Legend of Grimrock 2 is a dungeon crawler created by
Before I even started,I noticed this game gives a good amount of options on how it could be played. From the casual to the most hardcore, Legend of Grimrock 2 gives the player options such as allowing for single use heal stones to perma death. The game also has the ability to have you physically keep track of where you have been. This can be added to any difficulty setting giving you a pretty good custom tailored experience. Of course, these are all optional. So if you’re like me and enjoy these types of games but lack the skills of the hardcore, then you can just settle on normal mode like I did.
After I was done fiddling with the difficulty settings, I moved on to create my party which gave me some DnD feels. This game has the ability to choose my race, class, traits, and skills as well as attributes. Everything I could choose from was important and nothing felt like filler. After about a half hour of getting my group just the way I wanted, I assembled my party (Cardi the knight, Scott the “Nightmare” barbarian, Vandar the “OP” mage, and of course Sylmara the “herbalist” thief) and we were off.
Expecting to be thrown into a dimly lit rat infested dungeon, I was caught off guard by what I saw – a sunny beach filled with flora and an open sky. That’s right, this time around they decided to open the world up a bit complete with a day/night cycle. For those of you wondering if they did away with actual dungeons, have no fear! There are still many dark underground places to be explored filled with traps, enemies, and secrets you would expect from them. This all pairs well with the music and ambient sounds. While the main theme playing at the beginning of the game helped set the mood for a great adventure, I was slightly disappointed how sparse and subtle the music appears in game. That’s not necessarily a bad thing given how well the ambient sounds create a good amount of tension. The ambient sounds really help draw me into the world.
The story is pretty basic. You are a group of prisoners sentenced to exile on Grimrock but never make it there as you were instead shipwrecked on an island by a mysterious man that goes by the name Island Master. This is supplemented by a lot of flavor text to help give some background and to help find the player some loot. I’m sure the story will flesh it out the more I play but so far there’s not much to write home about.
On the surface combat seems simple but is quite complex. You have to juggle managing your resources such as manna and how many bullets you have left while watching your placement on the map. Players need to make sure you don’t fall into a pit or step on a spike trap while dodging incoming fireballs. At the same time, you need to manage the placement of your party to get the most benefit of ranged characters or swapping out to protect a nearly dead knight. For a tile based movement system, it is a pretty fast paced game.
Final Thoughts: This game is great and can be as hard as the player wants it to be, has fun combat, and is a blast to explore. While the story may be rather weak, the sound really helps suck you into the world. Add to it the steam workshop and mod support from the devs and you’ve got a game with a pretty long shelf life that is well worth the price!
See the screenshots here.
