Grim Dawn Catch-All

Copingsaw wrote:

It is a long game with significantly more content than Titan Quest ever had. It is an absolute steal for the current steam sale price of $15. I've sunk a ton of hours into it and still haven't gotten a character past Act 2. Probably doesn't help that I am playing veteran hardcore.

Kickstarter backer here, and while I agree that Grim Dawn is a good ARPG, I can't completely agree that it has "significantly more content than Titan Quest ever had". I didn't finish TQ, but according to HowLongToBeat.com, TQ's main story took approximately 25 hours to complete. I started a playthrough of Grim Dawn (normal difficulty) a couple months ago when it had three full acts in place. My charatcer is at the end of Act 3 - waiting for all of Act 4's content to be added - and I've played 17 hours. I don't expect that Act 4 will be any longer than any previous act, so I expect that my entire playthorough (again, normal difficulty) will end up being around 22 hours or less. Which would be less than TQ.

All that said, it's a great game that any ARPG fan should play.

I'm enjoying this, and I'm not worried about how fast I can run through it. It seems like a game that encourages a bit of meandering.

It's good to see the Titan Quest skills graph again. With this, Path of Exile and Diablo III, all your ARPG needs can be easily met.

Lost my first Hardcore character, I decided to give multiplayer a try and found myself in way over my head. Ah well, back to the drawing board.

I'm playing on Normal and close to what might be considered the end of Act I. So far the game has been a cakewalk with my Shaman/Occultist set. Wishing I'd started on Hard, looks like you can't change on the fly.

Still, enjoying it! Nothing earth shattering but it's highly competent.

Certis wrote:

I'm playing on Normal and close to what might be considered the end of Act I. So far the game has been a cakewalk with my Shaman/Occultist set. Wishing I'd started on Hard, looks like you can't change on the fly.

Still, enjoying it! Nothing earth shattering but it's highly competent.

You can switch between normal and veteran from the initial game menu screen where you select your character. I've found normal to be way too easy for any competent gamer.

Ohhh nice, I'll check that out.

Copingsaw wrote:

I've found normal to be way too easy for any competent gamer.

Hear that mom, he called me competent! I think I'm competent now!

Ditto - I've been playing on Veteran since my second session. My hardcore aetherfire Arcanist is level 27 and I'm working my way to Homestead.

The game is great, and definitely scratches that ARPG itch. I even had a crash, and it recovered well - I only had to re-explore a tiny amount of content. There's some pacing issues - some of the areas are WAY too long (Krieg's Lab - for crying out loud, just end already). There's also some balance issues - I'm pretty sure my Arcanist shouldn't be one-shotting mobs that are two levels higher. I expect this is part of the polish that needs to happen, and I'm looking forward to release.

Certis wrote:

Ohhh nice, I'll check that out.

Copingsaw wrote:

I've found normal to be way too easy for any competent gamer.

Hear that mom, he called me competent! I think I'm competent now!

I need to revise my statement. As I've been progressing over the past few days, I've found that there are certain bosses and areas that are not for the faint of heart, even on normal. I'm looking at you, occultist sanctuary. In addition, the further along you get, the more important gear and skill selection becomes. Areas like the Arkovian Undercity are no walk in the park.

After roughly six years of waiting, I finally started playing this game seriously over the weekend. It's a fun, well-crafted ARPG - for me, it's much more satisfying that Diablo 3 and more compelling than POE (in its current, rather complexified form). The story is surprisingly engaging, with some significant Erickson/Esselmont influences, and the little findable bits of story text provide a lot of thoughtful background on the world.

Other quick observations: It feels a lot like a more refined version of Titan Quest. The systems are a little deeper and more interesting than Titan Quest and the item generation process is much better.

In length, it is probably comparable to Titan Quest, but it feels like there is notably less variety in monsters and environments - probably because of the self-financed/crowdfunded development process.

While it is called "Grim Dawn" and it is aimed squarely at the Diablo 2 / POE dark fantasy aesthetic, the dingy brown/grey/green environments do get a bit oppressive. It's quite a contrast from Titan Quest's lovely Greek islands.

polq37 wrote:

While it is called "Grim Dawn" and it is aimed squarely at the Diablo 2 / POE dark fantasy aesthetic, the dingy brown/grey/green environments do get a bit oppressive.

While I somewhat agree, I like the aesthetic of GD. Plus it doesn't take that long to finish GD compated to TQ. I haven't played Act 4 yet, as it was just released a week ago, but it only took me about 15 hours to play through the first 3 acts.

MeatMan wrote:
polq37 wrote:

While it is called "Grim Dawn" and it is aimed squarely at the Diablo 2 / POE dark fantasy aesthetic, the dingy brown/grey/green environments do get a bit oppressive.

While I somewhat agree, I like the aesthetic of GD. Plus it doesn't take that long to finish GD compated to TQ. I haven't played Act 4 yet, as it was just released a week ago, but it only took me about 15 hours to play through the first 3 acts.

Titan Quest really did go on forever. Then again, so did Diablo 2 imho.

I've been loving playing around with this game and trying new character combinations the last couple of months. I am not really an ARPG vet so I'm learning quite a bit as I go. Still haven't progressed any character much past the end of Act 1, I'll probably wait until it is fully released to do that. But it has captured my imagination and attention.

This game is really good, I like it better than Diablo 3 and even Titanquest. I am not usually one for falling for ARPGs but I am really hooked. Also, I don't mess with alts much but I have a 2H soldier for when I feel like smashing undead and I started a duel-wielding Nightblade for extra stabbity.

Are people waiting for release to play it? Just wondering why no one is talking about it.

I play on and off. Need to play more. I have a character who I am really enjoying and he's only in his teens. Other than that I have a 50 and a couple thirties I believe.

I'm exploring the different classes now. Really enjoying the pets - Shaman is just OP. Lock enemies in place with the grasping hands and let your pet and crazed insects chew them up into mulch. Pretty much all I worry about is getting one-shotted.

I love the game but wish the opening area was less dark and brown. Something I love about Titan Quest was that it was so bright and visual striking. This is the opposite.

Arcanist on Veteran HC is nasty, brutal and short.

Shaman is amazing. I am using it now, eventually adding Occultist and going for a Conjurer build. I am playing on Veteran and not even coming close to dying. Only level 22 or 23 so still a ways to go but just finished up Act 1 with little difficulty.

I didn't start finding this difficult until chapter 2. I also had an extremely squishy build that was nerfed in the latest patch. Retrying as a Demolitionist-Shaman. Pets and Grenades.

Massive balance pass released overnight, with some bug fixes. You might have to adjust Devotion points.

Release date: February 25th

Here's what was posted to backers (which I'm sure 90% of us are), but thought it worth sharing (spoilered for length):

Spoiler:
Well, ladies and gentlemen, we are finally nearing the end of the first and longest leg of this epic journey. Thinking of all the support we received from backers on KS to help make this possible, I felt this would be the most fitting place to first announce the release date. Grim Dawn will be officially released from Early Access this Thursday February 25th!

Additionally, Build 31 with it's monumental change log, just went live and you can experience the full game right now as it prepares to disembark from Early Access forever. It’s been almost seven years of my life completing this game and it’s rather surreal that it’s finally here. I’m not sure I believe it.

My routine for so long as been to wake up and go work on Grim Dawn until it’s time to go to bed. I started this single and childless and now I’m married with two kids (I guess Jeff Goldblum was right – life finds a way). The project waxed and waned and waxed again as early volunteers joined up but then drifted off, I found myself working alone some days and things ground to a crawl, then KS gave it a kick in the ass and we were off again with new team members. This went from a crazy dream I knew was against the odds to the current reality of a 10-person team. I struggled through PayPal freezing our first crowd-funding account, lead poisoning, the passing of family members, all manner of technical and hiring challenges. It’s almost hard to believe looking back on it all.

We’ve delivered a lot of content beyond the promise of our Kickstarter, including an extra Act, a sixth class, major gameplay systems such as devotion and many more hours of gameplay than we originally talked about. Thanks to the success of Grim Dawn in Early Access, we’ve also been able to add VO for main quest dialog and an animated intro trailer, which are included in the new build.

I say this journey is only nearing the end because, even with the completion of Grim Dawn, we still have some work ahead of us. Shortly after the full release or maybe even along with it, if we can manage it, we will release the DRM-free build and virtual rewards. I’m currently emailing with the folks at Humble Store to figure out how to set that up. They have a nice system for facilitating the distribution of KS rewards now… unfortunately, we were one of their first pre-existing clients to run a KS, so our data / configuration on their system is a bit convoluted and we’re trying to figure out the best way to release things. I’m hoping we’ll have that set up within a week though.

The virtual goods have all been finished and are also just waiting for us to set up the distribution for them. Basically, we have a bunch of logistical stuff to sort though. We’ve also began producing physical rewards, beginning with the map and poster. We’ve prepared the final art for that and are currently talking to a print shop. The Boxed copies will come later since we’ll need to take the final build and master discs from it. We also need to find someone to produce the box. That and omg, I need to write the Crate Story… that’s going to be quite a tale.

Following release and whatever bug-fixing and polish work we still need to do, work will begin on future updates, modding tool release, Survival Mode (actual name yet to be decided) and the expansion. I’d be sad to see the end of Grim Dawn, fortunately, this isn’t the end. There is more Grim Dawn to come and also we may see the start of new things in the coming months.

It’s fantastic to come out of this with not only a complete game that’s bigger and better than I dared imagined it would be but also a team and company on solid footing,capable to launching new projects on our own. I sincerely and heartily thank you all for the part you played in making this happen. I hope you enjoy all of the hard work and passion that went into, not only completing this game but filling it with tons of details, lore, secrets and personal touches.

Until next time – good hunting

- Arthur and the Crate Team

Never mind, I am not all that bright sometimes.

I haven't played Diablo, completed Torchlight and thought it was soulless, and I love Grim Dawn with what must be 100h by now (multiple characters). This after being reluctantly dragged in by Redwing for co-op.

The atmosphere in GD is great. The tone of the game is dark, without being seriously depressing. I was impressed with how nice the scenery looks given my PC is old (6.5yrs). Performance for me isn't hot, not a big deal though. The items are nicely created and a fit for the theme. Nothing is cheesy. The countryside is nice and twisty, and the map does a good job of showing what is inaccessible in what can be a fairly dense environment. I love the way little areas and corridors in between are created with paddocks, and it looks so natural. The Aether affected area of this is my favourite.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/KK5kdkO.jpg)

Collecting items and sorting out inventory is a hook in this game for me. Finding an item with a sweet new ability, sourcing the right add-ons for the right build, and organising my stash just so, all great. And they're all so pretty. And going hardcore on this element isn't mandatory, I wouldn't think.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/pBVZpPS.jpg)

This game also does one of my favourite things by having bosses that get combined with adjectives at random. So I come across a boss shambling monster, and later on I might come across a teleporting shambling boss, or a reflective shambling boss, etc. And sometimes there's two at once for double the challenge. So it's a good thing the penalty for dying isn't huge.

The skill trees for allocating points are massive, and every character gets two classes at level 10. So many options to tailor to my liking, which means I pick strange and restrictive build ideas and stick with them <3 With such elaborate choices, I'm glad re-specing is cheap. All the ability points are refundable, base statistic giving 'tree progression' points aren't, but that's not so bad. On top of this, they added a non-linear 'devotion' skill point system, which gives mostly stats, and passive abilities across the full range of attack and defence. The devotion points seem over the top given how many other skills and stats there are already.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/pdLgbwL.jpg)
IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/IqUiCzp.jpg)

Combat itself is hotkey-based, it's not always terribly deep but I like making things explode. I find myself wishing for WASD controls, but there's only an attack/move cursor. The visual effects are great, and the sound effects and music are well done too.

The one notable negative is the voice acting. Some of it is decent and really fits in the scene, a lot of it is passable to bad with accents that really take me out of it. The vendors have the same lines across towns, which really grates after a few hours.

l've had great fun with this both co-op and by myself. I never would have picked it up if it was the same old theme as half the ARPGs out there. It is fairly dated in terms of character actions (e.g. NPCs are fixed in place) but the rich character stat and ability building and world exploration is a joy. Recommended.

Damn fine post. I'd recommend checking out the Diablo series, especially if you have a console that plays Diablo 3 as I find using a controller to play vastly more fun than clicking until my hand falls off.

Path of Exile, too.

garion333 wrote:

Damn fine post. I'd recommend checking out the Diablo series, especially if you have a console that plays Diablo 3 as I find using a controller to play vastly more fun than clicking until my hand falls off.

My buddy uses the Steam controller on PC and it really increased his enjoyment of it.

Vector wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Damn fine post. I'd recommend checking out the Diablo series, especially if you have a console that plays Diablo 3 as I find using a controller to play vastly more fun than clicking until my hand falls off.

My buddy uses the Steam controller on PC and it really increased his enjoyment of it.

Oh wow, I never thought using that instead of Xpadder. Looks like I'm getting a Steam controller.

garion333 wrote:

Damn fine post. I'd recommend checking out the Diablo series, especially if you have a console that plays Diablo 3 as I find using a controller to play vastly more fun than clicking until my hand falls off.

Omg ty.

I've steered clear of Diablo because after hearing how people feel sucked into it, didn't want to risk becoming addicted myself. Plus, the 'always online' stuff would s*** me to tears, especially when I was living somewhere with s***house internet. It's a game I'm glad other people enjoy, but from the outside, don't really want to jump in.

I have no idea how this double posted.

Grim Dawn has passable controller support as well yay!!