Recent reviews by lordsnow

I had Grim Dawn in my games library for ages before I played it. And I should have played it a lot sooner.

This game gets compared a lot to Diablo 3 even though Grim Dawn is not a dungeon crawler. It's more like Diablo 3 campaign mode. I've listed a few similar games, in my order of preference:

1. Diablo 3
2. Grim Dawn
3. Path of Exile
4. Last Epoch
5. Diablo 2 Ressurected
6. Torch Light
7. Torchlight 2
8. Titan Quest
9. The Incredible Adventures Of Van Helsing

A nice discussion about the differences between Grim Dawn and similar games can be found here: https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/app/200710/discussions/0/1333474229060377627/

Diablo 3, Torchlight and Torchlight 2 have more fluid animations and in most respects feel more polished. As you can see from my list abovem Grim Dawn is by no means the lesser game. Grim Dawn plays well and is probably one of the more interesting titles.

What the developers of Grim Dawn have gotten absolutely right is the length of the campaign. Diablo 3 is too short and Path of Exiles seems to have no end in sight.

When first playing Grim Dawn you only have two difficulty levels: Normal and Veteran. Both are quite easy and obviously intended to ease players into the game and let them enjoy the story. When you finish the game you get the ability to play at Elite difficulty. And when you finish the game on Elite difficulty you get access to Ultimate difficulty.

It may sound strange, but Grim Dawn is engaging enough to start a new game right away on the higher difficulty, and then the next higher difficulty. Ultimate difficulty is where you will find the game a really serious challenge.

Grim Dawn character builds are very interesting. There are six classes in the base game (Soldier, Demolitionist, Occultist, Nightblade, Arcanist, Shaman). The expansion Ashes of Malmouth adds two more (Inquisitor, Necromancer). And the expansion Fogotten Gods adds the ninth (Oathkeeper). If you want, you can create a dual-class build giving you access to talents from two trees. However, you sacifice the ability to assign point (and unlock skills) higher in the tree.

Of course, on my first play through I used a cookie-cutter build which I knew would be able to handle endgame bosses. On subsequent playthroughs I created my own experimental builds (lightning aoe). These are a lot of fun, even though not well-rounded enough to comfortably handle endgame content. But the chaos of your own build is worth it :)

Grim Dawn was released in 2016 and the developers are still releasing updates for the game. And the third DLC Fangs of Asterkarn is due to be released soon. There's also talk of a Grim Dawn 2, but that's a long way down the road yet.

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So, would I recommend Grim Dawn? Hell, yes!

A small note on something I find sorely missing in Grim Dawn is gear transmogrifying. There's no way to change your looks.

//updated my review as I now have also bought the two expansions, Grim Dawn v1.2 is out, and there was the announcement of the third expansion and the sequel Grim Dawn 2.

Simple gameplay, but very challenging on the later levels. Difficult to put down, as you always want to give it "one more try" to try and beat those oncoming waves of baddies.