A Grim Dawn for ARPG's · 4:38pm Jun 8th, 2017
So I’ve made a few blog posts about how Video Games remain my sole refuge from the cold clutches of reality. In this RPG’s are probably my favourite genre, simply because there’s nothing as immersive as a well crafted, and intuitive RPG that blends story and gameplay. Stuff like Dark Souls, Mass Effect (which I never got into, but my brother did), Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Knights, Fallout 3 & New Vegas (4 just didn’t have the magic I was looking for), Pillar’s of Eternity, JRPG’s like Final Fantasy and LoH: Trails in the Sky (a little too talky for my taste, and I usually hate the character tropes they use, but FF6 is fantastic, and FFV’s class system keeps that game so fresh).
But of every single RPG I’ve played, my heart belongs to one. Diablo II, and it’s expansion Lord of Destruction. The game that got me into the genre in the first place. I must have sunk at least 6 solid weeks of time into that game, playing and replaying, hunting down items sets, trying out different classes (Sorceress and Druid all the way), basking in the music and atmosphere, single player and multi-player, dying over and over to Duriel, the Boss of Act II who can take his freezing aura and immediate charge attack and ram them up his ASS! (Fuck that guy, I ran through two tomes of Town Portal fighting that guy)
Other people will talk about getting 120 stars in Mario 64, or unlocking Super Sonic for the first time. For me it was finally beating Baal that remains my first, big, video game accomplisment. That and finishing Quake I, because let’s be honest, Quake I is a strange combination of D’n’D, Lovecraft, and Sci-Fi, and it is glorious for it.
So when Diablo III came out, I hopped on that train and was kinda let-down; maybe I over-hyped myself, maybe there was a change I didn’t like all that much (the limited skill-key bar springs to mind), maybe it was my trouble with Blizzard support staff who sealed me out of my account because I forgot my secret question, maybe it was a combination of all of these? Point is I kinda fell off the Diablo badwagon (and ARPG’s in general), beyond going back to Diablo II and LoD every few months, then Titan Quest kinda finshed me off with its “not quite there” design and dull gameplay, and I spent a lot of time staring at my computer while Roller Coaster Tycoon 1 and 2 mostly played themselves in the background.
Flash back to about a year ago, Steam Summer Sale time, and I see this little thing called Grim Dawn in my recommended list, took a look at the cutscenes, screenshots, game info, did a little digging on the company, Crate Entertainment, and every thing seemed fine and dandy, like cotton-candy, and in a fit of pique and disposable income I picked up the game.
My god was that a good decision. This game is fantastic. The atmosphere and design is beautifully depressing, not washed out and dull, but dripping with gloom and decay. The gameplay captures a big part of that franticness of Diablo II where your character could mow their way through hordes of weaker enemies, while having to think your way through bosses, picking up bits of lore on how to deal with them. Each of the character classes feel like they fit right into the setting, and each differs in gameplay, while still having an equal challenge, whether it’s low health, high cost special skills, focused attacks that mean you have to work to thin out hordes, or a reliance on summons and debuffs.
I’m currently on the post game for Elite difficulty (Normal, Elite, Ultimate), clearing out the Skeleton Key dungeons, dealing with the Nemesis monsters, doing faction quests, making sure I’m setup for Ultimate mode, and completing that is my next goal.
If you love these sorts of games pick this up, I cannot stress how good this game is, especially now Port Valbury is out, the modding tools and tutorial are available, and Crate are releasing information about the expansion.
Favourite piece from the Soundtrack
Have you herad of this then?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyJOhJqbUmo
a moded vercion of Doablo 2 with new stuff
4566176
That looks brilliant.
Unfortunately it also requires me to sign on to the Blizzard Battle.Net online store, for a third time, struggle with what they call customer support, and deal with endless spam of "Here, try our new MMO, someone has attempted to use your account, would you like to send us more money for pointless costume DLC".
I'll stick with my disks; partially because I'm spiteful, partially because Blizzard can kiss the darkest parts of my white ass.