Grime II

Grime 2 is a solid metroidvania with a vast exploration component and highly customizable action gameplay.

In a crowded genre like Metroidvania, it’s no easy feat to carve out a unique identity without imitating others and to stay true to it. Grime II does a fantastic job in that regard, delivering an experience that’s immensely fun to play and wonderfully bizarre.

Clover Bite takes us back to a surreal world steeped in art, offering a challenging and demanding experience that surpasses its predecessor. Grime II is a demanding, ambitious game with a very clear identity. It doesn’t seek to please everyone, nor does it prioritize accessibility. The world is complex and cryptic, but once I connected with its concept, it instantly became one of the most interesting Metroidvanias of the year so far.

Terrence spends his time going where no one has gone before mostly. But when not planning to take over the galaxy, he spends his time raising Chocobo and trying to figure out just how the sarlaac could pull Boba Fett’s ship with its engines firing FULL BLAST into it’s maw with relative ease; yet it struggled with Han Solo who was gripping *checks notes* SAND!

GRIME 2 is a strange, demanding, and deeply atmospheric action adventure that rewards patience with satisfying combat, memorable boss fights, and a world full of secrets worth uncovering. Its weaker story, chaotic readability, uneven difficulty, and occasional reliance on parrying hold it back, but once it clicks, it becomes the kind of imperfect game that stays with you far longer than many safer titles.

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I spent a long time thinking about how best to close this review – not so much about what to say, but about how to say it honestly. Because writing about GRIME II is not simply a matter of summarising what has been played; it is an attempt to give shape to something deeper: what was felt, what was experienced, what – quietly –has stayed with me. And that is never simple. Some works can be neatly summarised. Others can be analysed with clarity. And then there are those rarer cases that, while allowing both, still resist any attempt to be contained within a fixed definition. For me, GRIME II belongs firmly to that latter category. And so, after searching for more elaborate, more carefully constructed, more “correct” words, only one remains – simple, instinctive, and entirely genuine: thank you. Because GRIME II is, above all, a work that knows exactly where it comes from. It understands what the first installment was, what it achieved, and where its limits lay. But, most importantly, it knows what it wanted to become. And for that reason, it never tries to be anything other than itself. It does not chase trends, it does not force a reinvention, it does not betray its own identity. It simply evolves. It builds on the strong, unmistakable foundation laid by the first game and expands it with a more considered, more ambitious, more clearly defined vision. And it does so by finding a precise centre, a clear identity: art. Not as decoration. Not as atmosphere alone. But as substance. As the thread that binds everything together. As the principle that runs through every system, every environment, every idea, and ultimately every moment of the experience. That coherence is what makes GRIME II so immediately recognisable. Of course, it is not a perfect game. Some of the rough edges, rigidities, and imperfections already visible in the first entry return here as well. At times the pacing stumbles; at others, certain limitations become difficult to ignore. But, honestly, that is not what lingers. What remains is something else. It is the feeling of standing before a living work. The impression of something carefully shaped, deeply intentional, and fully felt. The kind of experience that, even through its flaws, still manages to leave a mark. Because GRIME II does not stand out for perfection. It stands out for identity. For coherence. For the way it remains entirely, uncompromisingly itself. And so, in the end, the feeling is clear. GRIME II is exactly what I personally wanted from this sequel. A work that grows without losing itself, that changes without distorting itself, that improves without forgetting what it is. An imperfect experience, at times rough, but profoundly sincere. And for that reason, difficult – perhaps impossible – to forget.

GRIME II is a Metroidvania that knows what it's doing and, all things considered, delivers a very well-rounded and complete experience to the player. I really enjoyed what I saw and, save for one or two occasional slip-ups, felt the overall experience was very positive.

Although a bit too linear and safe for my taste, “Grime II” still delivers what Clover Bit does bet: fantastic boss fights, good combat and striking visuals — by far the most “unique” looking metroidvania of 2026 so far.

GRIME II is a strange-looking game and as you play it, you'll find yourself immersed knee-deep in its alien world filled with unique challenges. 🏺