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

[Darth Roxor]

And how are sales looking for this one buddy?

i feel the budget for this game was roughly 200 united states dollars, so they're probably looking great regardless

 

[fantadomat]

And how are sales looking for this one buddy?

i feel the budget for this game was roughly 200 united states dollars, so they're probably looking great regardless

The game does feel like an iphone game. It had like 500 dudes max player on steam,doubt that is sold very well.

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

And how are sales looking for this one buddy?

I have no clue, since we have no way to find out any more. But I still fail to see how that is relevant.

People keep expecting developers to continue making sequels when the sequels (generally) don't sell well enough to keep them afloat.

Go for something that probably won't succeed. Or try something new that might or might not succeed. Hurr durr, dumb developers, they shoulda just made more of the same!

Well the second log wasn't much of an improvement. Both game looked very.....unity props heavy. Interesting that they are trying this to succeed,from a niche genre to even nicher one.

 

[Darth Roxor]

this game's finale is a carbon copy of diablo 2: lord of destruction and i find this very funny

 

[vortex]

Maybe Druidstone as Diablo-clone arpg would do better.

 

[fantadomat]

Maybe Druidstone as Diablo-clone arpg would do better.

True,now only a few hundred of masochists like Darth Roxor play it. He is just starving for punishment.

 

[toro]

Best game evvaahhhh!

 

[Andhaira]

Playing it for a couple hours now, loving it. Yes it is simplistic in many ways, but damn that TB combat. Also the engine they used is very smooth, no stuttering whatsoever.

The first few combats are a slog, especially the one with the spawning bees, but then the game improves quite a bit (at least so far)

Don't like the constant respawns, nor the fact you don't have to kill everything to complete the 'level'. Also wish we had complete character generation of at least the main character (he's a blank slate anyways) and that our mage was not some type of walking mushroom. Those Fire Priest guys could have made for a great class/join-able PC. Also don't like the dropping health when you kill enemies, too arcadey and gamey.

Other than that, top notch work. Would make for a fantastic RPG if they added char gen, and an overland map in the style of Realms of Arkania; they would also need to add in a skills system for skill checks and COYA type minigames on the overland map.

Quick Question: The stuffies/consumables you find in chests: Do they expire at the end of the combat even if you don't use them? Any way of keeping them from battle to battle if you don't use them or scavenging them to sell??

 

[Darth Roxor]

The stuffies/consumables you find in chests: Do they expire at the end of the combat even if you don't use them?

yep

Any way of keeping them from battle to battle if you don't use them or scavenging them to sell??

nop

 

[Andhaira]

More quick questions: Do the bonus stuffies you are supposed to do in a map only give you items/gems.chests, and no extra xp? Is the only way to farm xp by killing critters, and if so is there any benefit to redoing missions to get more xp (even with the penalties)?

 

[Darth Roxor]

Do the bonus stuffies you are supposed to do in a map only give you items/gems.chests, and no extra xp?

yep

Is the only way to farm xp by killing critters, and if so is there any benefit to redoing missions to get more xp (even with the penalties)?

a) more or less yes b) no - you will end up with enough xp to max out your ability bar long before you hit the final dungeon anyway.


In related news, the final boss is like the king of gotcha. I also have to applaud the genius map design that completely blocks its movement in one direction:

Spoiler

note the boss's movement grid

 

[Darth Roxor]

Aaand finished. I like how the final mishun, which is divided into four fights, is a 100% accurate representation of the entire game in a nutshell.

- First stage is p. boring and easy, you can basically do it on autopilot.
- Second stage has a soft timer that forces you to keep going forward, but on the whole it gets the noggin joggin' enough to be entertaining.
- Third stage is a no-nonsense bossfight that is actually pretty fun.
- Fourth stage is a total-nonsense bossfight that is nothing but bullshit all the way through, and that's without even mentioning the brilliant map design pictured above.

expect revio soon(TM)

 

[Luckmann]

- Fourth stage is a total-nonsense bossfight that is nothing but bullshit all the way through, and that's without even mentioning the brilliant map design pictured above.

expect revio soon(TM)

What, how? I did the fight in exactly two turns, although I forgot about the bonus goal. It tries to be bullshitty, but it fails miserably.

That said, I really enjoyed the game, although it's not really an RPG by any reasonable stretch of the imagination. It was fun to play but I have a hard time seeing myself ever replaying it. I might've appreciated it more if it actually had some character creation and such. I especially do not see the point of the card-based ability system, it feels like a complete gimmick because by the time you've filled your "deck" the game is about to end anyway, and there is very little point or chance to ever shuffling your stuff around.

Edit: As for the final boss not being able to move, btw, I don't think that was ever considered, since it's ranged and does not attack in melee or get attacks of opportunity. If that fatty wants to move, it teleports.

 

[fantadomat]

By the end of the game did see a weapons that do more damage than the one from beginning? From what i have seen they all just give some useless abilities and nothing better. I noticed that the first bow is maybe the best because of the armour penetration and the range.

 

[Darth Roxor]

What, how? I did the fight in exactly two turns, although I forgot about the bonus goal. It tries to be bullshitty, but it fails miserably.

1. The way it goes into regen mode with automatic turnover, battlefield reshuffle and infinite automatic cheating retaliations (which ignore dodge and can return fire from well beyond its actual max range - the stupid shit has range 5 but can fire back even 8 squares away) after falling under 50% hp.
2. The way this regen mode doesn't have any sort of cooldown. It can end turn, regenerate 10 hp, get hit for 1 damage on the exact same turn and enter regen mode again.
3. I have absolutely no idea how you're supposed to defeat the final boss in any way other than stocking up on big-hitting abilities and then unleashing a near-kamikaze wombo combo that spikes it down from 50% hp to 0 in a single turn. You can't power through its regen and chip it down steadily because of #2. You *must* spike it down in one turn from 50% to 0 or otherwise you'll get yourself stuck in a neverending loop of regen and haxx0r counterattacks. This is simply terrible design all around.

Edit: As for the final boss not being able to move, btw, I don't think that was ever considered, since it's ranged and does not attack in melee or get attacks of opportunity. If that fatty wants to move, it teleports.

It never teleported in my game except for when going into regen mode. Also, it does get AoOs.

 

[Andhaira]

How many hours did it take you to complete it Darth Roxor at what difficulty? And did you replay any of the maps during the game?

 

[Darth Roxor]

How many hours did it take you to complete it Darth Roxor at what difficulty? And did you replay any of the maps during the game?

Steam is telling me 23 hours, though some of that was spent dicking around and idling. Difficulty hard. Only one I had to replay was the escort mission with basilisks, but that was because the "kill a basilisk" objective was bugged in the version I played.

 

[Luckmann]

By the end of the game did see a weapons that do more damage than the one from beginning? From what i have seen they all just give some useless abilities and nothing better. I noticed that the first bow is maybe the best because of the armour penetration and the range.

There is an early bow sold by Steelface, Hunter's Bow, that outclasses the starting Long Bow for Aava. It has a range of 8 without having to spend a Power Gem (Long Bow has a range of 7, but requires a gem to get to that), and it gives extra Volley, which is an absolutely crazy ability that you'll want to max in every way, and it's Poison is vital to stacking attacks on strong enemies. The Aim ability (on the Hunter's Bow) is good, but a sucker's choice because her damage will always be awful and it's only 1/mission.

The second most powerful item in the game is Firestaff for Oiko, which allows Oiko to set fire to enemies that are hit by his fire spell.

Combine this with Cleave w/ Bleed (which vastly outclasses Whirlwind 99 times out of 100), whenever possible.

Poison + Bleed + Burning does 4 extra damage with no way to defend, other than to dispel it in various ways, and the effect of Poison alone quickly stacks up. If everyone is attacking a single enemy that happens to be poisoned, that's an extra +4 damage; +5 if you've summoned the Bounty Hunter guy with the harmonica (which you should, he's amazing, if you've got the Steal ability on the Harmonica). An amazing crossbow, Smoldering Crossbow (which is a 1h ranged weapon... somehow), can be given to the main character as an off-hand, allowing him to further increase damage done with fire once in a mission.

If someone is poisoned first, followed by the main character using Oil Shot, Action Surge, and then Cleave w/ Bleed, followed by Oiko setting fire to them, will have taken no less than 9 extra damage, not counting the normal damage from the weapons themselves. (+1 from Poison on Oil Shot, +1 from Poison on Cleave, +1 from Poison on Bleed, +1 from Poison on Fire, +2 from Oil Shot on Fire, +1 from Poison on Burn, +2 from Oil Shot on Burn). Unless my calculation is off.

But yes, aside form Hunter's Bow, you won't find anything better, unless you want to make her more of a skirmisher, which you can, but I doubt it'll outclass her as artillery, especially since she never gets Action Surge.

 

[fantadomat]

But yes, aside form Hunter's Bow, you won't find anything better, unless you want to make her more of a skirmisher, which you can, but I doubt it'll outclass her as artillery, especially since she never gets Action Surge.

Yeah,but the first one have a armour piercing,which makes it better than the other weapons,volley is a skill you could get levelling and put gems in it. So all the weapons don't increase their damage and are just bonus abilities stacking. The game is pretty garbage seeing how you don't have any progression.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/122335-druidstone-the-secret-of-the-menhir-forest-reviews.html

The Indie Game Website 8/10:

Ultimately, Druidstone is a challenging and rewarding tactical-RPG with plenty of charm to keep it engaging in-between brutally tough encounters. It can border on unfair at times, but the steady stream of progression and versatile combat ensures it remains satisfying. Ctrl Alt Ninja clearly demonstrates their development expertise with this finely tuned and tightly crafted adventure that’ll have you brainstorming turns for hours.

IndianNoob 7.7/10:

Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest is a challenging, satisfying and well-made tactical experience fully worth the price tag. The combat is excellent, there are a lot of skills to fiddle around with and the game keeps you on your toes at all times. Just don’t expect a fully fledged RPG with extensive customization. There are a few balancing issues and some frustrating mission structures that need fixing, but nothing a few patches and the promised mod support can’t fix.

Turn Based Lovers 8/10:

All in all, Druidstone: The secret of the Menhir Forest is a fine, interesting game that achieves some originality and, by sticking to a clear and precise plan, delivers a fun and entertaining experience to players that are into tactics and puzzles. Character progression and combat have limited space in Druidstone, while puzzles have the lion’s share; keep this in mind when you think about buying it.

RPG Site 8/10:

Druidstone is a perfect entry point for RPG fans that are interested in this style of tactical game without having to invest several dozens of hours in a longer experience that they may not enjoy. It doesn't offer a lot in terms of unique themes or robust storytelling, but it's balanced out by an impressive variety of encounter designs and flexibility for different playstyles. On top of these strengths, it also offers some surprisingly good musical scores and environmental art. It's a strong overall package that, while brief, was a joy to play through.

Niche Gamer 8.5/10:

As a tactical combat game, Druidstone offers some solid combat encounters, challenging missions with good objective variety, around 20 hours of content, and a unique take on character progression and gear, even if its not quite as deep as a traditional RPG.

I must admit that it wasn’t quite what I expected going in, but I still found a really good game that is definitely worth giving a try if you enjoy tabletop-inspired adventures and tactical turn-based battles.

Game Skinny 7/10:

Druidstone nails turn-based combat, with some remarkably user-friendly options, but is held back somewhat by an uninteresting story.

 

[Luckmann]

But yes, aside form Hunter's Bow, you won't find anything better, unless you want to make her more of a skirmisher, which you can, but I doubt it'll outclass her as artillery, especially since she never gets Action Surge.

Yeah,but the first one have a armour piercing,which makes it better than the other weapons,volley is a skill you could get levelling and put gems in it. So all the weapons don't increase their damage and are just bonus abilities stacking. The game is pretty garbage seeing how you don't have any progression.

You do have progression in getting new skills and placing gems. That said, I'd still take Hunter's Bow over Long Bow. The 1 Pierce won't do much, but both Volley and range is amazing. Long Bow just sucks up your gems for small reward, whereas Hunter's Bow is great without anything. Not only would I argue that Hunter's Bow is better anyway, but saving 2 gems is its own reward.

 

[KingDoofus]

Nearing the end of this, here's the shitty write up I did in the comments of the front page news post:


Pretty close to finishing the game, I'll give a bit of a rundown with my experience of it.


Other than it being turn based there's no reason to compare it to Final Fantasy Tactics. Your tank starts with around 8hp and does 3 damage. A standard skeleton enemy has 3hp and hits for 3 damage. A tough enemy has 7hp and 1 armor. I've seen a few people comparing it to "Into the Breach," which it's kinda similar to in terms of unit numbers and stat progression but gameplay isn't nearly as puzzle oriented. I'd compare it more to "Card Hunter" without the deck mechanics.

Characters are preset - a Warrior, a Ranger, and a Mage. Eventually you'll have access to a Ninja/Thief. Character growth happens through level ups, power up "gems," and eventually having access to a shop. Leveling a character will give them access to a character specific list of new abilities or passives (+2 hp, etc.) of which you can pick one. Gems can be acquired through missions and optional objectives which can upgrade your abilities or weapons. Each upgrade is specific to the skill/weapon - a buff/debuff might last longer or a skill might hit for 1 more damage. Gems can be slotted or unslotted freely and you'll want to change your focus depending on what you're up against. The shop will get more items if you complete optional objectives in missions but gear mostly adds abilities, not scales to make you hit harder. For example, my Warrior started with a sword that hit for 3 damage and could be gem upgraded to pierce 1 armor. I eventually bought an axe that hit for 3 damage, gave one skill an extra use, and could be gem upgraded to give a skill that gives +1 damage a free use whenever he kills an enemy. Then I bought some armor that gives +1 hp but lets him walk on water with no movement penalty. Gear mostly just opens up strategic options. You do have some leeway with how you level up, upgrade, and equip your units: your warrior can focus on damage or tanking and can be equipped with a bow if you want.

Production values are fine, I guess. I don't know, I don't really give a shit about graphics. They look okay, nothing terrible nothing great. I wouldn't list it as a plus. Music is okay, a little repetitive. If you require high production values to play a game you won't find much here.

Story... exists. I guess. Big Evil trying to destroy harmony. There's some backstory shenanigans going on with the warrior character. Dialogue is a little juvenile. The characters are constantly wise-crackin. I'm not sure if it's trying to be funny (it's not) or just not taking itself too seriously. Not much there.

Mission objectives have a surprisingly nice amount of variety. Some are kill everything on the map, some are defend a position or person, some are escape. One has a giant monster chasing you that can't be damaged until you destroy some crystals scattered around the map. Optional objectives have decent variety as well. Usually it will be collecting treasure scattered around the map or crates that will add to the shop inventory. Sometimes it will be to complete the mission without having a character die or in a certain amount of turns. Sometimes the main mission objective is to escape from a monster and the optional objective is to kill it. You'll usually have 2-3 optional objectives per map and completing them earns you extra gems, gold, or experience.

I've seen several people talking about endless waves of reinforcements. Nearing the end of the game I've encountered one, maybe two missions that had endless reinforcements. Every other map has a set number of reinforcements. It usually gives a tactical option - you can either try to complete the mission objective before facing all the enemies or hunker down and whoop their asses, then complete the objective at your leisure. Depending on the reinforcements both are viable strategies. Standing on a reinforcement point will not stop them from coming, they'll just spawn next to the spot. Sometimes there are spawners that will continually spawn enemies if left alone but they can be destroyed and doing so is occasionally a mission/optional objective. I suspect that people complaining about this have not played the game. Shocking.

I want to highlight the difficulty of the game, because it is the entire reason I am enjoying it. It has 3 difficulty settings, Easy, Normal, and Hard. Easy you can finish while undergoing a lobotomy. Normal will let you enjoy the mechanics of the game without ever really pressing you to experiment with them. Hard is a challenge. There's a lot of customization with the characters, especially with the gems, and Hard really makes you examine strengths and weaknesses. Typically I would begin a mission, get a look at what I was up against, then restart it and spend a few minutes customizing each characters load out. Most of your better skills have limited uses. They can often get more with gem upgrades but part of the strategy is knowing when to use your best skills and when to hold back. Or whether a skill is worth upgrading at all. By the end of the game you'll have dozens of gems and it gives you a lot to work with - you can make the mage launch massive aoe fireballs or focus him on locking down enemies with debuffs. The Ranger can be specced to healing or raining arrows. Or instead of focusing all in on a couple abilities, partially upgrade a lot to make them ready for several different scenarios. Hard mode will throw a lot at you and you'll have to make use of what the game gives you if you want to complete it. Completing optional objectives is a big factor in this too - if you ignore them the game gets much easier, but every optional objective can be completed on a map's first run and trying to take them on is a very enjoyable challenge.

Ultimately I would recommend the game, basically because it actually has a setting that provides a challenge. Most games I play these days are fucking easy on every setting, or hard for 30 minutes until you access a certain skill or overpowered weapon. Druidstone stays challenging through the whole game and punished me every time I thought I could waltz into a mission without thinking about what that mission's obstacle was. It's not amazing, it's not gonna floor you with anything, but it is fun. If you're on the fence then wait for a sale. And definitely play on hard mode the first time through.

 

[KingDoofus]

By the end of the game did see a weapons that do more damage than the one from beginning? From what i have seen they all just give some useless abilities and nothing better. I noticed that the first bow is maybe the best because of the armour penetration and the range.

By the end of the game you can get a few weapons for the Warrior that hit for 4 damage or can be upgraded to 4 damage. Bows never hit for more than 2, they just give new skills. I think there's a couple 3 damage melee weapons the Ranger can equip instead of bows but she lacks the sturdiness of the Warrior so frontline isn't a great place for her to be. Some wands will hit for 3, but who cares the Mage is better casting spells. I think the Ninja can only equip weapons that cap at 3 damage, though she has a lot of options in what she can equip (bows, knives, swords).

 

[Darth Roxor]

The ranjer's lightning bow can be upgraded for knockback which is basically a free +1 damage on anything that isn't armoured or immovable.

 

[Mark Richard]

But yes, aside form Hunter's Bow, you won't find anything better, unless you want to make her more of a skirmisher, which you can, but I doubt it'll outclass her as artillery, especially since she never gets Action Surge.

Yeah,but the first one have a armour piercing,which makes it better than the other weapons,volley is a skill you could get levelling and put gems in it. So all the weapons don't increase their damage and are just bonus abilities stacking. The game is pretty garbage seeing how you don't have any progression.

Most weapons are designed to remain useful throughout the entire game, with some being situational and others having a wider application. Sometimes it's a case of the higher tier weapons having a greater potential for investment. The starting staff for example has a +1 focus. Meanwhile the fire staff, the more advanced weapon, only provides a +1 focus after committing a gem. So what's the point? Well the fire staff has another ability, which once gemmed makes it much more powerful. Thing is, gems are a scarce resource. Even at the end of the game the experience of sharing them across the party felt akin to rationing.

 

[PsychoFox]

How to defeat that damned Yeti tho? I'm quite good at this game. Have perfected every other mission so far. The boss is like a brick wall though.