Title: Legend of Grimrock 2
Genre: Adventure, Indie, RPG
Developer and Publisher: Almost Human Games
Release Date: 15 Oct, 2014
Platform(s): PC(reviewed)
Price: $23.99 (PC)[divider]
Intro
Legend of Grimrock 2 is a tile-based dungeon crawler, wherein the developers aim to mix old school exploration and combat with modern progress and mechanics.You play as a group of four prisoners that have shipwrecked on the secluded Isle of Nex. Chained together while traversing an island whose traps are set in motion by a cloaked figure, who appears several times throughout the game leaving maps in tree trunks or riding his dragon in the distance when you get close to the island’s central castle. That is the closest Legend of Grimrock 2 comes to a story, the world is meant to be absorbed through examination and exploration. The lack of any kind of a developed plot and any character development may deter those who expect a bit more communication and dialogue in their RPG.
Getting through Legend of Grimrock 2’s challenges was no easy task. I was stuck at puzzles repeatedly, died far too many times, drowned because I did not find the ladder fast enough to climb back to the ground and was impaled on spikes. That was my first 2 hours with Legend of Grimrock 2 and I loved it. It challenged my thinking, tolerance and skills. Crashing on the isle of Nex, I ran towards the center of the island chasing vague letters left behind by the self-titled Island Master, a cloaked figure making appearances throughout the game. His notes taunted me for not failing yet and left a map of the island challenging me to outsmart his traps. There was no dialogue or spoken word, yet I was intrigued enough to follow his footsteps, chasing him throughout the map. Before me lay challenges aplenty. Locked doors, riddles left on stones next to booby-trapped ruins, dungeons haunted by ice wraiths and animated skeletons. Not sure of where to go next, I stumbled from one end of the map to the other picking up clues, opening locked chests to find a decent weapon or a robe and fighting off the inhabitants of this mystical island. The island is made up of mixed terrain with forests and a river near a castle surrounded by tombs and dungeons.
[divider]Design
Legend of Grimrock 2 mixed together both indoor and outdoor environments on a vast map with explorable underwater areas. The trapped and claustrophobic sensation on the original is gone instead bright skies of the day and the dark starry nights make you feel like an explorer and an adventurer. Some may miss the dark and tense atmosphere that defined the original. This change helps differentiate the game from the original even though most of the time you will be underground. This, along with the new day/night cycle, makes the island come to life with a much more believable and diverse ecosystem. It makes you feel like you are trespassing on the territory of the island’s inhabitants, be it sea serpents near waterbeds or attacking flora in overgrown gardens. This thematic design and many other small details come together to make exploration rewarding. The risk of going with an outdoor environment does have the drawback of reducing the high stakes tension and fear of what every turn may bring that the original had and is, in fact, the biggest change in an otherwise similar game. The simple clay like art style has its own unique aesthetic that builds up the world. Straight from the first epic theme song, audio selection is well realized and very functional, utilized to lead you to hidden doors or alert you of the enemy that may hide behind the locked cage.
[divider]Exploration
The puzzles are the forefront of the game and the entire island is full of locked gates waiting to be unlatched. There are many sections into which the island is divided and each has its own tasks to complete. The game makes good use of its open ended nature. You are free to travel and explore while you think of a solution to a puzzle you can’t solve. There are often choices as to which direction or puzzle you want to solve until you get to a point where the path is blocked unless you find an object somewhere else. Guidance come through loose scribbles of text often on plaques on the wall. Careful observation will often reward you with hidden secrets filled with loot. These mentioned puzzles include pressing the right order of pressure plates to dropping stones to a switch on a lower lever through a gate, these simple mechanics came naturally to me having played the original but would be at a loss to those who did not. There is no hand holding or tutorial. Even the hints need a beginners degree in Cryptanalysis to decypher, provided if you can find the one hidden switch on the wall which reveals them. These hidden chambers may be near or far enough that you need to follow the noise of the wall lifting up to reach it in time before it closes itself. The puzzles are well designed so that when the pieces start to fit together it grants an immense satisfaction. These mini victories are the essences of a good design. This was tried by “Might and Magic legacy : X” (review link) earlier but never quite reaches the same level.
Those new to the genre will find frustration and may have to go through a lot of trial and error. The game burdens you with difficult choices like carrying heavy armour for later use or extra rations. The loot is varied and just far enough apart that each chest you unlock fills you with hope. These is however heavy punishment if you as as miss an important item or drop/destroy it so much as you may even find yourself unable to complete the main scenario. This is brutal but only a game fair and balanced can make demanding a restart feel like the players fault and not the games. By not telling you what each items is for it add into the sense of discovery. Navigation is still clunky where holding the key down instead of separate keystrokes moves you extra steps often falling off the edge. In the midst of running away from an enemy or kiting a strong opponent this problem is even worse.[divider]
Combat
Like the first installment, the world in Legend of Grimrock 2 is set in real time, unlike other dungeon crawlers. The mix of tile based movement and realtime combat again is something the fans of the original are used to where in the new one would have to adjust. The combat uses a cooldown system. Weapons like daggers have a shorter cooldown and heavy weapons take longer. Spells can be cast based on a sigil based pattern selection window, you don’t need the click a scroll to learn new spells, as long as you have the required skill level and you make the correct pattern for the spell it can be case. The new skill system allows easier customization of characters tailored to your playstyle with good flexibility should things go south. Reaching certain no points in a given skill grants you perks. Eg: Hitting 3 in armor allows you to wear light armor without penalty and 5 allows for heavy. You will find yourself mixing and matching to ensure best optimization of your team.
- Each spell has its own pattern you need to draw every cast.
The combat is challenging even on normal as you may encounter enemies who are immune to melee but can be damaged by spells. The strafe-n-hit tactic is somewhat comprehended by the smatter AI but is not completely foolproof. I relied on kiting the AI getting a hit and moving away for the cooldown. Yet, was often killed, especially when encountering a new foe, before finding its weakness. It is a good idea to have a mix of all damage types in the game as it makes it easy to adjust to different enemies’ strengths and weaknesses. A familiar pattern in such games is to have melee tanks up front and spellcasters/ranged units at the back. However there is enough flexibility in the abilities system to have any combination like tanky spellcasters up front and dual wielding glass assassins at the back. Throughout your journey you may never be sure of what you will find. There may be a strong opponent waiting on the very next door you open, or ladder you climb. Being unprepared or travelling with a player on low health will be punished. Details like starvation or injury will lead to your party being weak when a hidden foe jumps up, often causing one to load back to the last quicksave. There is constant nervousness that settles each time you enter a dungeon and a dread that looms over every lever you pull, of what it may bring up next. There is challenge for those looking for it in the title screen itself with options to limit saves to increase difficulty. For everyone else there is an easy option combined with the quicksave which will make sure you don’t lose progress when you die.
[divider]Conclusion
The game is true to its core as a hardcore dungeon crawler experience. It takes on the groundwork of the original and expands it in every direction. It is beautifully crafted runs smooth, There is lots to do and explore, the UI is clear and efficient. The excellent dungeon editor tool included with Legend of Grimrock 2 ensures longevity as fans are sure to make unique challenges which combines with Steam Workshop to make sure you find fresh content easily. There is many hours of entertainment to be found here. It might be difficult for new players or those who are unfamiliar to the genre, but there are always online guides to assist them now that the game is out, a luxury I did not have.
[divider]What’s ill
+ Good use of the open world setting
+ Improved skill progression
+ Lots of hidden secrets
+ Price
What’s not
– Clunky movement
– Lack of hints for difficult puzzles
