Completed Grim Dawn main quest :cartwheel: - primary character on Veteran. Level 53 Blademaster at the conclusion of the run. Restarted immediately on Elite.
96hrs so far played, predominantly in a single character but about 6hrs worth of play to get 2 alts to the first township for their bank slots. Looking like I need to do at least 3 more XD
I can’t repeat enough about how impressed I am with this game - despite it suffering from the mid game burn out that most ARPG looters suffer from. This is definitely the game that Diablo 3 should have been. Really in depth character development with sooooo much to tweak/work out how to best play the character. Unfortunately I just couldn’t work out how to make a useful pure Nightblade (dual wielding assassin) work properly, so ended up with a Nightblade/Soldier hybrid, which is classed as a Blademaster.
What solved my bottleneck during playing was running bounties instead of the main story until I managed to level up some & get a bit better gear. Then heading back to the main quest line until I bogged down again.
The game has a fairly generic grim fantasy setting, but makes the most of it - equal parts depressing & morbid. Not much voice acting, but seems to have a better script & plot than D3.
For me the best part of the game is when your epic skills go off in satisfying ways. A Swoop of Falcons decimating the incoming horde or a ring of blood red Eldritch fire scorching away the surrounding horde is really satisfying.
Yes it’s grindy, yes it gets bogged down, but for a game I can just sit down & play and try to get better gear & level up, it’s pretty bloody close to perfect.
Katsuo Played it ages ago & enjoyed it (about 200 odd hrs into it). I like this one a bit more. Seems a bit more refined Also that’s competing against my patriotic nature as PoE was developed in NZL.
I may get back into PoE but the online only aspect makes me prefer things like Torchlight, Grim Dawn, Van Helsing & Victor Vran.
So managed to survive 65 days & complete the first run in 25hrs of play. It’s a nice cross between crafting based-survival & roguelite. The addition of checkpoints makes it a little more forgiving. Even so every death is heartbreaking especially if you’ve managed to craft new clothing or kit yourself out nicely in one section.
And of all the multitudes of ways to die… my “favourite” appeared to be being gored to death by boars, it even surpassed drowning after destroying my raft. But a special mention should be made to my first bear encounter…
The upgrades to your raft definitely make navigating easier as the game progresses. Whereas being slammed to death by a boar is drawn out procedure as you try to drag your broken & bleeding body away, bears are pretty quick, and hard to run away from. My advice is don’t antagonize them if you are not prepared and even if you are, think twice.
So overall I’m happy with the game & its inclusion in the Humble Bundle a few months ago, another example of being able to deliver a great experience based on gameplay & atmosphere. Also a special mention to the music. Not normally my cup of tea, but so well matched with the game & really nicely integrated into the play.
For an unprecedented turn of events I completed another game! Psychonauts…
I also took part in the Ghost Recon Wildlands Beta over the weekend, but for the Gamer Challenge I crossed off Psychonauts.
And I will never,ever return to it. I often complain about games being unoriginal and generic… well this time I can honestly say that this is not the issue with Psychonauts. The story is pretty great & the dialogue is well written, if campy (which is definitely on purpose). No, the problem is that this is a possibly great game hampered by fundamental game mechanic issues. I hate platformers. There’s no way to boil it down any clearer than that, and unfortunately this game has all of the issues that I hate about platformers. Poor control definition, lack of response for precise jumps, getting caught on corners that don’t exist, falling through the edge of platforms, the same action, taken time & time again… yeah, this game reminded me why I hate the genre.
Add to this the poorly conceived boss fights that don’t adequately explain what you need to do to defeat the enemy, and then seem to cheap out on overpowered attacks and breaking the levels own rules.
There are some unique levels that are fun and cool… to begin with, but eventually frustration boils over & I was left cursing at the screen & realising I have to do exactly the same task 2 or 3 more times before I can clear the level.
I’m glad that I played it through for the story, but that’s all. I pushed myself & didn’t bother exploring all the maps to get all the secrets, because my frustration out weighed my OCD over secrets & collectibles.
Sgt_T8ie I mean, in its defense, it’s a pretty old game.
I agree… but my issues are fundamental gaming mechanics, not that the graphics were dated or anything like that. It simply wasn’t an enjoyable game to play, for me. I feel that the frustration due to poor design/mechanics would be present on this game at day one.
Also that’s competing against my patriotic nature as PoE was developed in NZL.
