Hey all!
While I like Grim Dawn, this is one of the things that has been really bugging me. As the title states, I find the monster AI really generic. There’s nothing special to them. They all feel the same, making the entire experience… well really boring after a while.
Don’t really feel like writing heaps as I usually do, so I’ll keep it short with a few examples.
- Almost any monster follow the same pattern: Move to the player until in range, attack. ranged or melee, doesn’t matter. For ranged characters, this makes kiting extremely effective(easy), and also extremely boring. The only way to make this types of monsters challenging is by upping their defences and offences. And that itself is bad game design(just look at Diablo 3 when it got released).
- Monsters have similar attacks. And with that, I mean… Well, most monsters have the same types of attacks. For example, few of the ranged monsters, with special attacks, have a multishot, attacking with multiple projectiles at the same time. Or throw something on the ground from a distance, arcing, and sometimes leaving damaging ground on impact. Rarely, monsters(mostly champions and bosses)Summon some sort of a firestorm, multiple balls of an element that strike the ground in quick succession, or sometimes at the same time.
- Monsters don’t have an identity. And that is a result of what I mentioned above. But monsters don’t seem really different from another. Yes, some shoot red bullets, other purple. Yes, some monsters inflict bleeds, others raw damage. The mechanics are interesting enough as they are now. Just the AI not. It all feels… So generic. I see new monster models, and see them using the same types of skills over again, or move in the same type of pattern as any other monster. I don’t have the feeling every monster has it’s own identity. More the other side of the extreme: they all feel related to another. A shame really, especially since this game has such a heavy emphasis on exploring(Love it!), encountering different kinds of monsters would make the experience so much more awesome.
- Bosses are barely any different from the random champion encounters - in both AI, and skill setup. And this is a major offence. Bosses are supposed to be the big conclusion to an act, they have to feel strong, exciting. Do note: This doesn’t mean they need to be hard. But as it is now, GD’s bosses are… Well. Close to normal monsters. Especially they need to shine. Shine in AI, Shine in types of Abilities. I don’t care if you stay with the current animations - I’m sorry, but those are also… really terrible compared to your current competitors - just give them an edge. Make them feel a bit smarter! Don’t let that warden guy or Chronley chase you around the room mindlessly. Give them a proper AI. Let them react on you as a player, use the players location(No, the warden using his stomp when you are near him is not really the thing I am aiming at >.>), the skill they are trying to damage you with or whatever. Be innovative. But as they are now, I say the bosses are a major offence when it comes to proper game design. And that is bad guys!
Really bad, because right now, this is a good game. But that’s all. I play it, and just move on. That while in theory this should be one of the games I can sink many hours of time into it. As a theory crafter in similar games(Diablo 3, Path of Exile)I can tell you that this whole skill system is both unique and amazing. This game has found a fine line between being too complicated and too shallow. I just wish I had a more potent surrounding to test it on. Having monsters act exactly the same, just doesn’t do this system justice.
And no, I am not saying the game is too easy. I can’t even say that since I have’t fully explored all types of classes, skills and what’s not. I am just saying that the AI should get a boost. Do that, and I think this game will go from just good to amazing