Legend of Grimrock - Tile based Dungeon Crawler!

[Tanukitsune]

I beat the game! And boy, was it awesome!

I found a weapon that stunned the final boss called Hall of the Designers, I only noticed during the credits that the names there were the actual game designers!

PS: I beat the game twice, once again after I found out how to save Toorum, but it didn't change the ending...

[Erkki]

I doubt I'll finish this on Normal. Third level was pretty tough. I've been killed several times. I guess circle-strafing (kind of, but more pixelated) is the only way to fight in this game. And it's not exactly a good gameplay element. So I really wish I'd started the game on Easy. Not sure if I'll go back or just stop playing.

It's good that the dungeons are randomly generated, wouldn't want to restart at all if I had to do the same thing over again.

[Tanukitsune]

I don't think anything is randomized in this game, everything was were they told me it would be.

[Erkki]

I don't think anything is randomized in this game, everything was were they told me it would be.

What do you mean by "where they told you"?

After loading a savegame, and going down again, I found a different dungeon ahead of me than before.

[Tanukitsune]

What? Then how come the map I was shown was the same as mine?

[ScruffyLemming]

I doubt I'll finish this on Normal. Third level was pretty tough. I've been killed several times. I guess circle-strafing (kind of, but more pixelated) is the only way to fight in this game. And it's not exactly a good gameplay element. So I really wish I'd started the game on Easy. Not sure if I'll go back or just stop playing.

It's good that the dungeons are randomly generated, wouldn't want to restart at all if I had to do the same thing over again.

The Dungeon is not randomly generated, it's all hand made. As for the combat, a lot of it comes down to timing. You generally want to attack with all 4 of your guys, then move away and avoid being hit until your attacks have come off cooldown. Going head to head with the enemies will not work once you get to the later stages,

the blue dinosaur things on some of the later levels could 2 or 3 shot my fighter...

[thespambot]

I have never played this style of old school dungeon crawler for more than a few minutes, but Grimrock has me hooked.

[Tanukitsune]

This is mildly related, but I got Lands of Lore from GOG and after a while I could see how this game influenced (or was the inspiration for) Grimrock.

But... I prefer Grimrock. I know it's not fair to compare it to an older game, but they clearly saw the flaws in the older games and got rid of them.

[elmuerte]

For me Stonekeep is still better than Grimrock. Grimrock pretty much lacks a compelling story.

[George B]

yeah so far the "plot" is mostly carried by those dream sequences. The play experience has been a pretty great story so far. I'm down to level 5 without having to look anything up yet.

I happen to love the combat system. It's a lil speed click mini-game to me. Reinforced by having to switch out throwing weapons/arrows and queuing up spells. Really fun, and puzzly to be sure. I would like a bit more feedback from the hidden buttons and stuff, sometimes it's tough to tell what happened exactly. That lack of feedback does make you play more deliberately though.

The whole game is extremely deliberate, and you can tell that much thought went into the design. Real fun!

The only hint I would share is

not to get too caught up in torch management, I was so worried I'd run out of torches that I spent much of the first 3 levels barely using them. I probably missed a secret room or two because of this. By level 5 you will have found a better way of dealing with darkness. I'm hoping by level 6 there will be a similar way to deal with hunger

[Scrobbs]

Just picked this up again after a busy couple of weeks. As it booted, my heart wasn't in it. After 10 mins play (and a couple of wipes!), I was sucked in. A finely crafted game indeed - although I think I chose too high a difficulty level. The upshot of this is that Skeletal Infantry and Bowmen are mere XP bonuses. RPS had it right - when you find a new weapon, your heart fair sings! Crossbow for my rogue was most welcome, as was a proper spiked mace for my fighter to replace his balloon on a stick. Making my way around L4 atm, with an occasional foray to 5 via pits .

[Tanukitsune]

For me Stonekeep is still better than Grimrock. Grimrock pretty much lacks a compelling story.

I think Lands of Lore story hurt the game, if that makes any sense.

Once you enter a long dungeon, the story just stops until you reach your objective, which made me feel like I'm not making any progress.

Grimrock had barely any story, but like Floordje said, the dream sequence do give you a sense of story progression.

Anyway, I'll give Stonekeep a go.

[Erkki]

I liked the game, but lack of story and grindiness make it -ish. The end boss is somewhat ridiculous, although I guess it could be kind of interesting, but I was going by spoilers near the end just to get it over with.

[robc]

For me the puzzles and exploration held the game together. I didn't care for the combat / square dance. Luckily the former was strong enough to make up for the latter and still have it be a good game (in my opinion).

I would have liked a little variety in secret button appearance and location too.

[Malice Song]

So since this thread kind of tided me over from "hmmmm" to "fine, I'll buy it", let me return the favor in case there's still some undecided ones out there:

Just finished it on normal and it was a great experience, highly recommended. And I actually never could get into Dungeon Master or Eye of the Beholder, despite actually being pretty pumped about them. Some impressions from my point of view:

• For the most part puzzles felt great and rewarding, though some of that stuff was ridiculous. I'm looking at you, Level 10. More precisely
  if you're the kind of person that first sacks all the loot and then fiddles with switches, good luck trying to find out what the red gem is for.
• Not sure if race/class balance was a goal, but some approaches at least seemed a lot more viable than others and those usually were not that intuitive. After playing around a bit I decided to go with a party of four unarmed human rogues and they completely demolished that entire mountain.
  
• That said, endgame was a bit of a letdown. I can't put in words how much I utterly and unconditionally loved the aesthetics of the last floors, the bossfight on the other hand was garbage and I couldn't have cared less about the direction the plot was taking.
  
• Probably sounds weird, but I encourage everyone still playing to throw away their torches (well, maybe keep a handful for puzzles). The dungeons look absolutely gorgeous in the dark, much more so than while carrying a lightsource around all the time imo. You get used to it fairly quickly and the freed up active hand slot doesn't exactly hurt, either.
  

[Erkki]

• Probably sounds weird, but I encourage everyone still playing to throw away their torches (well, maybe keep a handful for puzzles). The dungeons look absolutely gorgeous in the dark, much more so than while carrying a lightsource around all the time imo. You get used to it fairly quickly and the freed up active hand slot doesn't exactly hurt, either.
  

I didn't try that except once when I either ran out of torches or accidentally cast darkness, but that sounds like an interesting way to play it. Besides, there was a gold key I only found in the dark, that I completely missed when it was light.

BTW. Is there only one gold key per each of the treasure rooms?

[Tanukitsune]

I'm pretty sure there was only one per treasure room, but you could always keep it for the next treasure room?

[Malice Song]

I didn't try that except once when I either ran out of torches or accidentally cast darkness, but that sounds like an interesting way to play it. Besides, there was a gold key I only found in the dark, that I completely missed when it was light.

I only got into it myself in the maze of shadows, where I thought that was necessary and then kind of forgot to switch back. Admittedly I'd still whip out a torch now and then, if I got stuck in a poorly lit area, figuring I must have missed something (which, if I remember correctly, was never really necessary, because I didn't miss anything, I was just too stupid for a puzzle). You're not the first to mention more visibility in darkness, while I can't confirm personally, apparently sliding walls can let some light slip through and while that won't tell you the location of the corresponding switch, apparently it can give you a hint to search that area a bit more thoroughly.

On a purely aesthetic note, if you just want to check it out and still have a save file available, Outer Sanctum with just the lighting from its teleporters looks breathtaking imo.

I'm pretty sure there was only one per treasure room, but you could always keep it for the next treasure room?

Pretty sure you're correct on the number of keys. Saving them for a later treasure room definitely works.

[elmuerte]

Just reached level 4 (and got killed almost instantly at either entrance).

I think normal difficulty is just about right, it's challenging but not infuriating difficult. But I do feel like cheating by closing doors/gates and heal before killing the next foe.

It took me a while to figure out I could place stuff behind metal fences.

Anyway, I like this game a lot.

[Tanukitsune]

Just reached level 4 (and got killed almost instantly at either entrance).

I think normal difficulty is just about right, it's challenging but not infuriating difficult. But I do feel like cheating by closing doors/gates and heal before killing the next foe.

It took me a while to figure out I could place stuff behind metal fences.

Anyway, I like this game a lot.

That tactic won't work if the enemy has hands and is smart enough to open a door.

[Malice Song]

But I do feel like cheating by closing doors/gates and heal before killing the next foe.

Afaik avoiding direct combat by "abusing" doors and dancing around enemies has been somewhat integral to the genre, so I am almost sure you're getting the intended experience here.

That tactic won't work if the enemy has hands and is smart enough to open a door.

Also this.

[elmuerte]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hDmF-h9dRF8

Looking forward to make some idle dungeons

[Roderick]

The weirdest thing: I was so psyched for Legend of Grimrock when it appeared and I bought it soon after. I only now got around to trying it and I don't like it at all. This has made me re-evaluate what I was attracted to in the first place. Utterly loving Lands of Lore (the first one), I assumed that love would transfer into other tile-based dungeon crawlers. But Grimrock doesn't do it at all for me, and I think I got it wrong. What so attracts me in Lands of Lore isn't the game engine, it's the fact that it's a story-driven game based around exploration. Grimrock, on the other hand, has very little story and a big emphasis on fighting. Exploration isn't really all that present, at least not in the sense that I like it, because you just get a story-less tileset that repeats. That bores the skull out of my head.

 

It took me not long to rmeove Grimrock from my system. At least it taught me a lesson in what I really like.

[dibs]

I think the exploring in that game is expressed more through the epic puzzle solving. When you see that nifty sword behind a grate and tear your hair out trying to solve the riddle to get it.

[elmuerte]

what rolls down stairs, alone or in pairs, rolls over your neighbors dog, it fits on your back, its great for a snack

 

It's LoG 2:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/01/28/grimrock-2-detailed-new-setting-ai-progression-daynight/