Legend of Grimrock - Reviews @ IGN, Destructoid, Mashable

Good news for this game. I'm glad to see that even the mainstream press outlets are giving such a game - one which goes in quite a different direction from the usual mainstream tastes - a good impression. This might help open the doors for other unique but old-school-inspired projects.

I'd like to ask for some opinions from other watchers regarding an issue with this game: Unfortunately for me, the only truly old-school dungeon-crawler that I have played for a significant amount of time was Ultima Underworld (which is quite different in some ways when it comes to design compared to LoG). As such, I've never been able to "get into" party-based, first-person perspective dungeon crawlers - there's something illusion-breaking for me about having a party that you never actually see in the game world, having been introduced to party-based gameplay from games such as Jagged Alliance 2, Temple of Elemental Evil, Infinity Engine games, etc. and several of the best old-school dungeon-crawlers that inspired LoG have aged far too poorly to go back and play for the first time (in my opinion).

So with that being said, I have an open-mind and I was wondering if this game would be enjoyable for a "newcomer" - i.e., someone who never played this style of game "back in the day" but enjoys party-based RPGs immensely, not to mention the idea of an epic dungeon crawl along the lines of UU or Arx Fatalis. Thoughts?

Originally Posted by Nerevarine
As such, I've never been able to "get into" party-based, first-person perspective dungeon crawlers - there's something illusion-breaking for me about having a party that you never actually see in the game world,

I've always found third person perspective to be an illusion-breaking out-of-body kind of experience.

Any games that allow big snail to stop your fall by exploding is win to me. That just happened to me, because I'm an idiot who think going through hole in the floor is a good idea. Was funny though.

Enjoying this game a lot. The ambiance is awesome with the nice graphics and monster design.

I'm enjoying the game, although sadly I'm already stuck on a puzzle on the 2nd floor. Wonder if it's too early to find puzzle guides!

Originally Posted by Nerevarine
So with that being said, I have an open-mind and I was wondering if this game would be enjoyable for a "newcomer" - i.e., someone who never played this style of game "back in the day" but enjoys party-based RPGs immensely, not to mention the idea of an epic dungeon crawl along the lines of UU or Arx Fatalis. Thoughts?

For $15 you have very little to lose. I'd say definitely give it a try. I haven't been able to stop playing since I started.

I also recommend choosing Hard difficulty.

Originally Posted by Nerevarine
So with that being said, I have an open-mind and I was wondering if this game would be enjoyable for a "newcomer" - i.e., someone who never played this style of game "back in the day" but enjoys party-based RPGs immensely, not to mention the idea of an epic dungeon crawl along the lines of UU or Arx Fatalis. Thoughts?

I'm not a huge fan of this perspective - like you, my preference is an isometric or top-down, party-based game, so I understand your hesitation. I personally value dialogue, quests and narrative over mechanics, so I had my doubts.

But this is fun! It's slick - rather pretty, atmospheric sound, decent UI, which helps. I'm not sure what I think of the realtime combat but the puzzles and dungeon-crawling are excellent. Don't expect dialogue and branching quests - this is an old-fashioned crawl-through-a-dungeon-that-inexplicably-has-loot-and-puzzles.

I think the idea would (potentially) run out of steam over a long game for 15-20 hours and <$15, it's a nice change of pace.

I'm playing it, and like it ok so far (on level 4 right now), though I don't like the spellcasting system at all. Thinking of rerolling with 4 fighters (what's the advantage of rogues anyway since there are no locks or traps for them to pick/disarm?)

Originally Posted by wolfing
(what's the advantage of rogues anyway since there are no locks or traps for them to pick/disarm?)

They're the only class that can perform melee attacks from the back row with normal weapons.

Reminds me a great deal of the original EoB, but with better graphics.

Originally Posted by JDR13
They're the only class that can perform melee attacks from the back row with normal weapons.

They can? *grumble* That's what user manuals should be for…

They have to invest in a skill to do that, they can't just do it right off the back. They are also ranged weapon specialists.

Originally Posted by Dhruin
They can? *grumble* That's what user manuals should be for…

This game's awful. It kept me up until 6AM and that's just awful.

I tried it for about 30 minutes and I really liked it. I was very tired last night, so I couldn't play for longer.

It surprises me how such a simple formula can work so well with just the right amount of polish and "modern" production values.

I think I will enjoy this for a while - though I'm not sure it can keep my attention. It will depend on how it develops.

Given the price, I think it's pretty much a no-brainer purchase if you're keen on the genre.

Originally Posted by JDR13
They're the only class that can perform melee attacks from the back row with normal weapons.

I saw that, but there are also polearms I can give a fighter for the same effect.
How about that backstabbing, how do you do that? do you have to run around a mob and trying to hit it before it turns? Most I've done is on the side (and this would make the game way too twitchy for my taste)

The genre was always somewhat twitch based. It's a real-time combat system, afterall.

Originally Posted by wolfing
I saw that, but there are also polearms I can give a fighter for the same effect.
How about that backstabbing, how do you do that? do you have to run around a mob and trying to hit it before it turns? Most I've done is on the side (and this would make the game way too twitchy for my taste)

Polearms have limited effectiveness because you can't specialize in them.

I haven't really tried backstabbing yet.

This type of game will always encourage you to be twitchy. There are many monsters is this game which are much easier if you use cheesey movement tricks to help defeat them. To some extent this seems to be intentional.

Is there an actual backstab ability? I don't remember seeing one. I just put all of my rogues points into missile weapons.

Got a question about the game. Is there any way to revive a playable character after he's dead?

Big glowing crystals at places, seriously

For some reason they autosave too when clicked (so I guess you can iron man it and only save on these place forgoing the save menu ? )

Right now my party is chilling at level 7 and the gameīs been fun so far.

Personally Iīm most surprised (positively) by the amount of puzzles/secrets and how fairly varied these are, I didnīt expect such a puzzle driven experience .
Also, combat encounters arenīt overtly abundant which means the gameplay flow is very well balanced between the two major gameplay elements, the game is paced well.
I havenīt got stuck anywhere so far, but not all puzzles or combat situations were straightforward either, and it seems to be slowly ramping up further into the dungeon, which makes me think the last 1/3 of the game might be fairly devious (and that would be a good thing).

The game plays really smoothly thanks to well designed UI and good engine, looks very good and sound design, while sparse, is effective.

Canīt say much about character development since Iīm developing my party (minotaur fighter, insectoid mage, human figther and human rogue) in a fairly straightforward fashion, but Iīd say it works well for this kind of game - skill points arenīt plentiful and combat is reasonably challenging even on normal difficulty and that gives a solid amount of weight to skill point allocation even though the system itself is simple.

Itemization is good - no boring barely noticeable incrementals encouraging switching gear at every step and the best loot is usually a reward from uncovering an optional secret.

All in all, so far the gameīs been really good at what it is attempting to be.

Originally Posted by wolfing
How about that backstabbing, how do you do that? do you have to run around a mob and trying to hit it before it turns?

Yes. Obviously not viable against faster enemy types on its own.
However, some spells might help with it. Thereīs one air spell which definitely seems like it should be helpful and I assume some ice spells slow down enemies (my only mage is putting points into earth, fire and spellcraft so I havenīt tried any of these).

Originally Posted by Frozen Fireball
Got a question about the game. Is there any way to revive a playable character after he's dead?

Yeah, via those blue healing stones.