Well, I guess everyone has to make their first "thumbs down" review after all. Never thought I'd see the day.

I'll start with the positive first. Graphics are spectacular, even with the limitation of designing everything with a rock motif, levels are incredibly varied and beautiful. The game is filled with rocks, sand, debris, gemstones, then later architecture that mix in all sorts of ways that give flavor to every area in the game.

Background/skyboxes are also no slouch with all the equally gorgeous landscapes, often in open areas that add a sense of vastness and scale to this world.

Music is also great, the soundtrack has a theatrical feel to it, and it very often nails the vibe of the area it's playing for.

Not much to say about sound design, but I think that's a good thing. Sound design, to me atleast, is something that you don't notice when it's done well. When you're taking hits and making contact, when objects slide and click into place, when items are being consumed and thrown, explosions, environmental hazards, enemy grunts when they start and finish their attacks, the clanging of weapons, all have sound that is appropriate and as expected.

Now... the combat, man, the combat...

You're basically playing as a badass rock golem called the Carven... that has a tremendous fear of heights, and the stamina of a bedridden person.

Let me explain, I was shocked that a game like this (a platformer!) actually has fall damage. A fall from a somewhat relatively safe height in other games actually hurts your character in this game, which can get annoying at some sections where platforming gauntlets are placed at a height that would hurt you if you missed a jump, limiting the amount of tries you have depending on how short your HP is.

Nevermind the pain of just starting over, which is going to be alot, because some platforming sections are big enough that you don't see all it's mechanics and hazards in one go, without trial and error. NOOOoooo, the game has to destroy you for it, and send you back to the last checkpoint (have I mentioned that checkpoints are somewhat scarce in this game considering the size of some areas?).

Oh, it also does this thing where if you fall for long enough your character just EXPLODES out of nowhere then resets your location. Like I get it, it prevents sequence breaking and the character will die from that height with fall damage anyway. But aren't there lots of other ways to stop players from exploring places they shouldn't go? And yep, this also deals damage, so don't bother doing leaps of faith in this game when your HP is running low.

Next is the stamina system, the stamina existing in this game single-handedly ruined this game for me. Everything you do in this game (with the exception of walking and standing still thank god) eats at your stamina. Light attacks, heavy attacks, jumping, dashing - doing any these unnecessarily during encounters (to have fun, to style, etc) is sure to screw you over and the game will punish you relentlessly for it.

The stamina system forces you to have a safe, conservative, and incredibly boring playstyle that is pretty much "get as much attacks in as you can", then keep your distance and avoid attacks while your eyes drift to the top left of the screen waiting for the stamina meter to fill back up so you can keep playing the game.

The sad part is, it even bleeds into their boss design, the boss were made to either accomodate (very slow attacks) or exploit (super fast rotations) players with limited stamina builds, resulting in most boss fights being not a moment of spectacle and triumph but of patience and frustration.

This also indirectly incentivizes avoiding certain encounters, I once walked into a room that has 4 ground enemies and 3 enemies chucking spears at me, and my gut reaction is to ignore all of it, GTFO, and hurry up into the next room, because I know the stamina system will make sure I won't enjoy that fight, which is a damn shame since I consider myself a player who looks for those moments.

I've watched some streamers play this game, and they sure as hell have a hard time making fights look good, even the streamers I know who are into hack-and-slash don't bother to move/dash around much when they don't need to. As designed, I guess.

There are abilities that allow you to restore stamina with a well-timed block or dash, but that's a band-aid solution, and at most it only restores 1-3 light attacks worth. So yeah, back to walking and resting. I swear if the guy handling the stamina system is given more development time, he would've required players to sit down, or even sleep. Could you tell him I hate him? don't actually do that, of course.

My final gripe is the restrictions on the customization, I'm not talking about the cosmetics, that's good and all but the fact that the game actually requires resources to tweak your build, what was that about? You'd think in a game like this, you'd be allowed resets as much as you want so as long as you only do it in specific points in the game - so you're encouraged to try different playstyles from checkpoint to checkpoint, as well as make you look forward to what powers you unlock later in the game (because you know trying them out will just be a checkpoint away).

But currently? The resources to reset or refund skill points are incredibly scarce, potentially locking you out of weapons that you didn't consider building towards (which is likely if it's your first playthrough). You'd also be scared to spend points on mediocre abilities because you think the next prey with a good ability might appear.

It's so weird, it's because of this that I actually groaned when I went through a gauntlet only to find a weapon in the end that I can't use. Metroidvanias should not make me dislike finding stuff. Supposedly, the magic of a system like this (ex: Dark Souls) is it allows you to expand your options and add depth within a particular playstyle, all GRIME does is lock you of it.

The last part would probably be me discussing some animation glitches and jank in rebinding the controls, but I won't be too hard on that as the developers seem that they're still working on that, and patches are still rolling in. So there's no doubt in my mind that it will eventually get better.

But at the moment, I'll hold on to my opinion that this whole thing is massively hurt by that annoying little meter beneath the HP bar, and the rest of this otherwise pristine gemstone of a game is held back by it.

After patch 1.1.37:
Alright, I played enough to reach the part where I beat Shidra and unlocked the kinship ending, though looking at the comment threads, I clearly missed out on a few other bosses. But I've seen enough to change my mind.

Fall damage tolerance appears to have been adjusted. It still annoys me from time to time, but it no longer feels like the floor is a bigger threat than actual enemies.

Stamina regen has been buffed just enough that it restricts your movement options, but not enough that it feels you're playing with a straitjacket on. Stamina cost for jumping is also almost negligible now, though you're still required to pay attention to how you use your dash, which I'm fine with.

As for the builds: I'll be honest, still not a fan. I sorta gave up on the whole thing - I just picked a weapon that has a light and heavy attack that I like, upgraded it as much as I can and stuck with it, the second weapon slot was practically empty my entire playthrough and I actually forgot the button I use for weapon swaps.

One new thing I noticed that grinds my gears: hitbox detection. I can't totally pinpoint what I hate about it, but it feels like the i-frames operate via RNG.

I had too many "I swear I dodged that" moments late game... might wanna look into that.

Credit where it's due, here's my T-Up.

[strike]Well, I guess everyone has to make their first "thumbs down" review after all. Never thought I'd see the day.[/strike] I'll start with the positive first. Graphics are spectacular, even with the limitation of designing everything with a rock motif, levels are incredibly varied and beautiful. The game is filled with rocks, sand, debris, gemstones, then later architecture that mix in all sorts of ways that give flavor to every area in the game. Background/skyboxes are also no slouch with all the equally gorgeous landscapes, often in open areas that add a sense of vastness and scale to this world. Music is also great, the soundtrack has a theatrical feel to it, and it very often nails the vibe of the area it's playing for. Not much to say about sound design, but I think that's a good thing. Sound design, to me atleast, is something that you don't notice when it's done well. When you're taking hits and making contact, when objects slide and click into place, when items are being consumed and thrown, explosions, environmental hazards, enemy grunts when they start and finish their attacks, the clanging of weapons, all have sound that is appropriate and as expected. Now... the combat, [i]man[/i], the combat... You're basically playing as a badass rock golem called the Carven... that has a tremendous fear of heights, and the stamina of a bedridden person. Let me explain, I was shocked that a game like this (a platformer!) actually has fall damage. A fall from a somewhat relatively safe height in other games actually hurts your character in this game, which can get annoying at some sections where platforming gauntlets are placed at a height that would hurt you if you missed a jump, limiting the amount of tries you have depending on how short your HP is. Nevermind the pain of just starting over, which is going to be alot, because some platforming sections are big enough that you don't see all it's mechanics and hazards in one go, without trial and error. NOOOoooo, the game has to destroy you for it, and send you back to the last checkpoint (have I mentioned that checkpoints are somewhat scarce in this game considering the size of some areas?). Oh, it also does this thing where if you fall for long enough your character just EXPLODES out of nowhere then resets your location. Like I get it, it prevents sequence breaking and the character will die from that height with fall damage anyway. But aren't there lots of other ways to stop players from exploring places they shouldn't go? And yep, this also deals damage, so don't bother doing leaps of faith in this game when your HP is running low. Next is the stamina system, the stamina existing in this game single-handedly ruined this game for me. Everything you do in this game (with the exception of walking and standing still [i]thank god[/i]) eats at your stamina. Light attacks, heavy attacks, [b]jumping[/b], dashing - doing any these unnecessarily during encounters (to have fun, to style, etc) is sure to screw you over and the game will punish you relentlessly for it. The stamina system forces you to have a safe, conservative, and [i]incredibly boring[/i] playstyle that is pretty much "get as much attacks in as you can", then keep your distance and avoid attacks while your eyes drift to the top left of the screen waiting for the stamina meter to fill back up so you can keep playing the game. The sad part is, it even bleeds into their boss design, the boss were made to either accomodate (very slow attacks) or [i]exploit[/i] (super fast rotations) players with limited stamina builds, resulting in most boss fights being not a moment of spectacle and triumph but of patience and frustration. This also indirectly incentivizes avoiding certain encounters, I once walked into a room that has 4 ground enemies and 3 enemies chucking spears at me, and my gut reaction is to ignore all of it, GTFO, and hurry up into the next room, because I know the stamina system will make sure I won't enjoy that fight, which is a damn shame since I consider myself a player who looks for those moments. I've watched some streamers play this game, and they sure as hell have a hard time making fights look good, even the streamers I know who are into hack-and-slash don't bother to move/dash around much when they don't need to. As designed, I guess. There are abilities that allow you to restore stamina with a well-timed block or dash, but that's a band-aid solution, and at most it only restores 1-3 light attacks worth. So yeah, back to walking and resting. I swear if the guy handling the stamina system is given more development time, he would've required players to sit down, or [i]even sleep[/i]. Could you tell him I hate him? [spoiler]don't actually do that, of course.[/spoiler] My final gripe is the restrictions on the customization, I'm not talking about the cosmetics, that's good and all but the fact that the game actually requires resources to tweak your build, what was that about? You'd think in a game like this, you'd be allowed resets as much as you want so as long as you only do it in specific points in the game - so you're encouraged to try different playstyles from checkpoint to checkpoint, as well as make you look forward to what powers you unlock later in the game (because you know trying them out will just be a checkpoint away). But currently? The resources to reset or refund skill points are incredibly scarce, potentially locking you out of weapons that you didn't consider building towards (which is likely if it's your first playthrough). You'd also be scared to spend points on mediocre abilities because you think the next prey with a good ability might appear. It's so weird, it's because of this that I actually groaned when I went through a gauntlet only to find a weapon in the end that I can't use. Metroidvanias should not make me dislike finding stuff. Supposedly, the magic of a system like this (ex: Dark Souls) is it allows you to expand your options and add depth [i]within[/i] a particular playstyle, all GRIME does is lock you of it. The last part would probably be me discussing some animation glitches and jank in rebinding the controls, but I won't be too hard on that as the developers seem that they're still working on that, and patches are still rolling in. So there's no doubt in my mind that it will eventually get better. But at the moment, I'll hold on to my opinion that this whole thing is massively hurt by that annoying little meter beneath the HP bar, and the rest of this otherwise pristine gemstone of a game is held back by it. [b]After patch [u]1.1.37[/u][/b]: Alright, I played enough to reach the part where I [spoiler]beat Shidra[/spoiler] and unlocked the [spoiler]kinship[/spoiler] ending, though looking at the comment threads, I clearly missed out on a few other bosses. But I've seen enough to change my mind. Fall damage tolerance appears to have been adjusted. It still annoys me from time to time, but it no longer feels like the floor is a bigger threat than actual enemies. Stamina regen has been buffed just enough that it restricts your movement options, but not enough that it feels you're playing with a straitjacket on. Stamina cost for jumping is also almost negligible now, though you're still required to pay attention to how you use your dash, which I'm fine with. As for the builds: I'll be honest, still not a fan. I sorta gave up on the whole thing - I just picked a weapon that has a light and heavy attack that I like, upgraded it as much as I can and stuck with it, the second weapon slot was practically empty my entire playthrough and I actually forgot the button I use for weapon swaps. One new thing I noticed that grinds my gears: hitbox detection. I can't totally pinpoint what I hate about it, but it feels like the i-frames operate via RNG. I had too many "I swear I dodged that" moments late game... might wanna look into that. Credit where it's due, here's my T-Up.