I just finished the first 2 maps 100% and then didn't save. I'm dumber than dumb, have to completely restart.... I thought when you saw 'retry point' flash when you went to a new level it was auto-saving. DAMN. That really, really stinks... at least I'm enjoying it tons and will get right back into it.
Also -- tip to newbs, if a chest is locked it will tell you. If a door is locked, you need to try a key. I was searching for hidden pressure plates or levers on map 1 for ages because i expected locked doors to tell me they were locked like chests did [as opposed to needing a lever].... finally just tried a key and could keep going.
As someone who doesn't have DRPG's click with them, is this game inviting enough to draw me in?
I tried Demons Gaze and that didn't click with me sadly
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Since combat is real time I think you might find it more to your liking than turn based drpgs, then.
I don't feel it's like Demons Gaze or Grimrock at all. If anything it feels more like a rogue-like game (e.g. mysterious dungeon series), except the dungeon is much better designed (i.e. not procedurally generated), the screen perspective shifts with you, and game doesn't pause when you do. Err... well, so it's not like a rogue-like either, lol. It really does defy categorization.
It's literally Grimrock style dungeon crawling -- grid based, real time, puzzles, etc. Monsters move on their own schedule, attack, etc. If you took a game like Grimrock [eye of the beholder, dungeon master, etc] and made it top down, it would play like Brandish. Likewise, if you made Brandish first person, it would look like Grimrock.
Like, other than Grim Rock being a blobber [multiple people in your party] and Brandish being a single character, it's just a perspective change. To get to traditional roguelikes, you actually would need to change mechanics [true turn based, etc]. So it's much closer in gameplay to Grimrock overall.