This is a game that rewards deep exploration and multiple playthroughs. You can figure out really cheesy combos that make the game too easy, but you'll have a better time without them. BG3 is a natural progression from this. But until BG3 is actually finished and they clear the bugs, D:OS2 is the jam.
The movement is solid, with only a few areas I had jumping trouble in. The exploration, the feeling of opening up areas, is amazing. The team obviously designed extremely carefully for good flow. And I feel successful playing it. As I recall, there was no way to add a custom pin to the map. So I couldn't mark an area I lacked the tool to access, for later. Or maybe I was just dumb. Might play again someday soon, because the game lacked story, I was immersed in it in the moment.
Some explanation is required here. I feel like I'm not getting what I should out of it. I get through the first expedition or two and run out of supplies, and even if I donate all my loot to the museum and get no funds for the next one I'm still barely making it against my competition. World 4 feels like I have just no chance to really succeed, and I'm just being chased around the map. So yes, there's some element of "git gud, scrub". But I also feel like there are just too many events over which I have no control even if I have the right gear. And you generally have the right gear only sometimes, meaning you probably lose something important or skip the chance at the rewards and just move on. The world tears you apart and leaves you unable to continue; as a simulator of wilderness expedition it's excellent in that regard. I'm just not good enough at it for it to be fun enough. I understand having no carryover to the next expedition. It's nice to think if I just do everything perfectly and get lucky I could beat the game on the first playthrough. It's also just really nice to have literally anything to show for it after a long game session. Still, I get that it's an artistic and design choice. People are gonna complain about how problematic the theme is. But it's a really good exploration of how disastrous European "contact" with indigenous people could be. We just get to float off on a hot air balloon and leave the apocalypse behind. The game isn't from their perspective; that would be a different game. But it doesn't whitewash how horrible it is for them. A comparison would be Spelunky. But, I really liked Spelunky. I was also good enough at it to beat it a couple times ;) So in all, I personally wouldn't have bought CE if I knew what I know now. Or maybe my opinion will change if I ever get the urge to fire it up again. But it's not because any element of the game, or the whole, is bad.
The island is a nice little world to explore. The puzzles are good, inventive, but not terribly hard. I didn't have to look anything up until almost at the end, and it was an optional puzzle anyway. Could have used enemy AI that was a little more coordinated. And it would have been nice to see a few more cute tricks out of monsters. But there were improvements since LoG 1. Speaking of: better performance! Outdoor areas that feel remarkably wide open! Puzzles that span multiple areas! ELEVATION! Swimming! The gold keys offer some player choice. On the other hand, like LoG 1, I'm not sure I would play it again. I kind of got what I needed to out of it.
I bought this on sale, I think for $5, and it was a great buy. The problem is replay value; unless this is one of those games that brings you endless joy, one solid playthrough will do ya. Question is, would you pay $5 to have 25ish hours of fun? I think so. This would be an amazing game to open up for modding. No idea whether that's planned. But the art development would be very manageable for modders.
If you liked Torchlight, this is better but grim instead of cartoonish. If you liked Titan Quest, this is better in all respects. If you liked Diablo, this somehow has more heart and character and is way less demon-emo. Also one of the few good co-op games out there. Glad I bought it, glad I played.
I spoke with my heart. I made some mistakes. There were some incredibly tense moments. I didn't survive all of them. Yes you read a lot. Yes the replay value is lower ... but that's because the story is so strong and memorable. This is a rare game I'll happily play again as soon as I forget enough of it, which means we will meet again only when parts of me have died. A tip: don't play a character that's average at everything. You will get more replay value out of playing each of the extreme archetypes that they suggest.
You know how some games are your absolute jam and you'll replay them endlessly? I don't get that here. The art style is excellent. The island design is wonderful; as a tabletop gamer it gave me some cool ideas for making wilderness terrain. It was a great experience for my first run through; I died early and restarted. Then on my second run I cleared every island perfectly, got every unit, got every artifact, beefed up the right mix of units with a focus on maxing out a set for the end island. And then the end fight ramped the difficulty up inexplicably high. Bewildering. I'm hep to the neat little tricks like fending off big enemies with spears, and using the spear charge to spill enemies into the water, exploiting the AI to shift my forces, baiting arrows against a shield unit and hammering them with someone else, generally using each special ability to the utmost at the right time against the right target. I'm not playing the game wrong. My problem is (1) I can't actually finish that end fight even though I had a perfect run, and (2) there doesn't seem to be any different content to see except slight variations on the islands. I don't expect Hades-tier content on repeat play, but this doesn't feel like a commercial game. It feels like a really excellent grad school project. The skeleton is solid, but it just does not have enough juicy fat. I can see the designer following Saint-Exupery's maxim "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." The game is a neat little package, like a string of jewels. It's just not worth playing twice. That's just me though; like I said, you may find that this game is super engaging for you and you just can't stop replaying it. With all that in mind, if you get it for $5 it's a great bargain for the experience. If you get it for $9, you might feel like you overpaid.
The reviews on here seem totally polarized, which is suspicious. I urge you to watch some actual gameplay footage somewhere first. Not hyped up reviewers, either, just a typical LP. I personally felt the game was not worth the download even if it were free.
I played Eye of the Beholder etc. in the past, and also recently, and they're good. I like the environmental interaction, which is better than most modern games. Comparing to those oldies, Grimrock has better graphics, the same gameplay elements, and a wide variety of puzzles and cool gizmos. There's also the dungeon editor, so if you want better puzzles I am sure the community can provide. I like the spellcasting, and I'm fine with needing to find the spell before my dudes can cast it. The downside for me was that there's not enough richness in items, monsters, and spells. There's enough, but not as much as in the old games. Needs more variety in terrain types too. I'd say it's definitely worth the cash. You should also try to play the old games in this style to see if you like them. Grimrock holds up in comparison, and it's good standing on its own merits. I felt like I got enjoyment out of it equal to my time and money.
