The Grindstone

LSS: If you like multiple paths of progression, mmo style, get it. If you do not like to grind, first of all look at the name of the game one more time and then stop yourself. I love character progression, especially when there are more than one ways to do so. I love emergent stories in games where I'm not too sandbagged by someone else's idea of morality, intrigue, justice or romance etc. That's not to say that I don't love a good story but I'd rather have the option to pick my own path, even if the end is the same. Grindstone is amazing at character progression and servicable in emergent storytelling. For those on the fence who may want details, the character selection is avatar locked classes with different races representing different class pools for each race. Humans have an avatar for each class, Amzar (desert elves?) Dark Elves and Monster races only get a few classes and white people Elves get just a few shy of everything. The Monster races have OP stats and take experience penalties to compensate, except the Goblin which pays for it's bonus with it's life. The Classes are both the typical and expected, accompanied by some unique options, namely, the Enchanter, Dark Elf Necromancer and Ogre Chieftain. There are two types of action economy, Instant and Basic. You can take an instant action the moment you select it in the menu, while Basic actions fire off based on the character's place in the party's turn order, usually taking the place of your standard attack action. The turns are bifurcated between enemy and ally turns with no mixing or 'initiative' style. Party goes, then enemies or Vv. You learn class abilities as you level and each of these abilities level, individually, through use. You also earn Veteran Points from level 1 but cannot spend them until level 30, for minor stat increases. Sounds great right? It is. Some things I don't like though: Leveling the abilities is kind of a charade. You will get new abilities that are stronger or as strong as the level 20 ability you've been building up this whole time. Class and progression design makes it mathematically disadvantageous to play anything other than a Bard or Chieftain because you earn veteran points based on how many abilities you used in the fight. Those two classes can earn triple or double the veteran points, dealing damage several times or putting out party heals and thus can max out passives earlier, rendering other classes irrelevant in progression tracks and general utility (except enchanter, which is useful no matter how few upgrades you give them.) That's not to say you can't succeed without them, it's just less efficient to use other classes. Quests are usually drop quests (bring me 25 of this or that) This is fine til about level 20 when both the spawn rate of the specific monsters decreases and the rarity of the drop that you need from that rare monster increases meaning you might grind for several hours to get 25 of them. It's almost always 25 of them too. Also around level 20, the resource points (like fishing spots or mining) start becoming random drops so you might mine for several hours to get 25 crystals or fish for several hours to get 25 'Dwemer fish'. The rewards for your effort range from access to an additional collect quest or are ok, but not amazing, equipment. There are some bugs that are mildly infuriating as well. I had one where I changed out my weapon on a character, tried out the new one for a fight or three and put the old one back on, only to do less than a third of the damage on the original weapon as I was doing with it before from then on. But I still like it.

Не уверен, что игру прям рекомендую, однако, судя по тому, что я наиграл в нее 60+ часов, она мне понравилась. Однако, я сам не понимаю, почему, потому что в ней недостатков больше, чем плюсов. Сказать о ней можно следующее: + Достаточно сложная, и это хорошо + Неплохой крафт + Много предметов, комплектовать пати нужными шмотками - доставляет + Хорошая музыка - Ужасный дизайн большей части локаций, возможно, худший, который я когда-либо видел в играх на rpg maker - Способности персонажей однообразны, их мало, они повторяются, например у мага - только боевые заклинания, и по сути, ты будешь использовать только одно. У вора - 3 вида одинакового яда и способности типа "2 удара", "3 удара", "4 удара", у некроманта - 5 видов способностей с DoT механикой, которые особо не отличаются (разве что одна снижает ловкость) - Ряд игровых механик практически не работают, например, уклонение во второй половине игры почти никогда не случится, если только у вас нет барда и чародея, которые дополнительно разгонят ловкость и уклонение. DoT урон не выгоден по факту, так как прямой урон в 95% случаев будет профитнее, разве что в очень затяжных боях - и то не факт. Мана становится не нужной ближе к середине игры (разве что на спам ultima), многие монстры имеют невидимый резист к шансу получить критический удар (но крит шанс разгонять все равно нужно, он тащит) - Игра очень медленная - анимации боя медленные, перемещение по карте (вне города) - медленное; при том, что вам придется часто ходить туда-сюда +- Игра в первую очередь по гринд (это даже следует из названия), и это нужно иметь в виду +- В игре нет сюжета, но есть квесты, которые примитивны, но напоминают что-то вроде паззла - когда надо выполнить один, это откроет доступ к другим - и так далее. Награда - часто хорошая, порою, это топовые шмотки +- Игра становится резко сложнее к последней трети. Чтобы убить финального босса придется, скорее всего, очень много фармить опыта и эликсиров Таким образом, на словах - будто игра не очень, но парадокс - я ее "прошел" два раза, а значит - что-то в ней есть

It´s a nice game. Good character progression and rewarding loot. You create a party of 4 from a solid selection of classes and move out into the world. Dungeon crawler style of gameplay with side quests that reward you with more loot and means of progressing the game world.

Another successful game from this developer. Recommended!

The perfect game for someone like me. Minimal story and a focus on gameplay. Satisfying gameplay loop. Just a heads up for Deck users, the game does seem to crash occasionally. It's a known problem for certain versions of rpgmaker. It hasn't detracted from my enjoyment however. Highly recommended if you like grinding and number go up dopamine hits.

So retro rpg, little to no story, wide array of classes that have different foci and synergies. Make a party of four travel and level up. Its fun and relaxing to play I strongly recommend it as long as you aren't expecting it to be something other that what it is. Side note I found the crafting/gathering aspect of the game mildly tedious.

great game.

This reminds me of classic rpg i used to enjoy back in the day with 4 party character. Just started the game, will update again once i get far into the game*