Grimrock

As a Dungeon Master myself, I know how much importance it is to receive Feedback... so...

FEEDBACKTHREAD ON WHY GRIMROCK IS SO AWESOME
alsosuperspoileralert

So, hey there Grimrockers.
Although I'm an old fan of the genre, I'd never spent much of my time on games such as EoB, LoL, etc. When Grimrock was announced, I thought to myself "Oh, wow, why not?" and accompanied ever since. Boy, I gotta say: Almost Human hit it right on the nail. Taking from the videos I've been watching on youtube (Grimrock playthroughs and the oldschool games) I am inclined to say I'm not the only one who got hooked up because of you. Personally, I've already started a party on eye of the beholder series and I'll probably play some other games, so kudos for making this sweet genre come alive again.

Onto the game!


Playthroughs:

First playthrough: I hopped into Grimrock Dungeons without knowing anything I was about to find out. Aside from the usual snail and mushroom videos, I had refrained from looking up wiki's and guides for my first run. For the full experience, I have never played the game beneath the Hard difficulty, but with the map in hand.

After starting up the game just to look at the skills, I thought it through and built a party from scratch:

• Konrel, a human soldier who took to many bribes to be called innocent, meat shield number one. Would focus on swords and armor, making armor top priority.
• Foye, crime sindicate bouncer, Konrel's contact. Another human fighter, meat shield number two. Focus on maces and armor, making maces top priority.
• Eyzar, lizard rogue extraordinaire, got caught while trying to pick pocket a patron during one of his presentations. Focus on throwing and throwing alone.
• Eyli, a charming insectoid who got cut off from her band, found wondering and threw on the dungeon for heresy. My choice here was air and spellcraft, focusing on air spells.
  
  Character Information & Inventory: ImageShack Link
  End-game Stats:
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Being the first time into the game, every surprise and turn counted. I hated the spiders, I got charged by ogres a lot, my first encounter with the blue robes ended in thinking they were invincible, the tentacle monster scared me out lots of times and I hated those wasps. Creating pots was helluva fun, casting was surprisingly amusing (I hate hotkeys for spells.) and the boss was a sick experience. Had a really great time and the only thing I could ask from the devs is... well, keep making more awesome stuff.

These characters were loved, but I'd say Eyli more than the rest. I obviously got lucky chosing the Air school. Was fun giving the ogre mace to Foye a few times for the kick of it too, but the ice hammer was the cherry on the cake. Eyzar... wasn't the best of them all, but he torn the cube apart like there was no tomorrow (2xLightining bombs.). Konrel was, sadly, the least cherrished. I really don't like swords.

Second playthrough: After having my first run on Grimrock's Puzzles, I decided to check online for info regarding skills and secrets. Ran into gamebanshee's walkthrough and decided to follow it. My first impression on some skills was disappointing, but I went for them nevertheless. What have I learned? People complain too much.

So my party followed:

• Bathor, a minotaur slave, that was used as a bullock cart puller, on the end of his lifespan. Weak and old, threw on the dungeon for not being able to keep up service. Focused into Athletics and Armor, with late points in Sword. Meatshield.
• Marduk, a lizard monk from a forgotten order who made a silence vow for the crimes commited against his people. Was finally caught after resisting arrest for the twelfth time. Unarmed and Dodge focusing rogue.
• Gleas, lizard robin-hood. Sought throughout the kingdom for stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, this lizard marksman was thrown in the dungeon to be forgotten. Complete Missile Weapons focus.
• Esthie, a insectoid mystic who accidently teleported into a baron's chamber during an experiment. Unable to speak the tongue of men, he was dragged and chained with the other convicts to suffer their fate inside Grimrock.
  
  Character Information & Inventory: ImageShack Link
  End-game Stats:
  SpoilerShow

  

Now THIS is what I call a fun party. Bathor was one heck of a tank - being able to take one or two powerfull ogre hits on Hard is something of praise, plus all the carrying capacity was really helpfull. Marduk. Oh boy, my favorite build so far. I dived into unarmed even after reading some bad feedback about it, but never regreted it. Staying on the front lines like no tomorrow, not only he was really hard to hit but his punches really hurted anyone who stood by him. Kudos for putting unarmed into the game - I simply love monks. Gleas was the result of not liking throwing weapons much. Missiles were... well, not bad, but still not my playstyle. And Esthie... Ice Spells. Seriously? There's nothing better than freezing a ogre on his tracks or dismantling the magic shield of a blue robe after he's solidly frozen ahead of you.


Skill Feedback:

Athletics: Stylish skill. One of my favorites from the start, too bad you don't end having the chance to spend much on it. The stat bonuses are nice, but the unique ones are the ones you want. Lower food consumption and extra carrying capacity, I'm talking about you.
Armor: One of the obvious choices on the game for any fighter, although I didn't see much point on going further after Heavy Armor Specialization. If you wish to get Armor Master, I suggest finding a way to give your fighter skill points.
Sword: Swords seem to be a favorite all around, but I don't see them as overpowered. Sure it's fun to attack fast, but, I get my rogues for that. No complaints tho - the skills are fairly diverse and a Sword Fighter is a great cover-every-situation option.
Maces: My favorite weapon of choice so far. You got armor? Well, my fighter doesn't care...
Unarmed Combat: Oh god, how I love this skill. Not only it makes you dish out a ton of damage later on, your evasion rises like no tomorrow and the stat bonuses are great. By the end of the game, my Monk had the same cargo capacity as my Minotaur.
Dodge: See Armor. It's the closest you'll ever get to a rogue tank. Works fantastically, and I say evasion is better than protection any day.
Missile and Throwing Weapons: These two are excellent choices for a rogue, but just not what I like to use. The choice between extra damage or being able to throw two bombs at once is a nice touch.
Air Magic: Nice stuff, really nice stuff. I had the impression Air made monsters flinch more often than Ice, prolly 'cause the later was freezing them solid most of the time, but the addition of an Invisibility spell was a nice idea as well. The Air Shield helped wonders on a certain level too...
Ice Magic: My favorite school, no questions asked. Punching a monster silly with your own hand? Unarmed 50. Dodging Fireballs while throwing ice bombs back? Keyboard skill. Freezing an Ogre on his tracks? Priceless.
Spellcraft: The Athletics for mages. Cool addition, works by increasing the magic capacity of your mage and I say it's something need by any of them.


That was that. Eventually I may add the other skills if I end up playing with them.
Thanks again for the Almost Human team for creating such a beautifull gem.

And remember: Never trust a sign that says "No Entrance".

lucad wrote: FEEDBACKTHREAD ON WHY GRIMROCK IS SO AWESOME

Glad you enjoyed it so much!

Daniel.