Legend Of Grimrock

Stele wrote:

Apparently I missed some of those early 90s games. I was busy playing King's Quest, X-Wing, or some other PC games. :?

It's a really smart game and if you have any affection for 80s and early 90s pen & paper role playing games you'll definitely love it. And you you just like smart put together indie computer games you'll probably like it a lot.

Stele wrote:

So, $5.99 on Steam today. Never heard of this before. Enable me.

82 on metacritic is promising. I think what I need is "if you liked x, then buy this." It looks... a little different. :?

Let's be honest: you were probably just going to spend that $6 on bath salts. Spend it on Grimrock instead.

I picked it up. Definitely looking forward to playing it.

Me too, it piqued my interest when someone mentioned it as their game of the year in that thread and six dollars on Steam why not!

I bought Legend of Grimrock for $6 because a few Giant Bomb guys seemed high on it and I need to make one Steam sale purchase every year to remind myself I tend not to play PC games.

Stele wrote:

Apparently I missed some of those early 90s games. I was busy playing King's Quest, X-Wing, or some other PC games. :?

I compared Grimrock to Dark Souls a few pages back.... and I know that you like the Souls series. The games have some core concepts in common: arcane systems that you need to figure out, lots of secrets, tough combat, and a great sense of mastery at the end of it all.

This is the only 2012 game I've played so far, so that means it's currently top of my list for GOTY!

AndrewA wrote:
Stele wrote:

Apparently I missed some of those early 90s games. I was busy playing King's Quest, X-Wing, or some other PC games. :?

I compared Grimrock to Dark Souls a few pages back.... and I know that you like the Souls series. The games have some core concepts in common: arcane systems that you need to figure out, lots of secrets, tough combat, and a great sense of mastery at the end of it all.

Now this man knows how to sell a game.

Fancy a story of my stupidity?

Early in the game, level 2. There's this door that requires two keys, just before a regeneration stone. I opened one lock and started looking for another key. Could not find it. I spent 20 minutes looking at every gosh darn brick in every wall. No secret switches that I missed. I checked the floor of every prison cell. Nothing. I checked in the backpacks of my characters - nothing there either.

Then I realised that my mage had it in his hand all the time. Sneaky bastard - I should've known better than to trust an insectoid!

Stele wrote:
AndrewA wrote:
Stele wrote:

Apparently I missed some of those early 90s games. I was busy playing King's Quest, X-Wing, or some other PC games. :?

I compared Grimrock to Dark Souls a few pages back.... and I know that you like the Souls series. The games have some core concepts in common: arcane systems that you need to figure out, lots of secrets, tough combat, and a great sense of mastery at the end of it all.

Now this man knows how to sell a game. :drool:

Sorry in advance to your wallet. =P

Got the game on Steam sales today and loving it!

Quick question right from the start. I have the right level, but seem unable to use a scroll. Right clicking on it when in a hand won't do it....so how?
Or do they just show the spells that you can combine?

Sparhawk wrote:

Got the game on Steam sales today and loving it!

Quick question right from the start. I have the right level, but seem unable to use a scroll. Right clicking on it when in a hand won't do it....so how?
Or do they just show the spells that you can combine?

They just show the spells that you combine.

Scrolls just tell you the symbols you need to click to cast spells.

I'd get a pen and paper and scribble down those spells - there are lots more scrolls to find, and inventory slots are precious.

AndrewA wrote:

I'd get a pen and paper and scribble down those spells - there are lots more scrolls to find, and inventory slots are precious.

Excellent advice.

That sounds... really silly. Pen and paper in 2012?

I mean we were just talking last month about how the original Metroid doesn't really hold up... drawing your own map by hand is just terrible now.

I understand wanting you to collect scrolls to learn spells, but give you one spellbook in-game that you can add the scrolls to or something.

Granted I haven't played this yet. Maybe I'm overreacting.

Stele wrote:

That sounds... really silly. Pen and paper in 2012? :?

Writing down a handful of spells is a far cry from drawing your own map. I just flipped back to my own notes, and I wrote down 7 spells that I used in the game, perhaps 4 of which I used regularly (and quickly memorized). I wrote down a pile of other spells on a different page in my notebook in the event that I play the game again.... I'll have access to that magic without needing to find the scrolls on a future play through. (And the same goes for herbal recipes....)

Perhaps I'm an oddball, but I've always kept a notepad and pen close at hand when gaming, and I am absolutely thrilled whenever I get to use it.... which is less and less these days. (Resonance has me scribbling stuff down again though - another old school inspired title.)

Stele wrote:

That sounds... really silly. Pen and paper in 2012?

I mean we were just talking last month about how the original Metroid doesn't really hold up... drawing your own map by hand is just terrible now.

I understand wanting you to collect scrolls to learn spells, but give you one spellbook in-game that you can add the scrolls to or something.

Granted I haven't played this yet. Maybe I'm overreacting. :?

Actually, one of the options INGAME is to use pen and paper. To go old skool all the way.
This is seriously one of the few games that peeked my interest lately
And I am not going all the way old skool...but will note down those spells. Great advice guys, thanks.

Alright I caved shortly before the sale after reading some more reviews.

Upon starting up... borderless window mode. At least it has the modern conveniences despite an old school flavor. Makes me happy.

Stele wrote:

That sounds... really silly. Pen and paper in 2012?

I mean we were just talking last month about how the original Metroid doesn't really hold up... drawing your own map by hand is just terrible now.

I understand wanting you to collect scrolls to learn spells, but give you one spellbook in-game that you can add the scrolls to or something.

Granted I haven't played this yet. Maybe I'm overreacting. :?

Actually, I kept a browser open to a site that had all the Grimrock spells on my 2nd playthrough.

Really, there aren't that many spells to remember.

What I do miss, but that is a choice the makers made, is a pause button. So that I can heal up and get things ready for the next attack.
So I guess I have to speed up a bit. Specially on the healing part. Need more bottles handy for health and anti venom!

So you guys inspired me and I finally finished Grimrock late last night. Loved it. There were moments that were frustrating, but they made finishing the game all the more rewarding.

And my girlfriend will never forget how terrified I was when I first encountered the casters. "OH MY GOD THEY CAN OPEN DOORS OH sh*t!"

Sparhawk wrote:

What I do miss, but that is a choice the makers made, is a pause button. So that I can heal up and get things ready for the next attack.
So I guess I have to speed up a bit. Specially on the healing part. Need more bottles handy for health and anti venom!

Healing is definitely something you're supposed to do out of combat. I think it is a very deliberate decision that there are no healing spells in the game and potion bottles are limited. Avoiding damage through skillful maneuver is the key to victory.

imbiginjapan wrote:
Sparhawk wrote:

What I do miss, but that is a choice the makers made, is a pause button. So that I can heal up and get things ready for the next attack.
So I guess I have to speed up a bit. Specially on the healing part. Need more bottles handy for health and anti venom!

Healing is definitely something you're supposed to do out of combat. I think it is a very deliberate decision that there are no healing spells in the game and potion bottles are limited. Avoiding damage through skillful maneuver is the key to victory.

Shutting and opening doors are the key to victory.

imbiginjapan wrote:
Sparhawk wrote:

What I do miss, but that is a choice the makers made, is a pause button. So that I can heal up and get things ready for the next attack.
So I guess I have to speed up a bit. Specially on the healing part. Need more bottles handy for health and anti venom!

Healing is definitely something you're supposed to do out of combat. I think it is a very deliberate decision that there are no healing spells in the game and potion bottles are limited. Avoiding damage through skillful maneuver is the key to victory.

The warrior challenge on the hardest difficulty with my fighter, thief, thief, wizard combo required a lot of dexterous in combat potion making. But yeah, usually you want to make your potions up before a fight and then toggle to the character's inventory to use it should you need one during a fight.

I love this game.

Strangeblades wrote:

I love this game.

I only finished three games this year and this was one of them. I can't wait to see what people do with the Dungeon editor.

I'm slowly figuring it out. Here I was trying to build my stats and duke it out with enemies, and then I figure out the real key is staying mobile, flanking them, and so on. Starting to get a lot easier and more fun now.

I only played for an hour or so, and I didn't save and I died.
I can tell it's a good game when a death makes me want to play again (instead of making me see if it's time to go to bed).
I can't wait to dig in deeper.