You're right. The first act is included, but what I would like to know is the second act live as well? I noticed that all of the first and second act locations are the local map. Thank you for the awesome heads-up.

As far as I can tell they're through act IV, but I've only gone about halfway through act I by this point.

An absolute minimum if you rush the entire game you're looking at 40 hours for the core... maybe... if you get really lucky on all drops and plan your build perfectly... and your pixel perfect on fighting. Who ever said its short must have not played or liked the game.

As for content, the class system is only rivaled by Path of Exile. The quests are plentiful, the world fill is endless with random enemy spawns each load, endless rando dungeon (now), 4-5 story arcs, random weapons, so many sets and set modifications and creation. 3 extra deep crazy dungeons, a secret boss on each difficulty hidden quests and quest lines. With the new DLC it opens up even more stuff to do. And an endurance dungeon challenge thingy.

Its basically Diablo 2 in the world of Titans Quest with far better graphics, classes, music, sounds, and animation. The story is really good too if you care enough to quest and learn about the LORE. I've collected enough in game to give me a solid :30 minutes worth of reading and research and I'm not even half way though.

^ post of the week & on my wishlist.

A lot of that is probably from people who don't like the fact that Grim Dawn actually has an ending. It ends. It doesn't have infinite escalating little number boots like the other active ARPGs do. It ends. (Then build another character.)

As for lack of content, there's tons of it. And the most important content -- build diversity -- is higher in this game than pretty much any other game out there.

Picked this up and just started the beginning of the Forgotten Gods area. So far, it's very very fun.

I just have to dispute some of this.

1.
This game is nothing like Diablo 2. It is very different and much better.

2.
The world has nothing at all to do with Titan Quest.

3.
I would hold your horses on "far better graphics". The engine is the same as in TQ (2006), it is just more polished. There is actually not a drastic difference in graphics between TQ and GD.

4.
The music just felt generic to me. It is nowhere near the epicness of the TQ soundtrack or the darkness of the Diablo soundtrack. I play GD with music off most of the time because I don't remember a single memorable track from it and just play my own music underneath it. This never happened to me in Titan Quest.

5.
Class system is literally the same as in Titan Quest.

6.
The story didn't feel like much TBH. While I was on an epic quest in TQ, I actually feel bored at times in GD. The lack of full voice acting (at least the important characters) is also bothering me much more than I thought it would (after having experienced Titan Quest where every single NPC you can talk to is fully voiced).

Note:
I still like the game a LOT. Above are just a few things which I simply cannot agree with.

1: You have a world that has defined borders dressed as sets with corresponding quests and lore. Thats Diablo 2, each act had corresponding areas or sets with lore attached to each location. I'm ignore the random world because it doesn't matter as point 2 clarifies that. Enemies were randomized in location like TQ which gave the illusion of newness.
2: it has everything to do with Titans Quest, the entire world and skill system is a mirror image. Even the quests lore and movement though the game is the same. The only change is the settings the regions and design of each location.
--- This is why I said its like Diablo 2 in the world of Titans Quest because that's what it is.
3: lighting, animations, shadows, textures, AA options and post processing set it apart... especially the animations, they are so much more natural, physics respond a little better too.
4: Steve Pardo did the music, there are more original tracks over combo track cut us as Diablo 2 and the thematic elements hit home for me. It matches the era they are trying to portray and sits just as well as Matt Uelmen's works did in D2.
5: Classes and devotions create new possibilities for advanced play TQ didnt really have. yes its carbon copy but the system and the intertwined devotions with skills really makes it fun.. plus all the extra skills you can get can fundamentally change a class just by following one star over the other.
6: This one is give or take. I loved the lore, there was so much, only the MQ in parts was voice acted and thats fine. Im ok with reading my quests and letting it all sink in. Everyone had a story, each story had a beginning middle and end... it was truly fun to see them all play out for me.

I can fully see and respect all your points, but I'm a diehard fan for Grim Dawn. Ever since Crate was formed and all we got was a synopsis on the forum and a dream of a new game.

TBH, the world actually seems seamless and not clearly divided into acts as in Diablo 2. I didn't know the game was even split into acts until long after I've been playing the game. There is absolutely no division of acts apparent in the game. So I was very surprised it even has such a system. I could place act 1 and 2 (bosses), but anything after that? I still have no idea where act 3 ends and act 4 begins. My guess would be the troll boss in the Smugglers' Pass? And act 5? I still have no idea.

The map is static and I actually prefer that over characterless, randomly pieced together blocks of pre-generated areas. Another difference to Diablo 2. The presence of loot and monsters doesn't automatically mean it's like Diablo 2.

I definitely wouldn't call game mechanics "world". By world, I assumed you were saying that they were somehow connected lore-wise. And yes, the game just took TQ formula and tried to improve on it.
I also feel like playing a very different game when I load up TQ or GD compared to Diablo 2, so I can't agree with that statement.

One thing I will give to GD as a massive improvement over TQ is the addition of blood and gore. If I had to name a flaw in TQ, it would be that it is too.. "clean".

In the end, music taste is a very subjective topic. Let's just say that I was disappointed there is not more location bound music like in TQ. Arriving at key locations in TQ felt epic due to the accompanying music (Athens, Helos, Elysium etc.). In GD, music is mostly just background noise to me (if I listen to the in-game music at all), not a key feature like in TQ.

The devotions are indeed a very nice addition and the class system created in TQ is still my favorite of all games from this genre.

But the levelling and skill point progression is a definite step down from TQ for me. I never look forward to level 50 and 90 because of what happens. Level 94 is probably even worse.

I can see how full voiceover would be superficial for all the insignificant NPCs (the random people who say one thing and that's it), but at least the important ones like Anasteria (not voiced at all), Creed or Bourbon could be voiced fully. It just feels strange that they are voiced and the moment you ask any non-main quest progressing question, they suddenly don't talk.

GD was the game that started my GOG career. I formerly torrented the game, but had so much fun with it that I decided to take the leap and start buying digital. Over the years, I started to see a few things which were not fully to my liking, but perfect games are extremely rare.

Let's say one of the best games and i am with you ;)

I just got into the new expansion and I have to say that I'm seriously disappointed. Story has never been Crate's strength, but they've been able to get around that by being minimalist. This expansion, however, comes off like a hack 'n slash mod for people that need more things to kill for the sake of killing and leveling. : (