This is an enjoyable romp through a true deathtrap dungeon. You will not see the light of day for a good 15-20 hours depending on how thorough you are. There's puzzles, keys, monsters, treasures, and of course, secrets. The closest comparisons would likely be Dungeon Master and the Eye of the Beholder series, or maybe even Lands of Lore. It's tile-based and it can be difficult. There's plenty of nasty surprises waiting for you in the depths of Grimrock Mountain. All in all, I did have fun with this game. Now that I have started the second one, I don't know I'd have the patience to play this one. If you are considering playing both, start here. I saw this mainly because of the enhancements made in the sequel. Grimrock can get a little tedious - there's only a few different wall texture schemes and maybe about 15 or so creature types. It is challenging, however, as you can easily get overwhelmed or backed into a corner. This isn't a game where you can just mow down your enemies or powerlevel past them. Levels are slow to gain and you simply will not max out any skills unless you spend a LOT of time in the game (and it's not needed). I think my highest skill number was 30 on any character (out of 50). You can't be a jack of all trades either, so focus on skills you want and keep things there. Don't count on having everyone wearing plate mail and flaming swords, while wielding fireballs. So, if you recently enjoying Might and Magic X, with its return to a tile-based system (this game does not have any quests or NPCs exactly, so I am not comparing it to MMX), then you will likely enjoy this one. I am looking forward to more time spent in the sequel, it's simply that much better.. Have fun!
Just wanted to mention that the edition currently on sale for the 2014 holiday season seems to be 1.74.14, which means it includes the mentioned community patch. I ran the patch and it showed the version was already there, so I un-installed the game, re-installed and without the patch, the main menu does show this version. So, for $1.49 US, it's probably a steal, even for its flaws. I'll update this when I put some time into it, but just wanted to mention that GOG seems to have rolled in the patch for you.
