I'm just happy I found this. :3 The graphics are a matter of taste... I absolutely love that art style, but it definitely will divide opinions. However, the gameplay is really darn cool. You can feel it is somebody's dream game, a passion project. Lots of features, nicely blended into a somewhat trippy and unique retro immersive sim. Well done.
It took me a while to get the hang of Grim Dawn, it's surreal world, the art style and all the deep gameplay mechanics. The first time playing it, I put it down again for months. But when I gave it a serious second attempt, it started to click with me. And boy did it click, the further I got in the game. There is a deep learning curve to overcome, so it is not the best ARPG for people new to the genre. But if you come from Diablo 3, Path of Exile or others, Grim Dawn has so much more to offer. The game has been supported for five years, and there is tons of content now, with insane replay value. It is finished, refined and a true classic. Don't judge it by the somewhat outdated graphics. Spend some time in this world, read the dialog and bits of lore you find, and you'll be hooked by a surprisingly dark atmosphere. The game also runs great on older systems and with Steam Proton on Linux. There are many classes to pick, you can even select a second class to create hybrids of your own imagination. The loot system is deep and extremely flexible. Enhance your loot with components you find to make it suit your build better. By unlocking and spending points in the "devotion" system (a complex system to unlock powerful passive skills), you can further customize your character and gameplay style. You can pretty much make *anything* work well in Grim Dawn, but it requires a bit of thought. This means the game is less casual than others, but in return, you can literally enjoy it for years. The pacing and balancing has become near perfect. Put some thought into your build, get your resistances high enough and make good use of components and devotion points, and you'll feel very powerful. But no matter how powerful you are against most enemies, there are always enemy heroes, bosses and later in the game nemesis encounters that require your full attention, or you'll die quickly. In short, this is one of the best aRPGs ever made and a full recommendation.
Fluid and fast-paced combat, not too complicated, taking place in a wonderfully surreal and colorful, moody environment. I always loved to explore these strange places, and there are hidden secrets as a reward. Knowing the original version of the game, it is a bit confusing that you now have to unlock most of the characters by killing them when you meet them in a level, but so be it. Some levels have a time limit, which is a bit annoying. But so far, I always had more than enough time, at least on the easy difficulty. The game features a very unique, slightly dark scifi atmosphere and the full 360 degree movement is just awesome. Still a great game to play.
Wizardry 8 might not offer the most modern graphics, but it offers depth and atmosphere, challenging battles, an immersive world and a very unique interaction of your characters, based on what happens in the game. Your party might just be displayed as animated portraits, but the voice acting makes them become alive. The interface is great and offers a lot of information in a clean layout. Combat can be switched between realtime or turnbased mode. I had a lot of fun with this game and truly cared about my party. When someone died, I felt sad. Something, that modern games don't achieve. Highly recommended to anyone, who wants a challenging and interesting RPG.
