Lillet Blan was very excited. Her heart had been racing since the moment she heard Lillet had been invited to enroll into a Magic Academy where only talented youths were personally sought out by the greatest wizards.

The school was lead by the famous wizard, Gammel Dore, who had once defeated the Archmage. And the campus on which they study, the Silver Star tower, was once the destroyed Archmage's castle. The tower was full of unsolved mysteries and dangers, and this attracted many who had their own personal reasons in mind.

Lillet had opened her first grimoire, and began her studies. But only five days later, a terrifying disaster threatens the academy, and all lives are lost. All except she, who had traveled back through time without knowing why...

Can Lillet come closer to the truth by repeating days? Can she end the nightmare at the end of those five days? [NIS America]

You know, the current release schedule (across all platforms) is so utterly barren, that GamerSquad thought it wise to take a step back from all its weekly "there’s nothing worth playing" rants in order to double check on possible gaming gems that may have slipped beneath the quality radar.

While the likes of Harry Potter, The Transformers, and Shrek have all recently twisted consumer eyes away from videogames without the (undeserved?) public boost granted by a Hollywood license, the likes of GrimGrimoire have indeed gone relatively unnoticed. Hopefully this particular Review Round-up can change all that.

Let’s see what the gathered critical masses thought of this PlayStation 2 adventure. Check below for the GrimGrimoire verdicts...

90% - Games Radar - "It's fun from the very beginning and remains so 20 hours later, enough to put it in the same league as the all-time greats of the PS2 era."

85% - GameZone - "A superb blend of battles that differ from the genre’s norms. It is a grim (and grand) blend of glorious missions that are fought and won in a 2D, side-scrolling environment. The controls are top-notch."

84% - IGN - "Simply put, I loved this game. By no means is it a title for everyone, but if you're in the mood for a clever strategy game that is fun, features beautiful fight scenes and gives you more than 15 crazy characters to command (Who wins in a dragon/chimera fight? The viewer!), Grim is a must play."

80% - G4 TV - "Characters, levels and even the game's menus are beautifully and tastefully designed. Grim Grimoire is a complete package, offering layered strategy play with an eye-popping art style and a cleverly told story."

78% - Game Informer - "Somewhat shallow combat and clumsy controls keep GrimGrimoire’s gameplay from shining. Its novelty value and clever plot are worth checking out, though, if you’re willing to forgive some mediocre battles."

60% - 1UP - "While a simplistic RTS is a nice departure from NIS' regular library, GrimGrimoire feels too watered-down and too repetitive to take a place beside some of the other, critically acclaimed titles from this niche publisher."

Verdict: Spend

Trailer footage provided by GameTrailers.com.