Having originated on the Vita (on which I've also played the title), it had quite tough competition along side of Demon Gaze I + II, Operation Babel/Abyss and last but not least the Vita dRPG heavy weights of SoSC and DT2. dRPGs are a dying breed and thus, as a fan of the genre, picking up any title may be a worthwhile long term invest. This game in particular isn't outstanding but not entirely bad, either. I personally have not cared a lot for the story and the characters but the dRPG elements. Unlike most dRPGs this one does come with a story though, so that may be a plus for some - particularly if one happens to like it. You've got your usual tropes covered and characters aren't particular deep, let alone developing. Dialog can be tedious and suffers a bit from the P5 syndrom where everyone needs to make a statement, no matter how pointless. The fan service is also somewhere in the medium of things if at all when compared to DT2 / Moe Chronicles on the Vita. The MC is a complete white knights wuss, so that may be a plus for some. Ultimately presentation should not preceed gameplay in this genre but even then the game isn't exactly stellar but only improves a bit. That may be mostly due to the perceived easy difficulty of the game. The game can be broken quite early into it if one cares to do so. The locations and soundtrack are quite good. While genre veterans may be solely in it to support an underrepresented genre Mary Skelter is a decent title to get new blood into the genre. The games is relatively simple with nice visuals (for a dRPG ;) ) and Anime these days is also a lot more mainstream than it once used to, too. It also doesn't suffer from archaic design like Wizzadry or Elminage does, so that's also a plus.
I picked Grim Dawn up during a sale as it's claimed to be Diablo II's successor. After having played several hours, having reached Act 3 I've yet to encounter anything that'd make Grim Dawn a valid Diablo 2 successor in the loosest way possible. From that perspective, to me, the game is a complete let down. That said, at the core Grim Dawn is still a very solid ARPG with its own unique style and setting. Unfortunately that doesn't necessarily always work in its favor. Clunky UI and non indicative buttons/functionalities that may escape your attention completely for several hours into the game (or googling for any of the features, really). Dozen of stats, many of which feel useless and underdocumented. Items that drop seldom make you go 'whoa' but more along the lines of 'Well, this will/must do'. Legendaries only drop starting at level 50, so there's no low level legendaries or legendary scaling. Act 2 made me question myself as to why I'm playing that game. That's a really bad sign. Act 2 felt like a never ending, tedious, stale and uninspired grind. Not yet sure if Act 3 can change that. On Veteran the game isn't a complete faceroll, in fact I find myself kitting quite a fair bit. Perhaps my choice of setting is at fault and the game would be less tedious on normal. Overall the game feels 'slow' in contrast. Tthe world feels bland and 'MMOigized' for lack of better terms. I don't feel/see any dread or immediate threat and many of the (side) quests don't really reflect any of it, either. Occasionally it feels like a hubbed MMO with collect/clearance quests. The biggest short-coming in my eyes though is the fact that Grim Dawn Maps are static. So are monsters. There's no RNG involved here, which drastically (to me) kills replayability. Diablo III wasn't exactly great in that regard, either. It's an okay purchase during a sale but beyond that I personally would stay clear unless you're desperate for something new in terms of ARPG fix. 3.5/5.
