Renzatic on 12/4/2012 at 00:34
Epic indeed! I'm only on the second floor, and I'm already stuck! There's no where to go!
AND I LOVE IT! :D:D:D:D
...figured it out. Now I'm mad.
Stitch on 12/4/2012 at 02:59
Just made it to the third floor and decided to call it for the night, but this game delivers the old Dungeon Master gameplay perfectly. It's got teleportation fields, pits that are sometimes worth jumping in, secret clickable buttons on the wall, and monsters marching in groups of four. Unlike Dungeon Master, however, it's got automapping and thrown weapons that automatically re-equip when you walk over them. Nice.
I made a bit of a critical error when my mage started out without specifc magic skill high enough to allow him to actually cast any spells, but he's now torching undead armies with his flamethrowing fingers.
But man, this game is getting a lot more tough--Enter Thy Grave came true multiple times before my half-naked ragtag gang of misfits reigned triumphant.
So: is it possible for non-mages to cast spells? My grand multi-classing plans aren't currently panning out so hot.
Jason Moyer on 12/4/2012 at 03:54
I made that mistake too, but it seems to be working out ok. I started with the max spellcraft I could build, and now I'm using the points from levelling to basically play catch up with the spells I want to use.
The magic system is pretty badass, although I wish you could lock a spell into each hand instead of having to input the runes each time.
Had my first 'holy shit why is my mage dead' moment when something snuck up behind me. Awesome.
Renzatic on 12/4/2012 at 04:33
I'm on the third floor, and...those fucking spiders. I've been killed by those bastards twice now, all because I took a wrong turn and ended up getting pinned in a tight corner, while a whole conga line of the bastards line up to take chunks out of me.
Kill one? Squee! Squee! Here's number two to kick my ass. Kill it? Squee! Squee! His buddy number three.
Yeah, I could save before the big fight. But I don't want to do that. I'm only saving at the crystals, or when I first enter a new floor,
Malf on 12/4/2012 at 08:22
So yeah, epic.
First of all, let's get the negatives out of the way.
I know it's unreasonable to expect a new and different intellectual property to play in exactly the same way as Dungeon Master, but a few things irritate: No slamming of doors on the heads of monsters, potions that require ingredients, no damage from walking into walls (at least on Normal difficulty, which by the way is another niggle; there should be one and only one difficulty), no Priest skills, no experience gain outside of combat with monsters and classes that are set in stone.
All of that aside, the game itself is incredible. I'd forgotten just how fun staring at walls could be, or the terrifying moments where you're ambushed from the side thanks to restricted peripheral vision. Dancing around tunnels desperately trying to find enough space to fight in while limiting damage received, falling down pits either voluntarily or otherwise. All in an environment that simply drips foreboding atmosphere. Things skitter or schlorp unseen behind walls, shadows flit past in the barely lit distance and the sounds of unknown passages opening tantalises with the promise of loot or death by vegetable/animal/mineral.
All of this with an incredibly small footprint for a game that looks and sounds so good and runs like quicksilver.
And above all, it proves that old genres never truly die.
They just lurk in the dark, waiting for the chance to pounce and reassert their grip on your attention.
Other titles are going to be hard-pushed to compete now, and with the promise of user made dungeons in the near future, I can see Grimrock being a part of my life for a very long time.
Thirith on 12/4/2012 at 08:31
I haven't yet received any update after pre-ordering the game and paying via Amazon Payments. Will have to get in touch with the devs.
Quote Posted by Malf
...at least on Normal difficulty, which by the way is another niggle; there should be one and only one difficulty...
Can you explain this one to me? Is this just a nostalgia-meets-"It takes away from my enjoyment if others can play at a different difficulty" thing or is there another reason?
Malf on 12/4/2012 at 08:42
It adds to the panic in the middle of combat where you dodge the wrong way. It's not much damage, but it helps with making the player more aware of their environment.
Thirith on 12/4/2012 at 08:53
I get that bit, Malf. I don't get why there should only be *one* difficulty - unless the devs screwed up balancing the different difficulty levels.
june gloom on 12/4/2012 at 09:07
Quote Posted by Thirith
Is this just a nostalgia-meets-"It takes away from my enjoyment if others can play at a different difficulty" thing or is there another reason?
There's never another reason. ;)
Thirith on 12/4/2012 at 09:15
To give Malf the benefit of the doubt: sometimes devs are very lazy when it comes to difficulty levels and balancing the game (the old "more/less HPs and damage" thing), but that's a problem with implementation, not with the concept of difficulty levels. If it is indeed just the thing where some people enjoy a game less because they *know* that someone somewhere is playing at a lower difficulty setting, well...
