Grimshade is a story-driven tactical RPG featuring a turn-based combat system and non-linear progression, set in a fantasy world. Lead a group of adventurers on a journey through the world of Ree'Fah.
Now that the Switch has really put together quite an impressive line-up of RPGs, whether AAA or indie, traditional turn-based or tactical, making a big splash in the space is getting tough...
I admire a fair amount of what developer Talerock and publisher Asterion Games put into Grimshade. It’s a title very much in the style of something using the Infinity Engine, a design choice that’s come back into fashion in recent years. Where it unfortunately needs some improvement is in a few technical details, plus its localization.
Grimshade is a love letter to the JRPGs of the '90s. Trouble is it's one that wasn't as eloquently written as it should. The weak-to-decent presentation cannot be fixed, of course, but there's some hope for this, if the developer ever heavily rebalance the tactical battles.
Grimshade is, in a word, a mess. There are seeds of good ideas that can be seen in the world writing and combat, and the art and side quests are mostly good. However, mountains of dry writing, numerous translation errors, bugs, performance issues, and the overall lack of depth to the combat make the experience drag. What's truly a shame is there is...
As a result of my issues with the game, I have to give Grimshade a 6 out of 10. It was meant to be challenging and different, but this isn't a game that frustrated me in a good way. Unlike XCOM 2 where players had to pray that their 98% chance to hit would actually be successful, this game frustrated me in its overall design and not its mechanics.
Now,...
