providing a different gameplay experience.

Performance notes:
- Performance issues reported (weight 0.35): Multiple players have reported stuttering, frame drops, and periodic FPS drops. These issues seem to affect the gameplay experience significantly.
- Positive performance feedback (weight 0.26): Some players report smooth performance with high FPS on various settings and hardware, indicating that the game can run well under certain conditions.
- Steam Deck mentioned (weight 0.07): There are mentions of the game in the context of Steam Deck, indicating interest or issues specific to this platform.

Recommendations:
- Recommended for Metroidvania fans (weight 0.39): The game is highly recommended for fans of the Metroidvania genre, especially those who enjoy challenging gameplay. It is also suggested for fans of the first game and souls-like Metroidvanias.
- Unique and visually stunning (weight 0.18): The game offers a unique and visually stunning experience, complemented by a deep narrative and engaging combat. Despite some flaws, the visuals and overall experience are highly praised.
- Safe and easy recommendation (weight 0.18): The game is considered a safe purchase and is easily recommended to a wide audience. It is suggested that everyone should buy and play the game.
- Dedicated developers (weight 0.12): The developers' dedication and engagement with the community are highlighted as positive aspects. Players hope the game sells well to continue the series.
- Similar to Grime (weight 0.12): If you enjoyed Grime, you are likely to love this game as well. It is suggested to try Grime if you haven't played it yet.
- Rewarding combat and unique world (weight 0.08): The game is worth playing for its rewarding combat system and unique world design. This aspect is particularly praised by players.
- Thematic gameplay elements (weight 0.07): The game is recommended for those who enjoy thematic elements such as painting, devouring, hunting, and evolving.
- Highly recommended in French (weight 0.06): A strong recommendation for the game is given in French, indicating its appeal to a broader international audience.

Other player notes:
No miscpoints

Emotions:
- Excitement (weight 0.27): Players are thrilled by the game's beautiful scenery, exploration, and combat mechanics. The improvements over the first game, such as enhanced gameplay elements and ambitious depth, contribute significantly to this excitement.
- Frustration (weight 0.23): Players are frustrated by difficult and repetitive jumping puzzles, unclear map design, and technical issues. Bugs, performance problems, and demanding mechanics without clear explanations add to this frustration.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.15): Players feel satisfied with the improvements over the first game, particularly in bosses and combat. The overall great gameplay, positive aspects, and lack of severe death penalty contribute to this satisfaction.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.07): Players enjoy the fun gameplay, interesting world-building, and responsive controls. The diverse enemies, innovative consumable system, and cool mechanics add to the enjoyment.
- Disappointment (weight 0.06): Players feel disappointed due to the game feeling less polished than its predecessor. Technical issues, gameplay problems, and a less interesting protagonist contribute to this disappointment.
- Happy (weight 0.04): Players are happy with the improvements over the first game, including great combat, visuals, and exploration. The captivating art style and smooth gameplay contribute to this happiness.
- Admiration (weight 0.03): Players admire the detailed improvements and the developer's dedication. Various aspects of the game receive detailed praise, contributing to this admiration.
- Confusion (weight 0.02): Players are confused by unclear design choices and whether issues are bugs or user errors. This lack of clarity leads to confusion.
- Hopeful (weight 0.02): Players feel hopeful due to a positive outlook on the game's future and community engagement. Despite areas for improvement, there is optimism for future enjoyment.
- Relief (weight 0.02): Players feel relieved that the game meets expectations despite initial concerns. Performance stabilization after a restart contributes to this relief.
- Delight (weight 0.02): Players are delighted by the bosses, their names, and the artwork and map. These elements bring a sense of delight.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Players feel bored due to repetitive and difficult jumping puzzles. This repetitiveness leads to boredom.
- Hope (weight 0.01): Players feel hopeful about the potential for future enjoyment. This hope is based on the game's promising aspects.
- Disappointed (weight 0.01): Players feel disappointed due to an unpolished game state and performance issues. These problems contribute to the disappointment.
- Angry (weight 0.01): Players are angry due to frustrating gameplay mechanics and poor optimization. These issues lead to anger.
- Frustrated (weight 0.01): Players feel frustrated due to difficult and unfair gameplay mechanics. These challenges contribute to the frustration.
- Appreciation (weight 0.01): Players appreciate the art design and music. These elements are highly valued and contribute to the appreciation.
- Amazement (weight 0.01): Players are amazed by the game's overall quality. This high quality leads to a sense of amazement.}