Recent reviews by El Jefe

Sony is scum!

3 Words, TRUE OFFLINE MODE.

Only real issue is server performance(launch) which has gotten better lately and is solvable by the words above. So unlike other games, you can still play if your internet is poor, the hamster dies in the server wheel or the modern world burns to the ground and all you have left is a bit of power on your Linux powered handheld. So go enjoy yourself and don't worry, there are no horses here.

I'm having such a blast. I normally have the attention span of a gold fish when it comes to games but this just keeps me playing. Well done Larian. I've already sunk 36+ hours into the game and I'm still near a certain village you arrive to fairly early in the game. The number 1 thing I really like about this game is that Larian hasn't gone out of their way to prevent you from being rather inventive in solving the different "issues", be it live ones or goals, you might come across. On top of this there are a few moments early on that will make you just laugh you butt off. I can highly recommend this for anything who likes combat to be tactical and with plenty of room to min/max if you want to(normal or tactical difficulty) or not(easiest difficulty).

I'm running at a locked and buttery smooth 100fps maxed settings, no FSR/DLSS, on the following hardware:
5800x3D
32GB 3200mhz CL16-18-18-32
6950XT downclocked to 200watts powering a 3440x1440 UW monitor
Game installed on a Solidigm P44 Pro 2TB NVME M.2 SSD
Software/OS: Arch Linux EndeavourOS, using GE-Proton 8.11 through steam.

Don't get the game if it's on sale.
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Pay the full price, it's that good!

Absolutely good fun. Easy to digest and to get started with enough depth to keep you going.

I'll try and keep it precise and somewhat brief.

Pros:

• The gear mods, it adds a good deal of depth to what would have otherwise been a very shallow character development system.
  
• The initial chaos and fun (amplified if you play with friends).
  
• I gotta give kudos to the developer PCF for their communications with the players. Good job, it's a rare thing these days I feel.

Neutral:

• The character perks. It's a very basic system and somewhat limited in excitement thanks to how the layout is. It's very clear that the desire is for you to pick one of the 3 branches of a class and mainly stick to that. It does the job but is rather dull.
  
• Performance. Performance has for me been fine but not fantastic using DX12(it's no Doom for sure). I don't feel graphics warrant the performance you get here but it's good enough, using DX12. This is from someone who played the game on both an RTX 3070 and an RX 6700XT.
  
• Campaign story was mostly alright.
  
• The gunplay. Now a lot of people loves the gunplay in this game. I really don't. It's fine but it lacks some proper impact. Take battlefield for all its faults, the feel of the guns are amazing due to proper sound design. This game lacks that, proper sound design for the weaponry. It's a really botched job IMHO. You Technomancers out there running AMMO builds will know what I'm talking about, btw do you guys still have your hearing? or has the gone out the window now?

Cons:

• Bugs. Go figure right? Game seems to have plenty of them. I've been fairly lucky and only seen a handful and they haven't been too bad but plenty has been reported and confirmed by others so watch out.
  
• Class balance is off by a mile! I'm not talking about between classes, although that's also an issue, but right now there is only 1 build that really shines for 3 of the 4 classes, due to how easy it is to set up, and thats the Ammo builds. They overshine everything in effectiveness, simplicity and shear dullness. So if you want to progress through CT's you better strap yourself in cause its mind-numbingly horrible but efficient. Other builds can certainly work but takes way more time to get going and by the time you get there you might start questioning your initial decision.
  
• Endgame itself is rather limited with the same few missions to run over and over. Something about it is just off. Then again to put this into perspective, I've never been a big fan of Rifts in D3 either. I prefer roaming big open maps looking for stuff to slaughter at my own pace.
  
• Why do I have to watch a fade to black, then a small 2-3 second cutscene of my character opening a door or jumping over a gap, then fade to black again, before actually entering a mission area? WTF?!?
  
• The game cost way to much for what is on offer. It's a shell of what it could/should have been for the 60 euro's they want. It just way overpriced IMHO. There are plenty of games out there with way more content for a lot less that would be worth a look before this game. This is the main reason for why I cannot recommend the game.

UPDATE 12th of october 2017.
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With the latest expansion for Grim Dawn major performance improvements has been applied to the base game leaving my remarks about performance in my review moot and incorrect. Performance is now as it should be, very smooth with no microstutter. Great job Crate!
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Grim Dawn has been through a lot but the devs has seen it all the way to the end and delivered a great ARPG. It is certainly not without its flaws or smaller annoyances but I personally feel that they are overshadowed by all the great things the game has to offer one of which is LOOT. I really like the loot system in this game as it offers plenty of variance in stats and what it can offer in terms of building your character.Then there is the dual class system. Those who have played Titan Quest will feel right at home here.

On the negative side i can only recall a few issues. One is animations, it gets the job done but just barely, voice acting is also very bad but there is not that much of it to begin with. Multiplayer is clearly a second thought and has its issues when playing with randoms though i do appreciate the fact that it is there to play with friends. Last but not least, performance can take a nose dive on occasions even on a system with something like a GTX 1070 and 6 gen intel i7.

In the end i find the game to be excellent and a success. Very rarely do you see the Early access program produce something so well put together, minus the few flaws i mentioned, and Crate Interactive deserves some praise for it. This game i feel is worth its asking price.