Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar
A first-person dungeon crawler with turn-based combat and intense difficulty.
Golden Era Games, an Australian studio, created Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar, a dungeon-crawling role-playing game for Windows. Released on August 4, 2017, it blends fantasy with other genre influences, offering turn-based combat and the ability to assemble a full party.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Golden Era Games
- Designer
- Cleveland Mark Blakemore
- Platforms
- Microsoft Windows
- Released
- August 4, 2017 (WW)
- Genre
- Role-playing Dungeon Crawl
- Modes
- Single-player
Facts from the source article.
Plot
The game is set in the fantasy world Hyperborea, guarded by the White Owl, also called the Winged Exemplar. The White Owl created a clock named the Metronome Mysterium to promote peace after a period of conflict. The clock's location was recorded on nine hidden tablets, but the White Owl forgot where they were. As the clock begins to unwind, the player must find the nine tablets to restore peace.
Gameplay
Grimoire is a first-person dungeon-crawling RPG where tactical combat is turn-based, closely following the design of Wizardry 6 and Wizardry 7. Players command a party of up to eight members. The world is built from square tiles, and the camera always faces one of the four cardinal directions. An auto-walking feature is included on the in-game map. The core gameplay loop involves exploring, solving puzzles, and fighting. Defeating enemies earns experience, which lets characters level up, learn new spells, and boost their skills. Over one thousand items, 240 enemy types, and 144 context-sensitive spells are available. Players can craft a party from 15 professions and 14 races. Of the 64 friendly characters encountered, roughly 25 can be recruited into the party. Five different starting scenarios are offered, and the combat difficulty can be changed at any time.
Development
Grimoire was created by Cleveland Mark Blakemore, a programmer who had worked for Sir-Tech, publishers of the Wizardry series. After Wizardry 7, Sir-Tech outsourced development of a sequel, Wizardry: Stones of Arnhem, to Australian company Directsoft, run by actor Max Phipps. Blakemore was hired as a consultant but alleged he could not bring the team into line and resigned. Stones of Arnhem was eventually cancelled. Distraught at Sir-Tech's alleged failure to create an effective work environment, Blakemore began work on Grimoire shortly after the cancellation. Gaming historians have traditionally treated Blakemore's version of events with skepticism, but the appearance of Sir-Tech documents on eBay has shed new light on his involvement. The game was announced in 1997 and beta tested in 1998, with many release dates announced since. A preview in the October 1997 issue of Computer Gaming World claimed a 1997 release. In 2013, an Indiegogo campaign failed to meet its $250,000 goal, raising only $10,598. In 2017, the game launched on Steam Greenlight. The release date was announced as July 7 but missed; it was eventually released on August 4. After release, Golden Era Games pledged support with patches and features. As of January 2019, the manual was released, along with new content, mechanics, and bug fixes. A music soundtrack album by Ellsworth Hall has been prepared for future release.
Reception
GameStar's Sascha Penzhorn criticized the outdated graphics and sound but noted that with missing features, a manual, and adjustments to the user interface and game balance, Grimoire could become a really good oldschool RPG. He awarded it 30/100, calling it unfinished, broken, hostile to users, and offered at full price. Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Alec Meer admired the game's size and dedication but harshly criticized the slow combat, cumbersome user interface, and sound, concluding he did not love it enough to endure it. Motherboard's Leif Johnson stated that although Grimoire fills a niche, he does not have time for that kind of punishment anymore. GameBanshee reviewed the expanded V2 in February 2019, finding it difficult to recommend to newcomers due to its steep learning curve, complexity, and lack of eye candy, but recommended it to experienced players seeking a grand adventure requiring thought. RPG Codex polled Grimoire at #22 out of the Top 101 RPGs of all time for 2019, citing its deep gameplay, richly developed setting, and challenging turn-based combat, noting it was one of the few top-25 games developed largely by a single person using their own resources.
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