Goblin's Die

I don't usually do nostalgia. There's a few things that will get me. Dungeon Siege is one of them. And this game totally gives me this Dungeon Siege vibe in the best way. But it's not gonna be for everyone, because it is very calm, slow-paced game and combats are often one-on-one affairs. In full disclosure, several copies were given to my curator by the developer. I am not bought for the price of a game, so you'll get my thoughts below, as unvarnished as they are. The original Dungeon Siege was a game that demanded a lot of your time. It was a Diabloid, a game played from a 3/4s camera angle, all the action in realtime, and a special map for cooperative play. Each player had one character, who had only a very basic set of skills: a melee weapon, a missile weapon, or two spells. Very basic stuff. The trips between waypoints were long, might take an hour or more, or it felt like it anyway. Still, Dungeon Siege was weirdly charming and kind of chill, and before I convinced her to become my wife, I played this with my best gaming buddy for hours and hours on end. This game is a lot like that. It's really quite chill. Combat is slow-paced, almost methodical, an attack every second or so from the player, every two to three seconds from the enemy. Enemy attacks can be parried, avoiding damage and automatically riposting as well, it's a major source of damage output from the player (especially if you forgo a shield for a second weapon). Enemies have some AoE attacks which must be avoided, a dodge works well, walking is better if you're on the edge. Parries and dodges cost stamina from a quickly-replenishing pool so you can't just flail wildly, some mindfulness is called for. Combats take a little while and are often one-on-one, so it's not the slayathon of Diablo. That said, the parry window is fairly generous. Enemies have a tell, though some more subtle than others, and rarely more than the one attack (the other attack some AoE affair you're meant to dodge out of). Once you've worked out the tell, you can easily telegraph attacks and get through fights with minimal damage. And, later on, your coop partner(s) can get healing abilities to help your royal goblin tankiness out. There's a metagame revolving around building up the goblin hive by donating newly-discovered materials. This opens up new facilities or improves the ones there are, and this is how characters are improved. There's no XP, no need for grinding beyond getting a handful of materials to build and donate one single prototype; goblins are socialist in the good way, and will allow other players to purchase previously found or made equipment with points earned by donating whatever other resources were lying around not being used. And so without having to grind endlessly and loot everything in sight, heck, resources respawn in an hour's time anyway, the game's really much more about exploration. There's shortcuts to discover, recipes for more effective weapons, maybe just things to see. It's quite composed, frankly, it's one of the chillest games I've played since I reviewed something about making cat-themed movie posters. I haven't really much in the way of complaint. Mostly, why one might need both a mantle and a jump button, that's probably my one sticking point. And shift is bound to rolling, but it's also used to single-select items from stacks, which means inventory management can involve unexpected rolls on the ground. Not a show stopper, goblins are weird little dudes, but it is kind of inconvenient in the Contribution Pit, the most socialist part of the game. So! What you've got is a slow-paced, relatively chill game despite the fighting. Even the rate at which upgrades and specializations are unveiled is slow. If you've got twitchy people who care about their action-per-minute rating, this is not for them. But if you've got some folk who can stick in a little goblin mob and really enjoy going off the beaten path, this is very much the game. I would have easily bought this on my own, frankly. And coop makes everything so much better, it's just science facts. Your support of my curator means I get more opportunities like this, so I'd be ever-so-grateful if you followed, presuming you haven't already. Besides, if you're down here, you're exactly the words-readin' sort I want to reach. You are my people. You'll find details in my profile, because, ah, I hate advertising. You know. Also some streaming, which is honestly really more of a chance for me to talk directly to folk. I don't do "content", uugh. One last thing: if you were wondering, as I was, yes "Goblin's Die," is intentional. It's not a green-grocer's apostrophe, there is a die, apparently, and the goblins wish to rebuild it. The whys and wherefores have not yet been explained. You're a goblin, not a philosopher. Stop wondering. Get back to bashing!

It was so engaging that I ended up playing it for 10 hours straight. I definitely recommend playing it in co-op mode, but the single-player campaign is also quite enjoyable. When I first played it, I could tell it was inspired by the RPGs I used to play as a kid; the combat style is exactly the kind I’ve been wanting to see in games again for a long time, and it’s been modernized by few QOL and leaving the dodging, parrying up to us.. It has a few minor flaws, but it works just as it should. Exploring is fun, and the way the biomes connect is beautifully done. I really liked the biome themes and the enemies and decent challenges. One of the issues I’ve been wondering if it’s a flaw or if I’m just missing something is equipment management. I really loved the Nature Staff, but the fact that the staffs that unlock later and all equipment in general get progressively stronger makes it feel like there’s no choice between elements or equipment types; it’s just a linear progression. In short, it’s more fun than I expected for the price, you’ll have even more fun playing with friends. We iz gobboz!

I was raging cause I couldn't open my chracter armor menu and said: "So "I" is inventory, why isn't C the stats or armor menu? Like Diablo set the baseline for it; "B" is bags, "C" is character" My friend says without skipping a beat: "It's "G" for goblin, it's not that hard to understand duh" 13/10, the dev outsmarted me *Actual good game, very great fun, you should just buy it, fun with friends

It is pretty dull, combat is boring and generic, didn't expect to be OP after an hour or anything but atleast something more then still swinging a club or stick around. Parry and dodge roll system aren't optimized, vaulting and mantling are not optimized, camera is manual only. It IS EA so maybe there is hope.

Short but sweet, its a great indie survival game, worth a playthrough for sure.

Jumping is very difficult, and the combat system still needs a lot of work. Parrying should be changed to the Right Mouse Button. There are many other things that need improvement too. I can't jump and grab ledges from a distance, which completely stops me from exploring. I've tried so many times that I'm just bored now

Hidden Gem. Great with Friends. Highly Recommend.

Хорошая игрушка, про гоблинов. Мало наиграл, но из того что видел, вижу что это не плохая первая попытка выданная разработчиками, и с большим нетерпением ожидаю выхода из раннего доступа в полный релиз. Из того что видел В игре хорошие боссы. Не плохая графика. Интересные задумки. Был бы рад увидеть в игре: русский язык; Больше вариаций развития билда на разных этапах игры; Углубление механики с мутациями.

I have played this one for just over 2 hours and so far I like it. **Art Design** The art design is fun and kind of silly, but in a good way. **Crafting and Progression** The crafting mechanics are pretty standard: gather and create. You do earn Hive EXP to level up your hive and this lets you level up your crafting benches. This EXP is earned by events in the world, missions, and donating items to the hive. **Music** The music that I have heard is somber and subdued. I don't mind it really. I only know what I have heard in the first area. **Controls and Combat** The controls are pretty expected for this kind of game. I DO want controller support though. I think it would help this game quite a bit. I want to play on my couch with my feet up. :) The combat so far is pretty basic, but I have only encountered three creatures. I expect that it will get more difficult and require more skill and fast roll moves as the game gets harder (controller please). **Technical Performance** I had one minor bug where it wouldn't let me craft food or build a bridge. This was fixed with a save and reload. I only saw this one time. Otherwise, no issues. **Value and Early Access** Price point is good. $15 is pretty easy to spend and take a chance on an early access game. I think so far, it is heading in the right direction. Let's see where they go with it. I will write more once I see more. Here is a video of my first 35 minutes if you are curious of what the game is like. https://youtu.be/ZpOz5KU7BCs

Surprisingly well made co-op 'crawler'. Resource management and gathering are not overwhelming, while quests and exploration are fun. It is janky, and combat is bare-bones but well worth the [regional pricing] it costs. Random highlights: [list] [*] Levels and its world are clearly inspired by well designed and interconnected games, such as Dark souls. Everything is connected, biomes 'make sense' in their world and shortcuts are abundant. You don't have to backtrack as often, you only need to explore very well. [*] It doesn't restrict where you explore, and if you want to break the game you are allowed to. Jump over walls you are supposed to open elsewhere or shoot enemies from on top of the walls. [*] Very MMO-lite behaviour from the enemies. You can't reliably dodge certain things, enemies reset if you move too far etc. This also shows itself in combat. You have to be stationary to attack. This compounds with jank where sometimes... it is just fun (like slowing & freezing an enemy to 'root' them in place). [*] Item and power-scaling is... weird? Most items give smaller, +1 or +2 bonuses. Sticking to a single type seems to be the intended progression method, upgrading and changing the type each biome. Coop status effect system also made sense (you couldn't always poison or bleed an enemy yourself instantly). This may hinder single play if it is not balanced there, I haven't tried. [*] Storage system seems generous at first, and while not debilitating even the 5 tab chest can get full. I think you are supposed to get rid of older/trash items/resources. There must be a better way to handle it. [/list] If you are at all interested in a fun little co-op experience to drag your friends along, do give it a try. I'm recommending it highly for co-op play with 3+ friends.