With the double-edged sword that is Early Access, it is great seeing that it does work when used right.
It took me about 14-15 months to pull the trigger on grabbing this game, as I was not sure which end of the spectrum Grim Dawn would fall on. I am happy to say that - after being patient - this game is to me everything Early Access was called into life for.

If you are an avid ARPG fan like myself, I find it hard to make a case against buying Grim Dawn, even though it is technically unfinished. The content available presently is quite fleshed out, considering how much more there is to come. I find myself collecting an insurmountable amount of items, just so I can prepare for the next character build I have in mind. That is not to say the game makes you play alts in order to get the most out of it, rather it is a testament to how the build diversity makes you want to experiment and gets you excited to try other things. You are free to make a 'pure' build, using ony one class, or supplement it with one or more skills/passives of another class. Alter your skills' damage type to make it mesh better with your ideal build, or change the way it works entirely, making your big AoE skill a continuous basic attack. The Grim Dawn world is your oyster.

While Grim Dawn has its flaws, like any other ARPG, it absolutely nails that which it strives to be. It's grim, very much so. Many of the choices you get to make during quests have a sense of moral ambiguity. Some more or less than others, but a refreshing breeze in the genre, which often relies on simple "Kill X mob or boss" quests as you trot down the storyline. Not in Grim Dawn. Well, at least not in its entirety. Many of these quests certainy fall into the well-known standard we all experienced. Others have you decide on lives and allow you to shape the game to an extent. You can end up with more or less people in the game as you decide on whether or not to save them. You may or may not get access to a certain item if you decide to choose a particular path. It certainly allows for you to experience a slightly altered world next time around, adding to the replayability.

But what does all of this mean in the larger scope? We all look towards ARPG's for the same thing, I would think. Killing stuff, lots of it, in order to get stuff to kill more stuff faster and/or more efficiently. Grim Dawn certainly provides plenty of both. There are lots of armor sets to collect, some of which allow you to completely change your playstyle, sometimes in a way that seems counter-intuitive at first. It's in these details that the game shows its true self. The small mechanics that could change the way you think about some of the skills in the game, which you will likely only discover a good while into the game. Are you not concerned with these mechanics? That's ok, the game lends itself perfectly to those who simply want to barge through the game wreaking havoc. It's all up to you.

For those of you who are on the fence about the game, in regards to its similarities with Titan Quest, I can only say this: Grim Dawn is no less than a worthy spiritual successor to Titan Quest. It adds plenty, from a new narrative, new classes and areas, to new mechanics and playstyles. All in keeping with its roots, and building on that solid foundation that many of us look back on so fondly. This is not the same game, but it 'was' built with the same eye for detail and the same type of devotion to the genre we know from Titan Quest. It was made by people who love the game, for people who love the game. If you ask me, that's how you get a good game. Which leads to my verdict as the game stands at the time of writing this review:

A solid 8.5/10 Highly recommended for fans, certainly worthwhile still for those with a passing interest.

If they keep up the hard work, and after implementing the announced features and planned content, I might bump it up to a solid 9/10.

This game is really polished so far.
~~~All the classes are pretty cool.
~~~Has variety of builds
~~~Cool healing mechanic
~~~Very Challenging if you turn on the Veteran mode
~~~World looks very dark and gloomy which i love
~~~Some boss have cool mechanics
~~~Decent Crafting system
And if you are fan of ARPG like diablo, path of exile, torchlight, titan quest !!!! This game is a must buy !!!! You won't regret buying this game :)

And even if you're not ! :)

I play GD for quite a while now and I must say I'm enjoying it since the fisrt day, even if at that time the max level was 15 !
I always felt the great potential of the game and Crate, an eight guys team with some Iron Lore Entertainment veterans (Titan Quest dev), never dissapointed my hopes and beliefs. Those guys know their works and they always interacting with the community since the begining of the development. Results ? Even in Early Acces, GD is more polished than lot of released games (unfortunately) :

• Mature, dark and beautiful, the world of Cairn is a wonderful place to hoard your loots
  
• Five very nice classes with great synergies allowed by the dual class system (check the skilltree )
  
• a little rpg aspect with some consequences to your choices
  
• a very insterresting Faction system that will start to shine in the next buil (b25)
  
• a crafting system that's getting deeper and deeper since the begining with a recipes based crafting for equipment and consumables
  
• a great lore with a variety of monsters and numerous hero monsters
  
• the modding tools coming at release will increase the game longevity... maybe a new "Lilith" will come !
  
• the game is FUN ! :)
  
• and it will be even more fun at release !

The only cons for me is the limited stash tabs (4). For hoarder like me it might be frustrating... but mods will save our loots !

Grim Dawn took the best of Titan Quest and Diablo serie and add a lot of great additions that make it mandatory in your games collection ! So don't hesitate and help the Crate team because they deserve it. Really.

"You are one such individual. Blessed, or perhaps cursed, by the touch of Aetherial influence, you have powers and strength beyond that of normal men. It is now up to you to take this fearsome potential and use it against the enemies of humanity. Will you be the one to save Cairn from its grim fate? Or is humanity doomed to extinction ?

ps: sorry for my english !

[24 hours on record, 3 classes played]

I'll get right down to it and add my voice to those heralding vast amounts of praise to Grim Dawn. Anyone who enjoyed Diablo II, Torchlight I/II and Path of Exile will definitely enjoy this title.

Even in its Early Access state, Grim Dawn has much to offer: Interesting classes, a gorgeous world shown via a great high-fidelity engine, quests aplenty, and a storyline that shines with promise as you slash your way through towns and villages, grasslands, swamps, caves, and highlands - with many more zones on the way judging by the in-game map.

Oh, and we mustn't forget the Shineys! Loot. Tons of loot. Seriously, bring a truck.

edit - le sigh, farewell to Wyn, my lvl 27 Battlemage. Loving the Hardcore mode :)

This game is great, hands down. It works in the 'Diablo style' without feeling like a clone or a knock off. Let's face it, there are really two names right now when it comes to the Diablo-esque ARPGs - Path of Exile and Diablo 3 (all right, so Diablo 2 is still going, I know, but we're talking modern). I like this one because it manages to not feel like either of those titles.

-The pacing is decent - I keep moving forward and it never really feels like I'm slowing down.

-The loot system feels tight, I get upgrades at a fairly regular pace but you never seem to know when that awesome piece will be around the corner. The item upgrades that you find are also interesting and useful right off the bat. I never feel like I should hoard them because I'm always finding something new. I'm sure down the road there will be big bad endgame style pieces but for now it's managing to stay fun.

-The class system. That's where this game really shines. I've been making new characters and playing them to level ten to experiment with the mix-n-match the game provides and so far it's been a positive experience. Things I wouldn't mind seeing in the future - a little more information regarding how certain classes synergize with eachother, what skills play well with others, etc. It's early on right now so I'm not as worried about it (and let's face it, theorycrafting is half the reason fansites exist) and I'm having fun with the experimentation.

-No persistent online connection. I cannot stress how awesome this is. Will it lead to some cheating? Probably. Do I care about that when I just want to play by myself or with a few buddies? Not in the slightest. Considering that the place I live has terrible internet having a proper Single Player Mode is absolutely crucial, my ping time can get over 1000ms and I don't need to explain how quickly that will get you killed in D3 or PoE. With this game I don't have to worry about it, just fire it up and away I go.

So far so good guys. It's amazing to see what's been done (especially considering the age of the engine running underneath the hood) so far and I'm really looking forward to what the future holds. Well worth the price tag.

An incredible game that doesn't take much ressources (yet). The backstory is very well written and the universe is fascinating, not the mention the mechanics are perfectly well executed.

The developpers always take the time to listen to the community, which is nice of course.

I definitely recommend to those who have enjoyed Titan Quest or is familiar with the hack'n'slash genre. It is a must-buy.

If you played and liked Diablo II and Titan's Quest then I highly recommend this game to you. If you did not play either of them dont fret, this game is a great one to get started into aRPGs.

It's not finished but what is currently playable is very polished and fun. At first the game is fairly easy and then progressively gets more difficult. The boss fights are simliar to Titan's Quest and are replayable so you can revisit them time and time again for loot drops.

I did play Titan Quest games first (that's how I found out about this game, as it is made by the same guys) before buying this one. The most important thing I want to say to all who are still considering buying or haven't yet decided - THIS GAME IS WORTH OF ITS MONEY:

- It's fun
- it looks very good (better than on videos here, actually. the devs should upload new ones )
- it is constantly updated, the devs team listents to ppl, you can see that they are devoted to their work
- the atmosphere of the game is pretty cool. It's darkish and not cartoonish like let's say Torchlight.
- there are no bugs as of the moment of me writing the review

One of the best features is that all classes in game feel unique. And what's even better is that you can combine 2 diff classes as u progress through the game. Thus you would probably spend more time in this game trying all the classes than in other rpg's.

Best Action RPG in a long time for me. 10/10

Grim Dawn is an excellent game! I highly recommend it! Well Worth the money ! It's Diablo 2 on crack!!!

ANy Fan of Diablo 1 and or 2 especially if you were a fan of diablo 2 expansion then this is a MUST HAVE ABSOLUTE MUST HAVE!!! The creator of this game is amazing and he/she should have designed diablo 3 because as we all know that game was sub par.

I simply love this game. It's Diablo done right. Great characters, interesting story and for an early access game, allowing me to enjoy almost 50 hours of game, that's amazing.

Great and fun gameplay, great visuals and surprisingly good sound effects and mix.

Thanks for a great game so far devs! Looking forward to give it another go as soon as more content is available.

Get it and enjoy it!

The engine is solid and virtually bug-free, and the combat is visceral. Character builds allow for a fair amount of theory-crafting and I'm looking forward to seeing the game finally emerge from beta.

I bought Grim Dawn after watching a Twitch stream. Having not heard of this game before I spent some time researching as I have been burned by early access games before. After reading and watching and rinsing and repeating I finally broke down and bought Grim Dawn. I have not been disappointed so far. The game is visually stunning and controls very well. It does not hold your hand and requires exploration and actual reading of the quests. The world is also an open one with load screens only when entering caves or dungeons. Transportation is alieviated by a nice portal system though, which makes getting around to those areas already discovered a breeze. The skill system seems very robust allowing for a mashup of two specs (unlocked at level 10) and making or breaking your build interesting and rewarding. It seems like the developers are quite active in rolling out updates. Like any early access game though, I am sure there are problems which I havn't encountered or noticed yet. So as I do recommend this game, remember do your own homework. Grim Dawn is a nice breath of fresh air in the stale ARPG realm. 3.8/5 Bitz

So far the most engaging of the diablo-clones, could use a couple pointers from path of exiles combat system but otherwise really nice.

Classes are well crafted, lots of customisation, you can boost yourself quickly if you are lazy and join multiplayer groups, your single player characters can be multiplayer if you want, its easy to do.

I like how they have a simple respec system, content is great, i can micromanage stats and skills to my hearts desire and i can feel the difference, its the ARPG to buy folks, my favourite out of TL2, D3 and PoE!

My only issue is with online people going invisible in multiplayer after you die and respawn, but its hardly a serious issue.

Definetly worth a buy, especially considering this is the devs first game and the more successful it is the better they can make sequels and the like, Crate is a very promising dev team, and a surprisingly small team too!

Grim Dawn

+ Like diablo and dungeon siege
+ Nice sound effect
+ Nice graphic
+ Good AI
+ Weather rain, thunder

- Music not good enough

video gameplay peek :
http://youtu.be/ptDNDMyTQzo

Yes as you can see this game is D3 like game. Many of the most popular WOW/Diablo clone are just pale imitations compare to their older brother, but this game is the exception the confirms the rule. Despite its ressemblance to D3, it bring new story, new environments and some features. At beginning this game may look confusing with new spell mechanics, new name, new gems crafting system that is quite different from Diablo. But if you read carefully and take the chance to fight and learn your caracter , the mechanics become obvious.

My only complain is the lack of content(its early access so its normal)

All the rest of the game is smooth and graphicly enjoyable. I recommend this game, but if you want to play a full finished and polished game...give it some time as we are not even close to the final version, but the best is yet to come.

I got this game on sale for 13$ and it was well worth it..I strongly recommend for you to wait for this game to be on sale..well in its current state.

Titan Quest 2!
Nice lore, addicting grind :D

Was I the only one walkin on those coridors with the fear that i might meet the Blacksmith, protecting his hammer?

I've waited for so long for another game to deliver this atmosphere and game experience, as Diablo 1 and 2 did.
Great job, 10/10.

This is the spirtual sucessor of Titan Quest, or as I like to say what diablo 3 should have been. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed D3 and its artistic campaign. However for those who are looking for a more traditional dungeon crawling loot gathering dark atmosphere Grim Dawn is your choice. This is a well polished early access and one worth purchasing. The deve's are very open and give out bi weekly information on their progress. Trust me when I say this is one development team that truly cares about player feedback.

Do yourselves a favor and purchase this guy a definate sold 8/10 in its current form.

I have been playing a lot of Action RPG's lately, Diablo 3, Van Helsing, Torchlight 2, Path of Exile so I would call myself a fan of this genre for sure. I got Grim Dawn yesterday (4/6/15) and at this time have played 6 hours and have reached level 20.

A lot of people like to use reviews of games of this type to trash talk other games (mainly Diablo 3) but my focus will be a little different because of all the games I listed above they all have something about them that I like so what do I like about Grim Dawn?

Looks- the art style is similar to Path of Exile and Van Helsing in that it's realistic and in this game also incredibly enjoyable to look at, the monsters themselves have very interesting models and one I like a lot in particular is the insect swarms, this is the only game I have played in which I have actually been somewhat intimidated by a massive swarm of insects. The game also has a weather system and a day/night cycle which makes certain areas incredibly pretty one minute and then extremely spooky the next.

Difficulty, even on normal if you aren't careful you can and will be destroyed especially by bosses which all seem to have unique and somewhat challenging mechanics which makes me pay attention and I find that incredibly enjoyable.

The Class System-being able to stick with one class or have a secondary class really opens the door for a number of unique combinations and the skill system is very unique in that you can choose to give an ability a different effect but it could also add a cooldown or make your enemies run faster so you have to experiment with different abilites and see which customizations fit your playstyle and if you put a point somewhere you don't like, you can easily refund it in town so it's no big deal.

combat- Fighting is fast paced and fairly intense, mobs can swarm you easily and because some have unique abilities to me it never feels dull.

Overall I think the game in it's current state is worth the purchase and I haven't even gone very far into it yet. So far I have already encounted quests that have choices that have changed the game somewhat and I enjoy that, there has been multiple occasions where I could choose to help someone or kill someone and because I only can choose one it makes me want to play a different character and see what would happen if I chose the opposite which gives it replayability for sure.

If you are a fan of Action RPG's I highly recommend this game.