Everybody is always talking about how much critics and magazines praised GF. Have you actually seen someone say something negative about it?
This (
http://www.glassner.com/andrew/writing/game-reviews/grimfandango.htm) is the worst I could find.
All games will have people who dislike them. Grim Fandango is very well respected, so you don't generally see as many negative reviews, but there will be some out there from people who simply cannot get on with it.
This guy in particular seems to have a problem with adventure gaming in general, and obviously hasn't got a knack for it. I only needed a hint during the notorious tree maze puzzle, the rest I could work out for myself (given enough time) at the mere age of ten. I refuse to accept that the puzzles in GF are totally difficult or illogical.
His review is a bit crap really, and he doesn't judge it too well in light of what it actually is. If he had brought up something like the occasional clipping issues and such, or the lack of an optional point and click interface, than I may have been able to take him seriously.
The fact that he's reviewing a game that he hasn't played all the way through strips away and remaining credibility that he may have had remaining.
The only people that I know that have felt negatively about GF felt that way because of the interface. Point-n-click conservatives who weren't quite ready for a change.
Yeah, I doubt there are any games that everyone likes. People have different taste in game genres, and this guy obviously doesn't like adventure games in general...
The problem is that the game itself is a combination of the worst aspects of computer games - bizarre, improbable magic devices that have to be combined in eactly the right bizarre ways in order to cause other bizarre, unpredictable things to happen.
I welcome other people's opinions, I love debating about things and so forth, but...
"I eventually turned to the hint book from Prima, supplemented with a walkthrough from the net. And even then I couldn't get through the game!"
If anyone takes that review seriously, after reading that, they need their head checked.
I think that guy has a problem with adventure games in general.