18 people found this review helpful
2 people found this review funny
Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 551.2 hrs on record (146.6 hrs at review time)
Posted: 13 Nov, 2017 @ 4:42am
Updated: 13 Nov, 2017 @ 8:04am

Grim Dawn w/ Ashes of Malmouth
Released: Feb 25th 2016, AoM Released Oct 11th 2017
Developed by: Crate Entertainment
Published by: Crate Entertainment
Reviewer Play Time: ~125 hours. Various hardcore characters and one full playthrough of the campaign plus expansion campaign (52 hours) on Veteran difficulty.


In short: While certainly not withouts its little and big problems, this 'Diablo-like' ARPG is still a dark and morbid joy to lose yourself in for many hours at a time, thanks to this game doing so very well, the things it does well.

Stuff thats good:

  • Delicious game world setting in a fantasy realm where humans are desperately fighting to avoid extinction against all manner of otherworldly gods and occult chtonian horrors. There is a lot of interesting lore and backstories to discover through side quests and found journals.

  • Very deep character development systems where dual classing (6 classes in base game, 8 with AoM DLC) is the core, but also a side progression 'Devotion' system, and loot with build defining and enabling unique skills, which is then fine tuned with collected or crafted 'Component' item imbues. There are lots of fun ways you can build your character!

  • Quests and encounters force the player to make tough decisions which have permanent consequences, sometimes quite drastic.

  • Everything you encounter belongs to factions, whether they be friends or foes. Friendly factions offer quests and other unique perks as your reputation improves, hostile factions become more dangerous as their hatred for you grows.

  • Satisfying rag doll driven combat. Killing enemies with a shield charge sends them flying, stuff explodes in gibs, rooms turn into a mess of destroyed stuff during battles, and so forth. Gameplay generally feels responsive and enjoyable.

  • Generally well designed areas to explore with some great scenes, from massive underground cities, tombs and mine complexes, through horrible visits to the void, to varied outdoor plains, hills and snow covered mountains. Every location rewards a keen eye for hidden secret areas.

  • Grim Dawn is tough as nails! Unless you really know what you are doing, even on the difficulty recommended for new players familiar with the ARPG genre (Veteran), dozens of deaths can be expected. The expansion content in particular is delightfully challenging.

Stuff thats not so good:

  • There are no procedurally generated areas, at all, which means visiting areas you have been through before quickly loses the appeal of discovery.

  • The game engine doesn't handle the more visually complex locations or larger battles very well, leading to frame drops with game speed slow down in some areas, regardless of video settings. Mileage varies on hardware of course, and the general concensus is that the game primarily chokes on the CPU side.

  • Vision can be poor, with enemies attacking you from behind non transparent walls or pillars, or from inside buildings where you can't see through the roof unless you are actually inside them yourself.

  • Some physics based oddities. There have been a few times I've fought a bunch of enemies, only to notice afterwards that we were swinging at eachother through solid walls. Or perhaps you will fight a bunch of enemies in melee, only to realize afterwards that 'Oh, these guys were actually on the floor above me'. Enemies also occasionally spawn inside the map geometry, completely stuck and often invisible under the ground/inside walls, but still able to attack you.

  • Don't even think about playing Hardcore mode on this game, until you have beat it once or twice. There are many situations that will kill your character if you didn't know beforehand what the dangers are and when your character will be ready for them. On normal mode this is fine, but in Hardcore it just feels unfair. (Before Grim Dawn I wouldn't even consider playing a top down ARPG on anything other than HC, but here it is just a plain bad idea)

  • There is a lack of endgame options, other than just starting the campaign over again on the next difficulty. There is a paid Crucible DLC that adds a new game mode that sidesteps this, but frankly it should have been in the base game.

  • For a game that boasts 'Full Controller Support' on its Steam Store page, trying to play Grim Dawn on a regular gamepad is an unbelievable pain in the arse. While you can technically play GD with a controller, it is very, very poorly implemented. An upcoming patch aims to improve controller support a lot, but until that happens, don't even think about it.
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6 Comments
powbam 14 Nov, 2017 @ 5:34am 
We still refer to them as Hero's, (as does the Guide http://www.grimdawn.com/guide/gameplay/monsters.php#q02) , crucial or not. Think of 'em as mini-bosses if it helps.

Don't forget there is a Game Guide as well that is actually quite detailed.
http://www.grimdawn.com/game.php
Lars 14 Nov, 2017 @ 2:02am 
Btw the game also refers to them as bosses, in on the faction extra spawns tab for example. :)
Lars 14 Nov, 2017 @ 1:54am 
Well, that is how it feels to me in this game. Maybe I would feel different about it if I had almost 9000 hours /played on it. And thanks for the incredibly crucial correction of me not naming the champion monsters correctly. :)
powbam 13 Nov, 2017 @ 7:02pm 
I don't really think there is anything they can do about that honestly. And it's highly doubtful it was done with any specific intent against HC characters. You either know the games various mechanics or you don't. They can't exactly telepath every single thing into your brain.

If you wander into the Depraved Sanctuary, a challenge area btw, you are properly warned of the danger that lies ahead the moment you enter longer before you reach that door that slams shut. As for Hero mobs (which you are referring to as bosses) they are random and if you are playing on Veteran this gives the chance of 3 or 4 possibly spawning. There is no warning they can give as it is random... all you can do is learn the most likely areas it can happen and learn to tread a bit more carefully in the game rather than going in headfirst and blind.
Lars 13 Nov, 2017 @ 2:43pm 
Cheers for the feedback.

I don't have a problem with losing HC characters, but the way it happens in GD is much more cheap than in certain other ARPGs.

In this game I don't feel like my characters die because I was playing poorly or focusing too little on survival stats, as much the game deciding that at this and that point in the game we're going to kill your character if you don't know ahead of time what traps we are going to spring on you or gates suddenly lock behind you, having large groups of bosses including several bosses literally all around, while saying 'ha ha, gotcha, sucker.'
powbam 13 Nov, 2017 @ 2:32pm 
Nice review.. the only point I find a little funny is the Hardcore comments. What's the point of playing hardcore (new to the game) if you seriously expect to live thru it with no prior experience with the game and what to expect?