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

[Renevent]

like Blackguards

Also had a lot of stupid shit like that,i liked their idea but the game was constraining and that killed the fun for me.

Well this game's missions are exclusively those kinds of missions, at least so far (about 9 missions in). Blackguard, at least from what I remember, had mostly straight combat missions.

 

[Mud']

Is the game moddeable at all? So modders can remove part of the bullshit of the game.

 

[Safav Hamon]

There's too many BS mechanics (time limits, unseen enemy spawns

So just like Fantasy General and Elven Legacy?

Those games used those mechanics to great effect. The feeling of pressure as you race against the clock, and having to decide which battles are worth fighting as more enemies spawn every turn.

I'll take responsibility for that one, actually had to change the difficulty to easy for it to be enjoyable.

To be honest it sounds like you're just fishing for excuses on why the game is too difficult for you.

 

[Infinitron]

Is the game moddeable at all? So modders can remove part of the bullshit of the game.

Don't know about modding existing levels but it's going to get a full-scale level editor at some point, like Grimrock.

Play custom missions created by others, or make your own campaigns with the Druidstone Level Editor (available as a post-release update).

 

[Renevent]

There's too many BS mechanics (time limits, unseen enemy spawns

So just like Fantasy General and Elven Legacy?

Those games used those mechanics to great effect. The feeling of pressure as you race against the clock, and having to decide which battles are worth fighting as more enemies spawn every turn.

I'll take responsibility for that one, actually had to change the difficulty to easy for it to be enjoyable.

To be honest it sounds like you're just fishing for excuses on why the game is too difficult for you.

No, I laid out what I didn't find enjoyable, it's a fucking game doesn't require excuses unlike your shitty life decisions. The game isn't fun enough for me to warrant playing missions over and over due to mechanics like that, and I don't find those mechanics fun in the first place. They were my least favorite missions in Blackguards (which I beat no problem) and this game is exclusively these kinds of missions. So I'll play through on easy just to get through the game, and that's it. Never played Elven Legacy, but this game is way different than Fantasy General wtf are you on about?

 

[Safav Hamon]

No, I laid out what I didn't find enjoyable

What specifically don't you like those mechanics besides the fact they make the game too difficult for you?

Timers and enemy spawning are perfectly acceptable design in an objective style mission game. It would be more boring if there weren't any external factors pushing you to be more efficient.

. Never played Elven Legacy

Scrubs like you wouldn't stand a chance in Elven Legacy: Siege.

 

[cvv]

A lot of crying about "artificial difficulty". Seems the game is good after all.

 

[Renevent]

No, I laid out what I didn't find enjoyable

What specifically don't you like those mechanics besides the fact they make the game too difficult for you?

Timers and enemy spawning are perfectly acceptable design in an objective style mission game. It would be more boring if there weren't any external factors pushing you to be more efficient.

. Never played Elven Legacy

Scrubs like you wouldn't stand a chance in Elven Legacy: Siege.

I like more combat orientated game, not puzzle mechanics. It's not that hard to understand. If you like timers, escort missions, and shit like that have fun the game is full of them. Anyways you sound like a maniac and it seems a huge amount of your self worth is how good you are at video games, and that's kind of sad.

I fully admit I'm not a balls to the wall hardcore gamer, I play most games on normal, not a big deal.

 

[GloomFrost]

Put about 5 hours into it. Don't like it at all.

Constant time limits = Fuck that
Escort missions. Missions. Plural. = Fuck that
Seemingly infinitely respawing enemies = Fuck that
All enemies on the map beeline for you immediately, there is no engaging distinct groups of enemies cause everyone gang bangs you immediately = Fuck that

I was legit excited for this, but it's the antithesis of what I want from a tactical game.

Thank you for this post man. I was thinking about buying it but Time limits, thrash mobs AND RESPAWN??? KILL IT WITH FIRE I say!

 

[Safav Hamon]

A lot of crying about "artificial difficulty". Seems the game is good after all.

You know this place has declined when more codexers are whining about difficulty than a popamole forum like Resetera.

It's not an easy game on normal but so far I've been able to beat every mission on first or second try.

So far it hasn't been easy but not unfair and it's clear that it does want you to use your head. I don't think it's worth trying to get all the objectives first time every time. Focus on the mission first; you can always try again later with higher level characters, more abilities, gems etc.

Just played the first few missions and it has been challenging but fun!

yeah i'm about 5 missions in, the only mission where i actively had to avoid enemies was the basilisk mission

 

[Safav Hamon]

Put about 5 hours into it. Don't like it at all.

Constant time limits = Fuck that
Escort missions. Missions. Plural. = Fuck that
Seemingly infinitely respawing enemies = Fuck that
All enemies on the map beeline for you immediately, there is no engaging distinct groups of enemies cause everyone gang bangs you immediately = Fuck that

I was legit excited for this, but it's the antithesis of what I want from a tactical game.

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

 

[Solfear]

Even if I usually don't like deterministic turn-based combats, so far the game is good enough to keep my attention (just after third mission with the basiliks). I am always looking for the hardest experience possible, so I am playing on Hard here and won the third missions with 3 stars without too much difficulty. Let's see what happens next. Also, the story seems too classic so far, and I hope it will get better.

 

[Myzzrym]

I might pick that up later when more people have tested it, but so far it doesn't look too bad. Escort mission as a gameplay video though? Can't say it's the most exciting choice.

 

[Darth Roxor]

There's too many BS mechanics (time limits, unseen enemy spawns

So just like Fantasy General and Elven Legacy?.

we must have played some very different fantasy generals

stop posting already

 

[Joined on the 4th of July]

Deterministic combat, tight time limits, endlessly spawning monsters, lot of level-related timers.

Is this Invisible Inc?

Spoiler

 

[fantadomat]

So just like Fantasy General and Elven Legacy?

Stop posting you stupid retard,clearly you haven't played neither of those games fucking retard!

 

[Darth Roxor]

Secondary objective: Complete the mission without getting knocked-out.

"Sure, no problem."

*fast forward*

O hey some sort of floating fiery steel ball enemy, wonder wots dat.

*Boreale walks up and whacks it dead. It explodes on death and takes Boreale with it*

GOTCHA!

 

[Tigranes]

Feels very old-gamey, actually. Many lovely games back in the day where you had to party wipe / fail mission before figuring out the gotcha.

 

[Darth Roxor]

rick dangerous: secret of the menhir forest

 

[V_K]

Well as long as it's not Cat Mario...

 

[whydoibother]

Is this one of those RPGs where the only gameplay is combat?
No coverage whatsoever, so I can't find enough info to decide if I want to pick it up for the weekend.

 

[Infinitron]

Here's a couple more reviews: https://www.gameskinny.com/sor9a/dr...-forest-review-fluid-combat-but-stilted-story

Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest Review — Fluid Combat but Stilted Story
Druidstone nails turn-based combat, with some remarkably user-friendly options, but is held back somewhat by an uninteresting story.

Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest, the fledgling release from developers Ctrl Alt Ninja Ltd., has a surprisingly robust yet malleable take on the turn-based strategy genre. Unfortunately, its story is largely forgettable, revolving around an Acolyte, a Warden, and a Scout as they seek to end a strange corruption that’s spreading across the forest.

You can name the protagonists, which adds a spark of meaning to their plight, but the tiny embers are quickly snuffed out. Not only is the game packed with backstory and references that it doesn't immediately explain, but it's also guilty of droning on.

Some cutscenes feel almost as long as the missions that proceed them, totally killing any momentum that the fast-paced, fluid combat generates. Within a few hours, I was resigned to holding space to skip the pages of text and get back into the action. The option to do so is a welcome addition that makes the game far more enjoyable.

Even so, Druidstone is lovely to look at, and the cutscenes can present some gorgeous landscapes. The scenery and models during combat are visually impressive for an Indie title, too, though the audio is a little generic and may get on your nerves.

Thankfully, the combat more than makes up for the game’s shortcomings. Each mission starts with a cutscene before jumping into your first turn. You aren't limited to moving before you attack or vice versa, and you can use mobility tools with skills in any order you like.

You can also undo movements, which is exceptionally handy if you accidentally trigger an enemy's reaction attack. Unfortunately, you lose the option to rewind if you change characters, and you aren't able to undo attacks.

This would have been the epitome of user-friendly interaction, but it would also remove some of the finality in the decision-making process, something that makes turn-based strategies so enticing. A large number of spells or abilities will have limited use per mission, and it’s the conservative use of these that will make or break your quest.

Every character can also equip up to two weapons that don't have limited uses, so you have to plan around these. If you’re sloppy and waste the spells where regular weapon attacks would suffice, you’ll most likely hit a brick wall near the end of the level. Be frugal with your single-use tools, however, and you just might scrape through.

The consequences of your actions are especially punishing in Druidstone, with the game's normal difficulty besting me on multiple occasions until I learned the optimal strategies. There's no shame in dropping the difficulty, which can be done on a mission-by-mission basis, with even easy difficulty providing its fair share of tricky encounters.

The game's higher difficulties generally just threw more enemies at me, rather than making resources scarce or limiting the use of game-changing spells, which was a shame. It felt like it was funneling me to play a certain way, prioritizing the ability to attack multiple targets per turn above anything else.

Once you've leveled up your party and kitted them out with the best gear and weapons, though, you really start to feel like a strategic god, capable of solving any issue that's thrown your way using just your small band of fighters.

There’s a surprisingly versatile set of tools available for your party members, and finding the perfect time to use each one is vital to success. Each mission will have primary and secondary objectives, which reward you with experience, gold, or power gems.

Between missions, you use these to improve and adjust your party as you see fit. The power gems can be used to boost the effectiveness of weapons and armor, or increase the number of times you can use spells.

The ability to swap these out freely is incredibly useful, especially if a specific mission calls for a certain playstyle; you can easily tailor your builds to that level and try again. On top of this, the missions don’t have to be completed in a set order, allowing you to abandon a tough level and return later once you’ve bolstered your party.

Though there are 35 levels, they aren't all available immediately and some are only short puzzles, so you can't put things off forever. However, there's still plenty of ways to tackle your 10- to 20-hour playthrough. Druidstone did crash a few times during my playthrough, artificially inflating this timer, but the frame rate and performance were smooth throughout.

While the crashes were frustrating in the moment, the game writes to a handy log file that can be sent to the developers. They swiftly patched out a few problems I forwarded their way, and have expressed their strong resolution to keep updating the game.

Pros

• User-friendly take on turn-based combat
• The intricate modular upgrade system is a joy to tinker with and micromanage
• Freedom to complete missions in any order

Cons

• Forgettable, lengthy story weighs down the momentum
• Difficulty can be oppressive, pushing you towards a specific playstyle
• Audio is derivative and repetitive

Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest failed to entice me with its extensive expositions, but the brilliant combat system thoroughly hooked me. There are some stellar tools available to the player, and I really liked how modular everything felt.

You're given a lot of options in Druidstone and what you do with them will shape your success or feed your failure.

The developer's passion and plans to release modding tools to the community makes this an enticing future prospect.

[Note: A copy of Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest was provided by Ctrl Alt Ninja Ltd. for the purpose of this review.]

Our Rating
7

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

http://indiannoob.in/noobreview/dru...the-menhir-forest-review-pc-against-all-odds/

Druidstone: Secret of the Menhir Forest
Detailed Review

Well-made tactical RPGs are hard to come by these days. In fact, the last full-fledged tactical RPG I played after 2015’s Blackguards was Pathway and that didn’t go down so well. But when I learned that the creators of Legend of Grimrock that breathed new life into modern blobbers were making a new tactical RPG, I couldn’t be more excited. Their latest outing, called Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest is out on now Steam and your boy got to dabble a little more than 20 hours in the game. Is it good, is it bad and should you buy it? Well, read on below!



Story & Narrative
Druidstone doesn’t try to set itself apart from many of the fantasy RPGs out there and stays within the genre tropes. The evil sorceress has kidnapped the Archdruid of the Menhir forest and spreads corruption, threatening the very life and balance of all things. You are put into the shoes of three adventurers- a confused chosen one hatched out of a cocoon, the determined daughter of the Archdruid who’s feels like she’s crack shot with a bow but might heal you later and last, but not the least, something that looks like the hybrid between Yoda and Orko from He-Man. It’s up to you to find the Archdruid, beat the sorceress and save the forest.



The story is generic but it manages to strike a tone similar to first Divinity: Original Sin, balancing humor with dark themes. Even if the story is forgettable, the banter between characters and their dialogues are fun to read (as there’s no voice acting). There are a lot of snarky remarks and “oh shit” moments along the way. But most tactical RPGs are never strong on the storytelling part and it’s easy to forgive Druidstone and focus entirely on the gameplay.

Gameplay & Mechanics
General Gameplay & Structure

Druidstone is more of a turn-based strategy game than an RPG. It lies on the spectrum somewhere between XCOM, Into the Breach and Blackguards. There are no choices to be made during the storyline or branching paths, nor is there hubs to visit or extensive character creation and exploration. Players expecting Legend of Grimrock style gameplay will not find similar systems here. But let’s look at it for what it is, not what you want it to be.



Druidstone plays out in an isometric perspective and puts you in command of three heroes (later four) as they visit tightly designed battle maps to carry out different objectives and unique challenges. As one expects, the combat is grid and turn-based, meaning that you can take all the time in the world scratching your brains out before deciding what the characters should do next. The game uses a dual Action Points mechanic seen commonly today, one for movement and one for actions. The player always goes first and can move, attack, defend and interact with objects on the map but so can the enemies.



There are about 35 missions in total, each with highly varied objectives and each can take around 10-30 minutes to complete. Among these are some puzzle missions that aren’t too hard to figure out and provides a nice change of pace. As you complete missions, your characters level up, gain gold and skill boosting gems that can be used to your advantage. Like mentioned earlier, each mission also has several bonus challenges that reward you with gold, XP, and gems if you go out of their way to solve them. The missions can be revisited any time (with an XP penalty) and you are free to come back for bonus objectives whenever you want. There are no roguelike mechanics like perma-death or any sorts of penalties for failing a mission. You can always restart, replay or put the missions off for later.

Spoiler

Character Skills & Progression

Like I said beforehand, Druidstone doesn’t allow for custom characters, nor can you change the class of the available characters. While this might put some people off, Druidstone uses it to tell a linear story and makes full use of the available skills for maximum combat synergy. But weapons, armors, and accessories for each character can be changed and experimented with. You start off the game with a warrior, an archer/healer and a mage. Each time you level, up you can also choose from a pool of available skills, each of which can be further enhanced by slotting them with gems. For example, you can modify your lightning spell to deal more damage, the number of times it can be used in combat or additional effects such as dazing. Almost all skills can be modified such way and you can respec and swap gems in and out any time outside of a mission.



Druidstone has a decent amount of character skills whether you’re a warrior, a mage or an archer. These also differ from one another significantly. From standard fireballs to summoning skiils to status and AoE effects, the game makes sure that you have plenty to play around with. Some of my favorites include the ability to rewind the turn to the beginning of the round if something goes astray, or Focus, a highly-useful spell which boosts the effect of the next spell to be cast. Using focus, you can change the standard single target fireball to AoE, allow healing spell to be cast thrice in a row, convert the revival spell so that it can revive all the downed members in the party, etc. Aside from spells, there is an assortment of weapons, armors, and accessories to pimp out your party with and these too, like the skills. can be slotted with gems to boost active skills or passive stats.



The Combat

The most important aspect of a tactical game and the one that Druidstone does so damn well is the combat. It’s smooth, tactical, easy to learn, challenging and above all, rewarding. In most cases, there are plenty of ways to tackle a single turn and move your party to victory. There are also plenty of ways to screw everything up and see yourself repeatedly restarting missions. Each turn is valuable and more often than not, Druidstone plays out like chess…very violent chess, where long-term strategy pays off. This is made more enforced by the fact that you have limited use of skills and healing supplies during any given mission, something that can’t be said for the enemies. Like you, the enemies can also pick up healing drops and additional AP dropped by other enemies. It always feels as if the odds are stacked against you and hence, pulling off coordinated and well-planned attacks feel rewarding and satisfying. More so when you manage to complete bonus objectives when hell is breaking loose around you. The prospect of risk vs reward runs high in Druidstone.



One thing that can either make or break Druidstone for the players is how each mission is structured and how it forces your hand. Aside from a very few limited-turns missions, almost all missions encourage you to either charge in aggressively or run straight to the objective, because the more turns you take, more enemy reinforcements will appear, or in some cases, dead enemies will be replaced by new ones with just one turn in between. Now, I appreciate the added emergency if it’s used once in a while like the limited-turns missions, but seeing this in almost every mission is frustrating to say the least. First-time players will have a hard time completing bonus objectives on the first try due to some missions requiring you to adopt certain specific strategies to win. Such encounters can feel like an elaborated puzzle. This is clearly apparent during some scenarios where the summoner enemy just kept on spamming the map with undead hordes one after the other and I had to do the ‘ol trial & error method to find out the best strategy to win.



Later on in the game, there are some fights that feel cheap and there’s a sudden spike in difficulty that ends up feeling artificial. A particular boss fight especially forced me to put aside my pride and drop the difficulty from normal to easy just to get it over with. Aside from these, there are also some fights where the game throws flexibility out the window and force you to adopt a certain strategy. But your mileage may vary. I feel like some of the skills and especially weapons could use a buff or two. There is also quite a big gap between easy and normal that could also be seen to. However, hardcore tactical masterminds will feel right at home.



Miscellaneous

Coming back to positives, the sheer variance in enemy and encounter design is commendable with each mission offering something new and makes experimentation worthwhile. The UI is clean and the game displays all the necessary information like attack range, attack of opportunities, melee engagement and the damage that will be done by attacks to make sure that you don’t accidentally misuse turns. I just wish that there was an incentive to replay the game as everything that should be experienced can be done in a single playthrough.

Visuals, Sound & Performance
Druidstone is a visually pleasing game with a cheery art style, vibrant colors and well-animated characters. It is reminiscent of Magicka and Divinity: Original Sin in a lot of ways. Each level offers something new visually and there’s a lot of attention to detail like leaves and grass swaying in the winds to some alluring weather effects. Spells could have been more visually impressive but that’s just me nitpicking.



The game always ran at ridiculously high fps on our review specs. The game only crashed once and that was during a consecutive seven-hour session. I haven’t experienced bugs or glitches of any kind. There are only a handful of settings to fiddle around with but I don’t think anyone will have a hard time running Druidstone.



When it comes to music and sound, Druidstone does a decent job. There’s nothing out of the ordinary and everything fits within the standard low-fantasy tropes. I like how little of the music is overused in maps which, a lot of indie games seem to do these days. There is no voice acting and the story is told through text-bubbles but fans of this genre will have no problem adjusting to that.

VERDICT


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.

 

[aweigh]

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.

 

[Skdursh]

Put about 5 hours into it. Don't like it at all.

Constant time limits = Fuck that
Escort missions. Missions. Plural. = Fuck that
Seemingly infinitely respawing enemies = Fuck that
All enemies on the map beeline for you immediately, there is no engaging distinct groups of enemies cause everyone gang bangs you immediately = Fuck that

I was legit excited for this, but it's the antithesis of what I want from a tactical game.

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

An even better question is why are either of you posting on or browsing Resetera? There are few places on the internet more cancerous than there.

Anyway, there is also a Twitch streamer / Youtuber named Sinatar who has some questionable opinions. Not sure if it's the same dude or not, but he is a bit "SJW-lite" at times, so if he's posting on Resetera too it makes sense. He does seem to have good taste in RPGs and retro games though.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

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.