Grim Dawn (2016)

They nailed the gameplay, it's fun and addictive. But after 2-3 hours of playtime, I started to feel overwhelmed, especially because of items. Maybe the developers wanted the game to be more rewarding than Diablo? So much loot, and even magic and rare items have too many abilities. And there's the possibility to combine them with gem-like items which give them even more abilities. So much to choose from, it's tiring.

Also, the map takes more time and effort to explore, compared to the corridor-like map design of Diablo. I don't like the fact that I have to rotate the view to see the enemies.

Played a little bit during stream free trial. I like the game and will definitely buy it at some point when the price for it + all dlc is super cheap. I got to nearly level 20 as a soldier on veteran difficulty. I like to play tank characters that combine physical toughness, heavy armor, shields and buffing/healing/debilitating magic. Soldier covers the first aspect but I had no idea what to take for my 2nd mastery. Nightblade has frost that slows enemies (something I like) and a heal, but is more of a dual wielding rogue type so most of its abilities would not be useful at all. Shaman, arcanist and occultist are interesting in concept but do not offer the types of abilities I want. It was a good thing I looked this up online rather than in game because of the dlc classes. Both inquisitor and oathbearer are interesting. Inquisitor has some defensive abilities though I do not like its theme of using gadgets rather than innate magic. Oathbearer has the paladin theme that I like and I probably would have started as that class. It has some shield synergy but overall seems more offensive than the soldier. Will most likely go with Oathbearer as my 2nd.

First weapon I found was a gun so I played mostly ranged. I like playing ranged types as well as melee tanks and I appreciate the ability to do both as the same time in this game, though how well that holds up later into the game I do not know. I use a melee + shield as one weapon set with the other being a 2h ranged; I typically went around shooting things and switched to melee when enemies closed in. I put my points into raw stats and ignored skills until level 10, then I got some useful skills at 1 point just to make the game more interesting. I use cadence as my main attack and especially like how it works with both melee and ranged. Use forcewave and blitz for melee; big fan of stuns and charge type attacks. I definitely like the soldier. I started on the Order path for my devotion.

It's Titan Quest (identical sytems and even the same engine) but with cooler visuals, greatly improved UI/balance, and some hokey new constellation tree that has you searching for shrines to unlock points, which buy stat upgrades, in a needless complex method. What's cool about the constellation tree is you can unlock procs and attach them to skills (like making an attack have a chance to proc a big explosion).

Ultimatly it offers very little that hasn't been done a million times in other d2-clones, it just does them better than just about any other game since. If you want more d2 this is a must play, otherwise steer-clear. If you want to play the absolute best d2-clone though get Path of Exile.

Update, since I haven't in a while. I am still playing this. Too much. And at the detriment of the other games I had already started before I got into this. I try to go play something else and Grim Dawn says "Come baaaaack......". And then I do.

It's mindless clicking (especially the build I play in these types of games), with a nice loot treadmill, so I'm always eager to get in and get more. It's fun and I feel powerful and just want to see how much stronger I can get. The loot and leveling system is actually almost too deep for me, again especially for the character I tend to play. There are essentially 4 skill tracks to monitor, more wearable accessories than I think I usually see and wayyyy more crafting and equipment add-ons than I need/use. But I'm glad it's there, in case I really do dig in and get crazy into it.

The story is good, but also a bit deep for me. Again, it's nice that it's there, but I don't have the attention/desire to really dig in to all of the side-lore. I skim it and get the gist, but I don't think I could tell you about everything that's happening with all of the bits and pieces of journals you pick up and piece together.

I have to do some soul-searching to determine whether I will be playing past end-game though, either grinding out more for my main character or exploring the other classes you can build. I have so many other games I want to play, but this game is just too simple and satisfying to want to stop.

Also, referencing my last update, I did find dual-wield. I have -one- point in my secondary class just to activate dual-wielding and everything else is getting pumped into my main class.

On the note about how deep the game mechanics are, I would also mention that it actually feels like it gives you too much of the extra stuff too soon. I can do all of this extra crafting or purchasing or dismantling or skill tree leveling, but most of it seems like it's a bit premature for the level I am at. Many of the benefits don't seem to be applicable to lower levels they are introduced at. Good for future planning, I suppose. And again-again, I'd rather it be there and have the option than it not be there and have the game actually be too simple, even though I play about as simply as you can.

Actually got a chance to put a little time into this. So far, so good. As expected, it's pretty much a newly-skinned Diablo/Titan Quest.

I generally play boring tank/DPS characters in these games, so I don't usually get around to seeing the fancy spells and pets and all of that stuff. Someone has to play these characters though, right? Maybe I will start an alt at some point just to see what that side of coin is like, but in the meantime, I pretty much embody the "hack'n'slash" mentality.

The biggest downside so far with that is that I do not see Dual Wield as an option yet. I don't know if it will be relegated to specific yet-to-be-seen weapons, but I don't see it in the skill tree, like I think it was in Titan Quest. I see a lot of shield buffs and skills, which I'm not so into, but we will see.

Don't know when I will get to play again, but hopefully soon!