It is a game with someone to offer every ARPG player. An hack and slash that actually has a combat system with depth. Medierra (lead designer) and his team have on all accounts succeeded. It was kick-started by people who saw the potential of what Titan Quest could have been, and who were tired of Diablo-Clones failing to live up to the originals.
GRIM DAWN RATING FULL
Gameplay: 10 - Will go into this below Fun: 10 - Ditto I cannot summarize why I love Grim Dawn, as I love so many parts of it, but before I try to consider that this is a game originally made by like 2 full time employees and a few part-timers (eventually expanded to a full-time team of 10 people). Tons of variety and ways to make your foes cease to exist. General Combat: 10 - Meaty, corpses flying, enemies flinching and wailing as they die. Forgivable as we all have our opinions, and they're a small team. Sound: 8 - Usually satisfying and fitting, but there are some spells and attacks that get annoying to hear. I only wish they had more songs in their soundtrack. Fits the theme of the game, and at no times is tiresome. As for the review: Let's go over the basics: Music: 9 - Atmospheric, moody, grim. Needless to say, they've made a fan of me. Slowly and slowly the feeling got better until around B21 when I realized it happened: I felt the drug-like Diablo 2 cravings become satiated for the first time in over a decade. Each build was so significantly better than the last that I was floored by how such a small team could make such efficient progress. I originally pirated a version of the beta (build 13), then caved and bought early access around build 17. As I read up on him, and his posts, it occurred to me that he was the most articulate and intelligent mind I've ever come across when it came to designing ARPG's, and what made them so fun, and so difficult to get right. When I stumbled upon Grim Dawn I was intrigued, especially when I saw it's lead designer, Arthur Bruno, was also a leader in the development of Titan Quest (which fell short in a lot of ways but was the closest I had gotten, I loved the variety of items in that game and the dual class system). I haven't reviewed a game since Torchlight 2 (I regret giving it a 10, it's more like an 8 in comparison to Grim Dawn, as it's itemization lacked flavor and it's diversity was shallower than I realized) So Grim dawn is the first game I'll be reviewing in 2.5 years, as it has earned it. I've beta-tested plenty of games, and even impacted a few. I even ended up playing a bunch of short Flash based ARPG's in my darkest hours of desperation. I played all the mainstream games, all the indie games, and even some foreign titles in languages I could not understand in the hopes of finding a game with satisfying combat, interesting loot, great atmosphere, and amazing build diversity. Diablo 2 was my favorite of the genre, and I spent the next decade+ searching for a game that would evoke even more fun and joy while playing. About me: I have played and beaten every ARPG known to man since Diablo. It is, in my opinion, the best ARPG I have played. Diablo 2 was my favorite of the genre, and I spent the next decade+ searching for a game that would evoke Grim Dawn is a theorycrafter's paradise, and the first ARPG that has truly allowed me to live, and even surpass the feelings I had playing Diablo 2 as a kid. Grim Dawn is a theorycrafter's paradise, and the first ARPG that has truly allowed me to live, and even surpass the feelings I had playing Diablo 2 as a kid.