Grim Dawn - RPS Review

Aubrielle · January 13, 2016

Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Alex Meer weighs in on Grim Dawn.

I hesitate to make quite so blanket a statement as “this is the Diablo III that many Diablo II fans wanted”, both because there are key ways in which it’s not and because I can’t speak for people who’ve spent years memorising loot tables and now expect very specific things. However…

Fantasy/horror action RPG Grim Dawn is a huge and slick affair which clings tight to a doomy tone, eschews online funny business and is careful to keep lore overload at arm’s length. A lack of overblown cutscenes aside, you’d never guess that it was made comparatively under the radar and on surely a fraction of Diablo III’s budget. Grim Dawn will leave early access in fine, fine health.

The Titan Quest (with which it shares several developers) influence is as strong as that of Diablo, though sadly the Harryhausen monster aesthetic wasn’t retained. We don’t get many tottering skeletons or screeching harpies, but both loot and powers ramp up dramatically quickly. It’s rarely a question of if a murdered monster will drop anything, and more how the hell you’re going to fit it all in your bags. The same excess extends to the many and often wildly over the top powers. Grim Dawn, despite the downbeat title, is determined to make you feel good.

More information.

More information.

luj1 · January 13, 2016

solid article, cant wait to play it myself. .... I wonder how does it measure to PoE, coz the setting looks similar

Xian · January 13, 2016

I backed this nearly four years ago but haven't played it. I wanted to wait until the 1.0 version is released, though they are saying it is feature complete now. I can wait a little longer. Titan Quest was one of my favorite Diablo-like games.

sakichop · January 13, 2016

So I assume when they say Diablo clone they mean combat that's just click,click,click, loot that's only relevant for 37 seconds until you find something better and no challenge at all until you get to your 5th playthrough?

I know i sound negative but this has been my experience with Diablo games so if it's like this then it's definitely not for me.

JDR13 · January 13, 2016

There's plenty of challenge in games like this if you choose the right difficulty from the beginning.

Archangel · January 13, 2016

sakichop said:
So I assume when they say Diablo clone they mean combat that's just click,click,click, loot that's only relevant for 37 seconds until you find something better and no challenge at all until you get to your 5th playthrough?

I know i sound negative but this has been my experience with Diablo games so if it's like this then it's definitely not for me.

Better loot does not come that often and there is definitely a challenge. Especially when you take your character to next difficulty.

sakichop · January 13, 2016

JDR13 said:
There's plenty of challenge in games like this if you choose the right difficulty from the beginning.

I guess the challenge then is knowing what difficulty to select before playing it

I typically play games on the default difficulty and most are fine there and none where the cakewalk that Diablo 3 was.

Archangel said:
Better loot does not come that often and there is definitely a challenge. Especially when you take your character to next difficulty.

Thanks for the reply Archangel, I look in to the game a bit more but it might be time to finally realize that Diablo and Diablo type games just aren't my thing.

johnnysd · January 13, 2016

I think it is probably one of the Top 5 ARPGs of all time. It is fantastic. It has a good amount of depth. If you are one of those that think that combat should also be turned based, loot should be pre set and there should be meaningful dialogue choices then this is not the game for you. If you loved D2 or TQ you will love GD in a big way. It is fantastic. One of its biggest weaknesses is almost a strength as the quality of the graphics improve dramatically as you progress through the game, they are clearly done sequentially. It is quite stunning towards the end. Also, for anyone that does not find these games a challenge play hardcore. It is the way rogulikes are supposed to be played.

lackblogger · January 13, 2016

sakichop said:
So I assume when they say Diablo clone they mean combat that's just click,click,click, loot that's only relevant for 37 seconds until you find something better and no challenge at all until you get to your 5th playthrough?

Aw c'mon Saki, if people like a certain style of addictive RPG-lite loot-based gameplay, who are we to judge and mock

Hyperion · January 13, 2016

This is a good game if you're a fan of hack and slash. I'm not so much, but I still enjoy this. The one complaint I have about it is that if you clear an area and go back to it later, everything has respawned. I'm against respawning and as far as I know it can't be turned off, couldn't be the last time I played it. That's what finally made me give up on it.

Hyperion · January 13, 2016

johnnysd said:
I think it is probably one of the Top 5 ARPGs of all time. It is fantastic. It has a good amount of depth. If you are one of those that think that combat should also be turned based, loot should be pre set and there should be meaningful dialogue choices then this is not the game for you. If you loved D2 or TQ you will love GD in a big way. It is fantastic. One of its biggest weaknesses is almost a strength as the quality of the graphics improve dramatically as you progress through the game, they are clearly done sequentially. It is quite stunning towards the end. Also, for anyone that does not find these games a challenge play hardcore. It is the way rogulikes are supposed to be played.

It's very good and none of the things you mentioned are a problem for me. It's the respawning that I find to be annoying.

gabber808 · January 13, 2016

I am well into the game, and for me it suffers from the same main problem as diablo 3 - there is hardly any challenge.

SakiChop and JDR13, the problem is you can't increase the difficulty until you have completed one whole ridiculously easy playthrough. There is an optional "veteran" checkbox (distinct from the other difficulty selections), which is supposed to make the enemies tougher. Still offered very little challenge though.

johnnysd · January 14, 2016

Hyperion said:
It's very good and none of the things you mentioned are a problem for me. It's the respawning that I find to be annoying.

Why? Things do not respawn in Grim Dawn. If you start a new game, the full world is populated again. It is like this in every ARPG maybe except Divine Divinity. I think it is one of the games strengths actually. Nothing like going back to an area that gave you problems and kicking the snot out of everything. If there are no respawns or the silly scaling in D3 you never have this.

Grim Dawn - RPS Review

Aubrielle

Noveliste

luj1

SasqWatch

Xian

Sentinel

sakichop

Guest

JDR13

SasqWatch

Archangel

SasqWatch

sakichop

Guest

johnnysd

Sentinel

lackblogger

SasqWatch

Hyperion

Sentinel

Hyperion

Sentinel

gabber808

Traveler

johnnysd

Sentinel