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some positive Steam reviews:

There was a time when I thought that “Grimoire” was just a collection of mad ramblings from a crazed survivalist who’d been exposed to some bad fumes in his DIY bunker. But the day came when this product of endless delays and near superhuman hyperbole actually was released. And contrary to common belief, this was not in fact followed by the Rapture.

So how to describe this… thing? Grimoire is a time capsule. It is a perfectly vacuum-sealed piece of 1990’s. It is not nostalgia, it is the real deal. It is a remnant from a time where games dared to be colorful and imaginative. And like the games it draws inspiration from, it is unabashedly clunky, challenging and hard to approach. Unwary player can easily create a party that will not be able to survive the first fight in the game. Figuring out why something works or doesn’t work is a mystery that each player needs to solve.

On the other hand, it is the kind of game that never would’ve existed otherwise. Any sane developer would’ve cut features left and right and trimmed the length into a more manageable portion. But instead you are served with a game where none of those compromises were made. There is a reason why it took 25 years to make.

This game is certainly not for everyone. In fact most people will probably absolutely hate it. But for the few of us who started playing RPGs in the 80’s and early 90’s, it is like discovering a new game that you missed back in the day. And even better, it runs on “modern systems” and comes with several quality of life features that you could only dream of back then (automapping, in-game journal, automatic pathwalking)…

Even when judged on Wizardry standards, the game has plenty of flaws. Combat can be wildly imbalanced, depending on how you build your party. It is not possible to get feedback on many things, so you’re left guessing on why your attacks are failing. Your party can be wiped with a single attack AND you can wipe the enemy boss with a single attack yourself, if you play it smart. Many of Grimoire’s myriad of skills and systems are rather unrefined and don’t really bring much to the table. And some of the maps are rather sparse with interesting content. And so forth. But in the end those flaws are exatly the same as in other games we grew up playing with. If you’ve grown used to dealing with them in the past, it won’t be too much of an issue now.

Grimoire is an experience. It is a historical event that will never reoccur. Even if you hate it, you should still appreciate the fact that it was actually made. At least some glimmer of magic still remains in this tired old world.

This review is based on a total of 31 hours played.

Grimoire is a game with a lot of history. Both it and its creator have had a lot of controversy surrounding them. Whether it be the extremely long development time, the broken promises, or the creator’s personal (but publically) stated views. All of that has sparked a very active flamewar for the past 20 years. I ask that fellow gamers disregard all that stuff, or if you wish to enter the flame war, well, no one can stop you, but do not let your own personal opinions change your view of this game.

I’ll start it by saying I haven’t finished this game. Not even close. 31 hours in, while save scumming and asking for help and I’ve just barely completed the first area of the game, and something around a 10th of the main ‘quest’ in the game. My location flag has barely moved on the world map. The creator promises 600+ hours of game time, which I can barely imagine. The least that can be said about this game is that it is imaginative in scope.

Gameplay is brutal. While you have a total of 8 characters in your party, all of them custom made, and still, a single encounter that goes badly can still ruin your day. Even random encounters unprepared can seriously turn into a challenging fight. Characters WILL die, and you’ll revive them, only to have them die again. Depending on how badly it goes, they might even end up dying permenantly!!!! Loot is rare, good loot is even rarer. You’ll jump for joy at finding a weapon that is better than what you started with, or groan in desperation when a new weapon that looks awesome turns out to be cursed. You’ll scream at the screen as your best damage dealer does 0 damage to an enemy because they’re too tired, and probably cuss when your mage blows all his mana on a spell that fizzles in the end. Yes ladies and gentleman, this is an RPG of the old school variety. It gives you all the time in the world to pick every single action for your characters, then laughs at you after failing.... or applauds you for succeeding.

This is an RPG of the old school variety. Party development is reliant entirely on the player. Characters do not have amusing stories to tell, save the ones you create in your head or ones that happen in the game. Stat and skill points are doled out in dribbles, and it is up to you to share them around on a horde of skills that you might need. Every decision matters, and the game does not suffer fools.

This is not Dragon Age, or Mass Effect. This is not a 3d movie wrapped up in action scenes, this is not a loot fest like the Diablos. Not that those games are bad, but they are all an RPG and something.... Grimoire, on the other hand, is RPG. Only RPG.

So put on your wizard robe and wizard hat, bring out your dice, and start rolling up your party. I promise you, you will not be disappointed.

PROS:-
- Old school RPG
- Huge
- Fiendish puzzles
- Developer is quick to respond to bugs and issues
- Interesting races/classes

CONS:-
- Sound is repetitive and annoying
- NPC interaction takes a while to get used to
- Some bugs are bound to crop up (one man team made this)
- You’ll feel lost.... A LOT.

P.S. A lot of people have complained about the price of the game. I’m 31 hours into the game and have just finished the first ‘area’ and started on the second (so you’re talking a minimum of what? 300-600 hours of game)… Either way, it seems to be way bigger than most triple A games, so IMO, it is worth the price.