Grimrock

Right so i just finished the game aparantly... There's a plethora of things that bug me kind of. Let's go by each of them and digest what happens.

- Level 5 cave in

Arguably something that kept my interests peaked all the way up to floor 11. Even the little note mentioning a person missing a single ingredient hints at some form of explosive to clear the rocks. Then there were fire bombs, large hammers, improved fireball, and so forth.

Nothing works. The cave in still refuses to leave and i fear it may not be possible to get past it... Now there's a nonmapped spot on my map, and i can't stand it :S

- Dismantler epic buildup.

Really, first time you enter that area, it's all WTF with lightning and ominous stuff. Really really well done, as is that entire floor, but what i would have hoped for would be something more than just a weapon. Granted, it's a fine sword, but it's called "The Dismantler"... It doesn't dismantle anything, nor is it used in any form of progression. This i would have loved to see happen later on, where you would need it to access a different area or something like that. Making it a key element in a room solving quest would have been awesome.

Sadly, it is not so.

- Mage "specialty" equipment.

Fantastic. You make a staff for poison, and an orb for fire, but as an ice mage, i wanted that but with the focus on ice, or lightning even... Kind of a letdown

- Overall gear availability.

While i hail and laud your implementation of the current gear in game, i must make note of the fact that there is no mage specific set save a few select items...

To go further in depth, here's a list of what i feel is missing, and this is entirely my own opinion.

- Lightning resist anything. Granted, there are virtually no enemies using this element, but it would be nice to have the option, especially near the dismantler area.
- Frost resist was high, yet no frost damage of any kind until endgame area. Would have made more sense to switch out locations with something else.
- Complete set achievement, but no complete set bonus. Not forcing this one as it's a designers choice, but having a set bonus while being "loyal" to a specific line of armor would make sense.
- as mentioned earlier, no mage / rogue set (save dodge) of any kind. There's a specific tank set (2 if you count plate armor as a separate set) but nothing near a similar set for mages or rogues. Mages have the cloak, the hat and the weapons, but nothing else. Rogues get dodge, shoes and a hat, but nothing else... Would have liked to see more customisability overall, but still, great job on what's available
- Treasure descriptions. Again, hinting at more than it turned out to be. Dragon statue that feels enchanted? awesome ! make it a plot item of sorts, heck make it a key item for some super secret shingdig at the very last end with 7 pedestals for 7 treasures or something.

Overall, i loved this game. It had everything a game in this genre should have. Not to steep progression, deep, but logical puzzle solving, cryptic hints, and an overall amazing atmosphere with regards to layout, location, storyline and so forth

The bad, however was that i found myself longing for interaction beyond the dream stages. Toorum's notes were a wonderful touch and made me (the party) feel connected to that poor man's fate. It would have been gold to see an actual human being that's not out to murder you, and have some form of conversation or anything that involves a party not you or the enemy. Even lore wise it would have clicked perfectly as it's a prison-esque environment. People are sent here to redeem themselves, and i doubt in the entire kingdom of ??? there would be no other people who ended up with the same fate. I also was missing more depth in the story progression, though the dreams were very well done and made the entire feel a lot, lot more immersive. Just would be nice to have that little bit extra

For closing, you did a tremendously great job making a dungeon crawler in the old school style i've loved over the years, and i can't wait to see what future plans you may have. Aside from the somewhat smirk comments i made in this post, i want you to know that i seriously loved this game as much as i did lands of lore, dungeon master 2, and so forth. It's truly a gem in a sea of vomit nowadays, and i really hope things remain awesome over at almost human, because i'm thrilled to see what'll happen next

Well, actually, "The Dismantler" could make sense, seeing as it can cast Lightning on hit and the end boss is very susceptible to lightning.

I agree that it would have been neat to meet someone at the end of the game but the final boss was still original, very very cool and fun to fight.

Now that I have beat the game a few questions spring to mind. The only way to damage the boss was with electrical damage. What if I did not have a mage in my party at all? No electrical damage and no way to make the room dark? What then?

you don't need mage. assuming you're saying "making room dark" goes for the tomb of developers - pick up the torch off the wall, put your own torch away and bam! . Also, it is entirely possible to damage the cube with melee attacks. just veeeeery tricky. but still possible

You can damage the boss with physical attacks as well (a ranger is INCREDIBLY useful) as well as the secret weapon, it just wont stun him once you remove the parts. Also, the 3 locked rooms on level 12 can be unlocked by finding keys that the monsters in the room drop. You can find a lightning rod and some lightning bombs in 2 of the rooms.