GRIMOIRE has arrived

[Osvir]

I want to get it but I'm catious. I can't assess the seriousness of the reviews or comments in various communities.

[Bartimaeus]

Steam review thing says mostly positive. Am I looking in the wrong place? I admit I'm not an expert navigating that place

 

Doesn't really matter to me though because it's just not my kind of game

 

Its score has risen. It's been like, what, 24 hours, so it's not exactly a surprise it's been fluctuating given the short time frame...in fact, realistically, with the exception of knowing that it apparently(?) is suffering from crashing problems/bugs, I'm not sure what worth such early Steam reviews have anyways. Most of the top reviews (including the positives) are after like 2 hours of playing...isn't it supposed to be a long game? Feel like people are reviewing it just for the sake of being able to affect its score so early on...

Edited August 5, 2017 by Bartimaeus

[SonicMage117]

Boring. So you haven't played the game, you don't know anything, but some random stuff you've picked up from Steam reviews or whatever blah blah.

 

Hoping to fire it up tonight and have a look myself, from folk who've actually played several hours I'm gathering (1) if you liked Wizardry 7 and the like this is pretty awesome, (2) there's a fair number of crash bugs and like so as with any buggy game you might get lucky or not. If Cleve can release the manual soon then at least I can sit around and roll characters for a bit of old school fun.

Following the developer on Steam and other sites, hardly would call that "not knowimg anything" but as always the forums work in opposites I guess.

 

When it comes to a game like this I would by far rather rely on people playing the game on Steam forums and Cleve (the developer's insight) than people here - no offense to anyone here. There's just more knowledge there atm. Just because I haven't played it, doesn't mean I have no knowledge of it.

 

Here is the most helpful and unbiased review from someone who actually knows what they're talking about:

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970586906/recommended/650670/

[SonicMage117]

I want to get it but I'm catious. I can't assess the seriousness of the reviews or comments in various communities.

My fear is that the positive reviews are totally over-biased just because the older generation gets a feeling of nostalgia, or just because they got lucky and it actually works so suddenly that warrants the positive review already?

 

Either way, this is the same story of any "Support it! Bring back the 80's/90's games, we have to support it" You know... Old people will be sure to defend it even if it's crap

 

I think this Steam discussion (although it got silly) says it all.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/650670/discussions/0/1471967615846929849/

 

It's important to remember that this is indeed a very "niche" game. Not alot of people will buy it, there are only 84 reviews at the moment which is nothing. The game was at like 48% positive but now is at 70% positive. Just remember, the negative reviewers have no reason to be biased against the game, they bought the game and wanted to like it.

 

Also, its inportant to note that the general playtime for both positive and negative reviews seems to be 0.1 to 5.0 hours.... but I guess positive reviews are more "valid" than negative reviews huh? Hmmm... I'm adopting the Obsidian forum logic I see hehe

 

As of writing this, not one of the 84 reviews, nobody has even 8 hours of playtime..

When the game supposedly has 600 hours of gameplay. That should be a red flag to anyone with common sense so I do not blame you for being cautious lol

Edited August 5, 2017 by SonicMage117

[Hurlshort]

Some of the positive reviews basically said 'Cleve for President' so I see both being a bit silly. Still, surprised how many are taking this seriously and willing to shell out $40.

[Osvir]

This reviewer seems promising. Will keep an eye on it. Got 12~ hours on it and will update review when having gotten further into the game.

http://steamcommunity.com/id/Stationary_traveller/recommended/650670/

 

Also waiting for some press reviews about legitimacy of content (I care little for bugs/glitches as long as they aren't game breaking/unplayable, like Resident Evil 4 on PC, I can't get it to launch at all). Grimoire thus far seems playable with some slightly annoying bugs, but they don't seem "game breaking" in the "unplayable" sense. Heck, I played through WarCraft 3 and expansion from start to finish without cheats on the laggiest computer ever (MacBook Pro G3 or something like that, absolute rubbish).

[SonicMage117]

Some of the positive reviews basically said 'Cleve for President' so I see both being a bit silly. Still, surprised how many are taking this seriously and willing to shell out $40.

I'm waiting for a positive review that doesn't seem like it's written by a 50 year old who isn't fanboying Cleve like a 16 year old or peeps who are dying for a Wizardry fix. None of the positive reviews seem very informative, even the positive review with 12.4 hours seem like more of an announcement of "it works" lol Which just proves what I said in my earlier comment.

[SonicMage117]

Here's something weird...

 

The rating for the game suddenly jumped to 76% positive and 102 reviews within the hour and now the "most helpful" review is a positive one by one of the peeps who craved a Wizardry fix. Must be a 80's gamer

 

More importantly though, the developer is indeed a nutcase:

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Vault-Co

 

Also, this made me laugh my @$$ off and it should make you all laugh too, considering that I'd bet my life that a good chunk of Grimoires player base are GoG users lol

 

Seems a bit strange to me that a game that specifically caters to retro cRPG players is not available on PC's premier retro and indie gaming online platform. Just asking, regards.

Gog only accepts good games from reputable developers on it's platform.

Also I love how defensive people on the threads are. Say something true about the developer and you're suddenly a stalker. Watching the scramble has never been so hilarious!

Edited August 5, 2017 by SonicMage117

[213374U]

 

I want to get it but I'm catious. I can't assess the seriousness of the reviews or comments in various communities.

My fear is that the positive reviews are totally over-biased just because the older generation gets a feeling of nostalgia, or just because they got lucky and it actually works so suddenly that warrants the positive review already?

 

Either way, this is the same story of any "Support it! Bring back the 80's/90's games, we have to support it" You know... Old people will be sure to defend it even if it's crap

 

I think this Steam discussion (although it got silly) says it all.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/650670/discussions/0/1471967615846929849/

 

It's important to remember that this is indeed a very "niche" game. Not alot of people will buy it, there are only 84 reviews at the moment which is nothing. The game was at like 48% positive but now is at 70% positive. Just remember, the negative reviewers have no reason to be biased against the game, they bought the game and wanted to like it.

 

Also, its inportant to note that the general playtime for both positive and negative reviews seems to be 0.1 to 5.0 hours.... but I guess positive reviews are more "valid" than negative reviews huh? Hmmm... I'm adopting the Obsidian forum logic I see hehe

 

As of writing this, not one of the 84 reviews, nobody has even 8 hours of playtime..

When the game supposedly has 600 hours of gameplay. That should be a red flag to anyone with common sense so I do not blame you for being cautious lol

 

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

This thread is a good argument for putting people on meds.

[SonicMage117]

This thread is a good argument for putting people on meds.

You just reminded me of these guys who claim Cleve is mentally ill and should be on meds

http://brokenforum.com/index.php?threads/cleves-back-in-the-public-eye.9354/

 

Maybe Cleve's brain-sickness is an infectious disease and is spreading worldwide

Edited August 5, 2017 by SonicMage117

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

It's spread to you, quarantine yourself from the world.

[HoonDing]

Cleve has not a single insane bone in his body.

[majestic]

Cleve has not a single insane bone in his body.

 

Of course not, bones don't catch the insane. Braaaaaaaaaaaains do...

 

Speaking of which, if anyone plays this and has a hard time with battles start over and make sure you bring loads and loads of crowd control. You can rest your magic and vitality points up anyway. Otherwise even a group of rats will eat you alive.

 

Also, if you're one of those "elitist" anti-powergamer rest spamming is for pussies type then good luck and have fun. It's rest spamming and save scumming or the highway at the beginning.

Edited August 5, 2017 by majestic

[Tigranes]

Tried basic functions for half an hour last night, and tested for a couple of bugs others mentioned. Everything ran well on Win10 in my case, except for one cosmetic bug related to walls when turning.

 

At first glimpse the game feels like a classic dungeon crawler with all the parts functioning, with a degree of interface clunkiness (like non-snappy turning) and there's hints of some great extensive mechanics - use bushes to get fruit, the sheer number of separate defense values, the aptly named 'penetration' handling damage types vs. enemies that already come into play with the very first enemies (rather than, as in most games, mattering only for a select few later types), disease giving you progressively debilitating secondary ailments if not treated. 

 

Hoping to have time to try more tonight.

[SonicMage117]

In other news Cleve made a huge announcment about the game selling over 1,000 copies (Congrats Cleve!) but so far between launch and today only 120 people have actually played it so I'm wondering what happened.

[majestic]

Tried basic functions for half an hour last night, and tested for a couple of bugs others mentioned. Everything ran well on Win10 in my case, except for one cosmetic bug related to walls when turning.

 

I found a way to fix that. Set turning to "single step" - it just turns off the turning animation that causes the wall tearing, and it's more oldskool that way to boot.

 

By the way, when starting out and if you play a race with natural weapons, go unarmed. Claw rending and biting deals a good deal more damage than the measly starter equipment.

[SonicMage117]

https://youtu.be/Pxm6L7r_wuM

[SonicMage117]

The reviews shot up to 80% positive but are now steadily decreasing once again.

 

The reviews are now at 74% positive and the decline is still in motion.

[Tigranes]

 

Tried basic functions for half an hour last night, and tested for a couple of bugs others mentioned. Everything ran well on Win10 in my case, except for one cosmetic bug related to walls when turning.

 

I found a way to fix that. Set turning to "single step" - it just turns off the turning animation that causes the wall tearing, and it's more oldskool that way to boot.

 

By the way, when starting out and if you play a race with natural weapons, go unarmed. Claw rending and biting deals a good deal more damage than the measly starter equipment.

 

 

Yeah, I also worked it out. I actually like Supersmooth or whatever it was that offers a bit of animation but pretty quick.

 

Taken a fair bit of trial and error to not die horribly in the first few fights, I suspect it'll take a couple hours until every character gets the skills and equipment they need to get properly set up. The early recruitable NPC is apparently superstrong, but for now I'm trying to persevere without. Sleep and other disablers are a must, which makes you work for every battle instead of autoattack.

 

There's a few annoying bugs for me (like enemy sound looping) but no crashes or anything, and right now the impediment is the lack of a manual rather than any bugs or design problems. You need to roll high enough points that, combined with the attribute distribution of your race, you'll meet the prerequisites for the class you want to pick. Going by game's recommendation of race+class combo then rolling over 22 is what I've tried to do.

 

Pretty cool that there's 5? different starting areas, each with a different distribution of challenge and resources. And how there's skills you won't know about because they won't appear in the character screen until you find them in the world. 

 

Edited August 6, 2017 by Tigranes

[majestic]

If you put your necromancer's unholy symbol back into the inventory you can utilize it with the "use" command during battle (right click -> use, then click on the symbol in the inventory). That let's you evoke it whenever you wish instead of having to rely on combat specials when fighting that probably won't happen because casters aren't supposed to whack enemies with their weapons.

 

Character generation is a science of its own. Trial and error does a few things but not all of it. Every race and career combination has a roll mulitplier. Aerob sages for instance get a multiplier of 2.0 meaning the bonus roll is doubled, then used. Some combinations have a multiplier below 1.

 

What the roll does is being used to fulfill the class requirements. If there are any leftovers you get to distribute them. You decide between skills, attributes, destiny (luck) or hitpoints during generation. Skills and attributes can be distributed in the character stat screen once in the game.

 

If your racial pick allows a class without stat modification you get the full bonus roll (multiplied even) to distribute. A Saurian can be a warrior or berserker without stat modifications and both careers get a bonus roll multiplier of 1. Which means you can use your full bonus roll.

 

Fun minor side thing, if you're really, really, REALLY patient you can actually make a level 1 templar. You need to pick Duarendil as race and roll at least 30. Which takes some doing. But it's not impossible.

[HoonDing]

Well, it's surely GotY due to complete lack of competition.

[Obsidian sucks]

I keep telling myself to wait for GoG release and a manual, but I feel the pull of this wonderful looking Wizardry clone.  My biggest problem with Wizardry VI and VII was you needed a notebook handy just to play, and I can see from the pics that Grimoire has annotated map feature. It would be nice if it had a vitual notebook too as well as some class requirement charts or refrence cards. 

 

You can tell it took 20 years to make with the art, some of the creatures have that old school charm style wise and then others, like the gang at the beginning, look contemporary in the way they were drawn and colored. 

[SonicMage117]

Well, it's surely GotY due to complete lack of competition.

Indeed because we all know there isn't any great rpg's around the corner.

 

Besides, if games like Call Of Duty win awards this winning an award would make perfect sense in the public eye. At least this one has spirit!

Edited August 6, 2017 by SonicMage117

[Gfted1]

It's rest spamming and save scumming or the highway at the beginning.

Uh oh, spaghetti O's!