Legend of Grimrock

[Melan]

This looks very promising: Legend of Grimrock. Basically a 2.5D role-playing game in the style of Eye of the Beholder, Dungeon Master and Lands of Lore, except with modern technology. Check out the

on Youtube. There is even a giant snail!

 

I'd like to see more titles like this from non-"AAA" game studios. Something that's not terribly ambitious technologically, but provides a nice, classical game experience.

 

[edit]Screenshot:

Edited August 29, 2011 by Melan

[Bikerdude]

Hmmm nice textures :-D

[Komag]

look cool - I grew up watching my older brother play old PC games with lamo first person dungeons and I loved it!

[jaxa]

Moraff's World

[Midnight]

That looks awesome, reminds me a lot of Stonekeep, one of my favourite old school RPGs. I'm sure the interface is still WIP, but it looks like they're aiming for touch based devices, which would be a perfect match for this type of corridor navigation sans mouselook. Colour me excited.

[Shadowhide]

i never liked such type of rpg's

i remember playing Alone in the Dark,Quest of Glory,Monkey island ect. and i loved them

but this kind of rpg is simply suck

dungeons is boring

[Tels]

I'd buy this game, but "end of 2011" seems a long time off

[SiyahParsomen]

I'd buy this game, but "end of 2011" seems a long time off

 

now it's about end of the year.

 

Beta Trailer:

[Komag]

I've been playing this for the past couple days - I LOVE IT!!!

 

Wow, I just can't get enough of the dungeon-ing gameplay! I feel like making a bunch of Dark Mod dungeon crawl type maps with lots of devious (but fair) traps and clever puzzles.

 

One thing about Grimrock that is so impressive to me is that the core mechanics are quite simple, and there are only so many possible things that can be done, but somehow the creators keep coming up with new and interesting combinations of things for puzzles. It's amazing the variety and depth that can come out of such simple and limited inputs. I think this game is a prime example of a "less is more" approach, and it really works.

 

Plus, I'm eating Salt N Vinegar chips while I play, which takes me back to the good ol' days playing Stonekeep

[I4cTaffer]

I have recently played this game myself. Very nicly done. I believe i heard that they will have an editior for fan created dungeons which will make the game much more replayable.

[Psychomorph]

Also playing it right now and I love it, too. Funny is, I hate grid based gameplay, but this game keeps me entertained. It may seem plain (all the same walls and structures), but it's a game that makes me think and that keeps it interesting. I really wish I could just walk freely and lean around corners.

[Diego]

I find it interesting that this kind of dungeon crawler, which probably were like this due to technical limitations of the time, are appreciated for what it is.

[Komag]

Yeah, it's very unique now. To me Grimrock is a puzzle game, incredibly well done. It also is an interesting battles game. It is NOT anything realistic. The grid movement alone completely kills realism, but there is still an odd sort of immersion that I can fully accept. It's hard to put a finger on.

[jaxa]

[Tels]

 

Tels, on 30 August 2011 - 05:23 PM, said:

 

I'd buy this game, but "end of 2011" seems a long time off

now it's about end of the year.

 

I just bought it - downloading it now Looking more forward to this than a new TDM FM...

[Melan]

jaxa: Where is that from?

[Hyeron]

jaxa: Where is that from?

Moraff's World.

 

Pity you don't see many old-fashioned dungeon crawlers anymore these days.

Edited August 12, 2012 by Hyeron

[Melan]

Thanks. They didn't have much of an art budget, did they.

[jaxa]

Thanks. They didn't have much of an art budget, did they.

 

"They" (Moraff) had just enough art budget to include 12 shades of puffballs!

[Tels]

GoG has Legend of Grimrock at the moment at 50%:

 

http://www.gog.com/newsletter/indie_weekend_mix

[Loa4ever]

I'm very interested in this game, looks very nice. Can't wait to buy when I have oportunity.

[Melan]

So, Grimrock II.

 

After restarting it with a new party, I managed to do better, defeat the first boss monster, and explore a new area. My impression so far:

• The graphics are excellent, and if anything, a step up from the first game.
  
• The movement is just a little bit laggy, but it is a minor thing.
  
• The gameplay is hard, even on Normal difficulty.
  
• Monsters are vicious, and they have varied and interesting attack patterns which require different tactics to defeat. Although mobility is important, you can't always rely on the old Dungeon Master two-step dance.
  
• There is a wound system that's a serious annoyance to me, and feels out of sync with the simple gameplay. You can lose your ability to fight properly, suffer massive penalties to movement, and so on. Healing characters is often a pain in the back. It is a new layer of complexity, but not very enjoyable.
  
• Like Grimrock I, character building is a massive challenge. The game is very stingy with skill points (you only get one per levelup), and every spell, not to mention most pieces of equipment need a specific skill rating to use them properly. So if you make a mistake, say bye to that new thing you just found, at least for two or three levels. Being forced to optimalise kills the thrill of experimentation - you can't really afford to make mistakes.
  
• The puzzles, so far, are logical and interesting. There seems to be a lot of places to explore, and levels aren't strictly linear. There is wilderness and a bunch of mini-dungeons.
  

Overall, liking it so far, but the added complexity/difficulty doesn't work for me. I preferred Grimrock I's straightfordness.

[Airship Ballet]

I'm having oodles of fun, no complaints aside from the stinginess with skil llevels you mentioned. The reason it irritates me is not the slow burn, but rather the fact that I've gone to a lot of effort for several unique pieces of equipment I never have a chance of using with my party. It won't be a problem on later playthroughs but ugh, so disappointing to search for equipment only to find that it's powerful but useless to you.

[Obsttorte]

I've bought Grimrock I yesterday. I'm playing on normal with the default party. It's quite good but really hard, and it seems that you have to skill pretty carefully there, too. I'm currently at level 4 and I can't tell you how often I die there. Those bloody spiders are driving me nuts.

 

It's an enjoyable game, but I can only play it for 30 minutes or so before it gets too frustrating and I need a brake :/

 

Maybe I should restart it under a lower difficulty level

[Melan]

I have made some more progress, and my impressions remain. I still think the dungeons are better designed than the wilderness, and the difficulty is a problem - in many cases, the game leaves you almost no margin of error. The structure seems to be wide open, but if you follow locations in the wrong order, you will get your behind handed to you (instead of struggling and prevailing, which is more satisfying from my point of view). Wounds are still a pain.

 

But really, there is a very good game underneath all this. It is best at dungeon-crawling, but it is also decent elsewhere.