Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest - turn-based isometric RPG from Grimrock devs

[Yosharian]

Lol, are you the same guy whining over at REEEsetera?

Safav you should let them know that Sinatar posts in a Nazi-forum called RPGCodex.

He'll probably get insta-banned

 

[Whiny-Butthurt-Liberal]

Is it shit?

 

[TwoEdge]

Should have continued the Legend of Grimrock series instead of making this game.

Or, if they had depleted their ideas for Dungeon Master-likes, they could have made an Underworld-like and released it long before the disaster known as Underworld Ascendant.

The FAQ on their site states that Ctrl Alt Ninja is a sister company to Almost Human, founded to make games in other genres, so who knows? Maybe we'll get more Grimrock in the future.

 

[Bara]

Well there's always Petri's retro blobber project The Fall of the Black Mage. Which I'm honestly actually interested in.



As for Druidstone further in and with more abilities/unlocks and equipment I've started to lose track of time and dig the experience. Also really dig that over world music.

I'd say with a little re-balancing and encounter shakeup with some patches it's worth the asking price. Before that a discount a little bigger than 5% would be a fair deal.

I'd also really appreciate a little more detail when it comes to foe abilities like maybe just hints if not outright detail.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Lol, the lightning bow you can buy after getting the bonus crate from the forest-rigged-to-blow mission (assuming that's the way the shop unlocks work that is) is hilariously powerful. Stick a meager two gems into it, get a quad-shot ability and a knockback. Bow womyn suddenly became useful.

 

[Darth Roxor]

ok now this is just fucking rich

Spoiler

Big boss fight. The boss is a big, fat, fiery ball that's gonna "explode in 6 turns" and collapse the dunjin.

Primary objective - "escape the dungeon"

Secondary objective - "defeat the big boss"

Hah, so killing the big boss, which is p. hp spongy and has lots of goons (+ it spawns new ones), is probably a way of winning early, if you can do it. Challenge accepted.

I kill the big boss with 2 turns to spare.

OH NO

GOTCHA!!

THE DUNGEON IS GOING TO COLLAPSE ANYWAY!

*mission failed as the farthest the heroes can get in these 2 turns is literally 1 square away from the exit*

*ragequit*

 

[ArchAngel]

ok now this is just fucking rich

Spoiler

Big boss fight. The boss is a big, fat, fiery ball that's gonna "explode in 6 turns" and collapse the dunjin.

Primary objective - "escape the dungeon"

Secondary objective - "defeat the big boss"

Hah, so killing the big boss, which is p. hp spongy and has lots of goons (+ it spawns new ones), is probably a way of winning early, if you can do it. Challenge accepted.

I kill the big boss with 2 turns to spare.

OH NO

GOTCHA!!

THE DUNGEON IS GOING TO COLLAPSE ANYWAY!

*mission failed as the farthest the heroes can get in these 2 turns is literally 1 square away from the exit*

*ragequit*

It is nice of you to suffer so we don't have to. Your sacrifice will be forever remembered in Great Codexia

 

[fantadomat]

ok now this is just fucking rich

Spoiler

Big boss fight. The boss is a big, fat, fiery ball that's gonna "explode in 6 turns" and collapse the dunjin.

Primary objective - "escape the dungeon"

Secondary objective - "defeat the big boss"

Hah, so killing the big boss, which is p. hp spongy and has lots of goons (+ it spawns new ones), is probably a way of winning early, if you can do it. Challenge accepted.

I kill the big boss with 2 turns to spare.

OH NO

GOTCHA!!

THE DUNGEON IS GOING TO COLLAPSE ANYWAY!

*mission failed as the farthest the heroes can get in these 2 turns is literally 1 square away from the exit*

*ragequit*

Stop playing,you sound like a woman in abusive relationship.

 

[Reinhardt]

Your sacrifice will be forever remembered

or not

 

[Skdursh]

-snip-

Hey dude, I don't know if it's a joke or a glitch or what, but how the hell do you have 1.87 million messages on here since 2008? That's something like 466 comments per day, every single day for the past 11 years. No offense meant, but that's fucking nuts.

 

[Darth Roxor]

putin pays me per post so i'm trying my best

 

[fantadomat]

putin pays me per post so i'm trying my best

No,i pay you by a funny rating you get.

 

[Tigranes]

from all the money he saved by pirating all the games he hates on day 1

 

[TwoEdge]

ok now this is just fucking rich

Spoiler

Big boss fight. The boss is a big, fat, fiery ball that's gonna "explode in 6 turns" and collapse the dunjin.

Primary objective - "escape the dungeon"

Secondary objective - "defeat the big boss"

Hah, so killing the big boss, which is p. hp spongy and has lots of goons (+ it spawns new ones), is probably a way of winning early, if you can do it. Challenge accepted.

I kill the big boss with 2 turns to spare.

OH NO

GOTCHA!!

THE DUNGEON IS GOING TO COLLAPSE ANYWAY!

*mission failed as the farthest the heroes can get in these 2 turns is literally 1 square away from the exit*

*ragequit*

Doing this mission later after you've bought some items with move skills tacked on plus the

Spoiler

4th character

is much easier. I'm curious if this game can be beaten with all optional objectives straight through whithout replaying missions, or if it was designed to make it impossible.

 

[Sinatar]

ok now this is just fucking rich

Spoiler

Big boss fight. The boss is a big, fat, fiery ball that's gonna "explode in 6 turns" and collapse the dunjin.

Primary objective - "escape the dungeon"

Secondary objective - "defeat the big boss"

Hah, so killing the big boss, which is p. hp spongy and has lots of goons (+ it spawns new ones), is probably a way of winning early, if you can do it. Challenge accepted.

I kill the big boss with 2 turns to spare.

OH NO

GOTCHA!!

THE DUNGEON IS GOING TO COLLAPSE ANYWAY!

*mission failed as the farthest the heroes can get in these 2 turns is literally 1 square away from the exit*

*ragequit*

Doing this mission later after you've bought some items with move skills tacked on plus the

Spoiler

4th character

is much easier. I'm curious if this game can be beaten with all optional objectives straight through whithout replaying missions, or if it was designed to make it impossible.

The premise of the level is that the big bomb boss is going to blow the place up, killing him doesn't stop the timer. It's not a question of it being easy or hard, it's a question of it being utterly moronic.

 

[Bara]

Got to the mission where you need to gather flowers to heal the archer's sister after recusing her.

Pretty much with all the spawns the most effective strategy to finish the mission and get the bonus objectives was just to ignore all the foes and bum rush the objectives. Ring of shielding and the caster's personal shield were key to that.

Which is a shame as I rather enjoyed the mission to rescue her. While that one did also had foes spawn in but a much more limited amount and after a pair of spawns they stopped.

 

[TwoEdge]

ok now this is just fucking rich

Spoiler

Big boss fight. The boss is a big, fat, fiery ball that's gonna "explode in 6 turns" and collapse the dunjin.

Primary objective - "escape the dungeon"

Secondary objective - "defeat the big boss"

Hah, so killing the big boss, which is p. hp spongy and has lots of goons (+ it spawns new ones), is probably a way of winning early, if you can do it. Challenge accepted.

I kill the big boss with 2 turns to spare.

OH NO

GOTCHA!!

THE DUNGEON IS GOING TO COLLAPSE ANYWAY!

*mission failed as the farthest the heroes can get in these 2 turns is literally 1 square away from the exit*

*ragequit*

Doing this mission later after you've bought some items with move skills tacked on plus the

Spoiler

4th character

is much easier. I'm curious if this game can be beaten with all optional objectives straight through whithout replaying missions, or if it was designed to make it impossible.

The premise of the level is that the big bomb boss is going to blow the place up, killing him doesn't stop the timer. It's not a question of it being easy or hard, it's a question of it being utterly moronic.

I see, you have no way of completing the objectives without foreknowledge or replaying. I don't mind it in this game, weirdly, but I can see why people are frustrated.

 

[Bara]

Welp my suspension of disbelief is dead for this game.

Like in all honestly it should have died earlier with the cowboy bounty hunter but I was able to mosey along with it until we get to the bit with one character doing a magic ritual which apparently supplants her personality with a Japanese person and now they only speak in Japanese...

Unless their going for a weird earth setting ala Thundar the Barbarian style I don't get why they didn't use a made up language/filter to make it appear forigen since there is no voice acting.

I miss the less is more form Legend in Grimrock. Like I get this is going for a silly story book tone but Regalia: Of Monarchs and Men was able to do comedy and tell a good story while keeping my disbelief suppressed.

Like I still woudln't call it a bad game but I feel like every time I've gotten a pace going I get this weird wrench thrown in either from the story or encounter design. Ah well on we go.

 

[Haba]

Should have continued the Legend of Grimrock series instead of making this game.

When LoG2 sold one fifth of the copies that LoG did? I wonder why they didn't go for a third one.

 

[Solfear]

ok now this is just fucking rich

Spoiler

Big boss fight. The boss is a big, fat, fiery ball that's gonna "explode in 6 turns" and collapse the dunjin.

Primary objective - "escape the dungeon"

Secondary objective - "defeat the big boss"

Hah, so killing the big boss, which is p. hp spongy and has lots of goons (+ it spawns new ones), is probably a way of winning early, if you can do it. Challenge accepted.

I kill the big boss with 2 turns to spare.

OH NO

GOTCHA!!

THE DUNGEON IS GOING TO COLLAPSE ANYWAY!

*mission failed as the farthest the heroes can get in these 2 turns is literally 1 square away from the exit*

*ragequit*

Doing this mission later after you've bought some items with move skills tacked on plus the

Spoiler

4th character

is much easier. I'm curious if this game can be beaten with all optional objectives straight through whithout replaying missions, or if it was designed to make it impossible.

I have progressed a bit, and I am now at the mission with what seems to be the first boss

Spoiler

the mad red priest

, playing in hard doing 100% 3stars and without grinding via retrying missions. So far, it has not been too hard. If by "straight trough" you mean not replaying missions for grinding, then it is perfectly possible in Hard until there.

 

[Darth Roxor]

^ Yep, so far it's been the same for me. The only one I had to replay was escorting uncle dumbo because the "kill a basilisk" objective was bugged, otherwise I get 3 stars on first try (discounting gotcha-induced restarts obv)

 

[Darth Roxor]

ok now this is just fucking rich

tried again

this time killed it with 3 turns to spare

G O T C H A

THE DUNGEON IS GOING TO COLLAPSE IN TWO TURNS ANYWAY

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

So...
...neutral positive review?

 

[Cross]

Sounds like the game would be improved if someone could mod out those side objectives or at least make them more sensible.

Having side objectives like 'complete the mission without taking any damage' or 'complete the mission without knock-outs' in particular is dumb when there's no downside to any of those things happening, what with the abundance of healing/revive abilities and the fact that you get revived and restored to full health between missions anyway. Instead of making encounters more interesting, these side objectives seem to accomplish the opposite, by forcing you to play in an artificial way if you want to reap the rewards.

 

[Butter]

Sounds like they should be invisible challenges that you only learn about by completing them. "Oh neat, I got a bonus for that mission."