GRIME is an unrelentingly strange Metroidvania. Right from the start, you’re thrown into its surreal world with barely any help along the way, and as you progress you’ll uncover more and more areas to explore. Eventually, the game stops giving you hints of any kind. If you’re lost and unsure what to do, we’ve got a list of steps you need to reach the end — these are as straightforward as possible. Sometimes it helps just to get a clue.
There’s one section of GRIME that lots of players are struggling with. Don’t worry, you don’t need to glitch to progress through the mid-game when you’re hunting for the fourth boss. That’s when you’ll be free to explore most of the map, even if you don’t have all the tools you need. You’ll be sent to explore the Gardens, an area you can reach much earlier in the game, but you won’t get far. To make it deeper into the sinister area, you’ll need to get a new travel power. A classic of the genre — the grapple.
Travel powers are the bread and butter of Metroidvanias, and you’ll get a strange variety in this game — sometimes not in the order you’d predict. When you’re totally lost and just want to get pointed in the right direction, check out the steps required to progress below.
More GRIME guides:
How To Unlock Double-Jump & Fast Travel | Best Traits Guide
Step #1: Gaining Ardor
Your first area. This is the tutorial. You’ll learn how to counter attacks and how to gain ardor.
- Start in the Weeping Cavity.
- Defeat the Amalgam boss in the Weeping Cavity to gain the Ardor ability.
- The higher your ardor, the more mass you get (points for leveling up) — and you can purchase items with it.
Step #2: Gaining Pull & Meeting Shidra
Stepping out into the wider world. You’ll need to explore the vast Unformed Desert, delve into Lithic, and take a trip to the Worldpillar to meet Shidra. This important quest character will guide you for the rest of the game.
- Travel through the Unformed Desert and reach Lithic.
- Defeat the Whispering Mothers in Lithic to gain the Pull ability.
- Travel to the Worldpillar and talk to Shidra to gain his quest.
Step #3: Completing Shidra’s Quest For The Kilyahstone
You’ll have to delve into a vast area to reach the Kilyahstone. The game is still mostly straightforward here — the path down through the Nerveroot and the Feaster’s Lair will unlock the Air Dash.
- From Nerveroot, travel down to the Feaster’s Lair.
- Defeat the Vulture boss in the Feaster’s Lair to gain the Air Dash ability.
- Defeating the Vulture will also give you the Kilyahstone quest item. Return to Shidra.
Step #4: Gaining The Grapple & Unsealer
The most difficult part of the game. Finding the Unsealer isn’t clear, and you won’t be able to access the Gardens until you’ve unlocked the Grapple ability. Most importantly, you need to travel to the top of the Carven Palace. Don’t bother searching for (what seems to be) a boss in Feaster’s Lair. The Carven Palace is difficult, but it is possible to progress.
- Shidra will give you a quest to reach the Garden to find the Unsealer.
- To reach the Garden, go through the Servant Path to the Carven Palace.
- Use Pull on the lifts and tank / dodge through the spikes to climb the Carven Palace.
- Defeat the Shapely Fidus boss at the top of the Carven Palace to gain the Grapple ability.
- With Grapple, you can now access the Garden through the Carven Palace. Deep below.
- In the Garden, obtain the Unsealer and use it on the door in the far right of the Carven Palace.
More coming soon!
