Crooked Bee
(no longer) a wide-wandering bee
Add me on the list of those who enjoy the combat. I particularly enjoy the pace. So far (I'm only on floor 4, though), it is fast paced yet never feels too frantic even with an all-mage party. Maneuvering around several enemies is helluva fun. Kudos to the developers for balancing the enemies' speed so well.
I must admit I was skeptical about the game before release; I fully expected it to have pretty graphics but no substance. I was wrong. Grimrock is an incredibly enjoyable game for its subgenre. My only complaint is that the dungeon is a bit too adventurer-friendly and not dangerous enough so far, but this may change later. In any case, I really hope they do an expert level scenario akin to Chaos Strikes Back next, more dangerous and non-linear from the get-go. But that would probably be too good to be true.
I'm pretty sure that's a conscious design decision; like it or not, the game is supposed to test your reflexes and mouse handling skills. Just imagine how trivial combat would be with hotkeys for runes and melee attacks; the player would just steamroll over everything. I can see how it may not be everyone's kind of game, but I don't think it's bad UI design. If anything, the game feels to me pretty well-balanced around this particular element.
I must admit I was skeptical about the game before release; I fully expected it to have pretty graphics but no substance. I was wrong. Grimrock is an incredibly enjoyable game for its subgenre. My only complaint is that the dungeon is a bit too adventurer-friendly and not dangerous enough so far, but this may change later. In any case, I really hope they do an expert level scenario akin to Chaos Strikes Back next, more dangerous and non-linear from the get-go. But that would probably be too good to be true.
But not providing hotkeys and forcing you to click with your mouse for every single melee attack? That is just bad UI design.
I'm pretty sure that's a conscious design decision; like it or not, the game is supposed to test your reflexes and mouse handling skills. Just imagine how trivial combat would be with hotkeys for runes and melee attacks; the player would just steamroll over everything. I can see how it may not be everyone's kind of game, but I don't think it's bad UI design. If anything, the game feels to me pretty well-balanced around this particular element.