Recent reviews by Spacekataz[tC]

Probably one of the best ARPGs I've played thus far! I remember getting this a couple years back and I had a bit of trouble really getting into it. I think that may have been the character build I was using. I revisited it again several months ago and it just kinda clicked for me. There's a lot of freedom in build variety with the dual classes to synergize with one another, devotions are extremely varied and are a bit daunting at first but you can tinker around with them easily and respeccing your skills or devotions is really cheap so it's quite encouraged. Itemization feels really great, at first I got confused on some of them but the loot filter is super welcome and it's a lot easier to understand the affixes and damage/elements when you come up with a gameplan on how you want your character to work. Genuinely, regarding loot the only thing I can think of that is a negative is I wish there was an option to automatically collect Components like you can iron bits but that's it. I think Monster Infrequent items are awesome and the fact that some of them can not only assist builds but diversify builds further into other directions, like certain skills dealing pure cold, or lightning damage instead of just physical as a small example opens things up a lot skill wise.

Also BIG props to how they do pet classes in this game. I've not tried one yet but the amount of buffs and stuff you can just give them, even changing their entire damage output elements is staggering! I've gotten multiple sets for multiple builds I wanna try out just for the fun of it and it isn't a slog when you're starting every character from scratch. There's a ton of quality of life mechanics for alts, like those Ultimate Merits that can just unlock every portal and difficulty for a character to get through the campaign quick if you'd like, and potions of clarity to help level alternate characters up MUCH quicker among other things. The only downside is that it takes a while to get to the point of getting your alts up though, like the reputation grind does take some time but it becomes a breeze for characters after that point. It felt really rewarding to be able to get characters up to where my first character is in such a small amount of time thanks to these little tricks.

There are also so many nice hidden paths and rewards for exploration on the map. I'm still finding little places, or hidden paths I didn't even realize existed and I think that's really splendid map design. The world itself is interesting with little, to large lore tidbits going on in the greater scheme of things, a cool setting and one of my favorite areas is the last part of the Ashes of Malmouth. You can progress without knowing too much of the goings on, but the little note tidbits paint a very grim portrait of how the world got to where it is now and I quite enjoyed my reads of the notes.

I genuinely love this game, I remember checking for games like this to scratch my Diablo 2 itch a long time ago and I'm glad I revisited Grim Dawn because it is an absolute gem.

MINOR EDIT: There IS an auto pick up option on the interface for components so that point is now moot and I feel like a goof for not noticing it sooner lol