Grimoire - Initial (and only) impressions @ RPS

Myrthos

Myrthos

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun tried out Grimoire and the reviewer liked it for what it sets out to do, but isn't likely to play it any further.

I admire the size of this thing, the vision of it, the dedication. The labour of love is clear, and I have no doubt that it is going to absolutely delight those who have flown the flag of The Olden Days Did It Best for decades. But I think of 600, 300, 100, even 20 more hours of my life spent this way, this glacial churn, and I cannot accept such a fate.

I’m glad Grimoire’s real after all this time, I’m glad it’s done what it set out to do 20 years ago, and I acknowledge entirely that its development began in a very different age of game design, that it has all been handled by just one man and, as such, certain expectations are entirely unfair.

Neither that or my curiosity about what it will throw at me next means that I can abide the grind, the desperately cumbersome user interface or the sound that makes me want to throw my speakers into the sea. I like Grimoire in many ways, but again, I would need to truly, madly, deeply love it in order to endure all that. I’m afraid that I do not.
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More information.
 
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I agree with all that. It WAS a labor of love, but the fact he omitted so many niceties (i.e. ESC taking you out of menus, a real inventory screen, mouse wheel support, etc) is almost inconceivable and will also prevent me from playing it much more.
 
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Myrthos said:
the reviewer… isn't likely to play it any further.
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This is exactly the reason why reviews (from some sites) suck.
In fact, I hope some day all reviewers will, under so called review articles that are basically an early impression, add a screenshot of their "game finished" steam achievement. RPS is at least honest.
 
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RPS does often go back and post a new review later on if they feel it's justified, especially if a lot of bugs and issues in the game are resolved. But it's quite reasonable under the circumstances that they would review without finishing. Everyone's save game files were recently destroyed by the latest update, resetting all their progress. It's likely that is going to happen a few more times before the game stabilizes. I don't think the reviewer is obligated to dedicate weeks of his time putting up with that before he writes his review.
 
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Alec Meer clearly mentions that he will not play it again, so it looks like this is it from him.
 
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Being from RPS, I'm surprised Richard Cobbett didn't write about it.
 
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I'm happy Grimoire exists, but yeah, you just can't expect a game that looks like it was teleported from the 90s to be the Incline or the future of RPGs or whatever. For the future of RPGs, I'm much more inclined to think of games like Age of Decadence, The Witcher 3 or the upcoming No Truce with the Furies.
 
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Moar Grimoire threads!
 
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Lol @ this being the future of RPGs. Pretty sure it was a facetious joke all along. But it's certainly a welcomed style of RPG to me. Even if only 50 people actually play it. ��
 
I do think the cult-like fervour over it is a bit misplaced. Even for disciples of the incline, I don't think it's really a great candidate to be the messiah. I'd have said Underrail is a much better example of a dedicated mission to bring back school RPGs. A far superior piece of work, as far as I can see.
 
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Nephologist said:
Being from RPS, I'm surprised Richard Cobbett didn't write about it.
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As far as I know Richard is a freelancer and writes for more than one site.
 
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GabrielMP_19 said:
Didn't he left RPS recently? I know he stopped writing The RPG Scrollbars :(
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Huh

I didn't know that. That's a shame, I always liked reading the Scrollbars.
 
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I am glad for reviews like this, and for the many YT videos showing off the early parts of the game in its current form. Combined, they've taken me from "eh, maybe at a lower price and enough patches I'll pick it up someday" to "nope, never going to happen". But I readily admit my expectations are horribly skewed.
 
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Myrthos said:
As far as I know Richard is a freelancer and writes for more than one site.
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Yeah, I saw an article he made for PCGamer today. But The RPG Scrollbars were definetely cancelled, I know that was kind of a steady column.
 
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Half of the FUN in Grimoire is in the miserable developer's botched patches, he then receiving outside help from other devs, then he is able to solve his bugs, the FAN community discovering secrets and solutions and hacking the game masterfully for all backer items and make characters stronger in areas they would never be able to develop. Experimenting with party/race arrangements.
 
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I caved and bought this, I don't intend to play for a little while though. Lets the worst bugs get sorted and manual released or at least let other put up some good guides.

Beneath all the issues is exactly the type of game I love, and I'm looking forward to getting into it.

I figured, I know I will buy it eventually so it may as well be now while discounted. :p

Daniel.
 
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Grimoire is like a prestigious dish for monocled connoisseurs. Casuals gonna hate cause they don't get it. Not unlike people who cannot appreciate Citizen Kane or Tarkovsky. They cannot appreciate true old school. Because patience has eroded and the world of quick action, oozing graphics and dumbed-down gameplay had seduced them - the world which Grimoire is literally the opposite of.
 
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luj1 said:
Grimoire is like a prestigious dish for monocled connoisseurs…
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A monocled connoisseur's game. Color me not interested.

I prefer games that earn prestige by virtue of being inherently enjoyable, games that feature immersion, fun, involvement, motivation to play and keep playing. Games requiring neither monocle nor connoisseur pedigree for admission or enjoyment.

__
 
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