Grimlord

About

Grimlord is a single player role playing game. It was developed by Metalcat Interactive Co.,Ltd and was released on December 19, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"Grimlord is a single-player, story-driven VR RPG with a classic action twist, allowing for creative combat styles and improvisation. The game features a dedicated map with breathtaking views and a Souls-style exploration. Despite being very grinding and buggy, Grimlord values community feedback to improve the game."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

+11

Skip User Reviews

79%

Audience ScoreBased on 789 reviews

gameplay41 positive mentions

stability34 negative mentions

Grimlord offers a unique and immersive VR experience that captures the essence of Dark Souls.
The combat system is engaging, rewarding players for precision and skill rather than mindless button mashing.
The weapon crafting system allows for customization and experimentation, enhancing gameplay variety.

The game suffers from performance issues and bugs, including hit detection problems and inconsistent enemy AI.
Many enemies have excessive health, leading to tedious combat encounters that can feel unbalanced.
The lack of clear tutorials and explanations for mechanics can leave players feeling lost and frustrated.

gameplay
149 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
67%
5%
The gameplay of Grimlord is heavily inspired by the Dark Souls series, featuring familiar mechanics such as parrying, stamina management, and exploration elements like shortcuts and resting points. While the combat is engaging and immersive in VR, players have noted issues with janky mechanics, bugs, and a sometimes punishing weapon-dropping system that can detract from the experience. Overall, the game offers a solid foundation with potential for improvement, making it a fun yet challenging VR title for fans of the genre.
- “The exploration and sense of discovery, the mysterious NPCs, unlocking map shortcuts, 'bonfires' to rest at and respawn enemies, and the death mechanic forcing you to go back and reclaim lost experience make the gameplay engaging.”
- “The combat mechanics in Grimlord are truly praiseworthy, with fluid and responsive controls that make battles feel intense and engaging.”
- “Grimlord offers an immersive dark souls-like VR experience with commendable combat mechanics, stunning graphics, and a robust weapon crafting system.”
- “Gameplay-wise, it's close to Blade & Sorcery except everything has much more weight so there's more substance to fights, plus a stamina system close to those found in other soulslikes.”
- “The dash mechanic seems to be incredibly inconvenient at times, only moving you a short distance twice and not serving as the 'immortal dodge roll', making it nowhere near a replacement to that mechanic.”
- “The combat is fluid and great until you find that most enemies won't attack for a certain period after you strike a hit, so you can hack away until they die without having to engage with other mechanics.”
story
122 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
76%
5%
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its dark, Souls-like atmosphere and worldbuilding, while others find it basic and unengaging. Many note that while the narrative exists and provides a framework for gameplay, it often feels fragmented or generic, lacking depth and character interaction. Overall, the story is seen as a positive addition to the VR experience, but it leaves room for improvement and expansion.
- “I'm glad we're getting more and more VR games not only with higher quality on average, but with full-length playable campaigns and story modes.”
- “The game provides an immersive experience that truly rivals traditional gaming, and it's a VR title with an actual plot and story progression, unlike most swordfight sims.”
- “Metalcat did an excellent job creating an interesting storyline, a large immersive environment to explore, and satisfying gameplay that seems easy at first, but becomes much more challenging when you have hordes of enemies coming at you.”
- “The story is just your average Dark Souls script; the world building is nice, but the combat just feels... off.”
- “The story is also quite barebones at the moment.”
- “The story is... disjointed.”
graphics
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
50%
9%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the atmospheric visuals and dark aesthetic reminiscent of the Souls series, while others criticize the limited graphical options and performance issues, including crashes and low draw distances. Many users note that while the graphics can be visually appealing, they often fall short of expectations for a 2024 title, with some comparing them unfavorably to older games. Overall, the game offers a decent visual experience but lacks the polish and optimization that players desire.
- “The atmosphere is there, I really dig the graphics.”
- “The graphics are great for a game of its era, the controls are intuitive and make sense, the game is hard but fun.”
- “Grimlord offers an immersive dark souls-like VR experience with commendable combat mechanics, stunning graphics, and a robust weapon crafting system.”
- “Graphics on high but the game looks worse than Skyrim when it came out in 2011.”
- “The graphics are surely lacking.”
- “Combat is very unpolished and the graphics could be from a Quest 2 standalone game even on max settings.”
optimization
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
58%
21%
Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players experiencing significant performance issues, particularly on lower-end systems. While some users report smooth gameplay on high-end hardware, others face stuttering, frame rate drops, and bugs that detract from the experience. The game's early access status is evident, with calls for stability fixes and better optimization to enhance performance across various setups.
- “What's even more impressive is that the game manages to maintain good performance without sacrificing too much graphical fidelity, striking a perfect balance between aesthetics and optimization.”
- “The graphics are generally pleasing, and the optimization is well done.”
- “I'm getting solid 90 fps in 90 hz using res 300%, maybe I can go higher with res or fps - but this seems well optimized.”
- “When I got to the second part, the waterside area, the estate mines with goblins, I was hit with massive performance issues.”
- “I was not one of them; this game is very poorly optimized and was stuttering the entire time, and the graphics would just break when I would try and walk through a door.”
- “Even though my hardware exceeds the recommended specs, the frame rate is much lower than in other games (like Into the Radius), even on the lowest settings; tweaking the in-game settings doesn’t seem to affect performance at all.”
stability
35 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
97%
Overall, the game's stability is a significant concern among users, with many reporting frequent bugs and glitches that disrupt gameplay and immersion. While some players find the experience enjoyable despite these issues, others feel that the game does not meet the standards of a completed release, citing problems with combat mechanics, NPC interactions, and visual glitches. Despite some improvements, the consensus is that the game remains quite buggy, particularly in its early access state.
- “This game is very much worth the money and, in my opinion, should be talked about more than it currently is. With its stunning visuals and incredible combat, plus the sheer amount of choices you can make in how you fight—from using just fists to wielding two shields—it truly is a well-put-together game that I can't wait for the full release of, and it's not too buggy.”
- “This game is a buggy mess.”
- “Unfortunately, I had many very small gameplay glitches that added up and broke my immersion all too often, so I refunded it.”
- “But the actual game itself is so punishing, buggy, tiring, confusing, glitchy (enemies summoned into walls, standing so close they phase through your shield) and overall bad.”
atmosphere
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
35%
9%
The atmosphere of the game is a mixed bag, with many praising its hauntingly beautiful and gothic ambiance reminiscent of the Dark Souls series, while others criticize the bland and grey environments and mediocre sound effects. The graphics and world design are noted for their atmospheric qualities, contributing to a sense of immersion, though some players feel it lacks color and detail. Overall, the game successfully captures a dark fantasy atmosphere that enhances the gameplay experience, particularly for fans of the genre.
- “The fragmented storytelling and haunting atmosphere truly capture the essence of souls games.”
- “The atmosphere is hauntingly beautiful, and every corner of the game drips with gothic ambiance.”
- “The developers have done an amazing job setting colors, lighting, atmosphere, structure, and enemy designs to match the essence of Dark Souls.”
- “Bland and grey atmosphere.”
- “The environments are ugly, textures are blurry or muddy, and there’s barely any detail or atmosphere.”
- “The atmosphere feels suitably souls, though it could do with a bit more color, as Dark Souls 2 & 3 had pretty vibrant palettes.”
music
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
59%
11%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising the memorable boss themes and atmospheric score, while others criticize the lack of ambient music during exploration, leading to dull moments. Many agree that the soundtrack enhances the overall experience, but the absence of consistent background music detracts from immersion. Overall, while the musical elements are appreciated, there is a clear desire for more variety and presence throughout the game.
- “The devs have put the money where it really counts: immersion is high thanks to excellent voice acting, fantastically memorable music, a 25-30 hour campaign, excellent progression - like wow there are quite a lot of weapons and spells/weapon arts to play with, let alone the armor sets you can find through exploration - and a good amount of enemy variety across the six main locales (dungeon, town, castle 1, caves, mansion and castle 2).”
- “As for the sound effects, they’re functional but just mediocre, though the musical score is fantastic and adds a lot to the atmosphere.”
- “It's crazy how a little bit of music can change my experience with this game.”
- “The music slider doesn't work in the last area.”
- “Ambient music is basically non-existent, and the music I heard for the first boss fight sounded very familiar.”
- “Gripe 2, there's no music to accompany most of the main game right now.”
grinding
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
6%
89%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and unbalanced, often feeling that it detracts from the overall experience. Many express frustration with the low rewards for effort, particularly in combat, where battles can feel like a drawn-out slog with minimal damage output. While some appreciate the challenge of grinding for upgrades and materials, the overwhelming sentiment is that it becomes a burdensome chore rather than an engaging part of gameplay.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “Farming 'matter' (the equivalent of souls or runes) is exhausting and not really necessary.”
- “The steep costs for stat upgrades means lots of grinding to notice any kind of improvement.”
- “But rather than capturing the engaging challenge of Dark Souls, it feels tedious.”
emotional
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the emotional experience of the game to be intense and often exhausting, with moments that evoke strong feelings such as frustration and sadness, particularly in relation to gameplay challenges and losses. The game's design encourages players to engage deeply with their surroundings and enemies, fostering a sense of strategic thinking that enhances the emotional stakes of each encounter. Overall, the emotional impact is significant, contributing to a compelling and immersive experience.
- “Yet emotionally exhausting.”
- “Makes me want to cry because I lost 2000 matter to a dumb boss.”
- “Playing Grimlord made me feel like I could think in terms of the enemies in front of me and how best to deal with them, considering the situation instead of the function.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as both endearing and frustrating, resembling the antics of an angsty teenager delivering a poorly scripted performance. While some find it amusing, others feel it falls short, especially in light of the game's troubled development and technical issues.
- “It's sort of hilarious how closely this game tries to match that formula, and for the most part it's endearing.”
- “Funny, but frustrating.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
25%
25%
Players highlight the game's strong replayability, noting its challenging combat and the potential for future content as it is still in early access. Many feel it offers infinite replayability, especially in multiplayer modes. Overall, the prospects for continued engagement are promising.
- “Plenty of replayability.”
- “Infinitely replayable in multiplayer.”
- “The combat is challenging, and the replayability for only being in early access and still having much more to be released makes me feel very positive about this game's future!”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers express frustration with the game's monetization strategy, noting that it heavily criticizes competing titles in its advertising, which detracts from its own value proposition.
- “The monetization system feels overly aggressive and detracts from the overall experience.”
- “It's frustrating how much you have to spend to enjoy the game fully.”
- “The constant push for in-game purchases makes it hard to stay engaged.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development is enhanced by charming character designs and strong voice acting, which contribute significantly to the overall immersion and appeal of the game.
- “The voice acting and character designs really add a lot to the world.”
- “The character designs are charming for the most part and well-voiced.”