GrimGrimoire is one of two games from Vanillaware localized and brought to America this year (through NIS America) that offers a unique art style coupled with some pretty interesting gameplay elements that aren't the norm these days on the PlayStation 2. It can best be described as 2D real-time fantasy-strategy game divided by "levels" set within a massive, sprawling Wizard's tower populated with staircases, pillars and broken floors that have to be navigated horizontally.

Like any real-time strategy game, GrimGrimoire has you as the general - building structures, gathering resources and dispatching armies of units to defeat your opponent. But what sets this game apart -- aside from it's strange art style and play field -- is the entire premise of the game: you are stuck in a time loop that you must find your way out of. While this sounds like an awful predicament to be in - things could be worse for you - you could simply be dead like the rest of the former tenants of the tower.

GrimGrimoire tells the story of a young girl named Lillit Blan, a witch who is sent to the most prestigious magic school in the land called the Tower of Silver Star Academy. Once there she gets settled in but dramatic and tragic events turn her world and the inhabitants of the tower inside out and upside down. This tower was built upon what was once the home of a very evil wizard who centuries ago was locked away using powerful magics. Someone or something let the mad wizard escape, which in turn caused the slaughter of everyone in the school - except Lillit. Instead of getting slaughtered like the rest, our heroine finds herself whisked away in the nick of time - back in time five days earlier when she first arrived. This is where the story truly begins, as Lillit is stuck in a time loop where she must figure out just what happened and how she can fix it and save everyone.

If GrimGrimoire is beginning to sound like "Slaughter House Five meets Nancy Drew meets Harry Potter" - don't worry; the story really is kind of irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. The game is really about real-time strategy battles, schools of magic, mana gathering and lots and lots of familiars...

While the game is interspersed with anime cut-scenes and characters, the interesting backstory ultimately has little to do with what goes on in actual gameplay and all the characters you meet along the way don't play a major role in the real-time strategy part of the game.

You spend the bulk of your time playing mage general using "grimories" or magic books which contain special types of spells to summon units and defensive structures. There are four circles to choose from in the game: Necromancy, Glamour, Sorcery and Alchemy. Glamour summons elves, fairies, and mythical unicorns; Necromancy allows you to summon ghosts and phantoms; Sorcery offers imps, demons, dragons; and Alchemy offers golems and chimeras. As you advance in all these different magics you'll gain special spells, better structures and -- of course -- stronger units. Units range from the usual (like resource gatherers) vanilla units that have to use the seemingly never-ending staircases to get from point A to point B, to units that are ethereal and pass through objects and those that have the ability to fly.