Recent reviews by Sassy Corn 423

At first glance, this game looks and feels like the revamp Path of Exile needed to bring it into the foreground of action hack and slash RPGs.
The visuals are stunning; the abilities have a crunch to them that gives you a real sense of how hard you're hitting when you press the button.
As an added bonus, if you were apprehensive about migrating to PoE2 because (like me) you'd spent an inordinate amount of money on microtransactions and stash tabs, don't worry - they're waiting for you in PoE2, to encourage you to make the transition...

And the positives pretty much stop there.
It is a clunky, slow, unbalanced mess with all the RNG faux-pas you come to expect with Path of Exile, coupled with crashes, inability to go back to town, trouble making parties, map-specific events not spawning; it's a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

I would be patient to wait for these bugs to fix (this is an Early Access game after all), except GGG seems to think that the priority right now is nerfing abilities - bearing in mind characters are wiped at the end of Early Access; how powerful skills are right now have *zero* impact on actual post-release gameplay; not the builds, not the economy; nothing. And that's what they focus on fixing.

An actual joke of a release, with none of the redeeming qualities we've come to expect from Path of Exile. Maybe when the devs pull their heads out of their asses and fix the actual problems with the game, instead of skills that are no more broken than the mob-suffix combinations, this game might be worth the time; it sure as ♥♥♥♥ isn't worth the supporter pack.

TL;DR: Everything you love about Portal, with the gloves off. Play it. It's incredible.

Okay, I held off writing this review until after I completed it, but I've been itching to sing it's praises since I first got stuck on a puzzle for an hour.

You've no doubt played Portal and Portal 2 by the time you've found yourself here, so imagine playing more of that, but with the mind bending element of a time portal.
Portals in the future don't affect the present, but replacing the present day portals replaces the future ones, meaning you have essentially 2 present portals, 2 future portals, and a time portal at your disposal. It gets crazy complicated to keep track of your portals, and the present / future states of the objects you'll encounter, but with handy 'ghost views' of them in the other timelines, you get accustomed to planning in 4 dimensions fairly quickly.

If you thought you were clever playing the series so far, this game will make you re-evaluate your talent for puzzle-solving. These puzzles are hard. I was stuck for a solid hour on at least 3 different occasions. Some of the solutions require pragmatic planning and quick execution, only to realise you've positioned everything perfectly in the wrong timeline or with the future cube instead of the present one.
But when you crack it, you can feel those ridges on your brain forming. You're seeing things differently. You're smarter now.
And it just keeps going. Every puzzle you feel like a gorilla walking in and a genius walking out.

Thematically, it's so on-the-money with the voice-acting and the storyline. It's a little short, but for what is essentially a free mod, it's nothing to scoff at. It feels like an organic extension of the portal series, and the narrator is so on-character for the game I'm amazed this isn't an official Valve release.

If you find the time to lose some time scratching your head, feeling like a moron, having your brain removed, smushed, kicked across the room like a hockey puck and popped right back in your head so you can go through it all again in a little while, then...

Play this game.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What an absolutely mind-bending, creative and inspirational game.

This game uses perspective, portals, camera tricks and non-euclidean play-space to create what I can only describe as a poetic and abstract interactive story that will really get you thinking.
The use of Escher and Penrose-esque themes, rooted in the idea of lucid dreaming, gives this game all the substance it needs to feel real, while weaving this wonderful metaphor along the way.

If you like having your world-view challenged, and like thinking outside the box, you should definitely play this game.

Long Story Short: Buy it.
If you found Diablo 3 too easy, with it's over-generous loot and overpowered critical scaling; this is definitely the game for you. Play Diablo 3 long enough, and you start to think you *are* a demi-god. You'll be shown no such mercy in Grim Dawn. It's a soldier's life, and it's tough.

The game is a little easy on normal mode; but you can scale up to veteran for an extra boost in mobs, champions and phat lewtz.
Even though it's still in early access, I am amazed by the detail in Grim Dawn; the landscapes are breathtaking; the maps are mazelike and complex, and the gameplay is fast-paced, energetic and intense.

I can't comment much on the story, as I'm still caught up in side-quests and exploring, but from what i've seen; there's a lot of attention to detail in every aspect of this game, and if you want an immersive experience; this is definitely worth a shot.

I can't wait to see what else Crate Entertainment has in store with future updates to this, because I have a feeling this could go big.

* * * * *
This game is all kinds of beautiful!
It's still an early beta; but the potential is definitely there. The art style is absolutely breathtaking; the characters are cute and friendly; the gameplay is easy to learn and the possibilities are endless!

Even the little things like: when you're walking through a desert; ripples of heat are emitted from the hot desert sand, warping the view in the distance.
I love the way the materials blend from one to another; sand and stone in the same block create an overlay with both in them; same with ores embedded in rocks.
The craftable items already implemented are lovely; and I can't wait to get stuck in building an enormous mansion to house them all; and of course, invite my friends to join me!

Definitely one to watch out for in the coming months.
Would Recommend.