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 Trailer Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest is a brand spanking new tactical RPG from Ctr Alt Ninja, which includes some of the Finnish gents from development studio Almost Human that worked on the excellent dungeon romp puzzle RPGs Legend of Grimrock 1 & 2. Moving away from a first person real time dungeon crawler, Druidstone is instead a turn-based RPG with plenty of puzzles. The game has you lead three heroes in a quest to stop a malignant force that threatens to overwhelm and corrupt the forest they're sworn to protect. You move from mission to mission, each with its own challenges, puzzles, and bonus objectives. Check out a preview of the game here. Of note, one of the developers mentioned that they were inspired by a variety of board games, including the extremely popular coop dungeon crawler board game Gloomhaven. quote:While Grimrock was clearly inspired by classic grid-based dungeon crawlers, Druidstone owes much of its tactical gameplay to tabletop RPGs and board games, such as Dungeons & Dragons and HeroQuest. "We are avid board game players and Druidstone is certainly inspired by many of them," says Häkkinen. "We really like the compactness of board games, the small numbers, and the emergent complexity that arises from the seemingly simple rules." Having played a bit so far, I'm really enjoying the synergy between the three characters even with their starting abilities. Some of the bonus objectives have been tricky to pull off, but feel really rewarding when you finally figure the perfect combination of actions. The story is pretty light, but the writing's been solid so far, and much like with Grimrock, the music has been excellent.    Available from: The developer's website GOG Steam  Don't forget your scout character has an amulet that lets you reset the turn once per battle
Dreylad fucked around with this message at 20:37 on May 15, 2019 |
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May 15, 2019 20:34
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Really looking forward to playing this after I'm done with work. The Grimrock guys are seriously talented and I have high hopes for this.
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May 15, 2019 23:21
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I spent a few hours playing this tonight and I loving loved it. It's the D&D 4e game I always wanted but never got. Playing on hard and this game does not gently caress around. Getting the bonus objectives has indeed been tricky, but extremely satisfying to puzzle out. I love the Mage's teleport swap ability, it lets you do some galaxy brain plays. Ojetor fucked around with this message at 06:39 on May 16, 2019 |
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May 16, 2019 06:36
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I'm playing on normal because there are surprise spawns and I'd rather just learn about them without getting turbofucked on hard. Although from comparing notes with a friend, it seems like on hard monsters do more damage, but don't seem to get a health boost.
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May 16, 2019 06:45
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I like how there's no real consequence to defeat so you can rush in headlong and die horribly finding out what all the enemies do and then go in for your real try to clear it.
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May 16, 2019 08:02
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This looks neat! For those of you who are playing, two questions: 1) Can you backstab things? I rate video games almost entirely on the availability of backstabbing. 2) The mission-based structure looks like it either discourages or outright prevents grinding. Is this true? Or can you go back to previous missions?
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May 16, 2019 17:59
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This game does look pretty cool but gently caress it for existing, I want more Grimrock 
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May 16, 2019 18:04
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OzFactor posted:2) The mission-based structure looks like it either discourages or outright prevents grinding. Is this true? Or can you go back to previous missions? You can replay missions and try to get their bonus objective. No idea if you keep exp from redoing them though.
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May 16, 2019 18:08
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Ok you get xp, but at a reduced rate. You also get whatever gold you pick up off the ground. You can do bonus objectives you missed, but redoing ones you have already completed doesn't give you their rewards again. So technically you can grind, but it's really not worth it unless you are super close to another level or a few gold short for buying something. CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK fucked around with this message at 20:41 on May 16, 2019 |
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May 16, 2019 19:50
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OzFactor posted:1) Can you backstab things? I rate video games almost entirely on the availability of backstabbing. Not as far as I've seen, but I'm only a few hours in. Facing does not appear to be a thing in this game so literal backstabbing can be ruled out. I know there is an invisibility mechanic (I found an invisibility potion in a chest) so there's a chance for stuff that would do bonus damage out of invisibility which you could ostensibly count as backstabbing in the videogamey definition of backstabbing.
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May 16, 2019 20:57
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Combat in this game is sweet. Any protips? The cancer mechanic in the second mission is interesting.
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May 16, 2019 23:41
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Gyshall posted:Combat in this game is sweet. Any protips? The cancer mechanic in the second mission is interesting. As with most TBS games released since new X-Com the action economy is crucial and anything that breaks it is super important. Powers that grant additional actions or items which summon minions should be your first priority. I.E. One of the early vendor chests you can pick up adds a whistle to the shop that lets you summon three of those little blue furbies. They can't interact with levers or objectives, but they have special abilities, can attack, and can stand on pressure plates. Also, there is no penalty for missing bonus objectives or playing on a lower difficulty. The game lets you replay any mission at any time to clear remaining objectives or finish it on a high difficulty. I'd recommend playing on normal for maybe the first half dozen missions since handling the extra spawns and enemy HP is real tough before you get some extra abilities unlocked. Edit: oh, and remember that movement and actions can be performed interchangeably. Games like this don't usually allow it, but here you can do stuff like move two spaces, attack, then move two more spaces and use a free action like drinking a potion. Edit edit: Oiko (your little newt wizard guy) starts out with one of the best abilities in the game: Teleport. It's a free action that lets him trade places another creature within 5-6 squares. You can pull off tons of amazing positional high jinks with this power so don't forget it exists! Skippy McPants fucked around with this message at 12:16 on May 17, 2019 |
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May 17, 2019 06:48
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i'm not very far in, but it seems like various objectives are interesting puzzles but the beefier enemies have no particular solution aside from taking a couple turns to kill them while soaking up damage. there are damage boosts, but they are very small. also, the archer is only occasionally useful thus far because she takes 2 turns to kill anything by herself. i'm guessing better gear will change this, though i'm not sure if enemy hp will increase along with it.
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May 17, 2019 07:47
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Both your damage and enemy HP improves, but your team will outpace buy guys if you pick the right abilities, buy the right items, and equip the right gems. And yeah, the archer begins the game pretty weak. Part of the reason I wouldn't start out playing on hard unless you love suffering. She eventually gets Pierce (attacks ignore X armor) and Poison (debuffed enemies take +1 damage from attacks) options make her a lot more valuable. Edit: You can also put her bow away at the start and give her a 3 damage melee weapon in you want. Skippy McPants fucked around with this message at 08:10 on May 17, 2019 |
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May 17, 2019 07:52
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Thinking of picking this up. On the scale of Strategy (like Advance Wars or BATTLETECH) to Puzzle (like Into the Breach), where does this game mostly lie? I dig on the former, and not so much on the latter.
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May 17, 2019 22:06
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More ITB than Advance War, so it may not be your cup of tea.
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May 18, 2019 01:05
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I'd say it starts out more like Into the Breach, but becomes more like X-Com as you develop your party. You end up with a similar thing to X-Com 2 where every one of your characters has a bunch of special abilities and your overall toolbox is huge.
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May 18, 2019 01:31
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Idk how far some people are, but do you eventually get more permanent party members? I did the mission with the temp char thief and have the accessory that let's you summon him, but I am still hoping you get another char or two.
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May 18, 2019 01:51
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You do get at least one more. I'm maybe six or seven missions ahead of where you are and I just got a fourth permanent party member. Edit: awwww, they patched the game and nerfed the Willow Flute. It's still really good though. Skippy McPants fucked around with this message at 02:05 on May 18, 2019 |
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May 18, 2019 01:53
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Dreylad posted:More ITB than Advance War, so it may not be your cup of tea. Skippy McPants posted:I'd say it starts out more like Into the Breach, but becomes more like X-Com as you develop your party. You end up with a similar thing to X-Com 2 where every one of your characters has a bunch of special abilities and your overall toolbox is huge. Thanks for the heads up. I think I'm okay with something starting like a puzzle game since that says "tutorial" to me so you grasp concepts. I really enjoyed X-Com 2 so I may take a chance.
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May 18, 2019 02:35
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I actually just beat the game a few minutes ago, it was definitely a solid 15 hours of game. I really liked the way most missions were structured, it gives you goals, optional harder goals, and it's freeform how you approach it from there, with lots of flexibility in builds and weapons. I had it set to normal for the first 5 or so levels, which I felt was a fair challenge when I was learning the game, and upped it hard when I opened up more weapons and skills. Difficulty level, afaik, only affects the amount of HP enemies have. This is actually pretty good, because your damage doesn't scale up very far, which makes alpha striking with the mage not always the best option and you get to play with your toybox of skills and weapons to find effective synergies. The game isn't very lengthy, but new toys come at a pretty constant drip, each map is well crafted and have lots of variable approaches, and the game encourages you to replay old levels with your more kitted out team if you couldn't hit bonus objectives in the first go around, and it's got a very fun gameplay, with the game loop being a good mix of into the breach and divinity. The story is also fun, it's not very deep but not entirely barebones. It definitely reminded me of the old 2d final fantasy stories, with mostly flat but entertaining characters, a few twists here and there, and a couple of exposition dumps, which are serviceable. I enjoyed it for what it was though. So I can give this game a hearty recommendation, it's a fun turn based tactics game, has really good scaling of difficulty vs power, has great pacing, and each map tends to be unique and interesting to play. If you're on the fence, give it a go it's good
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May 18, 2019 17:08
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Can you name the characters in this game?
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May 18, 2019 17:13
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Haven't played much but enough to say you are able to name the first three characters
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May 18, 2019 17:19
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Sick.
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May 18, 2019 17:59
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The core combat is really solid so I can't wait for the mod tools to be released to see what people come up with. The consumables probably need some balance. They can range from 'okay, but not work going out of your way for' to 'holy poo poo this breaks the game in half'
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May 18, 2019 23:53
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Yeah, getting the Stop Watch, Anhk, or Skull out of a chest is so much better than the other options that it feels like a waste getting anything else... though the dynamite is okay too I guess. I'd say limit all of the mission-wide AoEs except maybe the Skull to a 3x3 squade.Onehandclapping posted:Difficulty level, afaik, only affects the amount of HP enemies have. This is actually pretty good, because your damage doesn't scale up very far, which makes alpha striking with the mage not always the best option and you get to play with your toybox of skills and weapons to find effective synergies. Higher difficulty also generates more enemies. Like that earlier level with the two basilisks; if you play it on hard there's an extra centipede tossed in. Skippy McPants fucked around with this message at 00:28 on May 19, 2019 |
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May 19, 2019 00:18
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Are the items you find for each chest fixed? I imagine the gameplay will be quite different depending on what you spend your early money on. I crutch real hard on the knockback / lightning bow and the warp maul for example.
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May 19, 2019 01:32
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xiw posted:Are the items you find for each chest fixed? I imagine the gameplay will be quite different depending on what you spend your early money on. I crutch real hard on the knockback / lightning bow and the warp maul for example. Random
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May 19, 2019 01:34
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Also is the stirling item steal thing any good?
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May 19, 2019 02:24
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I think he can only steal single-use items so not very. Honestly, playing on hard I never even have the free AP to use his regular steal ability.
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May 19, 2019 02:27
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Skippy McPants posted:I think he can only steal single-use items so not very. Honestly, playing on hard I never even have the free AP to use his regular steal ability. Right, I wasn't sure if it was stealing permanent equipment or potions and stuff.
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May 19, 2019 02:54
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EDIT: Got the bonus objectives for the first two "tutorial" missions. I'll probably use the "come back later" methods for the other ones if I need to, though. I'm not even past the first mission and apparently the bonus objectives are based on RNG. I THOUGHT the solution to "take no damage" was to have the archer save her AP for the next turn so she could fire twice. I thought I was very clever about that. NOPE, there's no such thing as saving, that only loses the AP. I did discover that enemies can sometimes drop free AP points, so it looks like the only way to get the bonus objective is to have a lucky free AP drop in the right place. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 05:30 on May 19, 2019 |
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May 19, 2019 04:44
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The way to get the bonus objectives on the first few missions is to level up and bit and come back later. I got the tutorial ones okay, although that first one with Take No Damage took five or six tries. What really did me in was the one where you have to kill a basilisk with, like, 20 health.
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May 19, 2019 05:19
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It's only 50 gold for that bonus objective. When I started the game I was getting frustrated I couldn't 100% every level on the first run but they're much easier when you get more powerful. Although by the time I had 5 missions or so finished I was completing all the objectives because my party was so powerful.
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May 19, 2019 05:21
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:I'm not even past the first mission and apparently the bonus objectives are based on RNG. I THOUGHT the solution to "take no damage" was to have the archer save her AP for the next turn so she could fire twice. I thought I was very clever about that. NOPE, there's no such thing as saving, that only loses the AP. I did discover that enemies can sometimes drop free AP points, so it looks like the only way to get the bonus objective is to have a lucky free AP drop in the right place. You don't need hope for the RNG free AP drop at all. Have the archer bait one of the enemies into following her. Also use guard on the ranger as getting hit for 0 dmg doesn't fail the bonus objective.
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May 19, 2019 05:23
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On the map screen, some missions have an "X" beside the symbols for "Gem" and "Gold". What does the "X' mean, though? I guess completed? Yeah, must be.CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK posted:You don't need hope for the RNG free AP drop at all. Have the archer bait one of the enemies into following her. Also use guard on the ranger as getting hit for 0 dmg doesn't fail the bonus objective. I got the bonus objectives for the first two missions, but I definitely needed the free AP point on the first mission; there were too many enemies to take out. I did make use of guard. I'm probably going to spend my power gems on Oiko's "Focus" and Leonhart's "Whirlwind" because an extra use of each sounds excellent.
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May 19, 2019 05:29
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Focus is fantastic and comboing it with fireball is  It becomes even better when you get +1 dmg for fireball. I'm glad the devs let you swap gems around your gear / skills at will so you can really experiment with them.
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May 19, 2019 05:37
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Grabbed this and put in a few hours today. I came here to post essentially what you guys are talking about: Some of the Bonus Objectives are nearly impossible without getting lucky or just coming back later to OP whatever is there with your new toys. I only knew you could come back to missions due to reading this thread, so I could see an improvement to the tutorials to literally say something like "You just failed a Bonus Challenge... but don't worry. You can come back later on when you are more powerful to try this mission again!" Skippy was right. A tiny taste of Into the Breach-like puzzle solving early on, but I've already made some gear choices that have let me do some of the missions in obviously unorthodox manners with success. Minus the literal logic puzzle that opens up fairly early (I'm assuming there will be more of these), of course. I'm really digging the "your entire team can move/attack/move until all your points are used up" after playing a lot of BATTLETECH over the last couple of weeks. You can really do some hilarious BS with the trade places free action that feels like cheating because of this freedom. If you dig turn based strat games, this is a real gem.
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May 19, 2019 05:43
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I thought I would get less-focused and more broad game like Divinity: OS2, but Into-the-Breach-like is cool too I guess.
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May 19, 2019 13:28
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 01:24 |
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I really like the gem system. It’s simple but every gem matters
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May 19, 2019 15:36
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