Grim Dawn... has anyone tried it?

If you enjoy TQ you'll enjoy GD. Personally I think it is a fantastic game and offers something that PoE does not - offline play and the ability to mod the game like TL (when it is released).

To me, GD is more akin to D2 2.0 then PoE ever has been. PoE takes the same gothic setting and general mechanics from D2 but it's end game system is entirely different from D2. GD on the other hand is playing a safer route with their progression system (As far as I can tell from the amount we have access to).

GD starts out a little slow, but the ability to mix/match different classes - or play a 'pure' class - offers just as much build variety as PoE does, but in a much more user friendly manner as it foregoes the 'web' which at this point really doesn't serve the purpose it originally did and is now just a matter of 'level up X times until I can take the passive node I really want and minimize the travel distance between the nodes'.

Well it's the darkest since D1 that i have played, ill give it that.

I'll give my impressions of Grim Dawn so far, having played for a few days now.

I'd like to start out by saying, Grim Dawn and Path of Exile comparisons are apples and oranges. Sure, they are both ARPGs, but other than that, there's not much in common between the directions each game has done. The same is inherently true when trying to compare Diablo 2/3 and Path of Exile, or even TorchLight 1/2 and Path of Exile. Each game went in their own direction.

For being in an alpha stage, GD is quite impressive. It plays like a more traditional RPG. In no particular order, here's things that GD has that is "nice" to have after having played PoE so long:
* Skill bars: there are two that you can swap between (default key Y).
* An experience bar that gets a small overlay showing you how much exp you just gained from killing something, before it's filled up. It's a nifty touch.
* Floating damage numbers for your damage to monsters. They don't take away from the game.
* Inventory auto-sort!
* Weapon swap, it's nice to have it early on (it didn't exist in PoE for a while).
* A rotatable camera! I think the controls for this are inversed, but no big deal.
* Pants.
* Single player and a pause button (multi-player is not implemented yet).
* Help windows/tips.
* A moveable map window that has icons that you can hilight and mouse over.
* A stash you can pay to extend with in game currency, as well as a built in Item Transfer page.
* Great music all around (not comparing to PoE specifically).

Those are just the things that stand out right away. I'm sure there will be more.

As for the game mechanics that are worth mentioning:
* 3 attributes you can add points to on level, Physique, Cunning, and Spirit, then two that are modified by items and character class level, Healthy and Energy.
* Basic combat stats, as you'd expect in an ARPG.
* 10 types of resistances.
* No id scrolls or portal scrolls. You can open a "rift" to go hack to town or other areas where there are rifts (waypoints) like in Diablo 3.
* Quests give reputation, experience, and currency. Some quests give skill points.
* Guns!
* The item enchanting system is done through components, that you can merge the same type to form complete components that give extra bonuses. Think Diablo 2's gem upgrade system, but with less tiers.
* Traditional skill system where you unlock skills at a tier level, and then can upgrade the skill using points earned at level up. Like Diablo 2 style, pre-synergy style.
* Skill respecs for currency, but not mastery respecs.

So the most obvious question is, is it worth buying for $30 right now? The answer is pretty easy; if you want to play this game "now" and follow the progression of it over the next year or so, then yes. Otherwise, no, it's not a finished game. If you read the steam page, the game probably won't be finished for at least another year.

My biggest concern right now, is the fun factor. Where's the fun going to be, and what are they going to add that makes GD stand out form other games. Right now, I'm not seeing anything that this game does that I've not seen done in other failed ARPGs, such as Mythos and Hellgate London. With PoE, there was excitement about skills as items, and being able to mix and match things how you want, but non of that is here.

I can't say I'm impressed with the itemization so far, and the crafting system isn't in place yet, so it's hard to do much judging based on what is there. I think this game will have a lot of cool things down the line, and it has potential to grow and expand like PoE did, but based on what's here now, the direction of GD makes it more comparable to TL rather than PoE.

The skill system feels boring, just like most other traditional ARPGs after having played PoE so much. As it was mentioned, it's more beginner friendly and structured, but I can't say I'd take it over PoE's system any day of the year.

So that's about my first few days impression. It seems like a solid game so far, but I had a genuine excitement about Path of Exile when I first heard of it and finally got into the closed beta that is missing from this game. It's early though, so I'll have to see how things change over time and playing it more.

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drew_benton wrote:

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* Pants.
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I'm sold!